I am sad today.  As Alex posted here, Baseball Toaster, the former home of Banter and many other cool blogs, is closing up shop.  I wish the proprietors of these blogs only the best in their future endeavors.

Now onto the news:

• With football season now over, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com recaps the Yanks off-season, and looks ahead to Spring Training.
• The L.A. Times has a very positive review of Torre’s book, including this bit:

And yet, “The Yankee Years” masterfully interweaves these larger issues into a detailed account of the rise and fall of Torre’s dynasty, a team that won four World Series in the first five years he was managing — and then did not go all the way again.

The credit for this belongs to Verducci, senior baseball writer for Sports Illustrated and SportsIllustrated.com. He is, if truth be told, the real author of “The Yankee Years,” which is not a memoir, regardless of how it’s been portrayed.

Written in the third person, the book is more an extended piece of reporting interspersed with long quotes from Torre and many others, which at times makes for an interesting tension between the manager’s recollections and Verducci’s broader point of view.

[My take: My cynical side thinks that the Times gave a positive review in order to keep on Torre’s good side … keep a nice friendly “working relationship”.  But then I realize that the reviewer isn’t part of the sports department … he’s the books editor, and my cynicism can rest easy.]

• Joel Sherman of the Post takes a look at the Yankees bench, and has some concerns:

But the Yankee second level is not impressive at present, unless they keep both Nady and Swisher. They still have the same all-field/no-hit backup to Posada in Jose Molina. The backup infielder will either be Cody Ransom or Angel Berroa. And the backup outfielder would be the loser of the already dubious center field battle between Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner. I see some defensive ability with Molina and Berroa, speed with Gardner, a flawed switch hitter in Cabrera and perhaps some righty pop with Ransom. But for a $200 million payroll, this is poor insurance. Jose Molina Melky Cabrera

But if the Yanks keep Nady in right and Swisher as a super-sub, it gets, at least, a little bit more attractive. Swisher is an above-average defender in left, right and at first. He is a switch-hitter with power and patience. He could play center field in an emergency.

[My take: Sherman is preaching to the choir here … we Banterites have been barking about the subpar bench for a few years now, especially in light of the massive payroll invested in an aging roster.]

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That was a good Super Bowl … but let’s get back to business …

• The Times‘ Tyler Kepner offers up a blog entry on Bobby Abreu’s unemployment, including a quote for his former GM in Philly:

… Wade was G.M. of the Philadelphia Phillies when Abreu played there, and he called him “one of the most underappreciated players in the game.”

“He’s a sabermetrician’s dream, from the standpoint of what he produces statistically,” Wade said. …

“Aaron Rowand came in there and in one year found the only exposed piece of metal in the ballpark and ran into it; some people wanted to build a statue in his honor,” said Wade, recalling the former Phillies center fielder who famously crashed into a wall at Citizens Bank Park.

“Aaron Rowand is an outstanding player and he brings that blue-collar type of energy to the field, and that’s great. Fans gravitate to that, especially in Philadelphia. Bobby’s so good at what he does and so smooth at doing it, he tends to be underappreciated.”

• Bill Madden critiques the Torre book, wonders what Joe “holds sacred”, and has this amazing excerpt:

Torre said he stands behind everything in the book, even though it is written by Verducci in the third person. That means, he fully approved Mike Mussina’s insensitive critique of Mariano Rivera on Page 312: “As great as he is, and it’s amazing what he does, if you start the evaluation again since I’ve been here, he has accomplished nothing in comparison to what he accomplished the four years before. He blew the World Series in ’01. He lost the Boston series. He didn’t lose it himself, but we had a chance to win in the ninth and sweep them and he doesn’t do it there. . . . That’s what I remember about the ’04 series.”

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Let’s get this out of the way …

[poll id=”4″]

And let’s have a little competition … over at ESPN:

“Super Pick’em” challenges you to answer a series of questions directly related to the Big Game. The questions range from which team will come out on top to how many touchdowns will the home team quarterback throw. The more you get right, the closer you are to the grand prize. It’s FREE to play.

Get in the action now:
http://games.espn.go.com/super/group?groupID=3380

Group: Bronx Banterers
Password: arod

OK … back to the really important stuff … ladies and gentlemen … “Author” Joe Torre!

• Our fearless leader/book reader Alex Belth has a Q&A with Torre book “co-author” Tom Verducci over at SI.com.  It’s (of course) a must-read.  Well done sir!

(more…)

Roger Clemens … and liniment … (shudder) …

Here’s the news:

• The News reports that Joe Torre and Randy Levine were not bosom buddies during the latter years of “The Yankee Years”:

Meanwhile, Torre seems to believe Levine had it in for him, going back to an organizational meeting in spring training of 2003. The meeting, which included several team executives, as well as Steinbrenner, was held in Tampa during spring training to discuss how David Wells should be punished for writing his book that had embarrassed the organization.

Steinbrenner wanted Torre to put Wells in the bullpen as punishment, which Torre said he wouldn’t do. Torre argued it was management’s role to punish Wells for such an off-the-field issue, but Steinbrenner repeatedly argued that it was Torre’s job to discipline the players.

“You know what, I’m sick and tired of this —,” Torre told Steinbrenner. “You keep pounding at me, pounding at me, pounding at me, and it bothers me. I probably shouldn’t tell you that, but it bothers me.”

At that point, according to the book, Levine, who was listening via speaker phone from New York, began to speak, but Torre quickly cut him off.

“Randy, shut the — up,” Torre said.

The meeting resumed after an awkward few seconds of silence, but years later Torre seems to think Levine held a grudge. “I found out Randy had been trying to get rid of me from that moment on,” Torre says in the book.

