Not Groom's man: Pitcher blasts Yanks' Torre:

"I wouldn't encourage anybody else to come here thinking you are going to get an opportunity because unless you are one of Joe's boys you are not going to get much of a shot; unless you are one of his three guys," Groom told the Post. "The same thing happened to me in Baltimore [last year]. I went 15 days [without pitching] and [Torre] is where [Oriole manager Lee] Mazzilli learned it."

Continued Groom; "I didn't get a fair shake here. Every time I pitched in key situations here I did the job," Groom told the Post. "Then I became a mop-up guy and didn't get into any games. Guys come here and they don't get a chance unless they are one of the boys."

I'm going to call this sour grapes because it is nonsense.

Now, some people feel Joe doesn't use the pitching staff correctly. Some people feel that Groom may not have been used as he was and that he should have faced lefties only (despite the fact that Mo, Flash, Sturtze and Rodriguez have all been more effective against them this season and every one of those 4 but Sturtze has been better against lefties in their career). That's beside the point and not really related to what Groom said, in my book.

First of all, Joe is loyal... there is no doubt about it. It's a good trait to have. And if you produce for him or you show him something, he'll be comfortable with you and he'll continue to call your number. That's called trust. Trust is something you build and not something you get right away. In this regard, every manager has their "boys" a.k.a their go to relievers. But, that's not what Groom is implying. Not to me, anyway. He's more saying that Joe is the little league coach who starts his completely less capable son at short stop. Mariano Rivera, Tom Gordon and Tanyon Sturtze are the proverbial coaches sons. It's quite an insult to Mo, but it's also an insult to Flash and Tanyon. Was Mo one of "Joe's boys" when Joe was hired? No. He became Joe's boy because of his performance. Was Gordon Joe's boy when he signed here? No. He's been our 2nd best RP since opening day 2004. And that's why his number is called. Sturtze isn't as clear, but he has been semi reliable and once you look at the numbers, you will see that they show someone who has simply and clearly outperformed Groom. Last year, for instance. Lefties hit .333 off Groom. They hit .261 off Strutze. Righties hit .290 off Groom and they hit .246 off Strutze. This year, Strutze has again put himself far ahead of Groom in these categories. And that is why he is one of "Joe's boys" a.k.a. someone who pitches a lot - because he deserves to because of his performance!

When you've pitched 739 games and have an ERA of 4.63 as Groom had coming into this season, everyone knows what you're about. If he wasn't a lefty, would he be pitching in the majors? Perhaps, but not nearly as much. You've had a million opportunities. In 2003, batters hit .309 off Groom. In 2004, batters hit .309 off Groom. This season, where he has been allowed to pitch 24 games, batters have hit .305 off him. I mean... newsflash: the probable reason you went 15 days without pitching in Baltimore is because you're supposed to get lefties out and they were crushing you! He hadn't earned anyones trust and it was unrealistic of him to expect more opportunities than that when he is on a bullpen that features relievers clearly more capable than him at getting both righties and lefties out and on a team that is trying to get to the playoffs where every loss counts. That's what happens when your on a staff with your betters - you don't get a lot of chances and when you get those chances, you have to take advantage or you won't get more. There is nothing strange or wrong about that.

I hope he never pitches for the Yankees again. He shouldn't - unless he apologizes for what he said. These comments lead me to believe there might be something else going on here that the Yankees are not going to tell us. Perhaps an attitude issue? Again, all speculative on my part, but it seems strange that we'd go with Embree and Franklin over Groom, when he has performed better than both of them.

Edit: He's been dealt to Arizona for a PTBNL or cash. Works for me.