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Yanks just keep getting older...


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http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article...t=.jsp&c_id=mlb

 

Yanks expected to obtain Leiter

Left-hander struggled in return to Marlins

 

MLB.com has been told the Florida Marlins and the New York Yankees have reached agreement on a deal to be announced Saturday that would send Leiter to the Yankees for a player to be named.

 

Leiter, 39, was designated for assignment by the Marlins on Thursday. The team had 10 days to release or trade the left-hander, who was 3-7, 6.64 ERA this year as a starter and reliever.

 

Leiter signed a one-year, $8 million contract with the Marlins. The Yankees are believed to be picking up part of his salary, but the Marlins will be responsible for the bulk of his contract.

 

The Yankees are desperate for starting pitching. Injuries to Chien-Ming Wang, Carl Pavano, Kevin Brown and Jaret Wright have decimated the rotation, and recent obtainees Tim Redding and Darrell May have been ineffective.

 

When asked before Friday's game in Boston about the possibility of obtaining Leiter, Yankees manager Joe Torre alluded to Leiter having pitched for both the Yankees and Mets previously, saying, "He certainly is an experienced guy. One thing about our ballclub, when you look at the pitching, the New York experience factor usually carries a little weight."

 

Leiter was expected to provide leadership to a relatively young Marlins rotation while offering big-game experience.

 

"I truly expected more success in my return to the Florida Marlins," Leiter said in a statement released by the Marlins late Thursday. "To say I'm disappointed with my performance is vastly understated. I understand the organization needed to do what they had to do. It's a very good team with expectations to win. It's just unfortunate it didn't work out for me."

 

"He's a real pro and a good guy," manager Jack McKeon said. "He feels probably as bad as anybody. He's an all-around class guy, and I think we all hate to see him go."

 

While Leiter provided insights to a talented staff that includes Dontrelle Willis, Josh Beckett and A.J. Burnett, the veteran left-hander never got into a pitching groove. From the beginning of Spring Training, through 17 games with the Marlins (including 16 starts), Leiter lacked consistency.

 

After suffering a loss to the Cubs on Sunday at Dolphins Stadium, Leiter's record fell to 3-7 while his ERA rose to 6.64. Falling behind batters was a constant problem, as evident by the fact Leiter walked 60 batters in 80 innings, while giving up 88 hits.

 

Cutting ties with a savvy veteran was a difficult task for the Marlins, who were anticipating big things from a consistent winner. Leiter had a string of winning at least 10 games in 10 straight seasons, including a 10-8 record and 3.21 ERA for the Mets last year.

 

Sunday's setback started the process of the front office examining what to do with Leiter. On Wednesday, general manager Larry Beinfest notified Leiter that he wanted to meet with the veteran left-hander. Leiter was with his family. Last Friday, Lori Leiter gave birth to the couple's fourth child, a girl.

 

While informed of the team's decision on the phone, Leiter met later in the day Wednesday with Beinfest at a restaurant near his Weston home.

 

"We spent a good amount of time together, talking about everything," Beinfest said. "We talked about the disappointment and how things went. Everybody wished it would have went better."

 

A respected veteran with a lifetime 158-127 record, Leiter played a crucial role in the Marlins winning the World Series in 1997. On May 11, 1996, he tossed the first no-hitter in Marlins history, blanking the Rockies, 11-0.

 

But this season, his bread-and-butter pitch, his cut fastball, wasn't finding the mark. While Leiter continued to say he felt fine physically, scouts noted that his pitches would flatten out, and he wasn't as deceptive as he had been.

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LMAO :lol:

 

How old is Leiter?? His stuff is flat. He struggled in Spring Training and he is struggling now. He couldn’t pitch at all in Dolphin Stadium, which is a pitchers park, and now he is coming to the Bronx! The Red Sox are going to bat around a s*** load of times.

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Older is better than Tim Redding. It's desperation mode -- when Redding starts and Darrell May is the first guy out of the pen (not surprisingly, after 1, count 'em, 1 ip), you suck so bad that this is a no-brainer type of move.

 

As bad as Leiter's been, at least he was good just last year. And however many games he'll pitch in Yankee stadium, it's some help switching from a bad righty to a bad lefty. Well, a f'n atrocious righty to a bad lefty, but you get the point.

 

What're the odds Kevin Appier's whistling happily and dusting his spikes as we speak? :D

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QUOTE(YASNY @ Jul 16, 2005 -> 08:50 PM)
They couldn't just do nothing.  Somebody has to pitch those innings.  This was a no brainer to me.  They HAD to pick Lieter up.

 

 

Kinda funny how f***ed that team is that they were backed into getting that slug though.

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QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Jul 16, 2005 -> 09:51 PM)
Kinda funny how f***ed that team is that they were backed into getting that slug though.

 

Oh, I agree. It's fun to watch them squirm. I just hope they don't find some magic somehow. It would be nice to have a non-New York postseason for a change.

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QUOTE(YASNY @ Jul 16, 2005 -> 08:53 PM)
Oh, I agree.  It's fun to watch them squirm.  I just hope they don't find some magic somehow.  It would be nice to have a non-New York postseason for a change.

 

They're not going anywhere. They've made all their money this season beating up on the real dregs of the AL. Baltimore is gonna fade and I think Boston takes that division this season.

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QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Jul 16, 2005 -> 07:55 PM)
They're not going anywhere.  They've made all their money this season beating up on the real dregs of the AL.  Baltimore is gonna fade and I think Boston takes that division this season.

The Yankees are still really dangerous, especially in the regular season. Why? 2 reasons. 1, they have pitchers who can still pull their weight in Johnson and Rivera, and occasionally Mussina, Brown, etc. Their staff is hurting, but sometimes all it takes is a stopper. And 2...here's the big one:

Jeter

ARod

Sheffield

Matsui

Giambi.

 

If all 5 of those guys are hitting anywhere near where they should be...they are going to score a lot of runs, just like us last year. That's enough to keep anyone close.

 

Problem is...well...they're like us last year. They hammer anyone who doesn't have their best stuff, but they can't win a pitcher's duel, and they can't win with defense.

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One earned run in 6 1/3 innings. He was had alot of deep counts and end up racking up 8 strikeouts. He didn't have great control but he had some pretty good stuff last night.

 

All in all a pretty good outing for a ''washed up'' guy against a team that loves to beat up left handers

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