Today’s post is powered by a classic personality pitching a (for its time) classic baseball video game:

• Edwar Ramirez has been diagnosed with mild bursitis in his right shoulder, and won’t pitch again until this weekend.
• Mariano Rivera notes that his shoulder is well on its way to full recovery:

“It’s feeling strong and now I am building muscle,” Rivera said of the shoulder, which was operated on after last season. “I have been throwing, playing long toss and it’s getting better every day.”

The next step for Rivera is to get on a bullpen mound, but he isn’t sure when that will occur.

“I don’t want to push it,” said Rivera, who vowed on the first day of spring training he would be ready by Opening Day, April 6.

• Tyler Kepner has a nice piece on Hideki Matsui’s efforts to get all the way back:

Matsui will be 35 in June, and his knees have made him a full-time designated hitter. He had surgery on his right knee after the 2007 season, then on his left knee on Sept. 22. Matsui delayed that operation so he could play in the final game at Yankee Stadium.

He stayed in the United States until December, working to strengthen the knee. In Japan, he practiced jogging on grass. He did not jog here until Monday, and he ran the bases gingerly after a round of batting practice Tuesday. He will not be ready to play when the Yankees visit the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday in Dunedin. …

Matsui spent 10 seasons playing his home games on artificial turf at the Tokyo Dome. At 6 feet 2 inches and 220 pounds, Matsui said he was among the bigger players in Japan and worried about damage to his knee cartilage.

“I knew there was a certain level of stress that was being put on my knees and my lower body in general,” he said. “I did have that fear that at some point, something was going to happen.” …

“I still feel I have a lot of baseball in me,” Matsui said. “Yes, I did get injured the last few years, but in terms of how I feel physically and my baseball skills, I don’t feel like I have any issues.”

• Kepner also details the positional battles to be address over the next five weeks:

With Edwar Ramirez dealing with bursitis in his right shoulder, there could be another opening in the bullpen. Mariano Rivera, Brian Bruney and Damaso Marte are locks. The Yankees will probably take a long reliever, too, which leaves three more spots from a group including Jose Veras, Phil Coke, Dave Robertson, Jonathan Albaladejo, Mark Melancon and Ramirez. …

Others who will try to squeeze onto the roster include the versatile infielder Cody Ransom (who is on the 40-man roster), and non-roster players like shortstop Angel Berroa and catcher Kevin Cash. Among the other non-roster players with major league experience include Shelley Duncan, Todd Linden and John Rodriguez.

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I am pleased to announce the first (hopefully annual) “Banter Battle” fantasy baseball league over at Yahoo! Sports.

It’ll be a 6×6 (the usual 10 categories, plus holds and OPS) non-keeper roto league, with a live draft to be held on Monday, March 23rd at 9:30 pm Eastern time.  (You can pre-rank your selections if you can’t be there live).

In order to join the league,  go to the game front page, click the “Sign Up Now” or “Get Another Team” button and follow the links to “Join a Custom League”. When prompted, enter the League ID# and password below.

League ID#: 112369
Password: cashman

Its free to play, and we won’t be playing for any $.  However, the winner will get his/her (user)name placed on the Banter sidebar for all to admire.

The only requirement we insist on is that you not abandon your team in the middle of the season.  So, serious replies only please.

Play ball!

Today’s news is powered by a baseball-themed clip from Conan O’Brien’s final show:

• The infirmary report on Jorge Posada keeps improving by the day:

Reporting to camp well ahead of pitchers and catchers, Posada has had plenty of time to work out the kinks. He is incrementally moving closer to getting behind the plate in a big league game, and he is still eyeing Opening Day on April 6 at Baltimore as the moment he will stick a few fingers down for CC Sabathia.

The 37-year-old made 15 throws from distances as far as 220 feet Sunday, drawing praise from Yankees manager Joe Girardi, who called it “substantially different than what I saw just four or five days ago.”

• Ken Davidoff writes about Joe Girardi philosophy when it comes to making out line-ups:

Torre’s early Yankees teams, particularly those from 1996-99, carried amazing depth on the 25-man roster.

Joe Girardi, part of that depth on those clubs, knows he won’t be able to match that. But in crafting the lineup cards this season, an admittedly crucial one for him, he hopes to strike that magical balance among stability, variety and versatility.

“I prefer to have a set lineup. I think it works best,” Girardi said yesterday after a second straight relatively tranquil practice that was light on the A-Rod. “But sometimes, similar to some of the teams that I was on, you’re better if there’s some platoon situations, or your bench is extremely strong, or everyone’s in the mix, or everyone’s healthy. We just have to see how it shakes out.” …

… Girardi struggled to get a feel for when to start his players and when to rest them, a failing that came to life Aug. 11 in Minnesota, when he benched Johnny Damon (10-for-24 in the previous five games) against Twins starter Glen Perkins. Justin Christian led off and went 0-for-4, and the Yankees fell meekly, 4-0.

The Yankees used 130 lineups last year, and they used their Opening Day lineup – Damon in leftfield, Derek Jeter at shortstop, Bobby Abreu in rightfield, Alex Rodriguez at third base, Jason Giambi at first base, Robinson Cano at second base, Posada at catcher, Hideki Matsui at designated hitter and Melky Cabrera in centerfield – only on April 1.

• Joe Girardi decided to cancel workouts Monday and instead organize a team “field trip” to a local pool hall.  Mariano Rivera turned out to be the best pool player of the bunch:

The idea hit Girardi in the early days of Spring Training, realizing that camp runs longer this year because of the World Baseball Classic and a day of respite might be welcome before exhibition games begin.

