3,079 Miles to Fenway, 3,448 miles to Yankee Stadium

We have moved!

2009-03-08T21:29:00.002Z

Hey Guys n Gals.

We have moved and relaunched our baseball musings for the 2009 season. If you are interested in reading what we have to say then please go over to our new home at Down to the Final Strike.

Our new home will still be concentrating on what is going on with the Yanks and the Sox but it will also have lots of general baseball chatter as well as a good healthy sprinkling of fantasy baseball chat and both of us are huge fantasy guys.

I hope you have enjoyed the blog over the past four years (well to be honest - mostly 2005-2007) but now I'm free of my contractual obligations elsewhere I can return to blogging. I hope you come over to our new home and enjoy reading what we have to say.

Beaten to the punch

2008-03-04T01:22:00.002Z

One of the reasons I have been blogging less is that by the time I get home, read my daily selection of blogs for most teams in the league, most things I have wanted to say, have been said.

But some times, I want to say something so badly, I don't care that someone has beaten me to the punch...

We want to like young players, right? Sometimes they don't make it easy for us, though. Jonathan Papelbon, who seems like a pleasant enough fellow, has now joined the chorus of young players whining about being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars. I know it's unfair to expect these guys to know how lucky they are, compared to coal miners and teachers and ditch diggers and shoe cobblers. But at the very least, Papelbon and Prince Fielder and Cole Hamels might look at their peers in the other professional sports and realize just how good they've got things. They'll enjoy longer careers and will, after serving their six-year apprenticeships, enjoy almost complete freedom. Oh, and after retiring they'll never have to work another day in their lives.

The above is taken from Rob Neyer's Monday Mendozas (sadly behind the Insider curtain).

When I read Prince Fielder's quote...

"my time is going to come. It's going to come quick too"

I screamed (silently), and grumbled like the old man I am becoming, and muttered to myself that I should blog about this because it drives me crazy...

When I read Cole Hammels quote...

"It's about respect, and when people don't show that to you, you're caught off guard. I thought it was a low blow"

The low blow in question was a $500,000, 1 year deal. Again, I screamed (not so silently), and grumbled... oh ok you get the picture.

But then when the Red Sox own character closer joined the rising chorus, I could resist no longer...

“Asked what would be a fair salary for this year, Papelbon had his answer ready.

“Ryan Howard got $900,000 in his third year,” said Papelbon. “There it is. It’s staring (the Red Sox) right in the face.”

So Papelbon, now used on a restricted basis because his shoulder wasn't able to stand up to regular usage in his first full year in the majors believes that Ryan Howard's 3rd year in the majors is a comparable benchmark? Well that is something we can test...

Using the Hardball Times as my source, let's just compare the win shares...

2007 Papelbon 12
2007 Howard 26

2006 Papelbon 18
2006 Howard 31

So, Howard was renewed at $900,000 having produced 31 win shares in 2006...

So actually, I agree with our dainty dancer, renew him at the same rate as Howard - at $29,032 per win share... or an annual salary of $522,000. The good news for Papelbon is that Howard's 26 WS were rewarded in arbitration with $10,000,000 or $384,615 per WS, so that would suggest a salary of $4,615,000 in a year.

Papelbon has shown himself to be money centric from the moment he came up - and it appears a WS win has done nothing to change his outlook on life.

Now players are clearly entitled to look out for themselves - his arm could fall off and he would be in trouble... but equally he could sign a 6 year deal, and have his arm fall off... would he volunteer to repay his salary at that point?

A slow news Sunday

2008-02-24T23:17:00.002Z

Two interesting news stories for the Sox on Sunday.

Firstly, Terry gets his contract... as much coverage as you need can be found here, here and here - no details of what he is being paid, but the honest truth is, what does it matter? Presumably the Sox ownership team think their manager is worth whatever they have coughed up, presumably money assigned to pay the on-field management team is never affecting whether or not we can afford to sign any player - whatever level they are at.

And then the second story of the day - this one...

A former Cy Young winner signs up with the Sox - I think most Sox fans would have rather had this former Cy Young award winner, but this is a nice interesting insurance policy. I can't imagine we will be getting much from him, but as an insurance policy to allow Clay to be effective in September and October... good job Theo!

What a difference a day (or two) make!

2008-02-08T03:14:00.000Z

Does this count as news?

In 2003, we would be in full, full scale panic at this point.

But now, we can get excited about the prospect of some kid who has achieved so very little taking the mound every 5th day or so...

Who says two world championships in four years don't make a difference!

Neil M chiming in

2008-02-03T16:00:00.000Z

As my colleague hinted at the other day, I am now working professionally as a writer. I am the man who has been charged with launching and growing the TalkOn.it Network - a group of around 50 sports websites. I however will return to the blog to keep jotting down my thoughts on the Yankees and Red Sox (amongst other MLB related issues) throughout the season.

There is a baseball site on the network - Talk Baseball which is still being built. I have just commissioned work for pages about all the clubs in MLB - and I have done the New York Yankees page myself.

If anyone has any ideas or thoughts then please pass them on to me. Otherwise I shall try to follow my colleagues excellent recent blogging record and return to my old ways.

Overpaying as a strategy

2008-02-01T10:34:00.000Z

Well the Mets got their man... a 7 year, $150m + contract will do that it seems.

3 years ago, the Mets overpaid for Pedro , which was justified by the Mets organization because Pedro made the Mets "serious" to other free agents in the market... the Mets seem to believe that it worked - I seem to remember that Beltran made noises that Pedro helped sway his mind (although he only came out with that after his agent was rumored to have offered the Yankees a discount) and I think Delgado made similar noises, although after a .258 / .333 / .448 line in 2007 for $14.5m, maybe the Mets would rather he hadn't.

So 4 years later - I think the Mets have overpaid again.

They traded away four prospects to obtain the opportunity to pay Santana as much as he would have gotten in the free market, and included a signing bonus to make sure he doesn't feel underpaid this year. The only argument against this is that he might have gotten marginally more in free agency next year - which is a maybe, if he had a fully healthy, no question mark year in 2008, but don't the Mets prospects outweigh that additional $x a year?

Will over-paying in 2008 have a better outcome than in 2005?

If he was a politician...

2008-01-31T01:16:00.000Z

Rob Neyer's opponents would be using today's blogging output against him in attack ads by now!

Not surprisingly, Rob blogged quite a bit about the Santana trade today (sadly, all links take you behind the Iron Curtain... sorry the Insider fence).

In his first post today, Rob said:

I like what Baron Von Awesome said about the (pending) trade sending Johan Santana to the Mets for a quartet of prospects ...

"The Twins just nailed their own coffin shut today. They're doomed to irrelevance for the next five years, at least. This is the worst baseball trade I've seen since... I don't know. Kearns and Lopez for a bunch of relievers, I guess, but even then, Kearns and Lopez turned out not to be much to worry about. The Astros trading Dan Wheeler for Ty Wigginton and then releasing Morgan Ensberg comes to mind, but there wasn't nearly as much at stake; the Astros were already doomed to suck for the rest of the decade.

This trade is horrible."

I agree.

So just to summarize... the trade is horrible, Rob agrees - seems fair, I happen to agree as well!

So it was a bit surprising to read later in the day...

Don't be too quick to judge Twins

Didn't we do the judging already?

If I had waited a day

2008-01-30T01:31:00.000Z

So it only needed one more click of the refresh button - Johan Santana appears to be on his way out of the AL, with the Mets winning an elongated battle for his services.

Considering the initial reports were that the Mets had no chance unless they included Jose Reyes, it seems that the Mets have gotten Santana for a steal - four prospects headed by Carlos Gomez and Deolis Guerra - all of whom feature highly on John Sickels' listing of the Mets prospects, but none of whom fall into the surefire 'A' rating.

On the surface this seems like an insane trade by the Twins - in order (if the Twins had actually been committed to the asylum and made me GM instead of Bill Smith) I would have taken the Yankees package headed by Phil Hughes, the Red Sox package headed by Ellsbury, the Red Sox package headed by Jon Lester, then the Mets package - but then we don't really know if any of these packages were ever truly on the table, and we certainly don't know whether any of them were on the table today.

But as a Twins fan, I would have to be thinking - this is all you could get for the best pitcher in baseball - really?

From this Sox fans perspective, this really is the best of all worlds - Santana is no longer in the AL, he is most definitely not heading to the Bronx - but he does get to pitch in NY (so I will get more chances to watch him), and the NY media will tweak the Yankees every time Santana has a great game and Phil Hughes has a stinker (not that I actually expect that to happen too often - the stinker part anyway).

And equally, while I am sure that the Mets are very happy to have Santana in their rotation - the Mets rotation before this trade was a heck of a lot of question marks, now it is one true ace and a lot of question marks. I am sure I am under-rating Pedro, Perez, Maine and Hernandez, but if Santana does push the Mets into the World Series, I am not sure that I worry facing that rotation (again, not to under-estimate the impact Santana has, clearly I fear the rotation more than I did yesterday).

A Power Outage

2008-01-29T02:14:00.000Z

So if the heart of the Red Sox order was on strike, what on earth has happened to the pens behind this blog?

And clicking on the links in our UK Baseball Links, we are not alone - what has happened to British baseball blogging?

Well Neil M has a good excuse - his work in the written world is being done on a far bigger scale... me - not so much. I will get back to writing, although it may stray from the Red Sox and Yankees at times.

How can I not have written up the 20,000 words that I have shared in various IM sessions and blog comment boxes on the Texas Con Man? How can I not have written up the 50,000,000 refresh buttons that I have hit searching for news on Johan's trade... to anywhere in the world outside Minnesota? How can I not have written about the 3,400 hours I have spent in the Virtual Waiting Room, wondering why tickets that the Red Sox supposedly haven't put on sale yet (those wonderful Green Monster seats) are available for every game on StubHub... and wondering why at the end of those hours I still don't have any Red Sox tickets?

So I will get back to this soon - first steps first, if there are any British baseball blogs out there that I should be reading, and that we can link to the on the right hand side, please let me know!

A power outage

2007-07-04T20:52:00.000+01:00

#3: 20th June
#4: 20th June
#5: 20th June

The heart of our order is on a HR strike!

