Yankee Fans Unite

So, now that we have a few days to reflect on the first half as we sit and watch the ASG festivites. I'm watching the HR derby right now, which I find to be rather dull actually, but hey, it's in Yankee Stadium. I figured I'd take this time to issue a report card of sorts on the first half.

The As:
-Mussina; what a renaissance!
-Rivera, who never ceases to amaze.
-Giambi. It's been a bit of a roller-coaster ride, but the overall results are very solid from a guy who's getting older.
-Pettitte. There have been a few rough spots, but overall he's been a rock in the rotation.

The Bs:
-A-Rod; very solid half but hurt for a bit.
-Matsui; see above.
-Damon; ditto.
-Joba. He's not a finished product yet, but we have no reason to believe he's not going to be an ace for a very long time.
-Farnsworth(!?). I'm actually starting to trust him.
-Veras. He's emerged very nicely as a weapon in the bullpen.
-Ponson(?!). Limited sample size of course, but 2 of 3 starts have been very good.
-Edwar. He's quietly developing into a solid reliever.

The Cs:
-Abreu. He's borderline C/B. He's declining, which is probably more from age than anything. Still a very good run producer though. He has a history of heating up in the second half, so I wouldn't be shocked to see that trend continue and have him end of with a solid full season.
-Jeter. The wrist injury is likely a big factor, but the Yankees need a lot more out of their captain. His first half was very pedestrian, and they need improvement (which I feel is likely) to be a factor in the race.
-Darrell Rasner...mediocre pitcher, mediocre results.
-Posada. Hurt for awhile, and not looking very good on defense afterwards. Offense has been adequate.
-Molina. Exactly what you expect...bad bat, great glove.
-Moeller. Eh.
-Gardner. An interesting talent with one great walkoff, but the numbers don't look very good so far.

The Ds:
-Cano. His recent hot streak gives us hope, but what a disappointing first half from a hitter who's supposed to be coming into his prime as a batting title threat.
-Betemit. Fills in around the infield well enough, but his offense has not been a pretty thing.
-Hawkins. Nice guy who's had an unfortunate some unfortunate things happen to him, but he's been pretty much awful.

The Fs:
-Melky. What a stunning and ugly regression for a young player who was supposed to be emerging. He needs a wake-up call.
-Hughes, Kennedy. Bad, then hurt. I'm very, very interested to see what they might provide down the stretch.

Incomplete:
-Justin Christian. Eh.
-Giese, Traber, and Robertson. One of these guys needs to be sent down so the other two can pitch somewhat regularly and we can actually figure out how good they are.

Karl, what about Carla "DL Carla"? Where do you rate him?

Oh, right, he doesn't even make the scale.

I agree with your rankings. Good analysis. You didn't say anything about Wang, though. Is that because he is pretty much lost for the season?

Yeah, I'm not sure it's really possible to grade Wang fairly since he pitched so well, then got hurt and may be of no use for the rest of the year.

"DL Carla", meanwhile, has a category to all to himself.

Congrats on your analysis, Karl. A very good one.
I'd only add Girardi to the list. I can't say dissapointing. Because we're watching what I was expecting from him. 71 different lineups says it all. After 95 games, our team has scored 436 runs. 4.59 per game. That's the main difference from last season. The W-L record is pretty much the same. 50-45 this year. 49-46 last year. But then we had scored 509 runs. 73 more than today. With those runs, this year, we'd be at least in second place, leading the wild card race.
So, Girardi has not found the way to make his batters to produce. To me, the main reason is using that ridiculous number of lineups.

If I had to add coaches, I'd give Girardi a high C/low B. There have been a lot of problems that aren't his fault, but the constant tinkering with lineups got old fast and he hasn't handled the New York media half as well as Torre (though it's hard to expect anyone to do as well as Torre did in that category). He has brought a couple of nice positives, including probably playing a big role in Farnsworth's turnaround and his two fiery tirades, which have produced immediate results.

Dave Eiland gets an A in my book. He has very quietly overseen the growth of a number of good young relievers and quality turnarounds from several veterans who had been in decline a bit. He's overseen the Joba transition with ease too. But practically every pitcher is having a year that's as good as or better than last year, and that's quite an achievement. His big tests will be handling Hughes and Kennedy though.

Seeing as I don't even remember the bench coach's name, I don't feel he's done much to warrant a grade. He doesn't seem to play the big role that Torre's bench coaches did.

I love Tony Pena, who always seems to be a helpful guy to have around.

Bobby Meachem, on the other hand, has struggled a bit coaching at third. They miss Bowa there.

I think an F is a little harsh for Melky. He doesn't deserve a worse grade than Cano. His numbers may be a little worse, but not nearly as much was expected out of him. Cano has probably been the most "below average", if that would be your grading system.

Hughes or Kennedy could also be graded as incomplete, since they barely even lasted a month. Igwana could get an F, even though he's been even more incomplete.