It would also be a good way for Girardi to better familiarize himself with the team.

“I think every year you’re here as a manager, you want to have more knowledge about your players and their personalities,” Girardi said. “You want to feel closer to your players. You want to bring a group together. It’s important that a group is united when they leave Spring Training.”

Looking for an event that could not be impacted by weather, Girardi originally considered renting out a bowling alley, but the idea of having his pitchers whipping 12-pound balls down the lanes dissuaded him.

The Yankees found a billiard hall that could accommodate a large group, and Girardi told the Yankees to book it for a few hours. The tournament was expected to last about 2 1/2 hours — until lunch — but Girardi acknowledged it might take longer, with no real pool sharks known to be on the roster.

[My take: The mental image I have of Sabathia leaning over the table to make a tough shot scares me a bit.]

(more…)

Let’s get right to it …

• PeteAbe has a longer-length column on Joe Girardi “more personal approach” this season:

Girardi approached the Yankees last season like one of the industrial engineering assignments he undertook as a student at Northwestern. If he applied enough of his own hard work and logic to whatever issue came up, he would find the solution. But those pesky variables, other people, kept getting in the way. …

Eight days into his second spring training with the Yankees is not enough time to determine whether Girardi truly has changed the methods that led to the reconfiguration of his coaching staff, tension in the clubhouse, and a fractured relationship with the reporters who cover the team. But his reaction to the Rodriguez scandal reveals a man willing to change.

Relentlessly positive a year ago, Girardi has been measured in his support of Rodriguez – a position that reflects the mood of the team – while at the same time using the situation as a way to better connect to his players. The bridges that he vowed to build last fall are falling into place, plank by plank.

• Steve Serby has a fluffy but fun Q&A with CC Sabathia, including this instant classic exchange:

Q: Why do you wear your hat cocked?

A: It feels straight to me when I have it on.

• John Harper details the financial risks Andy Pettitte took in the off-season:

When all the haggling was finally done this winter, Andy Pettitte turned down $10 million and wound up signing for $5.5 million with incentives, which is the kind of deal you think would get an agent fired in most cases.

Pettitte says no, he has no problem with Randy Hendricks and no problem with his deal. He was determined to get the $12 million he thought he was worth, and in the end maybe he paid a price for playing his hand too boldly, but he insists it was worth it for the chance to prove the ugly finish to last season doesn’t mean he’s one step from being washed up.

“Hey, around July last year I thought I was going to win 20 games,” Pettitte was saying Saturday. “I felt that good. So don’t tell me that based on my last 11 or 12 starts I’m done. I had a shoulder problem.”

As it turns out, he’s essentially betting $4.5 million that he can stay healthy and reach the incentives that could get him to $12 million, and for a 36-year-old pitcher with a history of elbow injuries to go with last year’s shoulder problem, that’s a risky bet.

• Wallace Matthews profiles the always energetic Nick Swisher:

Wedged in among the dramatics of A-Rod, the stoic professionalism of Jeter and the quiet dignity of Mariano Rivera, Swisher sticks out like a lunatic in a library.

“Swish is very energetic, I’ll tell you that,” said a bemused Posada, who sits four lockers away, still close enough to feel the bass vibrations in his sternum. “He looks like he’s really enjoying being here.”

Think Jack Black with a first baseman’s mitt or Ozzy Osbourne with the ability to draw a walk, and you’ve got Swisher pegged.

And his high-energy pre-workout routine – a little air guitar, a little wrestling with the kids running around the clubhouse, some mosh pit writhing – was just a warm-up for his post-workout session. That’s when he spent an hour in the batting cage with hitting coach Kevin Long, honing his swing from both sides of the plate while shouting “Nobody else is working like this!” between hacks.

(more…)

Its Saturday morning … you wanna sleep late … but your cat has other ideas …

Important note!
I would rather not (further) play into the MSM’s fixation with the A-Rod PED story. I don’t want to help feed the “let’s hunt down every possible angle til we tear down Rodriguez” monster, so from here on, I will only post a PED-related A-Rod story if it has a direct result on his playing status (ex. he needs to miss a game to speak to Congress). Otherwise, I’m gonna let it slide.  This has Alex Belth’s blessing.  I hope you understand.

Now, back to the news:

• David Ortiz admires Mark Teixeira, and his fortunate timing contract-wise:

“Everybody needed a player like him at the time and the market was wide open. He walked into a situation that was perfect for him, and on top of it he was a very good player. Everybody who performs at that level wants to be put in that situation.” …

Under his previous deal, (Ortiz) could have potentially hit the free agent market at the age of 31.

But in the first month of the 2006 season Ortiz chose to sign a four-year, $52 million extension with a team option for 2011. …

“Teixeira was 28 years-old. In a few years I’ll be 35. It’s a totally different situation,” Ortiz said. “They know what you deserve and you go from there. But I’ll tell you what, if I was 28 I would be thinking like that.

“The market (when he signed his deal) wasn’t like it is now. It wasn’t close to what it is now. The year after I signed my deal the market exploded with the big television deal. I know it will be hard to get that kind of money a few years from now. I haven’t really sat down and thought about it. All my focus is about doing my thing. You work, try to get better every day for a reason. I’m not planning to go anywhere.”

• Johnny Damon and Xavier Nady are experiencing some financial liquidity issues:

Damon, 35, and Nady, 30, told FOXSports.com on Friday morning that their finances are frozen because of money they have with a Stanford company.

