Spring Training has arrived

Today is the day that pitchers and catchers report, it is more of a formality then anything else. It brings a sense of joy and spring, as it continues to be cold and snowy in the northeast at least you can look to the fields in Florida and Arizona and think of the upcoming season and know that spring is near. Tomorrow will be the first official workouts and today is a pretty quiet day but there were some quotes and for the Yankees Joe Girardi did meet with the media at noon. Here are some quotes and some of what the manager had to say courtesy of Chad Jennings of the Journal News and wondeful Lohud Yankees Blog. Phil Hughes had this to say regarding any change in the clubhouse because the Yankees are the champs for the first time in 9 years. " I don't think it will, last year was nice but we need to do it again. At the end of 2010, I don't think anyone will be thinking about who won it in 2009." This is the Yankees way and it is so ingrained in them that I wouldn't worry at all about complacency, plus they have enough new faces that didn't win it last year. I think once the Yankees are on top they want to stay there and the whole organization gets more and more hungry. Here is what Joe Girardi had to say. " The expectation here is the same every year. In a sense you are supposed to repeat every year. I don't really consiser complacency to be an issue because I know the people in the room." I agree with that, you are supposed to win every year as a Yankee and that is a hard thing to do but once they do it and know how to win I think they want it more and more. Here is some more highlights of his press conference: He said the # 1 concern in his mind is ironing out the lineup. He said it isn't that I am worried about it because I know guys can do the job but it is where do they all fit in the lineup. He said there is competition on the pitching staff but he will make it clear that it doesn't start right away. He said his message will be look we are just getting ready now. I think what he is trying to say here is not to go all out and hurt yourself trying to impress the coaches. There is enough time for the competition but lets start out slow and get ready. Girardi said that he feels comfortable with either Granderson or Gardner in center field and they will both play there and left field in the spring. He said it isn't necessarily who is better as an individual but what combo works the best that will decide left and center. He said he envisions the loser of the 5th starter battle going to the bullpen. He would like to have that spot determined by March 25th but that isn't set in stone. He also stressed it isn't all about spring statistics. He said that they are going to do another group outing the day before the first game. He said he has heard suggestions of paintball and bowling. Those ideas made him a little uneasy as he doesn't want to do anything that he feels guys can get hurt at. He said they will continue to talk about it and will decide eventually on doing something. He said he doesn't want anything that involves running through woods or swinging heavy objects.

New York Giants come up Giant

The New York Giants rose to the occasion and defeated the Dallas Cowboys this afternoon in a game they had to win. The final score was 31-24, the Giants defense was much better today and played with a passion and intensity we haven't seen since early in the season. There were some changes on the defense at least with the starters and it seemed to have worked. Dallas running game got nothing going after torching the Giants defense in their first meeting earlier in the season. The Giants offense looked much better especially running the ball, they just seemed to have an extra jump in their steps and this is how they should be playing every week. Eli Manning wasn't great but also his receivers did drop a few passes, when the weather gets cold usually the passing game isn't as good but the offense did a good job. Hakeem Nicks had a touchdown catch and Brandon Jacobs had a huge touchdown run after getting a short pass in the 4th quarter. The Giants will remain at home and play another divisional foe next week in the Philadelphia Eagles. The Giants are now 7-5 and one game behind the Eagles and Cowboys who are both 8-4, if the Giants defeat the Eagles next week and the Cowboys lose things will really get interesting in the NFC East with all three teams having the same record. I think the Giants defense learned a lot from this game and they should be able to keep up this intensity for the rest of the season and hopefully the postseason.

NFL Thanksgiving Games

Happy Thanksgiving everyone, I am going to do a special Thanksgiving edition of the picks. The New York Giants play on Thanksgiving night so that is a treat. The afternoon games are the Green Bay Packers at the Detroit Lions and the Oakland Raiders at the Dallas Cowboys. The afternoon games really aren't that appealing the Packers should go into Detroit and beat them I am going to say the score will be Green Bay 28 Detroit 14. Oakland at Dallas on paper is a complete mismatch but Dallas has really struggled offensively the last couple of games. I think they will be pumped up playing on Thanksgiving as they always do and will hand it to Oakland. Dallas 28 Oakland 10. The night game is the New York Giants at the Denver Broncos at 8:20 PM. The Giants are coming off a much needed win last Sunday against the Falcons but they still have their problems. The Giants are 6-4 and right in the thick of the playoff race but their defense especially in crunch time has been a disaster lately, if they want to do anything this year that has to change. I am one that believes it has to do with the new coach. It seems to me that the Giants sit back too much when they have the lead and are trying to close games out, they need to continue to be aggressive and pressure the QB. The Giants strength should be the pass rush and it hasn't been. I think Eli Manning was in a great groove on Sunday and will continue to be as his foot has healed. I look for the Giants to get their running game going with Brandon Jacobs, Ahmad Bradshaw is out so Danny Ware will get his first significant playing time. I think the receiving corps really has the confidence now. I think the Giants are going to play their best game they have played in quite a while and will win this game. Giants 31 Broncos 24. Everyone enjoy your thanksgiving and enjoy the football games. I will recap the game at some point tomorrow night or early Friday morning.