• David Wells doesn’t seem too enamored with Mr. Torre either, reports the News:

Torre, who was critical of Wells when the pitcher published his book “Perfect I’m Not” while still a Yankee, remained critical in “The Yankee Years”, which he co-authored with Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci.

“The difference between Kevin Brown and David Wells,” Torre says, “is that both make your life miserable, but David Wells meant to.”

Wells admitted to clashing with the manager, saying that Torre would often turn off his music in the clubhouse without ever asking him to turn it down. How’d Wells respond? He’d blast the music again and tell Torre, “If you got a problem, go in your office and shut the door.”

“I wasn’t there trying to make Joe’s life miserable, I was there trying to win,” added Wells, who used the loud music to pump himself up before games. “He fined me for wearing a Babe Ruth hat, that’s pretty shallow. I threw the money at him and said, ‘Go buy a pair of rims for your car.'”

(more…)

Powered by the treif that is the “Bacon Explosion“, here’s the news:

• Tyler Kepner offers up more tidbits from the book, including this gem:

The Yankees should have talked to Tim Raines before signing Carl Pavano. Raines, the former Yankee who was coaching with the White Sox when Pavano signed, had played with Pavano in Montreal. During Pavano’s first Yankees season, Raines told Borzello: “He didn’t want to pitch except for the one year he was pitching for a contract. I’m telling you, he’s not going to pitch for you.”

Of course, by then, the Yankees already had a bad feeling about Pavano — team officials were startled to see him rudely rebuke his mother in April, using a mild curse word. Why? He was angry at his mother for wearing a Yankees’ NY in face paint on her cheek to the game.

• Newsday’s Wallace Matthews has news of a potential “confidentiality agreement” that might be introduced into future Yankee contracts:

The Yankees are considering including a “non-disparagement clause” in future player and managerial contracts in order to prevent any more tell-all books such as “The Yankee Years,” co-written by Joe Torre and Tom Verducci.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a Yankee official said yesterday that some members of the front office staff already are required to sign a confidentiality agreement in order to protect “proprietary knowledge of our business model.” The proposed clause is intended to ensure that future books about the Yankees are “positive in tone,” and “do not breach the sanctity of our clubhouse.” …

The Mets are believed to have included similar clauses in their contracts with former manager Willie Randolph and former pitching coach Rick Peterson. Up to now, the Yankees never have included them in the contract of a player or manager.

• Matthews also has some of the fallout from the book, from Yankee insiders:

But the fact that he chose to tell it at all, and in a way that Yankees insiders say is, well, unfaithful to the facts (a pack of lies,” one Yankee said) is why the Bronx is burning today.

“I think his ego’s gotten so big that he thinks he can do no wrong,” a Yankees source said. “And the Dodgers winning the division was the last straw. I think he truly believed he had the Midas touch, that he could do no wrong.”

Instead, Torre may have committed the one sin the Yankees find virtually impossible to forgive.

“The same thing he was so upset with Wells and Jose Canseco about, he did himself,” the source said. “He violated the sanctity of the organization, the sanctity of the clubhouse. He broke the trust we had in him.”

• Tyler Kepner was also at Sacred Heart University on Tuesday night to hear Joba Chamberlain and the Sox Jon Lester address a group of students.  Chamberlain responded to a question about his DUI arrest as follows:

“It ain’t hard to make a phone call,” Chamberlain said. “It ain’t hard to give someone else the keys. As a man, you have to fess up when you do something wrong. A lot of people would run from it, and I would never, ever run from it.”

(more…)

I write the posts that make the Banter sing
I write the posts of news and links to things
I write the posts that make the hot stoves fry
I write the posts, I write the posts

(yes, I’m a bit delirious … I blame it on Torre and Verducci)

Anyway … here’s the news:

• The Times’ Jack Curry has some quotes from Torre on the initial reaction to the book:

“Knowing that my name is on it, I know I’m going to have to answer for it,” Torre said of the book’s contents.

Although Torre feels that betrayal is an inappropriate word to use to describe his feelings toward Cashman, there is no question that “The Yankee Years” leaves the impression that Torre was disappointed that Cashman was not a vocal supporter during the fateful “take-it-or-leave-it” contract meeting that Torre had with the Yankees after the 2007 postseason. …

… (But) Torre clearly felt Cashman could have done more. “There’s stuff in there where, from my angle, I looked at it one way and I’m sure, from his angle, he probably looked at it a different way,” Torre said in the telephone interview.

• Over at ESPN, Buster Olney takes Torre to task for the quagmire of authorship of the book:

… Those passages were based on Verducci’s reporting. They were written by Verducci. But it’s Torre’s book. And within the pages of this book with Torre’s name on it, some former colleagues are demeaned, and that was his choice. Verducci said in a radio interview on WFAN on Monday that all this is not really new, that everybody has known for years that Rodriguez has had difficulty assimilating with the Yankees’ veterans.

Here’s what’s new about it: The stories are in a book authored by Joe Torre. This is hardly a new concept. The fact that former first lady Nancy Reagan could be difficult was hardly a new concept, but when Ronald Reagan’s former chief of staff, Don Regan, published a book detailing that, well, it became a very big deal. The suggestion that the run-up to the Iraq war included misinformation was something posed by many reporters — but it became something very different when posited in a book by former White House spokesman Scott McClellan. The book is in Torre’s name. Says right there on the cover. By Joe Torre and Tom Verducci.

• The News has some second-hand A-Rod reactions to the book:

A-Rod also told people that nothing Torre could say would be more revealing of how he felt about his player than the act of batting him eighth in the lineup in Game 4 of the 2006 playoff series with the Tigers.

“Alex was really hurt by that,” one friend of A-Rod’s said Monday. “He believed that Torre did that to embarrass him and he knew then what Torre thought of him.

“So anything that comes out now wouldn’t compare to that. He’s just surprised that Torre would talk about these kinds of things because he always told the players the clubhouse and the bond with teammates was sacred, and not to be broken this way.”

