[The Jewish Cunthead]

I'll keep it simple. I'd start Melky in LF in the playoffs just because you need the stud out there flanking Lupus and Walk Boy. I don't care what kind of offense Matsui generates, defense wins titles and Cabrera is your best option, especially when Hideki straps on his roller skates. Sheff? Have fun DHing, dick.

You're looking at

Damon
Jeter
Abreu
A-Rod
Giambi
Matsui/Sheff
Cano
Posada
Melky

Now tell me I'm wrong and why.

[DevSop]

Ummm, cause Matsui's a better hitter and Sheffield will bitch if he's on the bench. Melky and Bernie are getting a nice middle finger for the playoffs unless Giambi's more hurt than is being let on.

[Lucky]

In theory I agree with you, solly. Here's the greater look at it.

First, Sheffield and Matsui need to be in the lineup every day left of September. Sheff needs to show that he can hit. THEN this becomes an issue. Because I don't like sacrificing defense for a player who hasn't hit in months.

IF Sheff and Matsui are hitting here's my problem. If you bench one of the two of them for Melky you end up wasting them on the bench. Because in this lineup Melky is the only guy you can pinchhit for. So that means midway/late in the game you're going to be pulling Melky for Sheff/Matsui and weakening the OF defense. And since Bernie is likely to be on the roster you have no defense replacement available.

So the question is do you want the improved OF defense in the first half of the game and bad D late in the game? Or do you want bad D early in the game and the improved D late in the game? Answer seems obvious to me. In an ideal world I'd love to see Melky play 9 innings most every game and I have NO problem batting him 9th in that lineup. The offense doesn't need the extra batter. But if you don't put Sheff and Matsui in the starting lineup then you either don't use them or you hurt your defense at a crucial point. I rather plug Melky in late in the game after Sheff/Matsui gets 2-3 ABs. Damon and Abreu stabilize the OF defense enough for my tastes.

Bernie's a complete waste of roster space. Sheff, Matsui, and Giambi are complete defense liabilities. Sheff might not even be able to play the OF. Melky's versatility ends up being his undoing. He's the ONLY guy we can use late in the game for defense. And IF Joe doesn't want him hitting in the 9th of Game 4 I guess that's why he has Bernie on the roster.

[The Jewish Cunthead]

devilsoprano said:

Sheffield will bitch if he's on the bench.

Who cares? Sheff is gone anyway. I'll take Melky's glove over Sheff's attitude anyday.

[Attitude Adjuster]

Who cares who's in the Yankee outfield. They will be defeated by the Oakland A's this year. Yes, this year. Really. Not like all the past years. This year they'll really do it.

[The Jewish Cunthead]

I hope so, I'd kill for a '73 rematch... plus I know tickets would be easier to get