Why couldn't that be the Yankees? The Giants get to Cliff Lee

Remember how I wrote a few weeks ago that Cliff Lee could be "beatable" in this year's postseason, because the Yanks did get to him for five runs in Game 5 of the World Series last October? Well, I was right about Lee not being automatic, but I was wrong about who would get to him. The San Francisco Giants made the Texas Rangers pitcher look very hittable last night, with that six-run fifth inning.

And I'm sure a lot of Yankee fans were thinking the same thing I was -- why couldn't that have been the Yankees who did that? Yes, I'm still bitter about Joe Girardi giving up in Game 3!

Much like the Twins made the Yankees look like worldbeaters in the ALDS, I wonder if the Yanks made the Rangers, especially Lee, look completely dominant in the ALCS. It will be interesting to see how the Giants handle Colby Lewis, the starter who shut down the Yankees twice. If San Francisco manhandles him, I'm not going to be happy!

Tim Lincecum wasn't at his sharpest, but it didn't matter. I've heard some Yankee fans coveting him, though. First off, he's not a free agent for a few more years. Second, he'd have to kill his personality, and everything that makes The Freak fun to watch, as a Yankee. Can't see him in pinstripes at all, no matter how much I like watching him pitch!

Oh, and how about Barry Bonds sitting in the stands? Squawker Jon was repelled by seeing him. I think it's okay that he's there. After all, he had a lot to do with the Giants being able to get that wonderful new ballpark, and he did get them to the World Series in 2002. Why should they hide him away? Like it or not, he was an important part of the franchise's history. (And no, Roger Clemens doesn't even come close to being as important in Yankeeland!)

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Step off, Squawker Jon! I'm rooting for the Texas Rangers, not you!

I announced Saturday, in my own version of "The Decison," that I would root for the Texas Rangers in the World Series. Yes, I'm taking my talents to the Metroplex!

I'm doing this for three reasons: I lived for over a decade in Texas and want to see baseball become more popular in the state, I promised my native Texan nephew I would support his team, no matter who they faced in the AL, and I want to see the American League team win. So where does Squawker Jon get off thinking we can root for the same baseball team in the World Series? I'm not having it!

Jon needs to root for the San Francisco Giants. After all, the Mets wear orange in honor of the old New York Giants. Besides, Jon always takes the opposite side of whoever I'm rooting for. That's kind of the point of Subway Squawkers. This is a guy who dreams of riding in Oklahoma's Sooner Schooner, just because I'm a Texas Longhorns fan!

Yes, I know he's rooting for the Rangers because he thinks it will hurt the Yankees in their quest for Cliff Lee, but we just can't be in the same side with the World Series. It's as unnatural as the color in Brian Wilson's beard!

And Jon, don't tell me that your Rangers rooting has anything to do with Miracle Met Nolan Ryan. Because the closest Ryan got to being around somebody with a Mets connection, past or present, for the 35 years after he was traded for Jim Fregosi was when he knocked Robin Ventura to the ground!

Who should Squawker Jon root for? Tell us about it.

How a Rangers' title could hurt the Yankees

There are plenty of good reasons for me to root for the Rangers - Nolan Ryan, Jeff Francoeur, the fact that they took care of the Yankees in the ALCS. But the main reason I'm pulling for Texas is the hope that they will take care of the Yankees in the offseason as well - by re-signing Cliff Lee.

If Lee leads the Rangers to a world championship, it's going to be that much harder for him to leave. There will still be a good chance, since the Yankees will offer the highest bid regardless of Texas' new TV contract. And I don't buy the notion that fan abuse of Lee's wife will play any role in his decision, except to drive up what the Yankees will need to offer.

But a Rangers' title will make it impossible for Lee to trot out the cliche of "I just want to go someplace where I'll have a chance to win." Because that place this offseason is shaping up to be Arlington.

The irony is that the teams that lose out on Lee might well be lucky in the long run. Lee will turn 33 during the 2011 season. Ideally, you'd want to give him no more than a four-year deal. But the way things are shaping up, he'll probably get six or seven years at CC Sabathia money.

Speaking of Sabathia, he is now scheduled for knee surgery on Friday. Johan Santana also underwent surgery for a torn meniscus two offseasons ago and it marked the beginning of his recent struggles. But the New York Times points out that Sabathia's surgery will be on his right knee, which is better for a lefty than having surgery on the left knee, as Santana did, since lefthanded pitchers push off their left leg.

So Sabathia will probably be fine. But his surgery underscores the risk of signing any pitcher to a long-term deal, as the Mets know all too well with Sabathia and earlier contracts for Pedro Martinez and Billy Wagner. (Oliver Perez is a whole separate category.)

It's why I don't want the Mets to sign Lee, since it's a win-now move, and the Mets are not in that position. They were in that position when they signed Santana and Wagner, so I continue to think that those were good moves. While I'm glad the Mets had Pedro for a little while, I have to concede that signing did not ultimately pay off.

Since the Yankees are always in win-now mode, they don't need me to tell them to go all-out for Lee. But if the Rangers win, the Yankees will have to compete for Lee's services with a team that isn't just in win-now mode, but actually has won now.

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The Yankees have signed a free agent from a World Series winner at least once - Don Gullett from the Reds after the 1976 season. Gullett went 14-4 for the Yankees' 1977 title team, but only won four more games after that. If there any other examples, I hope Squawker Lisa or Uncle Mike will let us know.

Nick Swisher sez he's bleeping tired of talking about Cliff Lee

ESPN New York is making a whole to-do over Nick Swisher cursing (shocker!) when asked yet another question about Cliff Lee. Good for Swisher, I say.

