RESPONDING TO BGW

Who would I like to see replace slow Joe if he goes down, hopefully soon. Well, let me say first of all that I want to see Pena retained as a coach, not promoted to manager. I think Jorge Posada has been a much better player in every phase of the game since Pena's been on board and you can't overestimate the value of a dependable receiver. Second, I take your point BGW about the value of Larry Bowa's fire on team that seems all but extinguished of late. But I too remember well his tenure in Philadelphia (the other team I follow on a day by day basis) and my feeling was that he was nearly as bad a field tactician as slow Joe, not as mind-numbingly orthodox, but mind-bendingly tone-deaf. But retaining him as third base coach would, I agree, be a good idea. At the risk of being utterly conventional, and you have to risk that sometimes, I would like to see slow Joe replaced by Mo-Joe, i.e. Joe Girardi. Girardi manages with fire, he's great at developing young players and I'd like to see the Yankees get younger in a hurry, and he's willing to stand-up top anyone in the organization, which I think would prove particularly necessary if George continues to fade and Brian Cashboy continues to work here. Plus, I like the idea of having a manger good enough to keep around for 10 years (which is would have meant firing Joe in 2004, perfect!) and Giardi is young enough to envision that happening.

Look back at this blog and you will see I have been lusting to see Clippard in the majors along with Hughes. He sure looked good last night. I'm thinking about next year and a rotation that includes four youngsters (Hughes, Wang, Clippard, Rasner) along with Andy Pettite. I don't know if they'd win the division or anything, but I think it would be fun. Sort of like watching Verlander, Bonderman, Robertson and Maroth develop over in Detroit. I still say send Mussina to the bullpen now!