There is now a widespread perception -which isn't really supported by the evidence (unless a sample size of 1 - that is, Abreu, Bobby - is acceptable to you) - that participating in the HR derby is bad for a power hitters swing. Given the power outage, maybe we could persuade Ortiz and Manny to take part in the derby, and get the opposite effect?

A long month

2007-07-04T02:20:00.000+01:00

Neither Neil has had the energy to post in the last month - maybe because it has been a pretty uninspiring month of baseball from both teams?

The Yankees had surged since Neil M called the Yankees season over, but just as quickly found reverse gear and lost the ground that they had made up.

And since I last posted, the Sox have just been blah - a marginal losing record in June, means that the Sox remained at around 20 games over .500 at all times, and despite the first jitters that accompanied the Yanks pulling seemingly closer, a zen state has been re-established as they just as quickly retreated.

What has been evident in the last month though is that these Sox aren't quite the perfect team - but did anyone ever think they were?

When you are running out a rotation of Schilling, Beckett, Matsuzaka, Wakefield and Tavarez, you have one view of the world, when the rotation includes Wakefield, Tavarez and Gabbard, your view (or should that read my view) of the world is slightly less rosy.

When you look at a line-up on paper that includes Ortiz, Manny and Drew at its heart you have one view of the world, when you watch that trio on grass the last couple of weeks (albeit that Drew has been better, he has been better than he has been, not better than we expected), your
view of the world is less rosy...

When you take off on a seemingly difficult road trip and win series in Atlanta and San Diego, you have one view of the world, when you then get swept in Seattle (and have to search deep in your memory to think of the last win in Seattle) and then can only split a series against the Rangers (and proceed to make Kenny Lofton look like a dangerous threat), your view of the world is slightly less rosy...

And yet...

The Red Sox lead in the AL East has remained unchallenged, the best record in the AL has only come under threat by the Angels in the last couple of days... so who is complaining?

And when you look at the roster, what could Theo be looking at to improve? An upgrade at SS? In the OF? In the bull-pen? Well aside from the bull-pen, I don't really know that any of these are realistic positions to upgrade - when you look at how much better our players in these areas could perform, are we really going to get an upgrade at a realistic price?

Anyway, enough complaints from a guy whose team is 19 games over .500 as he types... I really need to learn how to be a relaxed Red Sox fan...

Perhaps I can learn that as I enjoy the sound of July 4th fireworks... on July 3rd... ? Any questions to Playland!

Happy July 4th!

Start the car - this one is over

2007-05-30T15:01:00.000+01:00

I sat there last night watching the Yankees figuring out how they would lose the game. I knew they would find a way and boy they did. Two unearned runs, a straight steal of home plate, more un-clutch pathetic hitting and another lacklustre performance from the highest payroll.

As Neil H pointed out to me last night after the game 'I just can't believe that they (the Yankees) are just this bad'. The way I see it on paper this is a terrifically talented team, what we are in isn't real life, we are sat in a computer game where the Artificial Intelligence has stepped in and decided that after so many great years - the player has learnt the game too well so the AI is taking over and crushing the poor player to choking loss after choking loss.

Every little thing is going against the Yankees, I mean a straight steal of home by a guy with nine career swipes. You have to give credit to Posada who saw him coming very early but couldn't get Pettitte's attention and by the time the pitcher worked out what was going on, it was too late as Hill slid underneath Posada's tag.

However the Yankees were still just one down and after two errors by the Blue Jays D in the 8th, the Yankees tied it up on a bloop RBI single by the aforementioned Posada - without him and the April version of A-Rod - this team would be toast - whereas at the moment they are just toast - d'oh. So the Yankees have two on against the Jays closer with Giambi and Abreu up but neither would do anything so the game stayed tied.

A sac fly in the 8th by Rios off Proctor (run credited to Pettitte's record) saw the Jays take the lead for the third and final time and the Yankees never even looked like levelling it up again. A five game losing spin after a good series win over the Sox and this team is done. I don't care that there are over 100 games left to play - this isn't the NL where a bad team can win the wildcard - this is the AL where there are good teams.

On paper this team is good enough to challenge for the AL East crown but in reality just too many players are playing well below themselves. You have to wonder who is to blame but it is hard to put a finger on it - some are pointing the finger at Torre but you know I won't. He isn't the best in-game manager - we all know that but being manager of the Yankees is about far more than that - it is about managing the clubhouse and the media and he does it better than anyone. Has he made mistakes? Sure, but so has every manager in the league, how do you manage a team with an oft-injured spark in Damon, a falling off the cliff Abreu, a free swinger who swings at strikes that might land in the Azore Islands in Cano, a vacuum at 1st, a banged up Giambi, and a patched up pitching staff?

If you haven't got the chips then it is hard to win in poker unless you are a great bluffer - in the past we've bluffed with guys like Aaron Small and Shawn Chacon but those bluffs haven't emerged this season. The fault does not lie at the feet of the manager. Things have been spiraling out of control ever since the injuries started mounting up, is the blame at the former strength/conditioning coach? No - but that is where the chain-reaction started and we haven't been able to break the chain and move on to a level footing.

More baseball tonight anyway - I wonder how we'll lose tonight - maybe a pitcher - possibly Farnsworth will of taken note of the games in NY last night and bulk in the winning run - that sounds like a new way for us to lose - we have pretty much used all the conventional ways to lose so we'll need to start stealing ideas off other teams.

I am sorry to say but the Yankees suck - they really do.

Blogging the Yankees - A Sox perspective

2007-05-28T17:54:00.000+01:00

It really is difficult to know what to make of these Yankees - they still have a $200 million roster, that looks like a $200 million roster on paper, but the reality is such that you have to wonder whether this team is playing to its actual talent level.

Before the season started there were a significant number of question marks - the rotation being the main one, but also the lack of depth on the bench, and the potential for a team of 30+ year olds to start getting old at the same time. But did any of us, even the most rabid Sox fan really think that so many things could go wrong so quickly?

If you look at the hitting side - the Yankees were once again predicted to become the team that broke the 1,000 runs barrier, and yet here we are on Memorial Day with the team 6 games under .500 - should the hitting take a good share of the blame for the status of the Yankees? Well the team has scored 254 runs, good for 5th in the majors, and has put up a .275 BA / .353 OBP / .431 SLG, good for 5th / 4th / 11th ranking - at the current pace of 5.3 runs a game, this offense would rank no worse than 6th over the last 5 years, more than good enough to take the team to the play-offs. How does that deserve any of the blame?

I would imagine Yankee fans are not giving the hitting side a pass is the uneven distribution between players - if it weren't for A-Rod's start to the year, for Jeter's continued excellence and for Posada's surely unsustainable start... where might they be? Looking at the opening day 9 that posted 9 runs against Tampa, and comparing 2007 BA / OBP / SLG with career numbers, we can see that Damon (-15 / +15 / -122), Abreu (-67 / -89 / -203) and Giambi (-36 / -31 / -100), have really been hurting the team against their career numbers, particularly given their limited ability to help on the D. Now is this simply reflective of the fact that we are only 48 games into a 162 game season, or a sign that these 3 players have entered a marked downside in their careers?

On the pitching side... where to start? The team has clearly been unlucky - with injuries to established players and rookies alike, but you also need to ask whether or not some of the under performance could have been predicted. Pavano was always an injury risk, Igawa was always a performance risk, and Mussina, I would argue, was clearly at risk of both injury and performance - yet these three players were expected to provide 60% of the innings this year. While Mussina is likely to provide the innings, Pavano is done for 2007 and 2008 and Igawa has gone from Saturday afternoon hero in the Bronx to cold story in less than a month.

While Clemens can reasonably be expected to provide stable innings, the other miscalculations have led to an accelerated timetable for Phil Hughes. This may not in itself be a bad thing, but it may heighten the risk of him not developing into the pitcher projections have him as (not the injury, but the lack of development time in the minors).

One ray of hope - since 2002, there has only been one year in which the Red Sox did not have an advantage at this stage of the season - that ray is pretty dim given the largest advantage the Sox had held at this stage of the season was 2 games. Does that ray start to get brighter though when you consider that in 2006, between this date and the end of the season, the Yankees pulled out 13 games on the Red Sox...

How many games back are the Yankees right now?

This isn't very good

2007-05-28T00:55:00.001+01:00

When those pesky Angels come into town - you worry as a Yankee fan. Three losses and a sweep later and things don't look very bright in the Bronx.

The Yankees have wasted two terrific outings from Chien Ming-Wang and Mike Mussina respectively. Tonight we saw vintage Moose getting ahead early in the count and expanding the strike zone, he left after giving up a walk in the 7th and gave the ball to Scott Proctor. The Yankee reliever had not allowed a run in ten outings but gave up a double, a walk, then a bases loaded walk followed by another bases loaded walk.

Proctor left with a 3-2 deficit to a Bronx cheer but then came the real big shock. As Joe Torre left the mound - he too was given a Bronx cheer. At no time in my life did I ever expect to hear Torre get booed at the stadium. As regular readers will know, I am a huge Torre guy and even today I could understand why he made the move he did. Mussina may of been throwing his best game of the season but his season high is 99 pitches and he was at 95. Proctor had ten scoreless outings on the spin but he did have a career record v Kendrick of 2 ABs and 2 doubles, I may of gone with Big Bad Brian Bruney.

Another disappointing defeat and the season is falling away but it isn't over yet. The offense still isn't clicking but one of the guys we need to hit is turning it around in Robinson Cano - who is riding a season high ten game hitting streak. Jorge is still hitting the ball well and A-Rod has hit four round-trippers in the past seven games. We need Bobby Abreu and Jason Giambi to start seeing pitches well again and getting those free passes - if there are guys on base then pitchers need to be more careful and pitches will be crushed.

So the Red Sox sweep Texas and we get swept by the Angels - not exactly the best outcome for the Bronx Bombers - but tomorrow is another day and Matt DeSalvo goes for the Yankees.

Double Digits

2007-05-19T14:44:00.000+01:00

Ten games back now and I think we can safely say the Yankees have been a tad sluggish out of the starting block. The pitching has turned around but the hitting has fallen off a cliff.