(more…)

To paraphrase a good song, “Ghost writers . . . in . . . the . . . skyyyyy!”

To quote another good song …

May I have your attention please?
May I have your attention please?
Will the real Slim Shady please stand up?
I repeat, will the real Slim Shady please stand up?
We’re gonna have a problem here.

Here’s the news, linked/reported entirely by me, in the first person:

• It looks like the Yanks won’t have to resort to Jason Johnson or Freddy Garcia as a possible fifth starter … Pettitte is a Yankee again:

Andy Pettitte and the New York Yankees agreed Monday to a $5.5 million, one-year contract that brings the left-hander back to New York.

Pettitte can make an additional $6.5 million on performance bonuses and bonuses based on time on the active roster.

“There was never another team brought up,” Pettitte said during a conference call. “I wanted to come back to the Yankees.”

[My take: If Andy has recovered from his physical ailments of late ’08, the Yanks rotation could be the best in the AL East.  Welcome back Andy … you put us through a lot these past few weeks, but we’ll see you soon!]

• Here is MLB.com’s coverage of the Pettitte agreement.
• PeteAbe of LoHud steps us to the plate with his assessment of the Torre/Verducci (or is it Verducci/Torre?)  book:

Now we have Torre, the man who restored the luster to a faded powerhouse, prostituting himself for the sake of a book and another few million.

… Torre clearly traded some secrets for money. Nobody wanted to read another warm tale about his brother in surgery or Don Zimmer cracking jokes, so Joe and Tom Verducci threw a few players and team executives into the fire. Verducci is an elegant writer and a terrific reporter. The book will be compelling and 100 percent true.

But that’s not really the point. We wanted Bernie Williams Day at the old Stadium. You’d like to see that old warhorse Clemens in Tampa teaching Phil Hughes how to bust somebody inside. And many Yankee fans would weep at the sight of Torre getting his number retired, fat tears running down his face again as Mo, Jorgie, Tino, Paulie and the Captain gather around. …

It just never ends well. Maybe it’s the money that saps them of their dignity. For others it’s the attention or the lifestyle. But our heroes so rarely walk away at the right time. They kick and scream and claw.

[My take: Verducci states its a third person account not just of Joe Torre but of the entire organization during the Torre years.  If so, why have Torre on the cover and give him top billing (or any billing for that matter).  If much of the meat of the book comes from Torre’s recollections, then how it can it NOT be a Torre “expose”?  Why title a book something as non-descript and generic as “The Yankee Years” unless it dealt specifically with one particular person’s “Years”.   If Torre is indeed the “mass” around which the Yankee universe “spun” for a 12-year period, why not call it “The Torre Years in Yankeeland” or something more descriptive and … dare I say it … truthful.

Further clouding those questions is the fact that it is Torre, not Verducci, doing the book tour (at least per the publisher’s website).

Also, why would a seemingly classy guy like Torre consent to writing (or merely contributing to?) this book while he is still managing in the Majors?  I know the Yanks won’t be facing the Dodgers this year (unless its 1978 World Series deja vu), but why talk about active players, coaches, management, etc. of a former employer while you still interact with them to some extent?  This isn’t like an autobiographical  “come with me as I recount the great season we had last year” book.  Nor is it a sportswriter penning a “a season of  team X’s complete and utter failure” book.

Something just doesn’t seem right about the “need” for this book at this particular time.  Maybe it IS all about the Benjamins.]

• Richard Sandomir of the Times does an excellent job examining the morass of the “Verducci/Torre” book paradox, as follows:

Torre is cast as the leading character in Tom Verducci’s narrative — not as “I or me,” but in the third person as “Torre.” This isn’t Norman Mailer playing with alter egos like “Aquarius,” but a device that lets Torre recede now and then …

If the structure is not confusing (Torre’s quotations are all over the place), readers may occasionally wonder: what did Torre say that does not appear in quotation marks? When, if ever, did Torre (or Verducci) mute the manager’s strongest views to let other characters voice them? When Verducci asserts that some Yankees called Alex Rodriguez “A-Fraud” (which you don’t doubt because of Verducci’s great reputation), is Torre’s concurrence implicit in more tempered assessments?

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Everyday I write the book (and I’m NOT Joe Torre) … here’s the news:

• Joe Torre has been a busy man, apparently.  As you’ve read this past weekend, he’s got a tell-all book about his 12 seasons with the Yanks coming out next week.
• ESPN reports that though Torre supposedly has some unkind things to say about Brian Cashman, Cashman seems to be alright:

When reached by ESPN The Magazine’s Buster Olney on Sunday, Cashman said that he had spoken to Torre by phone. He said that the manager told him to wait for the book to come out, that they are friends and will always be friends.

“Joe was a great manager for us,” Cashman said. “I’m glad he called me. I’m very comfortable with my relationship with him.”

• Michael Schmidt of the Times covers the release of the book, and it seems that A-Rod is going to have the spotlight shone on him again come Spring Training:

The book quotes Mike Borzello, a former Yankees bullpen catcher who is described as a “close friend” of Rodriguez’s, and says that Borzello was constantly having to boost Rodriguez’s ego because he felt that he was competing with Derek Jeter for attention.

“It doesn’t help,” Borzello said, referring to Rodriguez’s awkward relationship with Jeter. “You would rather that the stars are in the same place, pulling together, but I don’t think it affected the other players. It just affected the feel in the clubhouse.”

Borzello added that he used to tell Rodriguez all the time that Rodriguez was coming to the stadium and trying to get everyone to look at him, but that they were already looking at him: “You’re Alex Rodriguez. I don’t understand that.”