On Monday, the Securities and Exchange Commission froze all assets of three entities — Stanford International Bank, Stanford Group Co., and Stanford Capital Management — all managed by Robert Allen Stanford. Those were the only three entities whose assets were frozen, according to the SEC filing.

“I can’t pay bills right now,” Damon said at the Yankees’ spring training facility in Tampa. “That started on Tuesday. I had to pay a trainer for working out during the offseason. I told him, ‘Just hold on for a little bit and hopefully all this stuff gets resolved.'”

Nady faces similar concerns.

“I’m affected in some ways. I have the same (advisor) as Johnny,” Nady said. “He said I didn’t have money with Stanford (investments). But all my credit card accounts are frozen right now because of that situation. I’m trying to get an apartment in New York. I can’t put a credit card down to hold it.”

[My take: Maybe Nady should see if A-Rod’s apartment is still up for sale (vacant)?]

(more…)

Powered by it just being Friday, here’s the news:

• BP.com’s Christina Kahrl runs down the worst free-agent contracts of the off-season, and bestows the “worst” upon A.J. Burnett’s deal:

… why spend $16.5 million per year for the next five on a pitcher with Burnett’s spotty track record? Well, because you can, I suppose, and because somebody else you’re competing with might, but is investing this kind of money in a pitcher coming off of just his second full season in a big-league rotation in ten in The Show really where you want to wind up? Between Burnett’s repeated problems with durability and consistency over the course of his career, the money alone for this kind of length was nuts. Add in that young pitching is the organization’s great strength—Phil Hughes representing just the front end of the wave—and short-term deals like Pettitte’s incentive-driven one-year contract look entirely sensible as an adaptation to the market and the team’s immediate win-now needs; Burnett’s deal, by comparison, does not.

• BP.com also trots out their first 2009 iteration of their Playoff Odds report, and pegs the Yanks as having a 32.1% chance of winning the East and a 24.5% chance of nabbing the wild card.  Their resulting 56.5% chance of making the post-season ranks a comfortable 2nd behind the BoSox in the AL.
• If you care ….they’ve tracked down A-Rod’s cousin.

[My take: This song seems appropriate.]

• Buster Olney reports that the Yanks and Padres are each interested in the services of a 32-year-old Mexican League pitcher named Walter Silva.
• MLB.com explores the Yankees interest in players from China.
• It appears that the Yankee lineup will run Tex/A-Rod in the 3/4 slots.
• ESPN.com reports that Boss George and Bernie Williams each showed up at camp Thursday.  Here’s what was said about Steinbrenner:

Steinbrenner arrived at about 10 a.m., was brought from the parking lot to Steinbrenner Field in a golf cart, then was transferred to a wheelchair near a bank of elevators before going up to his office. The 78-year-old has been increasingly frail in recent years.

[My take: I was almost taken aback when I read about the wheelchair.  I mean … we all know he’s on the decline … but I still think of George as bluster and braggadocio.]

• No surprise here … Hank Steinbrenner doesn’t think much of John Henry’s call for a salary cap:

“Along with a few other teams, we’re basically baseball’s stimulus package,” Steinbrenner told The Associated Press. …

The Yankees, according to AP, paid about $110 million in revenue sharing and luxury tax last season — the latter a penalty for having a payroll beyond an agreed-upon dollar figure between owners and the players union.

“As long as we’re doing that and giving all this money to other teams in revenue sharing, a staggering amount, we should be able to spend on salaries what we want to,” Steinbrenner said. “Because of revenue sharing and because of the popularity nationwide, the Yankees are critical to baseball.”

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Today’s news is powered by a classic baseball cartoon (goodness knows we could all use a laugh right about now) …

• BP.com’s Joe Sheehan points out the media frenzy and the unfairness towards A-Rod’s actions:

The reaction to Rodriguez’s press conference has been at best apathetic, and at worst, critical. His demeanor, his word choice, his expressions, his inflections have all been picked apart, and he’s been given no credit for the details he provided. There’s an assumption that he’s being deceptive, duplicitous, and insincere. Whether this stems from the dislike so many people have for this very insecure man, the dislike of his agent, or the general disdain for the successful and wealthy—let’s face it, sports coverage has devolved into thinly disguised class warfare—this most open moment has been dismissed, and Rodriguez has been given no credit for providing it.

Contrast that with the reaction to the press conference at which the Chargers’ Shawne Merriman openly discussed his… oh, wait, that didn’t happen. It didn’t happen because the NFL doesn’t have a vested interest in making its players look bad to gain the upper hand in an unending war against its own product. The NFL would never sustain a story like that through multiple news cycles, never allow PED use to overwhelm the story of training camps opening, never contribute to speculation that its game and its stars were somehow less than because of their behavior.

The other day, Bud Selig whined that he shouldn’t be held responsible for the so-called “steroid era,” claiming that he wanted to talk about the problem as far back as 1995. As I’ve mentioned, Selig has flipped on this issue a few times, sometimes claiming to have been fighting it for a while, sometimes claiming he didn’t know there was a problem. …

• Steven Goldman of Pinstriped Bible finished up with this thought after viewing the news conference:

Of course, none of these concerns go to the bottom line, which, as A-Rod correctly pointed out, is that he had his best season in 2007, and there has been a testing regimen in place for a few years now, one that seems to have been successful in nailing quite a few players. There remains little evidence that steroids do much more for ballplayers than build muscle, or that Rodriguez’s numbers were affected in any significant way. He remains one of the best ballplayers in the business and also one of the hardest to like. From the point of view of winning pennants, one out of two ain’t bad.