Here's what happened (hat tip to Was Watching for the link.) Swisher overheard Andrew Marchand asking his teammates about Lee. Swisher responded:

With the Yankees facing Texas Rangers starter Colby Lewis in Game 6, Swisher did not take kindly to a reporter asking teammates a couple lockers down about Lee.


You guys are talking about Cliff Lee?" said Swisher out loud in a room full of reporters. "[Expletive], who cares?"


As he walked off, Swisher said, "I can't wait to hit against his [behind]."

OMG, a ballplayer cursed! Twice! What is the world coming to? What about the children? (And yes, I'm being sarcastic here.)

The story continues:

Later, when asked about saying this out loud with reporters present, Swisher cut off a question when the words "Cliff Lee" were uttered.

"I'm not talking about Cliff Lee," Swisher said. "I don't give a [expletive]."

A few points:

* Whenever you hear a writer refer to what "a reporter" said, nine times out of ten, "a reporter" is really the reporter writing the story. I don't know why sportswriters keep with this silly, passive convention; it does not serve the reader. And indeed, it is the case here; Marchand's ESPN colleague Wallace Matthews confirms that Marchand was the one to ask the question. Matthews also writes that Swisher was openly tired of the Cliff Lee questions as early as last Saturday.

* As for Swish's response, what's the big deal here? Swisher's response is exactly what I want to hear from him. And I don't give a bleep that he cursed to reporters, and offended their delicate sense of being (yeah, because we all know that the harshest word any sportswriter will say is "gosh darnit"!) What is Swisher supposed to say? That he's really, really scared to face Lee, and the Yankees are just terrified? C'mon now.

* Why don't the reporters worry about Game 6 before raising the OMG! Cliff Lee Is Pitching Game 7 specter? Then again, they raised it after Game 2, so that would be too much to ask for!

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Cliff Lee, David Robertson, Joe Girardi haunt Yankee fans' nightmares

For me, Monday's ALCS loss was the most frustrating playoff defeat since the Bug Game. And only some of my frustration had to do with the Yankees being completely flummoxed by Cliff Lee (so much for my thoughts that he could be beatable last night, eh?) Top it off with Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young, my fave NFL player, getting hurt on Monday Night Football, and it was a completely miserable evening for this Squawker.

I could have lived with just a little (okay, maybe a lot) of grumpiness about the Yankees getting shut down by Cliff Lee, with Andy Pettitte pitching a very good game. But what bugged me even more about the game was the way Joe Girardi left David Robertson in the game to get shelled. The young reliever clearly didn't have it last night. Virtually everybody in the park (who started fleeing for the exits as soon as Roberston started giving up hits) knew that, except for Girardi, who left him in like a lamb to the slaughter to give up five runs, five hits, and a walk. The Yanks ended up with their worst postseason shutout loss ever, and Robertson ended up having a very good young career so far marred with this disaster.

It reminded me of when Joe Torre left Chase Wright in to give up four homers in a row to the Red Sox.
You just don't do that to young pitchers. It isn't right. You tell me there was no other pitcher Girardi could have brought in to rescue the ballgame (and the reliever's psyche) before Robertson imploded?

For that matter. why didn't Mariano Rivera start the ninth? If the Yankees were still down only 2-0 in the bottom of the ninth, it literally would have been a different ballgame. So why didn't Girardi go to Mariano Rivera? He told reporters:

Well, Mo is a guy that sometimes we use multiple innings in a situation that if we are ahead. Our bullpen had been really, really good up until that point. Boone had done his job. Robby had done his job. We were down 2‑0 and if you bring in Mo, you may not have him available for multiple innings tomorrow, if you want to use him. So we went with guys that were throwing well in a situation where we were down.

Even if  he wanted to save Mo for a better situation, it was completely inexcusable of Girardi, to leave Robertson in, and take the fans out of the game like that. I'm peeved, and even Squawker Jon felt bad for Robertson!


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Why Cliff Lee could be beatable, Michael Kay is jumping the gun, and Freddy Sez will be missed

I heard Michael Kay said the ALCS was over after the Yankees won on Friday. And if you read the newspapers, he wasn't the only one he felt that way. Yet on Sunday, there's all this hysteria in the media about how the Yankees are doomed. Puh-lease. It's amazing how quickly the pendulum goes from "Yankees are gonna sweep" to "OMG the Yankees have to face CLIFF LEE TWICE in this series now." Spare me.

First of all, I guess I missed when losing one game in a best four-out-of-seven series meant there would automatically jigger a Game 7 to happen. Somebody should have told me that!

Second, while Cliff Lee pitched majestically against the Yankees in Game 1 of the World Series, am I the only person who remembers what happened in Game 5? The Yankees knocked him around for five runs and nearly won the game, despite the fact that A.J. Burnett spit the bit. And in 2010, while Lee pitched one great game against the Yankees in September, and one very good game in June, he also gave up four runs and eight hits in 6.1 innings in an August game.

Third, as my Facebook friend William says, the Yankees have beaten lots of great pitchers in the postseason. Why wouldn't they be able to beat Lee? But even if he does pitch well, the Yankees could still face the Rangers' bullpen and get to them.

Fourth, Andy Pettitte is no slouch in the postseason.

Anyhow, I'm going to have faith that the Yankees will beat Cliff Lee. But even if they don't, that doesn't mean the series is over, even if A.J. Burnett is still pitching Game Four!

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I was saddened to hear the news about Freddy Sez's demise. Freddy the Fan, who Squawker Jon saw in his neighborhood a couple of times, had so much energy, enthusiasm, and gratitude. I met him several times, and got to hit the famous frying pan with the spoon. The Stadium will sound differently without Freddy around. I'd like to see the Yanks have a special patch on their uniforms of a frying pan!

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