Happy end-of-NFL-season, everybody. Yankee catchers and pitchers, such as they are, report to Tampa one week from today.
Meantime, it got a bit lost in the Andy Pettitte shuffle from last week, but I’ve been meaning to mention another Yankee news item from Friday: Robinson Cano ditched his previous agent and signed with Scott Boras. It’s no substitute for the actual baseball we’ll get in a few short weeks, but I still found it interesting. Cano is in the last year of his contract, but the Yanks have two option years coming up; in the 2014 season, with Boras on board, do not expect Cano to offer the Yankees any kind of hometown discount. (Not that he should – they have plenty of money, and he’s turned into a genuine star; there’s no reason he shouldn’t get paid accordingly). Second basemen that hit like Cano aren’t easy to find, and I’m sure Boras will get him a massive payday. But I wonder why Cano chose to do this now, with the next two years pretty much taken care of already.
Also intriguing in that, from what I understand, Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano are reasonably close — and Rodriguez famously parted ways with Boras after the PR debacle (though financial success) of his last opt-out. Hmm. Speaking of A-Rod, the FOX cameras caught him and Cameron Diaz together early in the game, and of course she was hand-feeding him at the time:
Only A-Rod. As my friend said tonight, he should probably just stop appearing in public.
[Screencap from the gentlemen at River Avenue Blues.]
ARod's luck is actually improving in the public eye. Had it been a few years ago, he would have started choking on the popcorn. his starlet du jour would have had to do the Heimlich on him, and the headlines would have written themselves.
Howard Stern tweeted that he thinks A Rod is a king. Just goes to show how out of the sporting scene Howard is, no matter how many Knicks games he goes to. LOL
Part of me actually hates Spring Training more than the actual off season.
Being fed popcorn by a Hollywood starlet while sitting in the front row of al luxury box at the Super Bowl...hmm...why exactly should Arod sun the public eye?
As for Boras, if Arod is anything like the teammate he has been described, I am sure he would heartily recommend Boras regardless of his own personal relationship. It's funny how that Cano contract was looking kind of iffy heading into 2009, but now it has turned into a bargain.
[1][4] Yup.
Frankly, this makes him seem so much more human. I don't know if you are a post-modern feminist or any kind, for that matter, so please don't thump me. i be 63. I still love it when my wife shares some food or treat with me like this. She ain't no Hollywood starlet, but she be my wife and she loves me. Good for him. I hope his girl loves him as much as mine does me. He'd be very happy.
As for Cano, Ari could get him the big bucks. In fact, even I, with my limited negotiating skills and diminished credibility, could get him big bucks. Boras brings more to the table than just the top line.
[3] i hear ya, man. i'm no fan of ST, but it sure beats college hoops!
[4] Cameron Diaz is so old Cashman wants her to move to the OF.
[2] On my drive today Howard was busy saying how lucky A-Rod is. Howard is definitely out of the sports scene, he's more into the bachelor and dancing with the stars.
[0] I gagged when, in the middle of the game, I see Arod with upturned mouth awaiting his treat, and I don't know why. Is it his oddly juvenile laconic posture, is it the fey (and awkward) position of his hand, is it that he's not even looking at her - he's probably looking at himself on the jumbotron, is it the strange child/mother like passive relationship? Whatever it is, Arod does it better than anyone. It's very much like the uncanny valley. He's almost human, but there's enough of a gap to cause revulsion:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_valley
I second Emma's friend's suggestion.