NFL Week 11

The New York Giants are coming off of their buy week needing a win. They are playing the Atlanta Falcons at home and at 5-4 with a 4 game losing streak this is as close to a must win as you are going to get. The Giants just found out yesterday also that they would be without their defensive leader Antonio Pierce for possibly the rest of the season, he has a bulging disk in his neck. Chase Blackburn will take over for him. I see the Giants really getting back to their strength which is running the ball and controlling the clock. Danny Ware is back now and I think they will get the 3 headed monster going again a lot like they did last year. Eli Manning has had a foot problem so I am not sure if that has hurt him or he hasn't played well. The Giants defense needs to step it up also. I am going to say the Giants come out flying and they will win this game. Giants 28 Falcons 20 is my prediction. The Jets will be heading up to New England to face the Patriots after coming off a tough loss to Jacksonville at home and Rex Ryan making a impassioned speech in which he cried to his team. I just don't see the Jets beating the Patriots again especially in Foxborough. I think the Jets season basically ended last week when they lost and a loss here will really basically end it for them. I don't think Mark Sanchez will fair too well in this environment and I really see the Patriots putting a beating on the Jets. I am going to go with Patriots 31 Jets 17. I am not going to pick another game this week as I haven't really looked at the games other then the local teams. We will have a special thanksgiving special with 3 picks on Thursday. Enjoy the games everyone and hopefully the local teams will get back on the winning track.

Local NFL teams embarrassed

The New York Jets lost to the lowly Buffalo Bills at home yesterday 16-13 and the New York Giants got shredded defensively 48-27. There wasn't much to talk about with the Giants game as they couldn't stop New Orleans at all, it was a pitiful defensive performance. The officiating was terrible as the Giants had 2 huge plays go against them but in the end it didn't matter as they just simply couldn't stop New Orleans. The Giants will go back to the drawing board and hopefully figure something out defensively as they get ready for Arizona at home on Sunday night. The Jets were just beat by a terrible team. Mark Sanchez looked like the rookie he is with 5 interceptions and Rex Ryan looked like a rookie head coach once again. This loss was really bad and now they got to decide what to do with the QB as he may just not be ready and may have no confidence left. The Jets travel to play a weak Oakland team that they have to beat but who is the right QB for the job?? I wonder if they will make a switch, doubt it but its worth thinking about. The Jets running game was the lone bright spot as they had over 200 yards rushing.

NFL week 6

The New York Giants will be playing at the New Orleans Saints at 1. The New York Jets will be playing at home against the Buffalo Bills at 4. The Giants are in the marquee matchup of the week. Drew Brees and the Saints have the number 1 ranked offense in the country and the Giants have a good offense also. Jeremy Shockey will be all fired up I am sure to face his former team and try and stick it to them. I am going to pick the Giants going out on a limb and saying 28-24. I would not be shocked if they lost a close game though. I expect this to be a very entertaining good game. The Jets are playing the Bills and after 2 losses in a row will try and get back on track. I think this is a good matchup for them and they shouldn't have too much trouble. I would expect the Jets to run the ball with the weather being bad out and get the running game going. I am going to pick the Jets 24-10. I am not going to pick a random game this week as I am doing this so late. I was 1-2 last week and am now 5-3 on the season. I am looking to bounce back with a clean sweep of the local teams. Everyone enjoy the football and I will recap the games later on tonight.