• Torre is going to be in the metro area touting the book.
• The Times has an article on Tim Raines, who will be the new manager of the Newark Bears, and on the state of the team and league it plays in:

Raines …  adds a splash of celebrity to the Bears, but he has been given a mandate to assemble a winning team.

If the Bears win, Wankmiller contends, they will draw more fans. By his reckoning, the refurbished corporate suites, virtually empty last year, will become more popular for entertaining, and the Bears could sell more advertising.

But there is a long way to go. According to the league, the Bears drew only 181,240 fans last season, seventh in the league. Their average crowd of 2,746 was about half the size of the average at Somerset Patriots games in Bridgewater. (The Patriots, the league champs last season, are managed by another ex-Yankee, Sparky Lyle.)

“We think baseball can work here,” said Joe Klein, a former big-league general manager and the executive director of the Atlantic League, whose offices are in Camden. “We’re confident people will come to games. Maybe people at first will come to games because of Tim Raines, but that’s O.K.”

• Also in the Times, Harvey Araton laments the lengthy timetable for the demolition of the old Stadium, which puts the neighborhood’s needs on the back burner:

“That’s going take at least two years because the city’s priority is the Yankees, not the neighborhood,” said Joyce Hogi, a member of the Community Board 4 parks committee.

She and her colleagues fought a long, losing battle of preservation best evidenced by two stadiums at the expense of cherished parkland, to be replaced here and there and on terms mostly beneficial to a private enterprise already worth in excess of $1 billion. All while the old and the new stand side by side, towering over what is commonly called the nation’s poorest Congressional district like some supersize baseball mall.

(more…)

Lights … camera … links! Here’s the news:

• Mooooving Day at the Stadium: MLB.com has all the details on the Yanks moving their offices into the new Stadium.  They’ve got a photo gallery and a video report.
• LoHud’s PeteAbe has some photos from the move.
• RiverAveBlues offers up a nifty virtual tour of the new park.
• Jon Lane of YES Network provides a pro/con analysis of the contenders for the fifth spot in the rotation.
• The Post reports that Astros’ owner Drayton McLane believes that Andy Pettitte probably won’t be pitching for them in ’09.
• Bernie Williams will be back in New York … this Sunday night.  He’ll be an honoree, and a performer at the annual BBWAA dinner at the Hilton (YES Network).
• If you have at least $33,275 to spare, you can bid on a signed team photo of the 1927 Yankees.
• Heard of Arodys Vizcaino?  Keith Law thinks he’ll be the Yankee prospect to make the jump into his Top 100 prospects next year.
• Over at the Post, Kevin Kernan summarizes the off-season to date for the Mets and Yanks.
• 2-tour Yankee Neil Allen turns 51 today.  He was purchased from the Cards in July of ’85, traded to the ChiSox in ’86, released by them in August of ’87, and picked up by the Bombers again for the last month of ’87.
• Tim Stoddard, a teammate of Allen’s in ’87, turns 56.  Stoddard was acquired from the Padres in exchange for the failed free agent experiment known as Ed Whitson.
• On this date in 2000, Yankee prospect D’Angelo Jimenez suffers a broken neck when a car he is driving collides with a bus. Jimenez is not paralyzed but will miss the 2000 season.

See you Monday!

News of  the Day, chronicling the Yanks since …. late October 2008!

Here is what’s going on:

• At Newsday, Ken Davidoff opines on Ken Rosenthal’s notion that the Yanks should sign Ben Sheets and Juan Cruz:

Should they, though? Say, at the prices that Rosenthal suggests – a one-year, $7-million deal for Sheets with incentives that could push it past $14 million, and a two-year, $10-million package for Cruz?

Definitely not for Cruz, I’d say. Brian Cashman’s best work, since gaining full control of the team in late 2005, has been on the Yankees’ bullpen. They should be good to go with what they have.

For Sheets? You’d have to strongly consider that one. The Yankees passed on Sheets in December because they felt like they already had their “high-risk, high-reward” guy in A.J. Burnett, and because they preferred Andy Pettitte’s durability and familarity with New York. But with Pettitte and the Yankees still at odds, and with Sheets possibly down to a year, that certainly changes the equation.

• John Walsh (The Hardball Times) has an analysis of outfielder’s arms for the 2008 season, and … no great surprise here … the Yankee contingent left a little bit to be desired (Damon awful, Abreu slipped a lot, Cabrera and Nady were decent).
• MLB.com has a status update on the Yanks payroll for 2009.  As of right now it stands at $186 million for 16 players.
• Keith Law is out with his Top 100 prospects for 2009, over at ESPN.  The highest-ranked Yankee?  Austin Jackson, at #46 (down from #24 last year).  Here is part of Law’s write-up on Austin’s City Limits:

Jackson’s star has dimmed over the past year or so, as an expected breakout hasn’t come. He’s shown that he takes a while to adjust to each new level or challenge. He’s still a great athlete, but it’s not translating into baseball skills as quickly as hoped.

Jackson’s tools grade out as more or less average across the board, with nothing standing out as plus except for the possibility that he’ll become an above-average hitter (for average, that is). He had good speed but is, at best, a 55 runner now, although he has good instincts on the bases. He has gap power and can jerk a ball over the fence to left, but doesn’t project as more than a 15-20 homer guy unless he fills out substantially. He’s solid in center field with a good arm, but probably isn’t a Gold Glove candidate.

• Dellin Betances just missed Law’s Top 100 list.
• In a separate piece, Law hands out a list of each organization’s top prospects.  Here’s the Yanks  (btw …. “prospect” is being defined as still eligible for ROTY consideration):

1. Austin Jackson, CF
2. Jesus Montero, C
3. Andrew Brackman, RHP
4. Dellin Betances, RHP
5. Zach McAllister, RHP

• PeteAbe at LoHud reports that the Yanks offices are moving to the new Stadium tomorrow.