A-Rod has returned to that long swing after such a great April with his shorter, quicker, more compact swing. Bobby Abreu has been involved in a Quantum Leap episode and Dr. Sam Beckett has infested his body, Robbie Cano's plate discipline is on a par with Alfonso Soriano's and Jason Giambi and Johnny Damon are both battling injuries.

If it wasn't for your AL batting leaders, Mr Hip Hip and plain old Mr Hip then this team would be ugly.

I have been a cock-eyed optimist for a long while, saying there is a long way to go, which there is, but things have got to change soon, very soon.

Keep those wagons rolling...

2007-05-15T03:25:00.000+01:00

Well both Neil's are happy this evening, though the one constrained by 5 hours and the lack of a Yankee's game doesn't quite know it yet! A very good win over the reigning AL Champs for NH, and the joy of owning Daisuke in a 6x6 fantasy league where the 6th pitching category is complete games for NM.

The last two starts from Daisuke have been the quality we hoped for as Sox fans during the winter hoopla - a combined 16 innings pitched, 2 runs (both solo shots), 3 walks (all in the Toronto game) and 13K - we would probably all have signed up for an average outing that lasted 8 innings with those kind of stats. More importantly, these two starts have been devoid of that one "inning" that had blighted his previous 4 starts - the Tigers had 2 men on in the 4th, but aside from that (even including that) there really was very little drama, no spots where you felt that one pitch may make the difference between the game unraveling and what we ended up with.

As a Sox fan who has never experienced the Sox win a division title - my starting point was 1996 - this team really does seem to have a quality that no other team in my Sox lifetime has had. Even in 2004, the team really didn't come together until the 2nd half, and if truth be told, it always seemed that the wild card was the route to the play-offs that year, even if it did get quite close at times.

And that quality is of course deep starting pitching - the 9 inning effort tonight continues the streak of strong outings by our front 4. You really do feel that every time out, these 4 will give the team a genuine chance to win that game. In Pedro's single year with Curt, we had that 2 days out of 5 (though if I am being honest, Pedro's 'decline', relative though it was, meant that I never really had that feeling with him at that stage of his career with the Sox), but never to this depth. I don't really expect this to continue all year - I think Beckett, Schilling and Wakefield may all regress at points during the year, but given health, it is hard to imagine all of them regressing at the same time, or for a prolonged period...

As I posted earlier in the season, it may be early but it is better to sweep, than be swept... well it is still early (and I may still be saying that in September), but it is better to lead by 8.5, than trail by 8.5! The Sox have had better records at this stage in previous seasons, 26-9 as recently as 2002, but have never had the Yankees this far back in their rear view mirrors. But the stark reality is, there are still 125 games to go, and a heck of a lot can go wrong in those 125 games - see Josh Beckett's hand for all the evidence we need.

One that got away...

2007-05-14T00:20:00.000+01:00

Well that game was all wrapped up and safely in the loss column... and then, the O's manager made a big blunder.

That is the second time in recent weeks that our AL East opponent's manager has decided that he would like to give the Sox a helping hand - the first to do so was John Gibbons in Toronto, pulling Roy Halladay and allowing the Sox to get at the Jays pen.

Like that night in Toronto, there just didn't seem any need for Sam Perlozzo's decision today - Alex Cora had led off the 6th inning with a single, but three innings later, the Sox hadn't recorded another hit, and Guthrie hadn't allowed another base runner since issuing a walk to Crisp, also in the 6th.

In his post game, Perlozzo seemed to suggest that Guthrie was tired, but given he was effectively one ground ball to second away from the CG, wouldn't the sensible call to have given him one more batter - even if that batter had hit a HR, the O's would have still had a three run lead, even if he just allowed another base runner, a HR still has a 2 run lead... and Guthrie may have been a bit tired after throwing only 91 pitches, but the pen wasn't fresh after the day before either.

But who am I to complain - anytime the opposing manager wants to gift wrap us a W, I will just say thank-you, and move on.

Apparently though, if you follow the opposition team, you don't feel quite so charitable.

The Waiver Wire - Podcasts

2007-05-10T21:29:00.000+01:00

Whilst the Yankees are getting a big L to take with them over to Seattle I thought I'd let you know about my latest venture.

I have gone and got myself involved in podcasting. Last Saturday Pete J from over at The Spurious World of Baseball and myself sat in a studio after I did a show and produced six podcasts. These were our first efforts but we are hoping next time to expend the features and the show itself.

This time around we just spoke about every division and how things are going. We sat there for nearly an hour and a half before deciding on a show name so we weren't exactly the most professional but we'll get better after a few stabs.

The AL East and Central are already on the site and then the other leagues will be drip fed in over the next fortnight or so. We think the next time we'll get together will be Saturday 26th May as we live a fair way apart so alas we can't do it weekly as it currently stands.

Ideas we have for next time include things such as discussing specific issues, listeners e-mails, fantasy stuff etc...

If you want to hear our ramblings/thoughts (in erm...sexyish English accents) then please visit the website. Any thoughts/feedback is most appreciated and if anyone want to contribute in any way then they can get in contact via our e-mail.

You never know - one day Neil H might join in the fun!

PS: I'm the rambling idiot speaking at a zillion slurred words a minute - you'd never guess I was voice trained by the head of the BBC voice training dept!

More on Clemens (has this blog ever had more blogging?)

2007-05-08T16:55:00.000+01:00

The fact is with Roger Clemens is that he is a baseball player. 95% of Sportsman play for a team not because they love the club but because they want to earn a good living. There are those that have dreams of playing for one team and want to be known as a great Yankee/Red Sox/Portsmouth player but they are few and far between. Players want to earn money and want success, should they be held up to the same standard that we'd like to think we'd provide? No doubt I'd like to think I'd happily play for Portsmouth for 5k a week but if Fulham came in for me at 10k a week I wouldn't be surprised if I accepted it.

As fans we'd do pretty much anything for our team and believe that the players on the field should be the same. The fact is though very few of them will and they will come and go to whoever offers them the biggest bit of silver. I have long accepted that this is the case, players come and go, manager come and go, chairmen and owners come and go but the clubs will remain.

If in a hypothetical scenario a Portsmouth player did as you described then first of all I'd go annoyed at the club for not signing him to a contract, if they did offer one and the player chose to go then that is his right. No-one should be tied down to a club beyond his contract and that is why we have free agency on baseball and the Bosman ruling in football. As long as players give their all during their time at the club then who is anyone to get annoyed when they move on?

My 3,079 Miles... colleague put forward this example, 'The analogy here for, lets say a hypothetical Portsmouth fan, is a player that Portsmouth brought through the ranks... who achieves dizzying success - one of the most sustained high level performers the sport has ever seen - but who gets stale from having been with the team for a long time... who states that he wants to move to Manchester to be nearer his family... then moves to Fulham... but who it turns out had an illegal agreement with Fulham to ship him to Southampton after a couple of seasons - you are telling me that the hypothetical Portsmouth fan would have just shrugged their shoulders?'

Most Portsmouth fans would do their nut - I wouldn't. Player plays, sees out his contract, moves on. I had the same conversation many years ago with the former editor of Spurs FTT when he was putting together a protest when Sol Campbell returned to White Hart Lane. He saw Sol's move across North London as treachery but if you are a free agent they why shouldn't you take what you think is the best deal on the table for you?

My colleague believes that I shouldn't expect rational behaviour from Sox fans but why not? He left and you won a World Series, a World Series without him.

The best bit though in all this is if the Yankees did do the improbable and win the World Series, everyone will say the Yankees went out and bought it by spending all this money on the Rocket, yet as Simmons says, 'Honestly? I don't think Clemens will be that good for the Yanks.' So we've made a bad deal and Clemens won't be very good for the Yankees, so if we win it all then it has nothing to do with our $18.5m splurge on the Rocket as he won't be very good.

And as Neil H pointed out, 'But heck I don't blame the Yankees - if the Red Sox had gone this long without a World Series I am sure we would be pretty desperate as well.' It's been six World Series since we won it all, it's an age, and if we are pretty desperate after six, how bad was Red Sox Nation waiting three generations?

Pretty damn desperate would be my guess...

Clemens is back - Part 2 - a (partly) emotional response

2007-05-08T14:12:00.000+01:00

Well I think having a dig at Simmons for this is a bit rich - not quite as rich as Roger, but still.

Bill has jumped on Roger's Boston grave often enough to know that he is simply repeating a position that he has held since Roger first wanted to be closer to his family in Texas... and promptly moved to Toronto.

You can claim to love bitter fans all you like, but what do you expect? They shouldn't be bitter? They should act rationally because if he had signed with our team things would be different?

What can diehard Red Sox fans who actually witnessed Roger coming through the system, who witnessed the highs - and the very real lows - of following a hero for a very long time actually make of his behaviour? We are talking about a generation of fans who were in their early teens as he made his debut with the Sox, who considered Roger their player, who will have idolized him irrationally given their age and the impact that sports had on their life at that time... what do you actually expect?

The analogy here for, lets say a hypothetical Portsmouth fan, is a player that Portsmouth brought through the ranks... who achieves dizzying success - one of the most sustained high level performers the sport has ever seen - but who gets stale from having been with the team for a long time... who states that he wants to move to Manchester to be nearer his family... then moves to Fulham... but who it turns out had an illegal agreement with Fulham to ship him to Southampton after a couple of seasons - you are telling me that the hpothetical Portsmouth fan would have just shrugged their shoulders?

And then having actually moved to Manchester to have that final homecoming, he starts suggesting that maybe after all he would like to bury the hatchet, that one final hurrah with his old team would really be quite cool... and then... you know what, Southampton offered him more money, so he is going back there for one final stab at the Championship, in direct opposition to Portsmouth... given how fans react to local rivals... I am sure that the hypothetical Portsmouth fan would have just shrugged their shoulders and said... I love bitter fans, I really do!

I will update this post later for the links - but if you don't think that Roger has impacted how he is received in Houston, you need to do a bit more reading! If you think that Roger didn't impact his reception in NY the last time he left then do a bit of searching for NY Post and Daily News headlines from the time, or even Cashman's quotes on how Roger left without arbitration protection costing the Yankees a high draft pick... you may be the ultimate Clemens fan, but that doesn't make his behaviour any more pleasant to those of us who don't quite see his actions in quite the same rose tinted light.

