I loved, loved, loved A Tribe Called Quest, especially when I used to drive regularly. I dreamed of having hydraulics, bopping about..

Great beat!

you try too hard, is that the answer to the riddle?
instead of doin so much - why don't you do just a little?

i love that 40 days sample.

great pull alex, this is a tribe song that is really slept on - great to hear again.

Posted here b/c the other thread seems to have lost all steam.

Scenario: The economy continues to grind inexorably upwards over the next 12 months, slowly but surely getting onto surer footing. MLB teams, like all businesses, do slightly better in 2010 than in 2009, and the outlook for 2011 is even better.

Result: No depressed FA market a year from now. Owners are much more likely to open the checkbook a year from now than they are now.

Conclusion: A team is as likely to have to overpay for Crawford next year as they are to be able to (relatively) underpay for Holliday now. So, even if you believe that Crawford is the better player (which I do not), from a value perspective - and if you believe the scenario above - signing Holliday now for 5/85-ish is extremely likely to be a much better move than whatever it'd take to sign Crawford next year.

Add in the fact that there's a possibility that Crawford will not be a FA next year, and for my money Holliday is an absolute no brainer for the Yanks NOW.

And I still ask - who is going to go more than 5/85? The Muts? And he goes to Flushing? NO WAY.

[3] for my money

Of course, it's not for your money, it's for the Yankees' money! ; )

I am increasingly intrigued by Marlon Byrd as a stop gap, cheap solution for this year. If in fact he's cheap.

[4] For a price Byrd wouldn't make me overly throw up in my mouth. However, to what is he a stopgap? Crawford? If so, then I still believe Holliday is the waaaaaay better signing.

It seems abundantly clear that Holliday won't reach nine figures on a guaranteed deal this year. I could see the Yanks caving to 5/85 + a 6th year option in the 20mm range with some vesting based on plate appearances in years 4 and 5 so that if he's healthy then we're "stuck" with him for an additional year.

Conversely, I think - again based on the scenario I outlined in [3] which I put at around 70% - that it's possible that Crawford will take >5 and >85 guaranteed to sign.

And since I think Holliday is better, to me it's a no brainer.

Frankly, while I'm against more long contracts, I think 5/$82.5m gets Holliday, as he has stated the Yankees as his first choice. However, I would have done this before/without signing NJ, and would had traded Melky for salary relief. That would have made Holliday's net cost this year of $16.5 - 3 - 5.5 = $8m, and gone with an internal solution/Posada/the elderly for DH

I agree that Holliday now is better then a big bat LFer next next.

I don't know how you compare Crawford, and his 103 OPS+ to Holliday. Yeah, speed and defense help equalize it a bit, but IMHO, Holliday is a far more productive player.

I think the economy is a bit better for the 2011 FA class, but still a far cry from the free spending of '07 and '08. The economy will be better then now, but still bad. Frankly, Gardner and his 85 OPS+ and speed and defense for $0.4m is more likable then Crawford and his 110 OPS+ and speed and defense for $14m. That difference of $13-$14m might be more productive put into a pitcher Posada's replacement (if needed) or somewhere else. Pettitte is probably done after this year, so we have $11m to get a #3 starter.

But unless Cashman is in a big Christmas giving mode, I think the Holliday cruiseship has sailed.

{6} "I don’t know how you compare Crawford, and his 103 OPS+ to Holliday. Yeah, speed and defense help equalize it a bit, but IMHO, Holliday is a far more productive player."

I agree COMPLETELY. I think Holliday is vastly superior at more aspects of the game than vice versa. True Crawford has speed, which helps D and base running. But that's IT. And IT by a lot. Holliday does so many other things *so much better* than Crawford that to me there shouldn't even be a debate. But there is so...

I raised him in comparison to signing Holliday now b/c so many people give him so much love, and hold him up as the reason (beyond payroll) that we shouldn't/won't sign Holliday now. I think that's entirely wrong, not least because the same long term payroll issues will exist next year as do now, and you'll probably have to sign Crawford longer term than Holliday now.

From ESPN:
"NEW YORK -- Nick Johnson returned to the New York Yankees on Wednesday, finalizing a $5.5 million, one-year contract.

