Today’s update features the Muppets tackling Queen:
John Perrotto writes about the Yank’s gameplan for the off-season:
General manager Brian Cashman still hasn’t mapped out his winter strategy, waiting until he meets with managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner and his brother Hank next week. “Once I get some firm numbers then I can go ahead and start putting together some ideas,” Cashman said.
The Yankees actually lowered their payroll from $209 million in 2008 to $201 million in 2009. The general feeling is Steinbrenners will tell Cashman to hold the line for 2010. “I think the big picture is to be real efficient with how we allocate our resources,” Cashman said. “Obviously, last year showed examples of, depending who it is, we can step up in a big way. I think we’re going to try to be careful. Careful doesn’t mean slow. We’re trying to spend it wisely, make the right commitments to use for the present and the future.”
Hi folks . . . back from SF (pics up later this week) and good to be back. I’ll be here on Mondays and Thursdays from here through the opening of Spring Training.
Today’s update is powered by . . . Mr. Tony Bennett
Though the Yankees’ policy is not to address contracts until they expire, things might get interesting this winter. Girardi will also likely ask for an extension since his three-year, $7.5 million deal runs out at the end of next season. If the Yankees don’t extend Girardi, then he will be a rare manager who comes off a World Series victory yet faces lame-duck status. Quoth Cashman, “We have to evaluate everything when we have our organizational meetings—players, coaches, and manager.”
World Series MVP Hideki Matusi will sign with another major league team if he does not re-sign with the Yankees as a free agent, instead of returning to his native Japan. … Yankees closer Mariano Rivera was serious when he said during the World Series trophy presentation that he wants to play five more seasons. Rivera feels so good after having shoulder surgery last winter that he believes he can pitch until he is 45. …
“This team played like a family all year long,” he said. “They picked each other up when somebody was down. They’ve got hearts of lions. They never give up. They’ve earned this, every bit of it.”
When he was asked about the Phillies, he dipped into George Steinbrenner’s answer bag again. Remember to show respect for the opponent but remember to emphasize that the Yankees, your Yankees, are probably better.
“They’re a tough team,” he said. “They’ve had a couple more days off than us. We’ll see how that plays out. But we’re pretty confident in ourselves. We got a great team. These guys get along. There’s a lot of ability, and we’re going to give them a run for their money.”
The critical question for Girardi is how to make the most use of Sabathia’s apparent indestructibility. Is he more valuable as a classic rotation workhorse, starting Games 1, 4 and 7, if necessary, on three days’ rest, or as a swingman, taking his regular turn in Games 1 and 5 and relieving in any number of other contests?
. . . Given the uncertainty surrounding the choice, Girardi’s best bet is probably to be flexible. If the Yankees are, say, leading by a run or tied in the seventh inning, with two men on base and Utley coming to bat, well, it’s time to bring in the big fella. By contrast, if there is no situation that screams out for Sabathia’s usage — and if the first few games are split, making a Game 7 much more likely — Girardi will be better off keeping his ace in reserve.
Don Mattingly was on the short list of managerial candidates in Cleveland, and wasn’t hired.
But he is speaking with the Los Angeles Dodgers about his future with that organization, and while it would be premature to say he is regarded as the heir apparent to manager Joe Torre, there may come a day when he will emerge as the leading candidate to replace Torre.
Mattingly has been talking with the Dodgers since the team was eliminated from the National League playoffs by the Phillies, according to sources, and will have more conversations later in the week. Mattingly has made it apparent that he wants to manage; he was a finalist with the Yankees two years ago when Joe Girardi was hired, and then emerged as a candidate with the Indians this year.
Brian Cashman explains why he went after Sabathia after ’08 rather than Santana after ’07:
Yankees GM Brian Cashman took plenty of criticism following the 2007 season when he stood by while the Mets acquired left-hander Johan Santana from the Twins in a trade for four prospects. Cashman’s reluctance to deal with the Twins looked even worse when the Yankees’ string of 13 consecutive post-season appearances ended in 2008.
However, Cashman had a reason for not pursuing Santana and signing him to the type of lucrative contract—six years and $137.5 million—that the southpaw received from the Mets. That was that Cashman wanted to save money for last winter’s free-agent class. He took his savings and went crazy on the open market, signing left-hander CC Sabathia, right-hander A.J. Burnett, and first baseman Mark Teixeira for a combined $423.5 million. The trio combined for 15.3 WARP1 this season, and the Yankees are one victory away from their first World Series appearance since 2003.