As for his reception on Sunday in the Bronx... seriously? Those fans have been asked to watch pitching of such pathetic quality for a month that if Kevin Brown had stood in the owner's box and said he was coming back he may have gotten a half decent cheer.

But heck I don't blame the Yankees - if the Red Sox had gone this long without a World Series I am sure we would be pretty desperate as well.

Simmons weighs in on the Rocket

2007-05-08T13:18:00.000+01:00

So I read Bill Simmons latest blog this morning and you've got to laugh. Red Sox Nation despises Roger so much and yet you know full well if he had returned to them things would've been oh so different.

3. He burned his bridges with yet another city (Houston). Love when that happens.

Yep - he certainly burnt his bridges with the Yankees when he left, he would never be welcomed back there, no way, no how - oh wait - wasn't he given a standing ovation by the crowd when he announced his return on Sunday?

Also he still has a ten-year contract with the Astros after he finally gives up pitching in 2019 or whenever it will be to work for them.

'8. We're coming closer and closer to my dream of Clemens' Hall of Fame plaque featuring a cap with a dollar sign on it. I feel as if that's a genuine possibility at this point.'

That has as much possibility as me asking out that 40 year-old nurse I'm lusting after and then her saying she's been waiting for me to ask her out for the past six months. It just isn't going to happen.

What I really love about everyone dragging up how much he's being paid is that everyone else in the world wouldn't get as much money as possible as they could for doing their job. If Bill is offered the same job with the same perks for SI or Fox or CBS at more money than he's currently on by a vast percentage then are we to believe he'd turn it down?

Rightly or wrongly here in the western world earning as much money as possible is kind of important. He doesn't need the money as he's set up his family and his kids kids, and their kids and their kids for life but heck if someone wants to offer him $18.5m or so for five months work with excellent perks and to pitch in the limelight and for a man he respects and with team mates who want him, then it is kind of a no brainer.

However, that isn't right, Roger is an evil money grabber blah blah blah.

I love bitter fans - I really do.

PS: For the record I don't expect miracles but I don't see Clemens falling off a cliff just yet...

Clemens is back - part 1 - correcting the errors

2007-05-08T00:42:00.000+01:00

Well so many words have been written about the return of the prodigal Yankee, and I guess the sane way for me to break it down is to take it into smaller parts - otherwise you are reading a 10,000 word essay that will spiral between an emotional response and a factual analysis - both of which I will try and get to.

However, one of the ways to respond is to look at some of the more ridiculous statements that have been made today... although sadly I cant give you a link to Michael Kay turning to Al Leiter in the YES booth tonight and asking, sincerely, 'So Al, what is the difference between the AL and the NL?'... and then even more remarkably, the letters D and H didn't feature in Al's response!

They just had horrendous pitching. Until now, that is.

SI.com

That all said: There's no question that the Yankees are a better team today than they were Friday morning

Buster Olney

I appreciate these guys are going for hyperbole, but they do know that the Yankees roster is exactly the same today as it was yesterday right? Well not quite the same.

Any Red Sox fan that tells you this doesn't make the Yankees a more dangerous opponent in a month's time is fooling themselves - but lets be honest here - a lot can happen in a month. In the same way that in the first month Wang, Mussina, Pavano and Hughes found out what the DL looked like, they could all do so again in the next month (except Hughes of course, who is likely to still be on it in a month)... and equally, so could one or all of Schilling, Beckett, Matsuzaka, Wakefield etc... and if the Yankee scenario plays out, then Roger, regardless of how he pitches, is not able to keep filling rotation spots. Nor does any of this account for the fact that Roger himself can get injured as he readies himself for the big leagues.

And given that his return is a month away, where will the Yankees be in a month? We have four more weeks of the number 4 and 5 spots in the rotation being an absolute question mark every single time out - and it needs to be remembered in these 'better days' for the Yankees, that they are currently feasting on two of the worst teams in the worst league in baseball - hey not my assessment, Buster said so in that same chat today. When the Yankees finish this two week stretch, they will have to face the White Sox, the Mets, the Red Sox (possibly twice), the Angels and possibly the Blue Jays before his return - that is a number of very decent offenses that will enjoy the non - Wang / Pettitte / Mussina nights.

But the best response to the signing came from one of Boston's own finest:

After the Sox beat the Twins in Minneapolis yesterday, Schilling was asked his reaction to the Rocket's re entry into the Yankees clubhouse. Ever the blowhard, Schilling declared, "We don't need him" -- a comment of stupefying arrogance that is sure to come up a couple of million times between now and the end of the 2007 postseason.

Boston Globe

I mean quoting the guy properly would have been too difficult?

"It would have been nice to have him, but we didn't need him. We DON'T need him"

AP Sports / Yahoo

I appreciate that every Red Sox blogger has said this at some point in time, but the "author" of that article is the biggest hack that Sox fans have to put up with on a regular basis - why does the Globe believe that his talent is worth the utter garbage that he spews out on a regular basis?

Anyway, remember when I said I would break this into bits so that it wasn't a 10,000 word esay... maybe I should have said, break it down into a series of 10,000 word articles...

Clemens thoughts

2007-05-07T17:13:00.000+01:00

So when Roger Clemens took the mic and announced his return to the Yankees during the seventh inning stretch of the Yankees/Mariners last night, suddenly the balance of power shifted in the AL East.

Lots of people have their opinions on the Rocket, from what I've read on various websites and message boards in the past 24 hours or so it seems pretty split. Yankee fans are pretty much overjoyed, they believe they've got an ace pitcher who can give them 20 or so very good outings for the rest of the season. He will probably take over innings that were going to be pitched by Kei Igawa or Carl Pavano, it would be hard to contend that the innings Clemens will provide wouldn't improve on those these two pitchers would've provided.

Red Sox fans though are mostly seemingly quite happy they've dodged the Clemens bullet, they see him as a six-inning pitcher who'll get lit up in the AL East after facing weak NL line-ups for the past three years. I wonder if they would be saying the same thing should he of re-joined them for one final stint. That is something that we'll never know but I know what I think.

It is a staggering amount of money and he has the special perks that he had in Houston. This doesn't seem to bother his team mates so why as a fan should I care? I have longed believed that the Rocket would return to the Bronx, Andy's return and Cano's number switch only furthered my belief.

The question is now whether or not a staff of Chien-Ming Wang, Andy Pettitte, Mike Mussina, Roger Clemens and Philip Hughes is a strong enough staff to compete for the AL East title and beyond. If everyone is healthy and pitching to potential then on paper, it is an incredibly strong rotation. Couple that with the Yankees everyday lineup and you have a team that look very impressive. The Bullpen though is of some concern but should the starters start to go further as health improves then the 'pen will get more time off. Rivera, Farnsworth, Proctor, Henn, Myers and Bruney look strong to me if they aren't being overworked and throw in a long man who can go a few innings of a time in mop-up duty, a Rasner or Igawa then the team is starting to look good.

Baseball Prospectus has him going 127.2 innings with a 3.16 ERA. Rotowire at 122.0 IP and a 2.73. Baseball Think Factory has him at 179.0 IP and a 2.77 with Bill James 156.0 Innings and putting up a 3.12 ERA. These numbers were put together before the season started so even if you add a run for Clemens pitching in the toughest division in the league then it's still numbers that most Yankee fans will sign up for.

However Clemens won't be back for a month, Hughes probably until until around the A/S break, and according to observers, by then the Yankees season will be all but over so it'll be a gigantic waste of time and money by the club.

Personally though, I'll wait and see how it plays out.

My boy the Rocket is back

2007-05-06T20:16:00.000+01:00

Roger Clemens is once again a New York Yankee. The 44 year-old has announced to the crowd in the seventh inning stretch that he has returned to the Bronx for a second stint in the Bronx.

I am over the moon, help is on its way. Wang, Pettitte, Mussina, Clemens, Hughes. That is how the rotation should stack up after the All-Star break.

I shall put together some more consise thoughts on the matter after the game.

Phil Franchise thoughts

2007-05-02T14:29:00.000+01:00

I decided to stay up real late to catch Phil Franchise's start at Texas. Neil H is currently in Texas but had a work dinner he had to go to, otherwise he had planned to squeeze in the game and had things gone as well as they might - then he might've really regretted it.

Lets get this out of the way quick smart - Hughes was awesome. The Rangers through 6 1/3 had hit just one ball with any type of authority - and that ended up in a 5-4-3 DP off the bat of Kinsler. His fastball was blowing past hitters, the change-up that he is supposedly 'working on' was flat out nasty. All-Star and stud first baseman Mark Teixeira was thrown three straight change-ups, he swung and missed the first two by a foot and stood and watched the third blow over the heart of the plate.

The pitch count was low - 77 pitches through six innings and the way things were going - he was staying in until he gave up a hit. Then disaster struck, if you're reading this then you'll know what happened. He dug deep to pitch the best curveball he had to finish out Teixeira in the 7th and felt his hamstring pop.

It was a very sad end to a potential historical evening. Hughes was flat out dealing and had his hamstring not gone then I genuinely think he had a real shot at pitching the no hitter. It isn't like there were any fine defensive plays behind him, any time they got wood on the ball then it was either a lazy fly-ball or a ground ball straight at an infielder.

Hughes looks like he'll miss four to six weeks - and that is the best case scenario. People have been discussing whether or not Hughes should've been up but you all saw what he did last night - this kid is ready for the big leagues and I know he got injured - but injuries can happen anywhere at anytime whilst doing almost anything.

I feel for the kid but we got a glimspe at the future last night and the boy Hughes is most certainly for real. Maybe resting that arm for a month plus will be of great benefit later in the season, should we get to play in October but as they say **** happens and you just gotta get on with it.

But still - that kid can deal.

Sod this for a bag of chips

2007-04-28T02:22:00.000+01:00

Neil H is in the Bronx.

Andy Pettitte has just walked four guys in an inning after being given a two run lead.

This team is not fun to watch.

I am not staying up to watch this.

02:23 and out.

It is still early, but... SWEEEEEEP

2007-04-23T04:51:00.000+01:00

It is still early, but it is better to sweep, than be swept!