(more…)

Powered by the knowledge that there will be one less drunken person in a major league ballpark next season (and he’s a mascot, no less!), here’s the news:

• Fox Sports.com’s Ken Rosenthal thinks the Yanks shouldn’t sit on their off-season laurels at this point, and go after Ben Sheets and Juan Cruz:

Both Sheets and Cruz are Type A free agents who were offered salary arbitration, but they would cost the Yankees only fourth- and fifth-round draft picks. The Yankees already have signed three higher-ranking free agents — Mark Teixeira, Sabathia and Burnett.

Sheets, while a physical risk, could be the Yankees’ answer to Brad Penny and John Smoltz, both of whom signed with the Red Sox for relatively low base salaries with the chance to earn significantly more through incentives.

Cruz, on the other hand, makes more sense for the Yankees than he does for any other club. Teams are reluctant to forfeit a first-round pick for a setup reliever. But an aggressive spender such as the Yankees, because of a flaw in the compensation system, gives up a lower-round draft pick with each Type A free agent that it signs.

[My take: You must know by now that I’m a big Ben Sheets fan.  But since he ended last season with some arm issues, I’m going to want to see what he looks like in Spring Training before making a big push for him.  But really, the Yanks still need a back-up (or starting?) catcher more than a #5 starter.]

• MLB.com reports that hitting coach Kevin Long is feeling good about the off-season work done by some of his students.  An excerpt:

Robinson Cano met with Long in November, working out in the Dominican Republic and continuing the adjustments that the hitting coach suggested late in the season. Cano had hit rock bottom in terms of frustration, and only a September surge helped him raise his average to .271.

With Long’s help, Cano has reduced movement at the plate, tweaks that remain constant in the overhauled stance that will be on display next month. But Long said he was blown away by other changes Cano has made, hiring a personal trainer to help reduce his body fat and add muscle for the year ahead.

“The trip to the Dominican went above and beyond what I expected,” Long said. “Really, I just expected to go out there and see where he was from an offensive standpoint and mechanically, and mentally talk to him about his game plan for winter ball.

“To go out there and see what kind of shape he was in was a pleasant surprise, to say the least. He’s worked hard to get himself in shape and get himself looking like a top-notch ballplayer.”

(more…)

Powered by this salute to the Presidents (at least through Clinton).

• LoHud’s Pete Abe reports that Melky Cabrera and the Yanks have settled on a contract for ’09, avoiding further arbitration-wrangling.  Pete also has the details on Brian Bruney’s path to a contract.
• Also at LoHud, Pete notes that Xavier Nady nearly doubled his ’08 salary by signing a one-year deal for $6.55 million.

[My take: Yes he had a nice year, and figured to get a bit of a raise, but a $6.5 million salary may reduce his ability to be traded.  Maybe the Pirates want him back?]

• MLB.com covers the Yankee signings.
• Padres’ front office assistant Paul DePodesta has his own blog, and has a post which details the ins and outs of the arbitration process.
• ESPN’s Buster Olney runs down five key injury situations, and (no surprise) … Jorge Posada makes the list.
• Also at ESPN, Rob Neyer responds to Steven Goldman’s analysis of the Yanks’ catching quandary for 2009:

The Yankees’ biggest limit is not their “budget” or the disapproval of owners in Milwaukee and Miami. Their biggest limit is their 25-player roster limit. … But backup catcher? That’s one roster spot that should be completely available. And if you’ve got the Yankees’ “budget,” why not fill every roster spot with a useful player?

What’s more, while Goldman argues the Yankees need a “co-catcher,” there’s also the distinct possibility that they’ll need a catcher, period. If not this year, then next. And next winter the only free-agent catcher worth signing — if he doesn’t re-up with the Indians in the interim — will be Victor Martinez, and it’s not completely clear that he’ll be a catcher for much longer, himself.

[My take: Yes it would be great for the Yanks to have a back-up catcher of some skill on both sides of the equation, but there aren’t that many to be had in the free agent market.  A few weeks ago, I broached the topic of going after Martinez after ’09, and you guys (correctly) pointed out that the Indians would be fools not to invoke their $7 million club option for ’10.  Robinson Cano and Nady for Russell Martin and a pitching prospect, then ink Orlando Hudson for 2 years, anyone?]

(more…)

Let us wish our new President the resolve and ability to steer this country through these challenging times ….

Here’s the news:

• Over at the YES Network, Steven Goldman has some concerns over the state of the Yanks’ catching:

At this writing, the one thing that seems certain is that the days when the Yankees could count on Posada for 140 or more games are gone. That presents a problem, a familiar one. The only other catchers on the 40-man roster are Jose Molina and Francisco Cervelli. The Yankees have also invited five non-roster backstops to camp. Kevin Cash is the only member of that quintet who possesses major league experience, though most of that experience is comprised of making outs. The same thing goes for Molina, and is also indicated in any reasonable forecast for Cervelli, who, thanks to that pointless spring training collision, has yet to play in any meaningful way above High-A. Given his offensive shortcomings, which include the complete absence of power (he even slugged a lowly .350 in the Venezuelan Winter League), the Yankees would be wise to ticket him to Double-A and let him play his way upward, proving that his one solid hitting tool, his batting eye, stays with him as he climbs.

• The News notes that Don Zimmer has stated he has recovered from the minor stroke he suffered last month:

“I lost my speech capacity for about a week,” Zimmer said in a brief telephone interview Sunday. “But it’s come back now and I just got done with a whole bunch of tests, including a stress test on Friday, and I’ll get the results on them later this week.

“I’m fine,” he added. “For a while, I had a little trouble getting around, but I’m getting better at that every day, too. I’ve got just about everything back, all of my speech.”