• Jayson Stark gets some interesting comments about the whole A-Rod deal from the one and only Mike Schmidt:

… when Schmidt was asked directly if he thought he’d have gotten caught up in trying performance-enhancing drugs had they been part of his era, he answered: “Most likely. Why not?”

“A term that I think has been overused a lot, especially by Alex, is ‘culture’ — culture of the era he played in,” Schmidt said. “We had a culture when I played. There was a culture in the era when Babe Ruth played. And in the ’60s, there was a culture. It’s just that way in life. And apparently — I wasn’t involved, but from hearing everybody — that was the culture of the ’90s and the early 2000s. The temptation had to be tremendous to the young men playing major league baseball back then.”

But when he was asked if he thought that being “young and stupid” was an acceptable explanation for what A-Rod did, Schmidt said: “Young and stupid may be better [when you’re] 12, 13, 14, as opposed to 23, 4, 5 and 6.”

(more…)

Today’s news is brought to you by someone who knows how to properly admit the truth about his taking PEDs:

(I’m not gonna inundate you with A-Rod news conference links, because Alex and Cliff have done and will continue to provide related content.  But here are a couple to tide you over …)

• PeteAbe provides the text of Rodriguez’s opening statement (via the AP).
• Jayson Stark points out the inconsistencies in A-Rod’s answers to Gammons’ questions, and what he said at the news conference.  For example:

Nine days ago, A-Rod didn’t know what kind of drug (or drugs) he was taking — even though he says he took it for three years.

Now, nine days later, he knows it was something called “Boli.” Which, best we can tell, is another name for Primobolan, the exact drug he was asked point-blank by Gammons whether he had taken.

Nine days ago, there wasn’t one word uttered about any mysterious cousins who were procuring this stuff and helping him inject it. …

Nine days ago, A-Rod was implying that whatever he was taking, he was buying it down at the mall …

Now, he’s admitting his cousin was the one doing the purchasing. And although he continued to say this drug was bought “over the counter,” we now know that counter was located in the Dominican Republic …

Nine days ago, there was no mention of any other “substances.” But on Tuesday, Rodriguez admitted to ESPN’s Hannah Storm that he also used to take Ripped Fuel, which was later banned — at least in its original ephedra-based form — by both baseball and the FDA.

And nine days ago, Rodriguez was angrily accusing universally respected Sports Illustrated reporter Selena Roberts of “stalking” him. Now, it turns out, he just had a “misunderstanding of the facts.” So never mind.

Now let me ask you: Would a man whose mission was simply to tell the truth do that much zigzagging in a nine-day span? Sorry. That’s tough to accept.

[My take: Alex should have taken one more injection … truth serum.]

• Alan Schwarz of the Times blogged the A-Rod news conference, and had this to say at the end of it:

Rodriguez has said, in many different ways, “I’m ready to get this behind me.”….

I have my own personal Pete Rose Rule, named after the Hit King who denied he bet on baseball for (something like) 14 years before finally admitting it and saying, in effect, “It’s good to get this off my chest, and it’s time to move on.” Seems to me that if you admit to something after lying about it for 14 years, you get 14 years before others let you “move on.”

(more…)

Today’s news is powered by a younger, more innocent Alex Rodriguez, as seen in this video:

• Jayson Stark takes us behind the scenes of the soon-to-be circus atmosphere of A-Rod’s news conference:

Have I mentioned that Mark Teixeira pulled into this clubhouse for the first time Monday? If you’re wondering, he was 8½ minutes into his first chat with the media before he got a single question fired at him that WASN’T A-Rod-related.

Later on, the manager plopped into a chair in his office for his daily dose of press banter. The conversation with Joe Girardi lasted 14 minutes. I timed it.

He took one question about his overpopulated outfield, and another about whether he expected all of his players to report on time. EVERY other question was about his third baseman.

So think about how much Girardi and that talented little $200 million baseball team of his can’t wait for this melodrama to be over. Hey, good luck on that.

But at least the manager has that part figured out. Asked Monday if there was a “danger” that this story might linger after A-Rod leaves the witness stand — er, news conference — Girardi never blinked.

“Obviously, I think it’s going to linger,” he said. “I don’t think we’re going to have a press conference [Tuesday] and then it’s just going to disappear.”

• ESPN ombusman LeAnne Schrieber takes a hard look at her network’s Gammons/A-Rod coverage.

My own assessment is that Gammons asked the hard questions — Did you take steroids? For how long? Where did you get them? Did you lie to Katie Couric? — but that after getting Rodriguez’s opening admission of guilt, he did not press hard enough when Rodriguez gave evasive or self-serving answers to the what/where/when/why questions. I also think Gammons’ lack of follow-up was attributable, in large part, to his genuine sympathetic engagement in the human drama of what the viewer somewhat cynically called “Rodriguez’s first step toward personal redemption.”

• SI’s Jerry Crasnick rates the Yankees OF situation as one of the top 9 position battles to be settled this Spring:

Johnny Damon, whose 118 OPS+ a year ago tied the best single-season mark of his career, will get the bulk of the left field at-bats, which leaves Xavier Nady and Nick Swisher in the mix in right and Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner competing for time in center.

(more…)

Since today is President’s Day, the news is powered by this video:

• PeteAbe has an article detailing that Rivera pitched with some discomfort during ’08:

During his annual state-of-the-closer address, Rivera revealed that he pitched much of last season in pain because of a bone spur on top of his collarbone. The lump, which was visible through his skin, caused discomfort even when he slept.