I guess both teams will take positives from this weekend's series - the Sox from the fact that they won 3 straight (duh), the Yankees from the fact that they put up a pretty decent offensive output against the front 3 of the Sox rotation - both pretty fair points of view.

While I would rather the Sox had won all games by the same margin, but with the starters giving up a lot less runs, the fact of the matter is that the Yankee front 5 are going to put a lot of damage on a lot of teams. Looking back at the 3 games, the Sox front 3 didn't cover themselves in glory, but the team walks away with 3 wins - while the Yankees can rightly expect better pitching as the season progresses, I think Sox fans can equally expect better performances out of the front 3 when they next meet up with the Yanks. All of them had good spells in their performances, but the Yankees proved that if you make mistakes, they will, more often than not, hurt you. I guess we will find out next Friday what Matsuzaka learned from today's outing... and we will also see what the Yankees learned about him.

As an aside on Daisuke, I still think it is too early to know what we have - he has looked good at times in every outing, equally he has looked hittable at other times. I think that we need to bear in mind that everything is a first at the moment - the only first that wasn't really significant was the trip to Torornto - but we have had first outing, first home outing, first Yanks - Sox game, and next week, first start in the Bronx. Personally, I think it will be a couple of months before we get a really good feel for his capabilities.

While Yankee fans will draw comfort from their efforts this weekend, Sox fans should also draw comfort on the offensive side - going in to the series the Sox had scored 66 runs in 15 games (an average of 4.4 per game) and had too many guys hitting poorly - Youkilis, Ramirez, Varitek, Crisp and Pedroia were all hitting well below our expectations of them - and really only Drew hitting above expectations. So while they scored runs off Kartsens (7) and Wright (4), they also scored off the Yankees bullpen as well - and coming out of the series, you feel better about Ramirez, Varitek and Crisp, although one series shouldn't convince us that all of their issues are behind them.

Tonight's offensive highlight for the Sox were clearly the back to back to back to back home runs - hey no Sox blogger has ever been able to write about such an event before... even in the days before blogs we couldn't have written about it - always good to see something happen for the first time in team history (and believe me, it sounds just as great on the ESPN Deportes feed!), well as long as it something positive. I don't think from the graphics that ESPN put up that this has ever happened to the Yankees before, and I am guessing not too many Yankee fans were saying - cool, never seen that before!

Another positive out of the weekend - the bullpen.

On Friday, the bullpen went 2 innings, giving up a run, but highlighted by the performance of Okajima when Papelbon wasn't available. On Saturday, the pen went 2.1 innings, didn't give up a run, and with Papelbon available, the highlight may well have been another key out (Giambi) by Okajima, this time in the 7th. Tonight another 2 innings - allowing a Matsuzaka runner to score, but otherwise preserving the win. Worryingly, Francona went to the Okajima well again, and I wasnt surprised to see his weakest outing so far - a lot of high curves that he wasn't punished for.

Sadly, given the schedule, we can only enjoy the sweep for a week before we start all over again in the Bronx, and the pitching match-ups will not be so favorable for the Red Sox - though given how he has been pitching, I am not concerned that we have to throw Wakefield in against the Yankees, though I hate to think what that lineup could do to Tavares if he isn't on, or even if he is.

Neil M thinks that my angst in Yankee - Sox games is cringeworthy, but given the quality of the lineup, my Sox fearing head always thinks that the one big game changing hit is just one swing away. At least next week I will get to see one of the games in person (that Matsuzaka start on Friday night), and will be away adding stadiums 23 (Detroit) and 24 (Cleveland) to my list on the Saturday and Sunday, so he won't need to watch my type written angst in quite so much detail!

Did I call that or what?

2007-04-21T03:41:00.000+01:00

The moment Vizciano walked Manny from an 0-2 count it was a no brainer defeat for the Bombers.

It is now 3:43 AM.

I am not overly amused.

#42

2007-04-16T04:10:00.000+01:00

I am guessing that not many of us watching baseball from the UK knew much about Jackie Robinson's role in US history before we got into baseball - the first time I had even heard his name was at Fenway, when a friendly Red Sox fan explained what the numbers were on the right-field grandstand roof.

To be honest, where I grew up, I didn't really think of racism as an issue - my parents were absolutely resolute in their view that everyone on this earth was created equal regardless of any characteristic that made them "different". I can vividly remember being dragged into the house for a stern talking to when I 'insulted' a school friend using a term when I had no idea what the word meant. Of all the many great lessons my parents taught me, the desire to give everyone credit for who they are, rather than any notion of what they are, is the one I am most proud of them for.

The reason I say that I didn't think racism was an issue, was that the ethnic population in the city I grew up in was very small, and I never witnessed any racism first hand. But with the benefit of hindsight, and a greater personal maturity, I am guessing that if you were to ask any member of the Indian or Pakistani community who were living in Dundee at that time, they most likely have a very different view of what they experienced at that time.

So my first knowledge of widespread racism came in a school class called Modern Studies, which, among other subjects, explored the civil rights movement in the US in the 1950's and 1960's. What struck me at the time, was that this was just 20 years before I was studying these events - which then, and now, seems like no time at all. For anyone who doesn't know about the civil rights movement in the US, please take the time to read some of the history, and the dignity of some of the people who led the fight for America to continue to strive for the belief that "all men are created equal".

Over at Joy of Sox, the important distinction is drawn - Jackie Robinson wasn't the first African-American to play in major league baseball because he was the first to be good enough - but man, was he good enough - many, many players before Robinson were good enough - he was the first to play because the baseball establishment had decided they would allow it.

The Red Sox did not play a proud part in the fight to integrate baseball - they were the last team to recruit an African-American player, some 12 years after Jackie Robinson made his debut for the Dodgers, and that legacy continued far beyond 1959. One player who can claim a proud role was Ted Williams - who highlighted the need for the Hall of Fame to consider the careers of Negro League players in his own induction speech.

It was amazing today to watch so many players wearing the #42 in tribute - and hopefully, the tribute will cause many people to ask questions about this incredible man, and the incredible strength he must have had to endure the open hatred he faced.

Her are some quick links:

You can also find out more about the work being done in his name at:

Jackie Robinson Foundation

The first pitch

2007-04-14T20:15:00.000+01:00

Well that was how the first pitch looked from the front row of the Monster - and while it doesn't look like it in that photo, it did end up a strike 1.

The Sox did a lot of cool things to celebrate Daisuke's home debut - from announcing his spot in the lineup in Japanese to having the first pitch thrown out by the Consul General at the Japanese 'Consulate' in Boston - that, and quite a few ads in Japanese around the ground.

Wednesday was a cold night in Boston, but well worth the 6 hour round trip - it didn't quite end up in the Daisuke win that I had hoped to see, but it did end in the result I had predicted to guys in the office before I left. The lay off clearly hadn't impacted Felix in the way that it did Jeff Weaver the day before... well that and the talent issue.

First pitch was really quite spectacular - the above photo was a point and hope picture that worked well, as I didn't want to be staring at a view finder when I could watch the real thing. But man, a lot of flash bulbs were popping on that pitch... and throughout that Ichiro at bat... and all subsequent AB's between the two.

While the Monster is a great experience (although the Sox are now 0-2 when I am up there), it is not really the best place to get a real view of the detail of what the pitcher is doing - Daisuke didn't look that sharp, and first pitch strikes were a problem at times, which clearly isn't his standard way of pitching. He also seemed to fidget a bit on the mound early on, but that could have been a reflection of the cold rather than anything else. As anyone watching will know, he does have an interesting pitching motion - he rocks on the balls of his feet a few times before he starts his motion proper, and there really is a distinct pause in his delivery.

Felix really had a great outing - in the first 6 innings or so, there was very little contact indeed - after that, the Sox started getting the bat on ball, there were two sharply hit balls to 2nd in the 7th, but I really did think I was going to get to see my first no-hitter... and was really feeling pretty glum that it was the Sox that were going to be on the wrong end of it. But gritty JD Drew managed to get a ball out of the outfield and preserve a modicum of pride. I play in a Yahoo league with a team called King Felix is Real - on the early season evidence, you have to think the guy is right.

One last photo - a full Fenway panorama in the middle innings - the view from the Monster really is stunning.

Talk about bad base-running...

2007-04-13T12:30:00.000+01:00

Not Yankees or Sox related but Carl Crawford is meant to be one of the elite players in this league.

Are we sure?

Bruised Bum Boy Baffles Batters

2007-04-10T14:12:00.000+01:00

Despite running off three hours sleep, I managed to stay up and witness the first win from Carl Pavano (1-0) since May 22, 2005. The Yankees righty gave up six hits over seven innings giving up a pair, in what was an excellent display.

The Yankees spotted Pavano an early lead, 3-0 before he stood on the mound and 5-0 before he returned for the second inning. Bobby Abreu had 4 RBIs and a HR, JoPo hit a two-run double that was misplayed in LF by Jason Kubel and A-Rod hit another shot to RF to make him the first Yankee ever to hit 5 HR in the first six games of a season.

Last night though in the dome showed for the first time this season what this club is capable of. Nice Defense all around the IF, solid pitching with the starter going deep and keeping the hitters off balance mixed in with jumping on the starter early.

In might just be one game but it is the first time this season we've not looked sloppy in any facit of the game - long may it continue!

Red Sox @ Rangers - A UK perspective

2007-04-09T22:23:00.000+01:00

Over here in good old blighty - we get two games a week on Channel Five (as well as many including at least one a day on NASN) but the channel five shows have a studio instead of ad breaks whilst you guys get to hear 'this is ourrrrrrr country' for the 4186th time this year.

Anyway - last night I gave up on the game pretty early as I was tired but Tony Cottam didn't - and this UK based Astro fan did a Bill Simmonds-equse dsiary of what we witnessed last night.

It's well worth a read.

The week that was - Thoughts

2007-04-09T15:30:00.000+01:00

After Neil H posted his thoughts on what we've seen in week one - I am following the crowd (well my colleague) and doing the same.

Firstly and most importantly - isn't it fantastic that baseball is back?