• At LoHud, Pete Abe gives us the rundown on the Yankees appearing in the upcoming WBC, and wonders if Robinson Cano will be well-served by playing in it.
• MLB.com also has an article on the WBC Yankees.
• Derek Carty of The Hardball Times has an evaluation of Robinson Cano’s #s from a fantasy perspective.
• Happy 31st birthday to 2009 NRI John Rodriguez.  Rodriguez actually signed with the Yanks as an amateur free agent in 1996.
• Kevin Maas turns 44 today.  You’ll remember that Maas set a ML record for the fewest games needed to reach ten career HRs when he came up in 1990, and banged out 21 HRs in 79 games that year.  But the pitchers caught up to him the following year, and he was out of baseball by 1996.
• On this date in 1977, the Yankees obtain outfielder Paul Blair from Baltimore for Elliott Maddox and Rich Bladt.

Powered by the moving memorial service for Todd, here’s the news:

• Mike Lupica tries to give us the straight dope on the Stadium financing deal.  He includes some pointed remarks from State Assemblyman Richard Brodsky:

“… Even NYC officials now admit the truth of what we’ve been saying, that taxpayer dollars are tearing down The House That Ruth Built, and replacing it with The House That You Built.”

“Here’s how they do it. The city sends the Yankees a property tax bill like everyone else gets. The Yankees write a check (about $70 million a year) to the city for that amount, just like everyone else. But next, unlike you or I, the city winks and sends that check to the Yankees’ bankers to pay off the $1.4 billion mortgage, plus the $1.4 billion in interest on the new Stadium. You or I can’t get that deal, but the Yankees did.

“And they got a lot more. The got an additional $575 million directly to build parking garages and sewers and other stuff for the new Stadium. They don’t have to pay sales tax and mortgage recording taxes that every other taxpayer pays, and they get interest rate subsidies. That’s an additional taxpayer subsidy of about $350 million.

• The AP reports that CC Sabathia believes he’ll be able to handle the pressures of pitching in New York:

‘If you ask anybody in my family or anybody that knows me, I don’t think there’s any outside pressure that could be put on me that I don’t put on myself,’ Sabathia said Saturday night before being honored with the Warren Spahn Award. ‘I put an enormous amount of pressure on myself to go out there and perform and expect to win every game, expect to pitch well in every game.

‘I think having the guys in New York _ the A-Rods and the Jeters and these great players, and Tex _ I think it will help me be a better player.’

‘To have that bullpen and have just the support of that team, that team is unbelievable,’ Sabathia said. ‘To add me and A.J and put Tex in that lineup, I think it’s going to be an unbelievable team. Hopefully we have a special year.’

‘That’s what I’m looking for. That’s a thing that I’m big on is having great team chemistry, and hopefully we can get that in New York,’ Sabathia said.

• New HOFer Jim Rice vents his frustration over having to compete against the free-spending Yanks during his playing days, as per Newsday:

“During that time, Steinbrenner spent more money than the Red Sox,” Rice said. “He had more free agents. So when you get the best free agents, and you get the superstars from other ballclubs, that’s what made you have a better team. The more money you can spend, the better you should get.” …

Even now, Rice remains annoyed by the Yankees’ habit of throwing money at their problems. Not surprisingly, he lauds Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein for doing things the right way. “If you look at the Red Sox now, you see them bringing guys up in the organization,” he said. “That’s why Theo has been the person he’s been over the last couple of years. He’ll bring young kids up and stay within the organization.

“The Yankees haven’t won in the last eight years. What do they do? They go out and buy high-priced players in the hope to get back the winning percentage they had 10 years ago.”

[My take: Would Rice be so upset if that ball hadn’t gone through Buckner’s legs, and the Sox had won a Series during his career?]

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Here’s the goods:

• What the Yankees want, the Yankees get.  The News reports that the IDA approved the issuance of $370 million in additional tax-exempt funding for the new Stadium.  (The Mets got the $ they wanted also.)
• The Times clarifies the new funding: $259M is tax-exempt bonds, $111M is taxable bonds.
• Richard Sandomir of the Times has the wrap-up on the day’s proceedings at the IDA.
• Tyler Kepner of the Times reports that the Yanks have been in talks with numerous teams regarding Xavier Nady and Nick Swisher:

Swisher, a 28-year-old switch-hitter, is two years younger than Nady and is signed for three more seasons at roughly $21 million. Nady, 30, is a right-handed hitter who is eligible for free agency after the season. He is represented by Scott Boras, who rarely agrees to a long-term deal before a player explores the open market.

Nady had a better season than Swisher last year, batting .305 with 25 home runs and 97 runs batted in — all career highs. Swisher had the worst of his five seasons, hitting just .219 with 24 homers and 69 R.B.I. But Swisher’s on-base percentage, .332, was actually better than Nady’s .320 figure over two months with the Yankees.

In that way, Swisher profiles better as the kind of player the Yankees seek for their lineup. He saw an average of 4.53 pitches per plate appearance last season, leading the major leagues in that category. Nady averaged 3.65 pitches per plate appearance. Among Yankees, only Robinson Canó (3.35 pitches) was worse.

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This one is for you Todd … thanks for the vivid pictures you painted with the keyboard, and thank you for the “real” work you did at the ACLU.  The blogosphere is mourning your passing …. from Curt Schilling to PeteAbe to Tyler Kepner.  Even the guys at Deadspin noted it.

Here’s the news:

• The Times has an editorial in their “Opinion” section on the Stadium funding issue:

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the development agency should renegotiate this latest round of what has always been an incredibly generous deal for one of the richest teams in the country. At a very minimum, they should insist that the Yankees pick up more of the city’s share of the project, which now amounts to $362 million.

About $326 million of that money will pay for demolishing the old stadium, building new infrastructure and replacing 22 acres of city parkland that was lost to the new stadium.