“I felt it all day,” Rivera said. “I don’t want to go through that again.”

Dr. David Altchek shaved down the bone on Oct. 7, but only after Rivera had appeared in 64 games and recorded 39 saves. Rivera had a 1.40 ERA and allowed only 41 hits over 70 2/3 innings. He struck out 77 and walked six.

In a superlative career, it was one of Rivera’s best seasons.

“It was painful but I did it,” said Rivera, who said the worst days were the ones when he pitched more than an inning or for the third game in a row.

[My take: Carl Pavano strained his ego reading that article.]

• Ken Davidoff reflects on the void in Yankeeland left by the departure of Boss George from day-to-day operations:

He sure made life difficult for everyone. Yet in virtual absentia, Steinbrenner’s stature has only grown. It has become painfully apparent that for all of his flaws, he has left an immense void. One that is even more noticeable when the organization is under siege, like right now.

“Those are some big shoes to fill,” said Rich Gossage, here as a guest instructor. “There is only one George Steinbrenner, I can tell you that. The current regime, it’s going to take a while for the transition to happen.”

• PeteAbe also blogs about Day 2 of camp, including this tidbit:

Joe Girardi mentioned that he wants to carry a long reliever. But it would hurt the development of Phil Hughes or Ian Kennedy to use them in such a fashion. “Those guys need innings,” the manager said. Hughes and I had a little talk about it. “The paychecks would be great but that’s not what I need,” he said. “I’m good with pitching in AAA if that is what happens and being ready for when they need me.”

You watch, he’ll get 10-15 starts in the majors this season.

• At least Hughes is saying the right things:

“As long as I pitch well, I think I’ll have an opportunity,” Hughes said Sunday after his first bullpen session of the year at Steinbrenner Field. “And if all five of our starters go through the year and make every one of their starts, great. That’s obviously what they’re looking forward to. I’m just trying to work hard and find a place to fit it somewhere.”

(more…)

In honor of Valentine’s Day, today’s news is powered by this video (don’t worry, there’s no sex :-)):

• Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports on the Yanks’ first day or camp down in Florida, including this chuckle:

Noted extrovert Joba Chamberlain was already in midseason form, heading for the locker of the big man on campus and trying on CC Sabathia’s size 56 pinstriped jersey.

[My take: Brett Garder could use it for a tent.]

• Here’s a photo to make you happy … C-MW on the mound.
• Over at ESPN.com, Jayson Stark offers the results of a survey regarding best and worst off-season moves.  The Yankees figure prominently in the “best” categories.
• At BP.com, Kevin Goldstein is out with his annual listing of the “Top 100 Prospects”.   Jesus Montero is one of only two Yankees to make the list, at #38.  Austin Jackson (#46) is the other.
• Also at BP.com, Marc Normandin lists the top fantasy second basemen for ’09.  Robby Cano comes in at #14.
• The Yanks signed Brett Tomko to a minor league deal, writes Tyler Kepner.

[My take: Fun fact … his name anagrams to BOTTOM TREK, which sort of describes this signing.]

• In PeteAbe’s reporting of the Tomko signing, he includes this A-Rod news:

Meanwhile, in an incredible case of bad timing, the University of Miami named its baseball field after Alex Rodriguez this evening. A-Rod donated $3.9 million to refurbish the facility. He had planned to attend Miami before signing with Seattle out of high school.

The stadium is now called Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field. How a park can be at a field, I’m not quite sure. But for $3.9 million, it doesn’t really matter.

[My take: Any truth to the rumor that Alex is now claiming he didn’t know exactly what he was putting his money towards (a park or a field), and that he’s sorry and remorseful and ready to move on?]

(more…)

In recognition of it being Friday the 13th, and all the news regarding a certain similarly-numbered Yankee, today’s news is powered by this clip … ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Stevie Wonder

Here’s the news

• Would the Commish really suspend A-Rod after his admission of steroid use?

[My take: That’s the LAST thing the Yanks need.  A fidgety A-Rod sitting on the pine for what … 50 games?]

• If you care to read Selig’s statement on the admission.
• TampaBay.com has some interesting Cashman quotes on the mess:

“From (2004) on, we’ve had the testing procedures in place — that’s the best I can go off of,” Cashman said. “I’m not here to represent that I’m confident about anything of anybody. I think we’ve lived through a tough stretch that shattered that confidence level. If you asked me that question five years ago, I’d be giving you a different answer. But I’ve been educated quite a bit, unfortunately, over this course of time. So I’m not gonna maybe make the same mistakes I’ve made in the past … so I’ll give you a blanket, ‘I’m not confident about anything in the past anymore.’ ”

Asked if he knew then what he now knows about Rodriguez, would he have re-signed the All-Star third baseman, Cashman said, “you can’t take us back that way.”

• Would Alex be willing to speak to youth about the dangers of performance-enhancing substances?  A congressmen wants to know:

A congressman has extended an invitation to baseball star Alex Rodriguez to discuss steroids — at an anti-drug event in Maryland.

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) wrote a letter to the New York Yankees slugger this week, asking him to attend the “Powered by ME!” conference in Timonium, Md., this April. Cummings is a senior member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which heard pitcher Roger Clemens last year deny he used steroids or human growth hormone. The FBI is investigating whether Clemens lied when he made those denials. …

“In light of your recent acknowledgment that you used steroids in the past,” Cummings wrote, “I believe you are in a unique position to send a strong message out to our young people that they should refrain from using performance-enhancing substance.” The Associated Press obtained a copy of the letter Thursday.

