You know what? Just stop talking.

I can't take it anymore.

If you want to start Ruben Sierra at designated hitter instead of Jorge Posada, then start Ruben Sierra at designated hitter instead of Jorge Posada.

If you have some reasoning for it, you may divulge that reasoning if you wish. If you want to keep it a secret, then don't say anything.

There are legit reasons for choosing Sierra over Posada. Perhaps Torre doesn't want to risk putting his backup catcher in the DH spot. If Flaherty gets hurt, then Posada would have to catch, the Yankees would lose their DH, and the pitcher would have to hit.

This could all have been avoided if Torre would just let Posada catch when Johnson is on the mound, but that's another vitriolic vent for another time. I'll wait until after the game for that.

But please stop with these verbal three-card monte games:

"Sierra is likely, Torre said, 'because he's probably the most adept at it. He's had the most experience. You know, he loves the pressure and all that. He certainly would be a consideration. I think he would be the first consideration, and then you work out and match them up from there.'

'But again, we want to get [Sierra] involved because we know what he can bring to the table, especially being a switch-hitter, and they don't have a left-hander coming out of the bullpen. The fact that Ruben has been down this road before, he would probably be the No. 1 guy we would look at.' "

Jorge Posada has more playoff experience than Ruben Sierra.

Bernie Williams has far more playoff experience than Ruben Sierra. Bernie Williams has more playoff experience than any major league baseball player ever.

Tino Martinez has more playoff experience than Ruben Sierra.

Jason Giambi has more playoff experience than Ruben Sierra.

Even Tony Womack has more playoff experience than Ruben Sierra.

I can't figure out what Torre's trying to say. When Torre says Sierra has "the most experience," what is he talking about?

"In the Universe of Ruben Sierra and Andy Phillips, Ruben Sierra has the most playoff experience."

Is Torre talking about non-playoff experience? But then he throws in stuff like "been down this road before" and "likes the pressure," and it sure sounds like he's talking specifically about playoff experience.


Have you ever heard of the concept of "platooning"? It is a common concept in baseball. In general, you try to send up right-handed batters vs. left-handed pitchers, and vice versa. Since switch hitters can bat from both sides of the plate, the manager can be comfortable batting them against either right-handed or left-handed pitchers.

My analysis is a generality. Lots of players break the mold and few switch hitters possess exactly similar skills from both sides of the plate.

So, why am I bringing this up? Because one of the supposed flaws of the Anaheim bullpen is the fact that there are no left-handed pitchers. This allows the opposing manager to stack his team with left-handed hitters without exposing them to the dominating lefty coming out of the bullpen. Whatever. It's a theory.

But Joe Torre actually said Ruben Sierra makes sense as a DH "especially being a switch-hitter, and they don't have a left hander coming out of the bullpen."

Huh?

If they don't have a left hander coming out of the bullpen, then you don't need a switch-hitter. If the Angels had a crop of left handers coming out of the bullpen, then you'd want lots of switch-hitters. When Scioscia drops the lefty hammer down on your lineup, Sierra just needs to bat righty and Torre would not have to remove the helpless lefty and scour the bench for a righty.

Posada is a switch-hitter. Bernie is a switch-hitter. Tino and Giambi both bat lefty. Perfect! The Yankees don't have to worry about lefties coming out of the bullpen! Anybody can be the DH!


So why is Torre choosing Sierra for DH? It can't be his playoff experience and it can't be the fact that he's a switch-hitter.

Maybe it's just because Sierra brings things to the table and has been down this road before.

Fair enough. Better to use vague reasoning than demonstrably untrue reasoning.