Football begins with a couple of victories

The New York Giants and New York Jets both opened their seasons with wins. The Jets defeated the Texans by the score of 24-7 and the Giants won by the score of 23-17. I will start with the Jets who saw Mark Sanchez had a impressive first game as a pro. He was 18 of 31 for 272 yards and 1 touchdown and a interception. Thomas Jones had 107 yards rushing and Leon Washington contributed 60 yards rushing, he also had 24 yards recieving. Dustin Keller had 94 yards recieving and Jerricho Cotchery had 90 yards recieving. Chansi Stuckey had 64 yards recieving. Rex Ryan is known for defense and the Jets defense just looked awesome. Joe Namath gave Sanchez a pregame pep talk and it seemed to work as there weren't many negatives, he really had a sparkling debut. The Giants score was closer then the game really was as Washington scored a late TD. The Giants defense was really good other then that, one of the touchdowns scored by the Redskins was on a fake FG and another FG was because Eli Manning threw a interception setting them up perfectly for at least a FG. Justin Tuck had a great game with 1 1/2 sacks and being all over the field. Osi Umineyora didn't have a great game but he did have one big play where he caused a fumble and ran it back 37 yards for a touchdown. Eli Manning had a pretty good game being 20 of 29 with 256 yards and a touchdown. Brandon Jacobs only had 46 rushing yards, Ahmad Bradshaw had 60 rushing. The Giants spread out their passing attack, Steve Smith had 6 catches for 80 yards, Kevin Boss had 3 catches for 62 yards and Mario Manningham had 3 catches for 58 yards and a touchdown. The touchdown was the first of his career. Hakeem Nicks had a couple of catches for 18 yards but left the game with a sprained ankle. Domenick Hixon only had 1 catch for 10 yards and Brandon Jacobs had 2 for 17 yards and Bradshaw had 3 for 11 yards. Lawrence Tynes was 3 for 3 in field goals. The Giants now will go on the road for 3 straight which will be difficult. The Jets will come home and face the Patriots.

Yankees News

The only news with the pitching is that Andy Pettitte will pitch tomorrow. There has been no official decision on Wang but I am sure he won't be making a start this time through the rotation. We will see what they decide to do with the rest of the rotation either tonight or tomorrow. There was good news out of Tampa today as A-rod continues to progress in his rehab. He took seventy-five swings and hit ten homeruns. He also fielded grounders and threw to first and second. Joe Girardi said today that he thinks it will be a couple of more weeks before he gets into games but I just don't see that. I have a feeling by the end of this week or early next week he could see game action. Joe Girardi said the big test will be if he can slide and have no problems with that. He also needs to do full speed sprints and running the bases although he does run at the beginning and end of his drills.

Recap of Todays Yankees action

The New York Yankees had a great day on the field defeating the Philadelphia Phillies 12-0. Joba Chamberlain started and went 3 shutout innings giving up 2 hits, 1 walk and 3 strikeouts. Brian Bruney pitched a scoreless inning giving up a couple of hits and a walk with a K. Kei Igawa, I know I can't believe he is still around either pitched 3 shutout innings with 2 hits, 1 walk and 3 k's. He has not given up a run all spring. He has pitched 12 innings giving up 6 hits, 2 walks and 11 strikeouts this spring. He won't make the team and is ticketed for AAA Scranton, he still is owed 12 million more and they can't trade him, so basically the Yankees are stuck with a AAA pitcher making lots of money but is of no use to them. Jon Albaladejo and Robertson each pitched a scoreless inning. Albaladejo had 2 strikeouts and Robertson had 1 k and 1 walk. Joba is back on track now for all of you who were worried and I have to admit it was a little alarming but that is why its spring training. The Yankees pitching all around looks good and it should be their strength this year, its going to be hard for Joe Girardi to pick who makes the final couple of spots in the bullpen as he has lots of good choices. I guess it is a good problem to have. The offense did lots of damage today with Nick Swisher leading the attack going 3-4 with 3rbi. Brett Gardner had a rbi triple, Cody Ransom was 2-2 with a walk. Hideki Matsui had a walk, Xavier Nady was 2-4 with a rbi. Angel Berroa was 1-3, Kevin Cash was 1-2 with a rbi and Jose Molina was 1-3 with a rbi. Austin Jackson had a hit and rbi. Shelly Duncan was 2-2 with a rbi trying to stay on the Yankees mind. Nick Swisher and Xavier Nady look to be getting their swings down and Brett Gardner continues to run away with the CF job. It is good to see Matsui getting in there pretty much everyday, Cody Ransom is trying to make us forget about Arod, lets hope he doesn't leave all the hits in Florida. The Yankees will be on YES tomorrow night with CC taking the hill. The Yankees got good news today regarding Marte and Cano as they have no structural damage. Cano expects to start in a game on friday. Damaso Marte will throw a bullpen tomorrow and need a couple of those before he gets into a game. Andy Pettitte will not be going to Fort Myers on Friday, instead he will throw to Jorge Posada in a minor league game. CC will not face the Rays on Sunday, he will get in his work somewhere else. MO will get into his first game tomorrow night, he should be following CC, probably the 5th inning or so.