(more…)

Powered by this timely video ….

Here’s the news:

• At the News, Mark Feinsand profiles 19-year-old Jesus Montero, the supposed heir apparent to Posada:

Though there’s been speculation that Montero, a burly, 6-3, 230-pound Venezuelan, might have to switch positions, the Yankees say they are committed to him as a receiver.

“That’s our intention and, more importantly, that’s his intention, too,” said Mark Newman, the Yankees’ vice president of baseball operations. “Right now, he hasn’t shown us anything that tells us he can’t do it. He improved his throw-out percentage last year. He’s a big boy, so he’s got to maintain lower body flexibility, but he’s got very good arm strength and he’s very bright, so he’ll run a game very well.”

“The conventional wisdom might be that he’s too big. But our attitude is that he can do it and we expect him to do it. He’s a catcher and he’s nothing beyond that, at this time.”

Montero, who played in the Futures Game at Yankee Stadium last summer, had a huge season at Charleston, the Yankees’ low-Class A affiliate in 2008, batting .326 with 17 homers and 87 RBI. It was his first full season. Montero likely will move up to high-A Tampa in 2009, Newman said.

• Joba Chamberlain is yet another teammate to support A-Rod:

Even though Rodriguez might have a long process to go through, from the possibility of scorn from his own teammates and fans and insulting chants in opposing ballparks, Chamberlain feels confident he will thrive, baseball-wise. “He’s still going to go out and play the game,” Chamberlain said. “He’s going to be the Alex that we’ve counted on and he’s going to be there for us…. He’s one of the greatest players to ever play, so he’s going to continue to do what he does.”

• Teixeira has thrown his support behind Rodriguez too:

“I know he’s going through a rough time right now, and I think his apology said it all,” Teixeira said. “He’s disappointed in himself, he made a mistake and we’re all going to move on … I’m just going to open up my arms, give him a big hug, tell him I love him and we’re going to get through this.” …

“I’ve never touched steroids or any of those kinds of things — it’s something I feel very strongly about — but at the same time I’ve made mistakes, I’m not perfect, no one’s perfect.”

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Hey A-Rod … George Hamilton saw you on ESPN, and called to say he wants his suntan back!

Today’s news …

• Torre on A-Rod’s admission:

“I had never really heard anything in connection to him. When you watch his work ethic, the time he puts in at batting practice and in the weight room, I had no reason to question him. He has the most ability of any player I’ve seen,” Torre said through Dodgers spokesman Josh Rawitch. “It’s going to be tough for him but I’m happy that he came out, faced the music and took responsibility for it.”

• Will A-Rod be going to see (Rep. Elijah) Cummings?  Newsday reports that Rodriguez would get an invite to talk to the same folks who grilled McGwire, Palmeiro, et. al, if Rep. Cummings had his way.
• However, SI.com is reporting the head of that Congressional committee doesn’t foresee a need to have Alex in for a chat.
• The Post quotes Joe Girardi saying the Yanks will rally around Alex:

“I think we will rally around him. I think teammates have already started to rally around him,” Girardi said on WFAN this afternoon.

“I kind of look at it as a relationship you kind of have with your kids. Sometimes kids do things you wish they didn’t do, but you don’t stop loving them, you don’t stop caring for them, you don’t stop being their friend or their teammate. And that’s the thing.”

[My take: Every season … the Yanks get to rally around someone who decided to stick a needle in themselves …. Giambi, Pettitte, now A-Rod.  That’s at least one more rally than they had during the 2008 regular season (ba-dum-bum).  And Joe … A-Rod is not a kid … he’s an adult … he absolutely knew what he was doing … the consequences and risks involved … and now the rest of the team has to “suffer the fool” for another nine years.  That’s a heavy burden to carry … I wouldn’t be surprised if some Bombers have already grown resentful of the continuing adventures of A-Rod.]

• PeteAbe of LoHud reports that Chien-Ming Wang feels good and is ready for the season:

Wang said his foot has totally healed and he is ready to go. I asked him about the Yankees adding CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett.

“Great for us,” he said. “We have a good rotation. I was glad.”

Wang has long resisted the idea of being considered the ace of the staff. Part of it is his personality, part of it is cultural. He defers to older players and always has. The guy is a competitor on the mound but quiet off it. Look for him to have a big year as he tries to make up for missing so much time. He also was relieved not to face another arbitration hearing.

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Powered by one of my all-time favorite “ESPN Radio” commercials …

Here’s the news (hopefully not “All About Alex”)

• Bill Madden suggests the Yanks just eat the remaining $270+ million left on A-Rod’s contract:

Now that A-Rod’s pursuit looks as counterfeit as Bonds’, they should do what’s best for the organization:

Cut him loose – no matter the cost.

As difficult as it is to imagine eating $270 million, the Bombers will be making a statement, not just for the Yankee brand but for baseball as a whole.

They will be applauded for it.

The Yankees operate under two basic tenets: The relentless pursuit of championships and the fierce protection of their brand. If they are going to remain true to both, then they have no choice but to sever ties with Rodriguez.

[My take: Pass the TUMS …..]

• Mike Lupica has a couple of juicy comments regarding the awkward marriage of Alex and the Yankees:

“The amazing thing about Alex,” an American League manager said Sunday, “isn’t that the Yankees traded for him in the first place. It’s that they re-signed the guy after he walked away from them the way he did.