Yankee officials like to say that they are the ones paying to build this stadium, not the city’s taxpayers. That is only partly true. The public has subsidized the project in many ways — providing generous tax-exempt financing and a variety of other assistance like rent abatements.

Meanwhile, the total $362 million price tag to the city has almost doubled since the project was announced in 2006.

• The wonderful Neil DeMause of Field of Schemes.com has been doing yeoman work on tracking the costs associated with the Yanks and Mets new stadia.  He also covered Day 2 of the Industrial Development Agency’s hearings, for the Village Voice.
• John Harper of the News writes that the end of the NY football season brings the baseball teams to the forefront sooner.  And here’s his thoughts on the Yanks:

In Cashman’s case you can debate the excessive spending but you can’t say he hasn’t signed the right guys, especially in the case of CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira. He filled glaring needs with elite players in their prime, and in keeping with his goal of recent years, made the Yankees younger in the process.

It doesn’t mean he was right to pass on the trade for Johan Santana last winter, but if his long-term plan was indeed to get a pitcher such as Sabathia while holding onto all of his young pitching, you can understand his thinking. Of course, it would help if Phil Hughes or Ian Kennedy blossomed as Mike Pelfrey did for the Mets last season, and Sabathia needs to deliver the way Santana did.

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Powered by ’80s New Wave music, here’s the news:

• Over at LoHud, Pete Abe wonders “at what point is rotation depth a concern”:

It’s not acceptable for a contending team to go into the season with four good starters and hold a contest for the fifth spot. You need to have a good No. 5 and decent options beyond that. Or do you believe that Sabathia, Burnett, Wang and Chamberlain will all stay healthy for six months?

Sign Andy Pettitte and the problem is solved. We wrote last week that one side had to blink. But so far nobody has. If not Pettitte, then somebody else.

[My take: I know I’m gonna sound like a broken record, but why not take a stab at Ben Sheets?]

• At the Times, Jim Dwyer opines on the Stadium funding fiasco and the political machinations thereof:

Without a doubt, politics is part of the invisible cost benefit analysis of the Yankees and Mets stadium deals — not only for those who now criticize them, like the comptroller, William C. Thompson Jr., who approved them in 2006, but also for those few who champion them, like Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.

Such political values may not turn up on any public balance sheet, but it would be unwise to ignore them simply because they are invisible.

Suppose you are Mr. Bloomberg, your hopes of becoming president or vice president all but vanished. You have to step down as mayor in 2009 because a law that you unequivocally supported says you only get two terms.

How handy, then, to have powerful allies, like the developer, Jerry I. Speyer and the lobbyist, Howard Rubenstein, to convince other influential people that term limits will deprive the city of an essential leader during an era of financial crisis.

[My take: I think every member of the City Council, the NY State Assembly, and the Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget should be forced to read THIS book, especially Chapter 6 – The Stadium Issue].

• In a separate Times article, is it noted that the Stadium financing issue may be an albatross for Bloomberg’s re-election hopes.

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Powered by the thought that the Mets would have been better off wearing a Nicorette patch on their 2009 uniforms rather than this, here’s the news:

• Harvey Araton of the Times has a nice piece on Willie Randolph’s appreciation of the talents of Rickey Henderson:

“I had the good fortune of playing in three decades, and when you play that long, you’re going to see some unbelievable players,” Randolph said Tuesday. “But for me, pound for pound, for the things that Rickey could do with his legs alone, I’ve never seen anyone change the complexion of a game like him.” …

“If you looked at his legs and whole body, you’d think he was one of those guys who was in the gym all the time, but he wasn’t,” Randolph said. “He was like Bo Jackson or LeBron James — built like a man when he was a kid.”

Hitting behind Henderson, Randolph said, was natural for him, being a patient right-handed hitter with good peripheral vision, the ability to wait on his swing until he saw Henderson take off and hit the ball to the opposite field.

On earlier Yankee teams, he hit behind a rabbit of lesser renown, Mickey Rivers, a character in his own right. “With Mickey, we would communicate because he didn’t know the signs and I had to let him know when the hit-and-run was on,” Randolph said. “With Rickey, nothing, really, other than sometimes in the on-deck circle he’d say about a pitcher, usually a left-hander, ‘I have trouble picking up this guy.’ So I knew he might not run and I could swing earlier in the count.” …

He and Henderson will forever be linked by friendship and their pairing in the Yankees’ batting order. “It was a pleasure hitting behind him, and a privilege to watch him,” Randolph said.

• The Times’ Jack Curry gives us the ever-quotable Henderson on his big day:

When Henderson was asked what his salary would be if he were in his prime in 2009, he boosted himself into Alex Rodriguez’s financial territory.

“I don’t think they could pay me what I’d probably be worth,” Henderson said. “Or I’d probably be one of the highest-paid players out there, as far as what I brought to the game because I brought so many different weapons to the game.”

• Curry also has an article on Tony LaRussa’s appreciation of Rickey:

“For the period of time that I’ve been around, I think the most dangerous player is Rickey,” La Russa said. “In our time, Rickey worried you in more ways than anyone.”

So step aside, Barry Bonds. Sit down, Albert Pujols. They are dominating players, but La Russa stressed how Henderson’s combination of patience, speed, power and instincts made him “the guy that you felt was the most dangerous as far as taking that thing away from you.” That thing was the lead and the game. …

“One thing you’d try to avoid, if you’re trying to get an out, is distractions,” La Russa said. “Rickey just made it impossible not to be distracted by him.” …

“Everybody tried to stop Rickey,” La Russa said. “The feeling was, you stop Rickey and you stop the other club. He never had an easy at-bat, and he still put together a Hall of Fame career. He was amazing.”