“When we added David Cone from Toronto (during the 1995 season), we were a piece away at the time,” Cashman told the New York Daily News‘ John Harper. “But when Santana became available, in my opinion we weren’t a piece away yet. So I told ownership, ‘Listen, six months really isn’t a long time to wait, though it turned out to be a long time for me, to be honest, and if we can have the patience and discipline, I can’t guarantee you we’ll be able to get Sabathia, but think about what our organization will look like if we can add him and keep these other assets.'”
Stung by a rash of blown calls in the playoffs, Major League Baseball is breaking tradition and sticking with only experienced umpires for the World Series.
Longtime crew chiefs Joe West, Dana DeMuth and Gerry Davis, along with Brian Gorman, Jeff Nelson and Mike Everitt will handle the games, three people with knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press this week.
. . . In 24 of the last 25 World Series, the six-man crew has included at least one umpire working the event for the first time — baseball likes to reward newer umpires, plus replenish the supply of umps with Series experience.
In each of the last two years, there were three new umps working the World Series.
CB Bucknor was in line to work the World Series for the first time this year. But he missed two calls in Game 1 of the division series between the Red Sox and Angels, damaging his chance to get picked, one of the three people said.
Television cameras caught Jeter coughing numerous times during the Yankees’ 10-1 victory over the Angels in Game 4, when he went 2-for-5 with a walk.
The New York Times reported that Jeter left Angel Stadium clutching a bottle of NyQuil, and manager Joe Girardi confirmed the shortstop’s illness in a news conference on Wednesday.
“I noticed it on Monday, and he was pretty sick,” Girardi said. “He was still pretty sick yesterday. I’m hoping that he feels better, but it didn’t seem to affect him Monday his first at-bat. That’s just the type of player that Derek is. He’s tough.”
Rodriguez said his transformation to a more comfortable and more focused player started in spring training. After acknowledging in February that he had used steroids, then having hip surgery, Rodriguez decided not to have great expectations and to eliminate distractions. That approach has worked.
It has worked so well that Rodriguez would not dare change after getting three hits and driving in two runs in a 10-1 win over the Angels in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series on Tuesday night. When Rodriguez was asked if the toughest part of his day was explaining how he was doing what he is doing, he laughed and said it was not.
“I don’t talk much anymore,” Rodriguez said. “I don’t have to explain myself. That’s a good thing.”
A video clip spreading all over the Web on Tuesday shows Mariano Rivera holding the ball in his hand in the 10th inning of Game 3 on Monday, and — gasp — spitting downward. . . .
As first reported by Joel Sherman, Major League Baseball acted quickly on this one, investigating the incident and exonerating Rivera. They found photos that showed the spit passing his hand well past the ball.
“From the available video and still photography we have, there is no evidence that Rivera spit on the ball,” said Patrick Courtney, M.L.B.’s vice president for public relations.
The Yankees announced on Sunday that they will open the Stadium Field Level and Great Hall to the public to watch the Yankees face the Angels in Anaheim as New York tries to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the ALCS.
“We wanted to provide a place for our fans to come together to cheer for our team, even if the game itself is taking place across the country,” Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner said in a news release. “This is a way of saying ‘Thank you’ for their continued support.”
Turnstiles between Gates 4 and 6 will open at 3:30 p.m. ET for the 4:13 p.m. game — broadcast on FOX — and fans can watch it in the Great Hall or in the open sections of the Field Level. Food and concession stands, as well as NYY Steak and Hard Rock Café, will be open and available to fans.
Still at Baseball Prospectus, Eric Seidman analyzes the Yanks/Angels match-up, and summarizes thusly:
I have picked the Yankees to win the World Series in each of my last three chats, and while I won’t be terribly surprised if the Angels pull out a series win and advance to the grandest of stages, I fear their starting pitching will not be able to quiet the powerful Yankee bats. This will lead to Scioscia having to alter his intended usage of the bullpen, off of whom the Yankees are more than likely to feast. The Angels aren’t going to go quietly, but I do not see this series lasting longer than five games, with the Yankees advancing to the World Series. Winning four of five games does not imply any sort of dominance as each could be within one run, but the areas in which the Yankees hold advantages outweigh those of the Angels.