Secondly - Pavano, Pettitte, Mussina, Igawa, Rasnar - oh dear. It can only get better is what they say, it says a lot that our best outing came from Pavano, he had some shocking defense behind him and kept hitting off balance with his good change of speed. It wasn't great but it was most certainly solid and he led the staff this week. Things can only get better.

Thirdly - A-Rod. You can't help but like what you are seeing from the guy, his whole demenour seems to me to scream that he is more prepared to succeed than he is scared to fail. He's not going to keep up his awesome week one form all year but he just seems to have had that fear taken away. Also he is driving the ball with authority - see the ball - hit the ball - he is good enough that he doesn't have to try and out think the pitcher, just react to what is thrown at him.

Fourthly - Dice-K - His outing was sexy.

Fifthly - The Yankees OF. Melky looks terribly overmatched so far this season and Matsui is now on the DL. Damon should return tonight and I'd like to see Kevin Thompson get the start in LF - I just like that kid.

Finally in this update - for some unknown reason I was up at 6:18 local time this morning, so I fully doubt I'll get to see Carl Pavano got tonight - which is a slight disappointment.

A 2007 NYY Preview

2007-04-09T15:23:00.000+01:00

Before the Yankees rotation stunk up the joint in the first week. I'd been going back and forth with an old friend about the Yankees in 2007. He has published the preview over in his blog which is linked to on the side of the page.

Read my rosy tinted thoughts on the Yanks - go on - you can laugh at me later.

Blogging live - top of the 9th... what do you do... what do you do?

2007-04-09T03:39:00.000+01:00

Well here we go - Francona had said he would bring in Papelbon when the game needed saved, and that game needed saved right there, with 1 out in the bottom of the 8th.

So having pitched 2/3 of an inning, do you bring him back out?

Last year, no question.

This year... ah the joys of being the manager.

Presumably, he will pitch the 9th, the game still needs saved, and he has only thrown 5 pitches. He has only pitched once this season, and the Red Sox have an off day tomorrow, so logic says to me that he should pitch the 9th.

But if he needs a lot of pitches, or heaven forbid tweaks something in his arm, Terry is going to find out a lot of people aren't to keen on his management skills.

Of course, the hitters could save us all a lot of grief and put up a crooked number in the top of the 9th!

The end of week 1

2007-04-09T00:23:00.000+01:00

Well the Sox have still to play tonight, but both our teams have 5 games in the books, and both are an equally unimpressive 2-3, which is good enough for joint second in the AL East behind the (ahem) pace-setting 3-2 Blue Jays.

Given that it is just one week it is hard to take too much from what we have seen, but given I have started writing for the first time in a while, I may as well chuck out any qualms over sample size, and jot down a few thoughts on the past week:

First off... why does everyone ignore sample size at this stage of the season? A-Rod flopped on Thursday, but was the hero on Saturday... the Mets were unbeatable on Friday, and error strewn a day later...

The Red Sox rotation did ok first time through - Schill gets the chance to redeem himself tonight, but more importantly, Beckett looked great in the cold, while it seems that Dice-K did not too bad. It is always disappointing not to win a Wake start when he only gives up 2 runs, and Tavares, well he did what we should really expect for a guy with a career era of 4.36, and era's of 4.52 and 5.39 in his two full season's of starting... but then I think we all hope that he is just holding a spot for this guy.

The Yankees rotation... well, not so good. Pavano went 4 1/3, giving up 4 earned; Pettitte only gave up 2 runs but lasted only 4 innings as his defense let him down, and it genuinely looked as if he had never pitched to Posada before in his life; Mussina gave up 6 runs in 4 innings to the Orioles; Igawa pitched poorly in his debut - he at least broke the 5 inning barrier, but gave up 7 innings doing so; then today, Rasner, in his season debut, was struck by the 4 inning bug - 4 1/3 and 5 earned. In its opening turn, the Yankees starters threw a total of 21 2/3 innings, requiring the bullpen to throw way, way too many pitches in the first week - aided by an inning of work in relief by Pettitte. The upside is, the rotation can't pitch like this week in, week out... it just can't... can it?

The Yankees saw a shortened series with the Rays, who looked like they do - very decent hitting and speed - the two Dukes HR were very impressive - but not so much on the pitching front... while the Orioles, despite spending money on their pen, looked the way the Orioles do, not so great hitting, and not so great pitching. In their first week, the Jays went 3-2 for first place, but an ugly outing for AJ is what will need watched in the week ahead.

Outside the East, the highlight has to be Cleveland's inability to get an opening day game in... called one out short of an official game, as the pitcher shook off signs from his catcher...

So anyway, Schilling has only managed one out of his first three hitters, and two very hard hit balls... is it time to worry yet?

That boy Dice-K - He is the real deal

2007-04-06T14:45:00.000+01:00

The Red Sox half of the blog was in a meeting yesterday whilst Dice-K was making his debut so it's down to me to report on the performance of the player I drafted two years ago in the minor league section of a fantasy keeper draft - it turned out to be an inspired move.

However the Red Sox half of the blog will be sitting on the front row of the monster on Wednesday so I think he'll take missing his away debut and seeing his home one live from the monster.

As for Dice-K - well last night he looked every bit as good as advertised. His off speed stuff saw the Royals hitters missing by yards and they were kept very off balance. One thing about Dice-K's fastball though, Varitek will set up for it and Dice-K will pitch it straight into the glove. Several times yesterday I noticed Varitek not moving an inch and the ball going straight into the glove.

Another thing about his fastball - he kept it at the knees - a very good sign.

I think this kid could be just something special. I loved his make-up when you think about the pressure he was under and he just dealt and struck out ten Major League batters on his debut. Certainly the first time round the league I can't see him giving up too much and it'll be a question of how much the hitters adjust and then Dice-K re-adjusts that will determine how great a year he'll have.

E's are good, E's are good...no they ain't

2007-04-06T14:39:00.000+01:00

The Shamen and Ebeneezer Goode - that song wasn't about baseball.

Another ugly three error performance by the Bronx Bombers last night and this time they couldn't overcome their pathetic defense. On a cold and bitter night in the Bronx, Andy Pettitte made his return to the house that Ruth built but pitched poorly in his coming coming in Pinstripes.

The Yankees scored six but the Rays pushed seven people over the plate - the winning run coming from a Wild Pitch by Luis Vizciano (1-1). As you all know I love over here in the UK and games are in the early morning and I rarely close down my lappy before the end of a game but last time I did.

The Yankees were woefully sloppy and quite simply did not deserve to win that game. I closed it down at 7-6 and that is where the score stayed. Hopefully the trip to the twin cities and the dome will sort out the fielding (six errors in two games is just disgusting) but on the plus side - the pressure of a 162-0 season is off, so 161-1 it'll have to be.

Just an edit - we are playing Baltimore next - I got ahead of myself but have left it up there to show what an idiot I am.

1-0 and 0-1

2007-04-03T16:14:00.000+01:00

In a battle of the BP's - the Yankees out slugged the Devil Rays come opening day in the Bronx. Carl Pavano pitched ok but was hindered by three errors in the early innings before the Rays started to get to him in the fifth. Not a stellar outing by any means but it wasn't half as good as what his 4.1 inning outing looks like stats wise.

Brian Bruney, Sean Henn, Luis Vizciano (1-0), Kyle Farnsworth and Mariano Rivera combined to keep the Rays off the scoreboard for the final 4.2 innings - with Mo striking out all three men he faced. Every year you get those who state that Mariano isn't the best in the game, this year everyone is slurping at Joe Nathan's feet, before that it was Eric Gagne, but year in, year out, this guy pitches just amazing.

Offensively the Yankees scored nine runs and spread it out. Giambi brought from three, Jeter a couple as did A-Rod. The other runs came thanks to Bobby Abreu and a Jorge Posada shot the other way - the first Yankee HR of 2007.

A-Rod was booed early but got a curtain call late after hitting a two-run shot, but it was his SB that was his big moment. After getting on with a lazer shot past the Rays SS, A-Rod took off on the 0-1 pitch and in a bang-bang play at second was called safe. He came around to score on the next pitch as Giambi laced another single through the shift.

A good start for the Bombers all in all.

Oh and Schilling looked awful against the Royals, sadly though it is just one game and I doubt many would call Carlos Zambrano or Chris Carpenter done after their less than stellar opening outings.

Some 2007 Predictions - Neil M style

2007-04-01T15:33:00.000+01:00

And now the Neil M version - more in depth look at the Yankees later today.

AL MVP - Ichiro

NL MVP - Albert Pujols

AL Cy Young - Johan Santana

NL Cy Young - Carlos Zambrano

AL RoY - Daisuke Matsuzaka

NL RoY - Chris B. Young

AL Manager of the Year - Mike Scioscia

NL Manager of the Year - Lou Piniella

MLB Highest BA - Ichiro

MLB most HR - Ryan Howard

MLB most RBIs - David Ortiz

MLB lowest ERA - Johan Santana

MLB most wins - Daisuke Matsuzaka

MLB most saves - Francisco Rodriguez

On what date will Big Barry to HR Champ? July 1st

Will we see a Perfect Game? No

Will we see a No hitter? No

Will anybody hit for the cycle? Yes

Where will Roger Clemens pitch? New York

Who will be the biggest name busted for drugs? Sammy Sosa

When will A-Rod publically trigger his clause? The day after the World Series ends

Will Joe Torre manage the Yankees in '08? No

Will Papelbon outshine D-K? No

Can Josh Hamilton win a starting job at some point this season? Yes

Will the Yanks and Sox have any bench clearing incidents? Yes

And finally...

Who will win it all? New York Yankees

Some 2007 Predictions - Neil H style

2007-04-01T15:30:00.000+01:00

Some of the regular bog standard prediction questions and a few more just for fun...

AL MVP - Grady Sizemore

NL MVP - Albert Pujols

AL Cy Young - Johan Santana

NL Cy Young - Carlos Zambrano

AL RoY - Daisuke Matsuzaka

NL RoY - Stephen Drew (assuming he is still eligible?)