“Because that means they drank the Kool-Aid twice.”

The same guy then said: “I hear people saying Jeter is probably down in Tampa laughing his a– off because of this drug story about Alex. Are you kidding? Jeter’s crying his a– off, because he knows he’s got to spend the rest of his career playing alongside [Rodriguez].”

• Over at LoHud, PeteAbe thanks Alex for driving a lot of traffic to the site.
• Pete also has actual non-Alex baseball news! (from Brian Cashman):

The Yankees will use Joba Chamberlain as their No. 5 starter from the start of the season. There are no plans to pitch him out of the bullpen. “That is why bringing Andy (Pettitte) back was so important,” Cashman said. …

Cashman said he “absolutely” likes the idea of keeping Xavier Nady and Nick Swisher on the roster. While a trade is possible, there is value in roster flexibility. “Nady can cover us in left and right. Swisher can play first, left, right and center in an emergency. It gives our manager a lot of choices,” Cashman said. …

· There are high hopes for Melky Cabera to reclaim center field. “Melky played well in winter ball and he has to show the competitiveness to put last season behind him,” Cashman said. “The good ones always find a way.”…

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Since this off-season has been such a piece of science fiction, today’s news is brought to you by this:

So it seems this fellow named Alex Rodriguez put something in his body he wasn’t supposed to, and now folks think his performance at his job is tainted … let’s just list every relevant article:

• Jayson Stark thinks this is a huge blow to the legacy of the game:

Who knows what other names are lurking on that list of seized urine samples? Who knows whose career and reputation will be fed through the shredder in the next big scoop? And the next? And the next? …

How could baseball have allowed this to happen to itself? How? Can anyone recall any other sport that has ever committed such an insane act of self-destruction?

What compares to it? The Black Sox? This is worse. Game-fixing in college basketball? This is worse. Nominate any scandal in the history of sports. My vote is that this is worse. It’s not worse because it will cause massive numbers of people to stop watching or caring about baseball. Check the attendance. Check the revenue charts. People will come back. They’ve already come back. The sport, as a business, is doing great. But the sport, as a unique paragon of American culture, is devastated. And that’s forever.

• Howard Bryant writes about the legacy of the would-have-been HOFers, and also about the “leak” of A-Rod’s name:

The debate over the next few days undoubtedly will shift to the leak, to who spoke to Sports Illustrated and why. And why, if the anonymous source had access to the entire list, was Rodriguez the only person named? The legality of the leak should not be underestimated. Someone has compromised the confidentiality of an agreement. But these questions are important, although they aren’t as important as this fact: The full scope of the steroids era is coming into even clearer focus.

Don’t forget that the most important informant in American history — W. Mark Felt, aka Deep Throat — took down a president in part because he didn’t receive the promotion he wanted. Nobody complained then, because the information he leaked was legitimate.

For the same reasons, nobody should complain now.

• Buster Olney laments the opportunity lost through A-Rod’s actions:

Alex Rodriguez was supposed to be the guy who saved baseball, the way that Mark McGwire did in 1998. He was supposed to ride in and save the home run record from the clutches of suspected steroid user Barry Bonds. He was supposed to be the guy who would show that clean players could be just as prolific as the cheaters.

• Olney also wonders how A-Rod will respond publicly to inquiries about this matter:

But there’s one other destination for A-Rod, one more route: Honest and Open. He could talk about everything: what he did, when he did it, why he did, his regrets, his concerns, side effects, the benefits, the costs. This would be something very rarely seen in the steroid era — a time filled with thousands of mistakes by users, by union leaders, by the baseball commissioner and by baseball owners. And yet it’s a time of embarrassingly few specific, sincere admissions. Doing so would be the right thing. That could be part of A-Rod’s legacy as well.

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Since its Saturday morning … this post is powered by a cartoon.  Not just any cartoon mind you … but perhaps the cleverest, “works on multiple levels” cartoon of the past 15 years (excepting “The Simpsons”, of course).

(And yes, its part 2 of 2 … I can’t find part 1 … but its still worth it).

Ladies and gentlemen …. I give you “The Powerpuff Girls” in “Meet The Beat Alls”

• Leading off …. here is a Boston-based book review of our favorite new tome:

Torre and Verducci spend much of the book chronicling the rise of the Red Sox and fall of the Yankees, and note that “Athens would prevail over Sparta at last.” The authors rightly contend that the shift in the balance of power between the teams was the result of bad decisions by Cashman and extraordinarily sound ones by Red Sox GM Theo Epstein. …

Those not deterred by its length will find “The Yankee Years” an insightful and non-hagiographic look at a legendary manager and team during one of baseball’s most transformational eras.

• The Post’s Joel Sherman gazes into the future of Derek Jeter’s next contract … and shudders:

But know this – Yankee officials already talk privately about dreading D(erek)-Day.

After all, what team official wants to tell Jeter he has to take a pay cut or has to move positions or – gulp – just has to move on? How would you like that on your baseball epitaph: You were the Yankee executive who told Derek Jeter thanks for the memories? Derek Jeter

Of course, the alternative is not too appetizing either. Because kowtowing to Jeter’s legacy by paying him lavishly and keeping him at short means tying yourself to a late-30s icon well beyond his expiration date.

As if the matter needs complications, Jeter will conclude his current 10-year, $189 million contract on the doorstep of 3,000 hits, a total never reached by a Yankee.

And, really, do we need complications? He is Derek Freaking Jeter. He is the very definition of Yankee. How do you explain being tied to Alex Rodriguez for 10 years, but cutting relationships with Jeter?

