When Josh Beckett, John Lackey, and Daisuke Matsuzaka came into camp on Thursday, Pete Abraham notes that Theo Epstein had only good things to say:
"It's nice to see these guys out here. Every single one of them looks to be in improved condition.''
I mean, when a guy like John Lackey goes out and drops 15 pounds, it's good to acknowledge it, right? He's never been in the best shape for a starter, so seeing him put in the effort to shed some of the weight is a great sign.
Someone tell Brian Cashman that. According to Wallace Matthews, When asked about CC Sabathia's weight loss, Cashman expressed some skepticism over just how much the big lefty had dropped.
"I don't believe it,'' Cashman said. "I saw him (last week) at the B.A.T. dinner and he didn't look like he lost 30 pounds to me. Maybe half that amount. We haven't weighed him so I don't now where that number comes from.''
...
"He obviously has worked very hard to rehab his knee and he's lost some weight, but he's still around 300 pounds,'' Cashman said."Clearly, he's a tremendous athlete and he can handle it , but it has to be managed so it doesn't become a problem. I just think 30 pounds would have been a lot more noticeable.''
I think it might be about time that someone asked Brian Cashman if he's feeling alright. On its own, this isn't really a big deal--just Cash trying to send a message to a guy the team has concerns about. But everything coming from the Yankees GM seems to have been so negative of late. First he bashed the Soriano signing, then he declared the Red Sox to be the better team, and now he's publically calling out the team's ace.
The joke that's going around is that Cashman is just trying to get Hank Steinbrenner angry enough to fire him. But who knows? Maybe there's something to that.