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OK … the HOF vote is done … another month till pitchers and catchers … sigh …

Here’s the news:

• MLB.com has plenty of coverage on the HOF voting.  Here’s an article on the election of Henderson and Rice.  A couple of Henderson excerpts:

“I feel great about it,” said the 50-year-old Henderson during a conference call on Monday. “I love the game and I wanted to continue playing. It came to a time that I had to stop. It’s been five years and they chose me to go into the Hall of Fame. So I couldn’t be any more thrilled or pleased.”

“There was only one Rickey Henderson in baseball,” George Steinbrenner, the Yanks chairman, said about the right-handed hitter. “He was the greatest leadoff hitter of all time. I consider him a great friend with tremendous spirit and a true Yankee.”

“His election is well deserved. He was one of the best players that I ever played with and obviously the best leadoff hitter in baseball,” said Dave Winfield, a now fellow Hall of Famer who was Henderson’s teammate with the Yankees. “We had a lot of fun pushing each other to play at higher levels. I’m very glad to see he got in.”

• Here’s an audio clip with Henderson talking about the honor.
• Former Yankee teammates of Henderson were quoted in an MLB.com here:

“Rickey and I have been friends for a long time, and I am ecstatic for him,” (Willie) Randolph said. “I’ve been fortunate and blessed to have played with a great number of phenomenal baseball players, but pound-for-pound, Rickey Henderson is the best player I’ve ever played beside.

“No one was able to impact the course of a game in as many ways as Rickey. This is a great day for him, and I can’t wait to hear his acceptance speech.”

“Rickey was one of the most competitive players I’ve ever seen,” said former Yankee Ken Griffey Sr. “He was relentless. He could beat you with his legs and his bat, and he could beat you from the leadoff position, which was something people hadn’t seen before.

“As a person, Rickey was very funny and generous. I hung out and talked with him a lot, and we used to go to dinner. I enjoyed every minute of those years.”

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Arizona and Philly in the NFC title game …. in Arizona?

Back to baseball:

• Michael Silverman at the Boston Herald reports that the recent Teixeira two-step has left the BoSox with some animosity towards Scott Boras:

The Sox, meanwhile, are, at least for now, done with Boras. One well-placed source said the club will never deal with him again unless it can be guaranteed that talks are being conducted honestly. We would take that threat a little more seriously if Boras’ clientele list were to shrink dramatically, but since that is not realistic, we will take it as a sign of just how badly the club felt it got stung by lies from Boras. They are in a “fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me” mode right now, with the Teixeira talks feeling like the last straw to them.

Before Teixeira, it was the failed negotiations with another Boras client, right-handed high school pitcher Alex Meyer, the Sox’ 20th-round draft pick this past summer, who came close to signing but ultimately turned down what was estimated to be a $2 million signing bonus. Before Meyer, it was some needless and excessive behind-the-scenes drama in the Daisuke Matsuzaka talks in December 2006, the Johnny Damon talks a year earlier and of course the Alex Rodriguez talks after the 2003 season.

Having lost out on Teixeira, the Red Sox feel an urgency about their offense. Their inquiry to the Marlins about Hanley Ramirez’ availability speaks to that. As good as the core of the lineup still is, there is a pressing need to beef up with an elite slugger. Teixeira was that guy, and he was the perfect guy. To complain about the process, or Boras, publicly would smack of sour grapes. The Sox know this. Boras is not going away and the Red Sox’ resources and long-term strategy survived the latest Boras encounter.

Still, Teixeira left the club somewhat shell-shocked, some executives taking it more personally than others. It will take a bit longer for the shock and the hurt to dissipate.

• Jack Curry of the Times reflects on the similarities between Rickey Henderson … and Manny Ramirez:

“Rickey did his own thing,” said (Dennis) Eckersley, who was Henderson’s teammate on the A’s. “I never saw anyone like him. It’s like Manny being Manny. Rickey was Rickey.”

Even though Henderson was more known for his speed and scoring runs and Ramirez is more known for his hitting and driving in runs, they have a lot in common. (Don) Mattingly said that Rickey used to disrupt opponents and Manny does that now, forcing them to plan strategy around one dominant player and to worry about might happen next.

“Rickey was a lot like Manny, just in a different way,” Mattingly said. “He changed the game. Manny can do that, too.”

When Mattingly was Henderson’s teammate on the Yankees, he was amazed with how flawless Henderson’s hitting mechanics were and how knowledgeable Henderson was about the strike zone. Mattingly said that it was difficult to know how good Henderson was without being his teammate.

When Mattingly was Ramirez’s coach last season, he saw some of the traits he used to see in Henderson. Ramirez has the same type of plate discipline, work ethic and confidence. In addition, Mattingly said Henderson and Ramirez are both much more intelligent players than they are perceived to be.

• Curry has another article with a deeper appreciation of Rickey:

Henderson stole more bases (1,406) and scored more runs (2,295) than anyone, he had the second-most walks (2,190), and he notched 3,055 hits, regal statistics that prove he was a tremendous player. Henderson was also the best at talking about himself.

He needed no coaxing to cruise into Rickey-speak, a mixture of a streetwise preacher and an eccentric professor. He would talk about how he felt or how his salary was unfair or who owed him money from card games or about teammates whose names he did not recall. Through all of Henderson’s chatter, Don Mattingly considered him a baseball savant.

“He kind of got his words jumbled sometimes so some people thought that he wasn’t smart,” said Mattingly, Henderson’s teammate on the Yankees. “But he was. Rickey knew exactly what was going on.”

Eckersley called Henderson “a game changer,” a disruptive force with a strike zone as small as a shoe box. Seeing Henderson lope to the plate and crouch into his stance was nightmarish for pitchers. O.K., Henderson’s body language shouted, try to throw me a strike. Once pitchers did, Henderson would use a swing that Mattingly called, “one of the best I’ve ever seen” to connect.

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