AL Manager of the Year - Terry Francona

NL Manager of the Year - Lou Piniella

MLB Highest BA - Miguel Cabrera

MLB most HR - Albert Pujols

MLB most RBIs - David Ortiz

MLB lowest ERA - Johan Santana

MLB most wins - Roy Halladay

MLB most saves - Francisco Rodriguez

On what date will Big Barry to HR Champ? June 18th

Will we see a Perfect Game? No

Will we see a No hitter? No

Will anybody hit for the cycle? Yes

Where will Roger Clemens pitch? New York

Who will be the biggest name busted for drugs? no big names

When will A-Rod publically trigger his clause? 12.00am, October 28th

Will Joe Torre manage the Yankees in '08? No

Will Papelbon outshine D-K? No

Can Josh Hamilton win a starting job at some point this season? Yes

Will the Yanks and Sox have any bench clearing incidents? No

And finally...

Who will win it all? Boston Red Sox

Oh boy - surely not?

2007-03-25T13:58:00.000+01:00

Last night I logged on to Pete Abe's blog only to be faced with this story and the possibility of the Yankees opening day starter being none other than Carl Anthony Pavano.

The oft-injured right hander could be moved up following the DL move of expected starter Chien-Ming Wang and the back spasm problems of Andy Pettitte. Mike Mussina has been ruled out as Joe Torre wants to keep him on regular rest meaning that Pavano, the pencilled #4 starter is now the favourite to take the ball on opening night although Kei Igawa, Jeff Karstens and even Darrell Rasnar can't be ruled out just yet.

If it is to be Pavano, then it'll be quite a turnaround for the former Florida Marlin. After two disappointing seasons in the Bronx, culminating in him not throwing a pitch in anger at the big league level last season, Pavano has got a lot of work to do if he is to repay the huge contract that he was awarded in the 2004/2005 off season, not to mention having to win back the respect of his fellow players and fans.

Wang's hamstring injury isn't cast as serious, and he is fully expected to return to the rotation by the time the calender flicks over to May. Pettitte may still be fit and ready to take the ball on opening night, but from sitting in a fairly comfortable position with a fragile rotation a week ago, suddenly the question marks are flying once more.

Papelbon back to the pen

2007-03-23T08:23:00.000Z

Oh well...

It was nice having one of the strongest rotations (on paper) in the majors while it lasted... just a pity it didn't even make it one time through that rotation.

It was announced last night that Papelbon had requested a move back to closer, and that the Sox were willing to accommodate him. You have to wonder whether he would even have made the request had the Sox been able to find someone who had been able to step up into that role, or if the club had had the confidence to stick with the plan.

Why did the team not simply tell Jonathan that they appreciated the offer, but they would let the first month of the season play out, and if no one in the pen stepped up the way he did the year before, then they would take him up on that offer?

But we now have a rotation that includes both Wakefield and Tavarez, and as ugly a prospect as that is this year, it also creates a hole in the rotation for as many years as we should have been counting on Papelbon as well, unless we go through this farce every year.

The main argument in favor of this change seems to be that a team needs a closer - just an absolute BS argument for me - the Cardinals didn't last year, while the Tigers kind of did, the White Sox didn't the year before, while the Astros kind of did, the Marlins didn't in 2003, while the Yankees most definitely did, the Angels didn't in 2002, while the Giants did, the Diamondbacks didn't in 2001, the Yankees most definitely did - I know that by the time the play-offs came these teams had confidence in who their closer would be, but so what - the play-offs are a long way off...

From Jim Caple's chat on ESPN:

Pete (San Diego): Jim, whats your take on Papelbon remaining as the Sox closer for this season? Does this mean the Sox go hard after Clemens?

SportsNation Jim Caple: It's a mistake. As Steve Buckley and I write in "The Best Boston Sports Arguments'' (shameless plug for my book), the closer is the most overvalued position in baseball. Think of how many guys came out of nowhere to be effective closers (Eddie Guardado, JJ Putz, etc.) and you realize how replaceable that role is. A good pitcher is always more valuable than a closer (my bold). And don't give me how devastating it can be to lose a game in the ninth inning Sure it hurts. But you remember the loss because it happened at the end of the game. no one remembers how many games you lose earlier because a mediocre starter dug you into an early hole in the second inning, then forced you burn out the bullpen for the next game.

That sums up so much more of baseball for me than just this argument - we remember the memorable, we forget the mundane - we will forget how many games we don't get to a closer because we are carrying two, frankly, less than ordinary pitchers in our rotation, but we would remember a blown save by Joel as if the world had collapsed.

For a team that seems to rely a great deal on the analytical, this is a strange move, and while you can hold out faith that there are other irons in the fire - perhaps a belief that Lester is likely to be in the majors in a months time, or a greater awareness of Clemens thought process than we know - they do seem to be making some strange decisions - $4m for Pineiro to not even try closing in 2007?

Spring Training from... the Tokyo Dome

2007-03-20T16:43:00.000Z

Well my first spring training game... we might have to change the name of the blog to 6,753 Miles from Tokyo Dome, although it is only 6,736 miles from my current home if you go the other way round the world!

I am on a 'small' vacation at the moment, and arrived in Tokyo yesterday. Having read on Japanball.com that there were spring training games on in Tokyo while I was here - I wasn't capable of resisting, and was genuinely curious as to what would be different from a regular major league game...

So, so much!

The atmosphere itself is the first thing that a baseball fan would notice - although for UK football fans, it wouldn't seem so strange. In the right field bleachers, the home team, in this case, the fabulously named Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters (official web site here - although they really weren't at home if you read the history at the first link, or can translate at the second), had a singing section - with band, flag wavers, synchronized singing and fans in the same outfit. While in the left field bleachers, the equally gloriously named Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles (official web-site here), had their singing section, complete with band, flag wavers, etc, etc - and they just kept going and going - the game situation didn't seem to matter, and I wish I could tell what they were singing, but... just incredible! I don't imagine there was formal segregation as in football in the UK, but presumably fans that want that type of experience and involvement just know which section to go to.

The fan experience was pretty cool - a ticket cost 3,000 Yen - about $25 - and for that you could sit in any seat in the lower bowl - I presume this was only because it was a spring training game (regular season game tickets for the seats between the 1b and 3b are apparently 5,000 Yen or $42) - so that meant we were able to sit behind home plate, about 15 rows back, behind the 'safety' net - although that was another difference of note - in the Tokyo Dome, there was a safety net all the way along the 1st and 3b side, seemingly to beyond the distance that you might expect to be in danger from a line drive foul ball.

Other differences? no national anthem, no 7th inning stretch (although it did appear that the Ham Fighters' mascot led the bleacher crew in singing a Nippon Ham Fighters 'fight song'), the in-aisle sales offering included whisky... yep, get your hard liquor in your seat, and of course, the 8th inning clean up - where a stadium steward walked up and down each aisle and collected everyone's garbage (no piles of peanuts in the rows, just a nice shiny polished floor) - everything else seemed pretty much the same, including grown men fighting off small children for the honor of catching a foul ball.

The game itself ended a 5-2 win for the Nippon 9 - although given it was spring training, it really was the Nippon 20... you know that you are at a spring training game when the home team, up by 3 runs, easily gets the first 2 outs in the top of the 9th, bases empty... and calls for a pitching change!

Given it has been too long since I have seen a live game, tonight was an excellent way to start a new season - only 21 days until I am able to blog about Dice-K's home debut!

What goes through the mind of A-Rod?

2007-03-15T18:18:00.000Z

I have to admit I waver on A-Rod, he is without a doubt the player with the most natural skill in the game, a gracious swing, a power bat and a player who has Gold Gloves in his back pocket. He was the player who should be lauded as the anti-Bonds, a player who could appeal to all, the perfect smile, the good looks, the skill, the world was at his feet but he keeps failing at being that person.

He signed that contract in Texas which wasn't his fault and then he dissed Jeter in that article - it was a bad move that would come back to bite him in the bum in the future. After he left Texas he described it as 'playing with 24 kids' again showing a distinct lack of class even though he was probably speaking what he saw as the truth.

Now he's in New York, the home of the goldfish bowl, the pressure is on 24/7 and he's back alongside Jeter. He comes into 2007 with an option to leave his contract and potentially get out of New York and bolt to Chicago to join up with his mentor Lou Pinella or possibly go to the west coast. The option is one that he will trigger, he will get out of his contract because he can earn more as a Free Agent, it is just sensible. The only question is whether or not he'll trigger the option and then stay in the Bronx.

Yesterday on the Mike & The Mad Dog show on WFAN, he laid the foundations for his escape - the fans. He in essence said 'if I'm booed and I leave - it'll be their fault'. Every player wants to be praised by his fans and they will give you a pass for so long but even Jeter (during his two-month long slump in 2005) have heard the boos ringing out from the faithful.

This is in essence a contract year for A-Rod, a great year for him personally would see him cash in during the off-season and in turn it would help the team. The goal for every Yankee is to win the World Series, every year it is the same thing, you agree to play for the Yankees knowing the pitfalls and the pressure that this brings.

He has the best agent in the game in his corner, so why does A-Rod deal with the press so badly? It was broadly accepted that his opening speech of camp cleared the air, everything seemed to be going smoothly and he goes on radio and publicly talks about possibly leaving the club and once again becoming the centre of attention. One thing we've seen in the playoffs is that A-Rod doesn't perform well under pressure and yet he insists on being the man and piling pressure and the empathises on himself.

I always say that one of the most important things in life is to learn from your mistakes, this is something A-Rod is failing to do. Just keep smiling, keep saying that you want to play in New York, no buts, no ifs, and play your game. Your game is good enough to do all the talking there is no need to use your mouth to talk, the problem seems to be that he feels he has to use his mouth as well, and that in turn effects his bat and the endless circle repeats itself yet again.

Play hard and you'll be cheered - it is pretty simple. I know it sounds almost too simple but that it how it is. It is expected that you'll test the FA waters in the off season so don't worry about how you'll come across, let's cross that bridge as and when. For now just play the game and enjoy the ride.

A difference of opinion

2007-03-14T12:18:00.000Z

In the new era of "always truthful (TM)" A-Rod, even when he says what he really thinks, it seems people can't agree on his agenda.

My first knowledge of anything to do with the story was ESPN's interpretation... it couldn't be any clearer could it?

"I want to 100 percent stay in New York"

Except, it seems that not too many people heard the same thing...