Yanks at Reds

The New York Yankees travel to Sarasota today to face the Cincinatti Reds. I am going to post the lineups and the pitchers but first I want to get to a few notes from yesterday. Hideki Matsui was running the bases yesterday and it is believed that he will get into a game as DH next week at some point. Joba wasn't too worried about giving up two rockets yesterday in his 1 inning. He threw 21 pitches and only three were not 4 seam fastballs. He was just working on his arm strength, you have to remember that spring training is longer this year and the pitchers don't have to go all out just yet. CC will throw a simulated game today, he already may have and make his first start on Friday. Arod was supposed to meet with the MLB investigators but that is being delayed. He will play today then head off to be with the Dominican team, maybe he will meet with them Monday or Tuesday. Jeter,Cano and Marte will also be leaving for the WBC after the game today. You have to feel bad for Big Tex who is losing his whole infield for what can be up to 3 weeks. Joe Girardi im sure will be crossing his fingers that everyone comes back in one piece. The lineups and pitchers for today are: 1. Gardner(CF) 2. Jeter(SS) 3. Tex(1b) 4. Arod(3b) 5. Cano(2b) 6. Nady(Rf) 7. J. Rodriguez(Lf) 8. Ransom(DH) 9. Cash(C) Alfredo Aceves gets the start followed by Damaso Marte, Brian Bruney, Jon Albaladejo, Christian Garcia, Mark Melancon and J.B. Cox. The game is not on TV or radio today, you can check out the Yankees lohud blog for updates or mlb.com for the boxscores. I will have updates after the game. This is the last game that the big boys will be together for a while, so after today you will see more of the Ransom,Berroa, etc in the lineup daily.

Last Full Squad Workout Before The Games

Today was the last workout with the Grapefruit league starting play tomorrow. The New York Yankees will be traveling to Dunedin, Florida to face the Blue Jays. Here are some notes from today: Jorge Posada will DH on Thursday. Hideki Matsui still has a little ways to go before he is ready to play. He will start his running program soon. Jorge continues to do well with his rehab, his arm strength appears to be good. The Yankees are very optimistic about his progress. Derek Jeter did all his running today and seems fine, he is ready to go for the WBC. Alfredo Aceves will start on Sunday against Cincinnati. He ran the table off the break during one of the pool tournaments yesterday. Phil Hughes said " a shark". Bernie Williams was back in camp after a 3 day absence and took some BP. Arod, Jeter and Cano who will all be leaving for the WBC will play Thursdays game at home and skip the trip to Fort Myers on Friday.

First Official Workout Today

Here is a picture of Joe G and his troops out on the field. The big guy, CC is next to Joe G.

The Pic on the top left is Brian Bruney signing autographs. The top right is the guys running in the outfield. I am sure CC and Joba just love that.

Right above this writing is the bullpen session.

Joe Girardi Meets With the Media

Joe Girardi met with the media today for the first time in 2009. The majority of the questions were of course regarding Alex Rodriguez but then he did get to some baseball stuff. He said he hasn't talked to Arod regarding him addressing his teammates and he is sure he will meet with the media but he is not sure how he will handle it. He said as long as this isn't a distraction on the field they will be fine. He said it takes a lot of people to win a championship so if Arod doesn't have a great year that doesn't mean they can't win a title. Joe said it is important for him to relax and put up the numbers he is capable of. He did say with all the injuries last year he is going to cut back on all the running that he had the team go through last spring. They expect Melky or Gardner to be in CF but in Yankeeland anything is possible Girardi said. He thinks Nady will be the RF right now but Swisher is going to have a chance. Hideki Matsui had his knees check out today and he is doing fine. I think Joe Girardi did a good job with the media and he even admitted to the media that if they don't get back to the playoffs he expects he won't be the manager after this year. He said he has a good relationship with Arod and they talk a lot. I think Joe was very candid and honest and a good start as he had a rough time with the media last year. I think Joe is a very good manager on the field and if he can improve his handling of the players and the media he will be in great shape especially if this team performs the way that they can. Tomorrow the pitchers and catchers will report and I can't wait, I hope we will have some quotes from CC and AJ but we will see.