[My take: Has any reporter even approached Jeter with the question of whether he’d be willing to switch positions, try CF, if the team asked him to/needed him to?  Maybe Jeter’s performance in ’09 and ’10 will be poor enough that the public outcry over letting him go will be softened a bit?  (Admittedly, that would probably mean the Yanks miss the playoffs those years.) Perhaps he’d like to rejoin Torre with the Dodgers in 2011?]

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Powered by quite possibly the greatest three minutes in WKRP (and perhaps all of sitcom) history …

WKRP in Cincinnati: Thanksgiving Turkey Bomb! @ Yahoo! Video

• OK … I’m guilty of having been …. ummm …. overly optimistic … regarding the able-bodied viability of Ben Sheets as an answer to the Yanks need for a fifth starter. He’s probably gonna have elbow surgery.

[My take: And he was pushing for a two-year deal during the off-season?]

• The Bombers offered Andruw Jones an NRI to Spring Training, and he turned them down, reports SI.
• Derek Jeter will be facing his Yankee teammates, as a member of the US WBC team, in a March 3rd exhibition.

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Powered by quite possibly the best 5 minutes ever in “Taxi” …

Here’s the news:

• Brian Cashman states he’ll never write a book like Torre’s latest, and has some other interesting tidbits from a charity event in Pleasantville:

Someone skeptically asked if Cashman was really satisfied with the situation in center field, and he responded that he expected Melky Cabrera to bounce back after a dismal season last year.

“At the same time,” he said, “I’ve got a kid named Brett Gardner that’s hungry and wants that job.”

• Over at Newsday, Tom Verducci states his case on the merits of the book, including this:

“He told me he didn’t want to tell any tales or have it be a tell-all book,” Verducci said. “That’s exactly what we told publishers.”

Things got more complicated when Torre left the Yankees, and Torre did tell some tales many believe violated the sanctity of the clubhouse.

Verducci said he warned Torre “people will pull things out of context,” but he dismissed the notion the book crosses any lines.

“I don’t think the book goes into any rooms that were unlit,” Verducci said. “He may illuminate things further, but you think about Alex Rodriguez fitting into the clubhouse; was that a surprise he had trouble?

[My take: Detailing that Kevin Brown was found hiding and curled up in the corner of a room after an awful pitching performance isn’t (almost literally) “going into any rooms that were unlit”?]

• The News’ Vic Ziegel doesn’t understand what the fuss is about with the book:

There was hardly a shock in the well-written pages, no reason to stop a single press, nothing hotter than PG-13. OK, here’s one thing that might have a shelf life: Expect a bunch of headlines this season playing off the nickname A-Fraud.

A-Rod needs careful handling? David Wells isn’t David Niven? The night Kevin Brown cried? (Who knew the indifferent Brown had tear ducts.) Torre and Brian Cashman were drifting apart? None of that should have surprised even the casual baseball fan.

For some reason, though – maybe because the book was touted as an inside-out look at the Yankees – a few pre-publication leaks suggested the perfect storm. No, sorry, “The Yankee Years” is no tsunami.

If there’s a mystery here, or a complaint from the e-mailers who love to complain, it’s why this book was written in the first place. Why did Torre, who insisted everything that happens in the Bronx stay in the Bronx, decide to break the 11th commandment and violate the sanctity of the clubhouse? Funny, but Torre doesn’t think he was The Great Violator.

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Powered by this really creative use of Legos, here’s the news:

• The Joe Torre book publicity tour (such as it is) made a stop in midtown Manhattan Tuesday.  MLB.com covered it:

While the “A-Fraud” talk was among the more prominent issues that made waves, Torre rejected the idea that he had broken the time-honored code of the clubhouse — in short, what you see here stays here, a message that Torre himself sent to players during his 12 years.

“I don’t think I really volunteered anything in this book that at some time or other — sitting in the dugout, sitting in the clubhouse, talking to media — that they haven’t heard before,” Torre said.

In part to assure that, Torre said that he had “read and re-read” the final text, making changes along the way with his co-author, Verducci.

[My take: Well … the “they” in that 2nd paragraph excerpt refers to the media and players, not to the buying public.  If Torre HAD said some of those things in front of the media, why hadn’t the media passed it onto the public?  Some media person would have “leaked” something during the past 12 years, don’t you think?  How many of us (the general public) knew of “A-Fraud”, or Damon’s “burnout” or some of those juicy quotes BEFORE this book?  Count me on the side of “he broke the code of the clubhouse”.]

• Sam Borden (pinch-hitting for a vacationing PeteAbe) reports from the scene of the Manhattan book-signing.
• Here is the Times recap of it.
• Harvey Araton also reports on the event, and offers his opinion on Torre’s attitude toward the reaction to the book:

I don’t blame Torre for writing a book, for being proud of what he achieved in New York. The Yankees treated him shamefully at the end and were classless in excluding him from the Yankee Stadium finale. I just wish Torre would say he told it as he saw it and stop pretending that there is nothing in “The Yankee Years” more incendiary than a rundown of his starters for a four-game series in August.

He continued on Tuesday to characterize the “A-Fraud” reference to Alex Rodriguez as an inside joke, “tongue-in-cheek, in front of him.” Even if that were the case, now that Torre has revealed it publicly in a book receiving spectacular national attention, how humorous will it be for A-Rod when he is serenaded with the chant on the road next season and possibly at home for leaving the bases loaded with two out in the eighth?

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