New York moved its Thursday workout at Yankee Stadium from 1 p.m. to 11 a.m., in an effort to combat the impending showers. The Angels worked out Wednesday at Angel Stadium and are scheduled to have a late-afternoon session in the Bronx on Thursday.
Weather.com, the official Web site of the Weather Channel, was forecasting an 80 percent chance of precipitation for Game 1 on Friday, with temperatures in the 40s accompanied by rain and wind. For Saturday night’s Game 2, the forecast was for a 40 percent chance of precipitation, with temperatures in the mid to upper 40s.
The National Weather Service is predicting that Game 1 will see a 60 percent chance of rain under cloudy skies on Friday night, with winds between 16 and 18 mph and possible new rainfall amounts between one-tenth and a quarter of an inch. The forecast is similar for Game 2, with a 70 percent chance of rain under cloudy skies.
The Yankees have invited all fans interested in weather updates concerning future home games to follow their official Twitter account at: @YankeesWeather (http://www.twitter.com/YankeesWeather).
Lost in the Yankees’ sweep of the Twins was the fact that Damon, other than a walk in the sixth inning of Game 2, did little to help. His lone hit was a one-out single in Game 1, after which he was quickly erased on the basepaths. He misplayed a Brendan Harris hit in Game 2, resulting in a triple. And he struck out four times in Game 3, three of them against Carl Pavano.
Certainly, Damon was not the only Yankees player to struggle against Pavano, who struck out nine batters in total and generally kept the Yankees off balance all day. And certainly Damon referenced those collective struggles in his explanation, noting that he “didn’t see the ball well at all” off Pavano. But none of that stopped Damon from coming into Yankee Stadium on his off-day, taking BP and trying to eliminate what he called some excessive movement of his head.
“I just wanted to come in and get some peace of mind,” Damon said, “and make sure that I’ll be ready to go come Friday night.”
Joe Girardi just did a conference call with the beat writers and said that while the team won’t have its roster/scouting meeting until tomorrow morning, “We are definitely considering going to a three-man rotation in this round.”
Girardi pointed to the lighter workload that CC Sabathia faced in September, as well as the longer layoff he’s getting now since the Yankees swept the first round. Girardi said that the team would like to have plan in place for the rotation going into the series, as opposed to just waiting to see where the team stands when Game 4 rolls around. Remember, too, that because of off-days Sabathia could pitch Games 1, 4 and 7 and only have to pitch on short rest once instead of twice.
. . . it is slightly more advantageous to throw a left-hander against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium, where you have to defend the shorter porch in right field, because you force their switch-hitters to bat from the right side. Right-handed starters got pounded by the Yankees in that ballpark. They were 10-19 there, including 3-14 since June 19. (Left-handed starters were 6-10). Including the postseason start by Nick Blackburn of Minnesota, 28 opposing right-handers have started at Yankee Stadium in the past four months and only three came away with a win: Roy Halladay, Chris Tillman and Kevin Millwood, and in each case they were supported by 10 runs.
Honestly, the Yankees are such a dominant offensive team in that ballpark that it doesn’t matter that much. Here are opponents’ records in games at Yankee Stadium, whether the starter gets the decision or not:
With right-handed starter: 14-37 (.275)
With left-handed starter: 10-20 (.333)
But I’d still rather throw a lefty at Yankee Stadium, especially when the right-handed choice, Weaver, is better at home and worse against the Yankees. Remember, Scioscia’s Game 2 starter is also likely to be his starter for Game 6, also to be played at Yankee Stadium — assuming he uses four starters and assuming the Angels can extend the best team in baseball that far.
Hi there boys and girls. I’m not really 100% recovered from a really kick-butt upper respiratory virus, but I’m decent-enough. (Daytime is OK … nighttime is a cough-fest). Don’t know if I’m back full-time this week, but I’ll try. But anyway, today’s news is powered by Basil Fawlty (aka John Cleese):
“We are going to have a nasty series,” Andy Pettitte said after his 4-1 victory on Sunday, which clinched a division series sweep of the Minnesota Twins. “It’s going to be a war with us and the Angels, but we are looking forward to it.”
The Angels clinched a spot in the American League Championship Series by completing their sweep of the Red Sox in Boston before the Yankees took batting practice at the Metrodome on Sunday. Some of the Yankees watched the game in their clubhouse, impressed but not surprised at the Angels’ ninth-inning comeback.