Johnson can earn about $1 million more in performance bonuses next year, and the deal includes a 2011 mutual option for at least $5.5 million with possible escalators."

Does this mean is passed his physicals and it's a done, final deal?

[6] BTW Pettitte is an interesting case. If we win again, and he pitches well and feels well...I can see the infectiousness continuing, and he comes back for yet another year. But I think if all of the above are not true, then he's definitely gone.

Javy on the other hand...well, he'll make "only" what 11 or 12 this year? If he does well I'd offer him arbitration. Either way we come out well. We pay him 13-14 for another season, or he walks and we get the picks.

It's somewhat dependent on Phil and Joba's abilities to become solid (or better) full time starters of course, and hopefully we won't fark that up this year.

[8] So long as he doesn't sprain his ankle on the way home from the doctor, I believe the deal is done.

Oops.... from Lohud:
It’s official: Nick’s back
Nick Johnson has passed his physical.

Hey, just poppin' on before vacation to say Merry Cash-mas, Merry Christmas, & Happy New Year, Banterers.
Be back here in 2010.

Thanks for keeping up the best Yanks blog out there, Alex, Cliff & Co.

Lohud has a pretty cool post up.
It was 1 year ago today that lightning struck, and the Yanks signed Teix!

So Lohud has the 500 comments of the day posted.
The first half are basically: "Crap... do we have enought to Win?
And the second half are basically: "Holy fuck... I don't believe what I just heard!"

It's kinda cool to see how fast the news broke.
It was TRULY Stealth Cashman at his best.

Do you think Dayton Moore actively searches for terrible players for the Royals?

[14] I think he works in tandem with Minaya, share the load as it were. Sort of a 1 + 1 = 0 type deal.

MLBTR.com: The Latest On Mark DeRosa
By Luke Adams [December 23 at 1:30pm CST]
The San Francisco Giants have offered Mark DeRosa a two-year deal worth $12MM, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (via Twitter).

[16] Thank God. That's a price we won't possibly match or god forbid exceed. I am greatly relieved.

[5] 2011 is a long way a way to target a specific player, though Adam Dunn should be a FA then. I'm just operating under the assumption that the Yankees do have a more or less fixed budget AND that Cashman is hesitant to take on another big contract when he has to deal with resigning players like Mo and Jeter after next year. So I am playing around with inexpensive options.

Now you are correct that Holliday would be the best possible addition, and if the team can afford him then by all means they should go for it. No objections here.

It simply depends on the parameters.

[0] Used to love ATCQ too, awesome jazz sampling.

Boring Xmas-eve morning here at Acme Investigations..amusing myself with some daydreaming: which is the easier way to make a lot of money? LOOGY or back-up catcher?

[19] LOOGY is far easier than being a BUC.

[20] yeah, but you have to be left-handed! i have lefty envy... : ~

[20] But a LOOGY..every time you get in the game it's a pressure situation for you. Give up one hit to the lefty you are facing and it's over..a BUC, well, just don't have any passed balls, sock a double or a homer once in a while, and learn to tell good jokes...seems like an easy life to me!

[19] Don't forget long reliever on a 13-man staff. You can go weeks without any action, and whenever you do come in, it's low leverage.

[22] LOOGY's have a much longer shelf life than BUCs. The fact that demand outweighs supply means a guy like Darren Oliver can extend his career past starting for another ten or so years, why Eddie Guardado becomes a dominant or at least useful reliever and Pedro Feliciano even gets to pitch in the majors. Try that with a Scott (Boomarang) Proctor if you will...

Not to say that a BUC won't stick around as long (why is Gregg Zaun still considered a premier backup?), comparing who has the cushiest job on the roster, it's gotta be the LOOGY by a nose.

On the 2009 team, I believe Molina got far more work than Marte did, though Marte was in more important situations down the stretch.

I don't understand the fixation with Holliday. He's underpowered for a corner bat and for his price. I don't like Crawford either. The guy I hope they go after is Jayson Werth. He's been a five win player for two seasons now (better than Crawford; slightly below Holliday) but the cost doesn't seem as if it will be as high. Jason Bay is a 3 win player and he'll likely get $60 million/4. That would be an excellent price for Werth, and it seems reasonable now unless he explodes onto the scene this year.

[25] Don't worry about the power, there's more than one way to score runs.