10 things I'll tell my kids about Mariano Rivera

Today a co-worker asked me if I was still blogging and I told him the last thing I remember writing about was Mariano Rivera.

I was wrong. After touching on Mo's farewell season in April, I wrote about Craig Carton's book (which was fantastic) and the Yankees' corner infield conundrum (which no longer matters with Youk and Teix back on the DL).

With Mo receiving by far the coolest farewell gift from an opposing team and getting the last out in tonight's win – and with the blog on my mind – I decided to write some more about Mo, one of the few stars still suiting up these days for the Yankees.

I read listicles every day, as do many others. It's probably because most people don't like to read more than 140 characters at a time anymore and listicles are easy to skim. So, go ahead, if you even bothered to read my rambling intro, and check out the 10 things I'll tell my children about the greatest closer who ever lived.

Manny Banuelos: The Little Lefty

If you still have never heard of Manny Banuelos, you need to add him to your list of must-know Yankees prospects. Why? His spring training numbers tell the story, but the Yankees have also raved of the little lefty constantly — and I’m not just talking about the GM, who always tries to boost all of his prospects’ value. 

Mariano Rivera, someone who rarely says anything quoteworthy, called ManBan the best pitching prospect he’s ever seen.

Just how little is he? He’s listed at 5-foot-11 and 155 pounds. For perspective, Pedro Martinez is 5-foot-11 and 170 pounds. They both share a nice fastball, curveball, changeup repertoire, but ManBan is a lefty and Pedro is a righty.

Cashman: ‘A.J. Burnett’s going to turn it around’

From USA Today’s Stephen Borelli:

Does Brian Cashman believe his current rotation is championship worthy?

“I think so,” the GM said. “I think A.J. Burnett's going to turn it around for us. I don't think you're going to see him have another year like that.”

Cashman goes on to not supply any supporting evidence of that idea, despite hiring new pitching coach Larry Rothschild almost a month ago.

Pregame talk: World Series Game 6

Tonight could be a good night. A very, very good night for Yankees fans. The stage is set. Two postseason poised pitchers, Andy Pettitte and Pedro Martinez, set to duke it out. For the Yankees, a World Series ring is on the line. For the Phillies, a chance to extend the series and repeat as champions. First pitch: 7:57 p.m. EST.

Phillies Lineup:	Yankees Lineup:
Jimmy Rollins SS	Derek Jeter SS
Shane Victorino CF	Johnny Damon LF
Chase Utley 2B	Mark Teixeira 1B
Ryan Howard 1B	Alex Rodriguez 3B
Jayson Werth RF	Hideki Matsui DH
Raul Ibanez DH	Jorge Posada C
Pedro Feliz 3B	Robinson Cano 2B
Ben Francisco LF	Nick Swisher RF
Carlos Ruiz C	Brett Gardner

I thought Joe Girardi might swap Cano and Swisher because of Cano’s awful postseason slump. And now Swisher seems to be getting back on track. Otherwise, I like the series back in the American League with the DH. It gives the Yankees the advantage with Hideki Matsui now.

Manuel: Pedro is Game 2 Starter

Via Sam Borden:

Charlie Manuel announced on a radio show this morning that Pedro Martinez will be his Game 2 starter, a move which should make for terrific theater and unbelievable amounts of second-guessing if it doesn’t work out.

Some Phillies fans are thinking Cole Hamels, last year’s World Series star, should be starting this game. I polled my twitter followers on who they would rather have faced, and here are their responses:

@5States – “I don’t think we’re gonna crush Pedro or really psych him out a lot, but I feel better against him than Hamels at this point.”

@kevinlankey – “As weird as it sounds, I think Cole beats us… But I’d prefer him Game 2 so we can get Lee and Cole out of the way.”

@MyPinstripes - “rather face Pedro”

@Thorne35 – “Pedro will choke”

@YankeeMegInPHL – 3-1 with a 5.66 ERA in four starts on the road…give me Pedro in Game 2.

@yankeegirl049 – Pedro for sure.

Survey says… Prefer Pedro: 4, Prefer Cole: 2

I agree with my followers. He shut out Joe Torre’s Dodgers for seven innings in his last start. However, as Borden pointed out, Pedro hasn’t been too successful against the Yankees in the postseason (1-2, 4.72 in six appearances). And, the Yankees have far more experience against Pedro compared to Hamels. Plus, Hamels looked pretty good against us back in May.

Yankees tidbits 6/20/09

Here’s the latest buzz on the Yankees:

• They picked up a much-needed win last night, beating the Marlins 5-1.
• Even though the Yankees were eyeing Pedro Martinez in the Dominican Republic, they are now saying that they have “no interest.”
• Remember that 16-year-old on the cover of Sports Illustrated?  It was Bryce Harper and he will be in a Yankees uniform sooner than expected. 
• Normally, fans are bashing the Yankees bullpen left and right.  Now, it’s hard to do that.  Two more shutout innings last night tallied 14-1/3 consecutive scoreless from a new-look bullpen.
• Meanwhile, on a day that the Yankees actually won, a very well-known blog—River Avenue Blues—found the flaws in the Yankees’ offense and pitching.  Read both, they are interesting.
• The slumping Alex Rodriguez finally is getting a couple days off.  Let’s hope he can catch his breath and help this team score some runs!

Yankees eyeing Pedro Martinez

According to a source, the Yankees—along with three other teams—will look at Pedro Martinez throw in the Dominican Republic on Friday.

The Tampa Rays, Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Angels are the other teams planning to watch Martinez throw. On Wednesday, Martinez said he had spoken with the Cubs and Rays and “there’s a good chance I’ll be signing soon, but there still isn’t anything firm.”

I have no idea why the Yankees would be looking at another starting pitcher, let alone one of the most hated players of the franchise.  Do I even have to refresh everyone’s memory of “who’s your daddy?” or Alfonso Soriano and Derek Jeter being sent to the hospital in the same game?  These are just the moral reasons why he shouldn’t be a Yankee.  What about the medical reasons?

Pedro hasn’t pitched close to a full season since 2005 — his first season with the Mets.  I don’t know if that is just the luck of the Mets, or if Pedro is just too frail.  Either way, he’s averaging 16 starts per season for the past three years.  He’s almost 38 years old and his best years are clearly behind him.

How about his statistical problems?  He was awful in 2008 with a 5.61 ERA, and still way too high in 2006 with a 4.48 ERA.

The only thing this guy is pitching for is his 100th loss, as he currently is sitting at 99.  He’s 86 wins shy of 300 and 883 Ks shy of 4,000.  He already has a spot reserved in the Hall of Fame, so I really have no clue what he is thinking.

Here are a few reactions to the idea of Pedro as a Yankee from some of my twitter followers:

mincontro:  if he can still pitch, yes!!
section59mike:  No, I've seen enough has been, injured players fail at pitching for the Yankees
FootballGeek:  NO to pedro
tommyreyes:  not in a million years!
ryan_kantor:  and no, we don't want Pedro! Wang will work out, if not HUghes will be fine. Tomko and Kennedy are also viable options.

There you have it.