“There’s no quit in the Angels,” Johnny Damon said. “We see that when we play them.”
…“What makes them tough is they hit, they pitch, they run, they steal, they play defense, good bullpen, good closer, good manager,” Derek Jeter said. “I think that pretty much wraps it up.”
“They just keep running great hitters at you,” Gardenhire said. “That’s why you end up having to make pitching moves. Change, change, change, because they are so dangerous that you just try to finagle your way through it half the time.”
Once Gardenhire started praising the Yankees, he did not stop.
“It’s a great baseball team,” Gardenhire said. “They deserve all the accolades. They have got a great bullpen. Those guys come out there firing. Bench. The whole package. They’ve got the whole package, they’ve got the whole deal, and they have got some of the classiest players in the league out there, guys I really enjoy watching play.”
20 moments that shaped baseball in NY this season. Here is the top Yankee moment:
1. June 24 at Atlanta
The offense is sagging and the Yankees are five games back in the American League East race. Brian Cashman flies in for a surprise visit, challenging the hitters in a meeting. Joe Girardi is ejected while the Yankees are being no-hit in the sixth. Francisco Cervelli’s homer fuels a seven-game winning streak, and the Yankees never look back.
Steven Goldman details his evening in the Legends seats.
Andre Robertson turns 52 today. Robertson was a part-time SS for the Yanks from ’81-’85, but he neither hit nor fielded well enough to warrant a full-time gig. A serious auto accident in August ’83 (in which Robertson broke his neck) derailed whatever career he had. Traded to the Braves in ’86, he never played in another big league game.
On this date in 1978, Bucky Dent’s unlikely home run helps the Yankees defeat the Red Sox in a dramatic one-game playoff at Fenway Park. Trailing by two runs in the seventh inning, Dent smacks a three-run shot against pitcher Mike Torrez into the screen above the Green Monster. The Yankees hold on for a 5 – 4 victory en route to face the Royals in the ALCS and the Dodgers in the World Series.
On Wednesday, the Yankees announced a deal with the Big East and Big 12 conferences to host a bowl game at Yankee Stadium beginning in December 2010. Although the game does not have an official name yet, it’s already being colloquially referred to as the “Yankee Bowl.” The inaugural game, to be played sometime between Christmas and New Year’s Day in 2010, will pit the fourth-place finisher from the Big East against the No. 7 team from the Big 12.
Yankees general partner Hal Steinbrenner offered Joe Girardi a vote of confidence on Wednesday, calling him “the man for the job,” but said the club is not ready to discuss an extension with the manager.
“Joe has had a tremendous year this year — we all know that,” Steinbrenner told reporters. “He’s got the best record in baseball. As far as I’m concerned, as far as the family is concerned, as far as the organization is concerned, he’s the man for the job.” . . .
. . . Steinbrenner declined to discuss what might happen if the Yankees fall short of their ultimate goal — winning the World Series — and said that a contract extension is not currently being discussed amongst ownership.
“I’m saying he’s the man for the job,” Steinbrenner said. “Let’s focus, keep our eye on the ball, so to speak. Focus on the playoffs. There will be plenty of drama.”
Former major leaguer Chuck Knoblauch was charged with assaulting his common-law wife.
A judge set Knoblauch’s bond at $10,000 after he appeared in court Tuesday. According to a criminal complaint, Knoblauch’s wife told police he hit her in the face and choked her at their Houston home Friday.
I’m thrilled to announce that The Journal News has hired Chad Jennings of the Times-Tribune in Scranton and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees Blog to cover the Yankees. Chad starts on Oct. 7.
Chad covered the Triple-A Yankees with distinction and his blog was a must-read for Yankee fans who wanted to be up to date on the organization’s prospects. Chad has a knack for blogging and is a fine writer and reporter.
[My take: Thank you Pete for all your hard work and wonderful coverage!]
New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and the commissioners of the Big East and Big 12 will announce at a news conference Wednesday the formation of the Yankee Bowl, to be held at the new Yankee Stadium beginning with the 2010-11 postseason, according to sources with knowledge of the event.
The game, which will seek NCAA certification next spring, would reportedly pit the Big East’s fourth-place team against the Big 12’s No. 7 selection. Organizers plan to hold the first edition between Dec. 29, 2010 and Jan. 2, 2011.