The New York Post captions it 'Now it's up to you New York', with their interpretation being that another year of fan abuse, and the Rod is gone... The New York Daily News is just as blunt - 'A-Rod: Love Me... or Else', with the same message that links A-Rod's future in New York with the attitude of the fans. Even the paper of record heard the same message.

While over at the LoHud Yankees Blog, Peter Abraham, who seems to have a nice finger on the cross-over between baseball insider and fan, is blunter still, with the tone of his final comment being the killer for me -

Alex told us several times that he wants to stay in New York. But just a few hours earlier, he drew a line on a map and it led right to Anaheim or Chicago or wherever he wants to go.

It is always interesting on this beat. Always.

Anyone want to set a date on the over / under for the end of the "always truthful (TM)" era?

Yankees got Pavano too cheap

2007-03-09T14:28:00.000Z

I wonder how many Yankee fans and officials believe this to be the case?

A lifetime losing pitcher signed a four-year $39.95m dollar deal after the 2004 season and stated that he was glad to be a Yankee. One thing he wasn't glad about though was his contract, one that he felt wasn't enough and has refused to pay the agent who brokered the deal his standard 5% cut according to Jon Heyman over at SI.

I have tried to be on Pavano's side, he's having a bad run of things but really, this isn't what you expect nor want. He has been paid the best part of $20million over the past two years without really earning the money after a string of various injuries.

It was widely reported at the time that Pavano has bigger offers on the table from other clubs so if money was suc an object then why didn't he go and play for one of them. Carl Pavano has been the worst decision that can be solely placed at the feet of Brian Cashman, and it has been a big one, but for Pavano himself to be complaining is disgusting.

He should pay up, he's a multi-millionaire, his agent did the job he was employed to do, and Pavano should concentrate on earning his crust and pitching in the big leagues instead of having to deal with court cases.

Will he ever learn?

My favourite subject - The Rocket hints at Yanks

2007-03-08T18:17:00.000Z

The Astros, the Yankees and the Red Sox - the three teams who are in the hunt for another Rocket blast off. Last night the seven-time Cy Young award winner was visiting the Yankees to watch his buddy Andy Pettitte pitch, and whilst he was there he spoke with the boss and visited Ken Singleton and Al Leiter in the broadcast booth.

All those who've spoken to him said that they believed he would pitch again, including Andy Pettitte and Derek Jeter who had played golf with him and shared dinner respectively the previous day.

The Rocket tried not to say too much but one thing is clear, he isn't interested in pitching for a team that doesn't provide him with run support. Whilst we are only in pre-season and are not sure how the Astros offense will stack up, it would be fair to think that the Astros do not have the inside track.

This leaves the two AL East offensive juggernaunts - the Yankees and the Red Sox. The Rocket himself said that he didn't know many of the players on the Red Sox and a lot of his close friends were on the Yankees.

All the signs point to a reunion in the Bronx sometime in June or July for a half season stint. Some fans will not think it is worth it and that the money could be better served in other areas but I'm a Clemens guy and believe that 15 games from him in the regular season and a handful in the postseason could really help this ball club, and I for one, would look forward to seeing him back in Pinstripes later this year.

The value of prospects

2007-03-08T01:58:00.000Z

I have to be honest and say that while I love baseball, and spend far, far... far too much time obsessing about the game, I really don't follow prospects in any depth - even in the Sox system I just read what I read, and then throw in a healthy sprinkle of salt - who knows how many of these guys will ever make a valuable contribution? Seriously, how many of them will even ever pull on the laundry in the first place?

However, Neil and I are in the middle of the minor league section of our fantasy league draft - you know that people are taking the 'keeper' element of the league seriously when they are drafting guys that are still playing in college ball, and are likely 3 or 4 years away from contributing anything significant at the major league level - and in the same way that fantasy baseball makes you take a far greater interest in a wider universe of players than just the home town team, having minor league keepers increases your interest in that level of talent as well!

Over on ESPN Insider today Jim Callis of Baseball America takes a good number of questions, and as usual there are a range of Sox and Yankee questions:

Keith (East Brunswick, NJ): D-Mat is numero uno on the prospects list for 2007, yet there isn't a single mention of his Japanese counterpart, Kei Igawa. What gives?

SportsNation Jim Callis: Matsuzaka is going to be a No. 1 or 2 starter. Igawa is going to be a No. 4 or 5. He'll win some games on the Yankees, but he's more of a back-of-the-rotation guy.

Mark (CT): Are you surprised that Bryce Cox was not invited to Spring Training

SportsNation Jim Callis: Not really. I think the Red Sox are going out of their way not to rush him. But they may not be able to resist if he continues to dominate like he did last summer.

Stephen (NY): Why no love for Tyler Clippard? He had a great second half last year and he looked sharp in his first action of the spring.

SportsNation Jim Callis: The Tyler Clippard questions never end . . . We don't not love Clippard. But as I've said many times, his stuff isn't as good as his stats, so Yankees fans need to adjust their expectations accordingly. He'll pitch in the majors, probably as a No. 4 or 5 starter, maybe a No. 3. And while most Yankees fans probably think that's an insult, that's a compliment.

Stephen (NY): Melky Cabrera or Jacob Ellsbury?

SportsNation Jim Callis: Ellsbury. No comparison as center fielders.

nick (boston): ellsbury- more johnny damon or juan pierre?

SportsNation Jim Callis: Closer to Damon.

The Ellsbury questions are interesting - the first few games of ST have been my first chance to see him, and while sample size, quality of opposition etc, etc need to be taken into account, he really has looked good.

Then there was a very interesting Hughes question, with a follow up to explain:

Joe (NY): If you're Cashman, who do you trade Phil Hughes for? Santana? Dontrelle?

SportsNation Jim Callis: If I'm Cashman, no way do I trade Hughes.

John (Portland, ME): I can understand not trading Hughes for Willis, but you wouldn't trade him for Santana?

SportsNation Jim Callis: Well, the Yankees do have seemingly unlimited money, so they could afford to pay Santana $20 million a year. But on a production to dollars ratio, I think Hughes would be the far, far better buy. I think he'll be one of the top 10 pitchers in the AL within the next couple of years.

I appreciate that it is a value driven answer - 20 wins from Santana, at $1m per win, is clearly less "valuable" than say, 10 wins from Hughes at $35,000 each, but that is still leaving you looking for 10 other wins from your 4 other starters...

Regardless, Yankee fans clearly aren't alone in thinking that Hughes is going to be something special when he arrives!

The start of another season...

2007-03-01T00:04:00.000Z

Well if Curt wants to know where he is in the big picture, NESN, with Schill actually on the mound, is advertising the "big night" on Friday - yup, Dice-K's debut!

Schill looks like he has lost a few pounds since the start of spring training, but he still looks big... not David Wells big, but still - and first pitch is a swinging foul down the 3b line, second pitch is a nice called strike, 3rd a slashing foul, 4th a called ball... on the outcide corner that in ST has to be a called strike, while the 5th pitch gets a ground-out to SS, and an easy out for our new SS, Julio Lugo.

After an easy pop-up to Varitek on the first pitch to get the second out, Schilling retired Mauer himself covering 1st, on a ground-out to Youkilis - a nice 1, 2, 3 inning to start the year! Clearly on that inning, the Sox should pony up on a 5 year / $75m deal for the guy!

Sadly no Drew in RF to start the night - presumably he is critically injured - but Julio Lugo leads off in his first AB in the Sox uniform and grounds out to 3rd... we never should have signed that guy...

As I said last year, Spring Training really is meaningless, but after a few months of nothing... it really is great to be watching the Sox again, no matter how meaningless the game!

So this new $39.95m pitcher we've got...

2007-02-20T13:15:00.000Z

He goes by the name of Carl, and he used to pitch for the Florida Marlins before taking a wheelbarrow full of cash and signing for the New York Yankees. Can Carl Pavano be of any value to the 2007 New York Yankees?

Well let me tell you a very unexciting antidote.

Last Saturday morning I was up in a fantasy league draft. With 12 keepers already set (16 teams) and 4 mL keepers set for each team, 240 players were already taken. It was pick 111 of the draft so depth wise it was the 351st pick overall and yes, I took Pavano much to the amusement of the league in general.

On my depth chart he'll start as my final pitcher (Dice-K, Wang, Millwood, Westbrook, Olsen, Wolf, Pavano) and don't worry, I know my rotation isn't special but I do have a kick arse offense but it goes to show that the expectations for Pavano are very low, both in the terms of fantasy baseball and in the real world.

With a top three set of Wang, Mussina and Pettitte, the Yankees with their offense only need solid numbers from Pavano. I was arguing with Neil H yesterday about Beckett and how he should be doing better for a #2 pitcher, but Pavano needs only to give the Yankees innings and to give them a chance to win games, he isn't expected to dominate the opposition coming off the years he had.

Carl Pavano is a good pitcher, his problem is now a mental one, every little niggle and he wants to shut it down. Most players play hurt for vast amounts of the season, he needs to get over this and start paying back some of the money he's taken off the Yankees over the past two years.

He came to New York because he wanted to be a Yankee (he even turned down more money elsewhere to sign for the Yankees) and he knows he owes the club and the fans. It wouldn't shock me if Pavano ends the season in the NL after being replaced by Philip Hughes or Roger Clemens in the rotation but for both himself and the club, Pavano needs to start showing that he can pitch and pitch effectively, his career depends on it.

Oh the Rocket...

2007-02-15T14:32:00.000Z

My favourite story is back for one final round, no not Rocky Balboa (although his final round was good) but the Rocket will yet again surely put on the cleats and pitch in the bigs this season.

Everyone has an opinion on the seven time Cy Young award winner and I was asked to put some thoughts together about the man for A British Baseball website so I did and you can read my meandering thoughts here.

Yahoo Fantasy Baseball opens tomorrow...my life is about to get swallowed up once again.

To pay or not to pay...

2007-02-13T17:39:00.000Z

In a few years Mariano Rivera will be standing in front of a large group of people proclaiming how happy he is to be entering the Hall of Fame. His perfect smile beaming as photographers take his picture whilst wearing a Yankee Cap, the future is bright and his legacy is assured.

Here though in 2007 there is talk that the Yankees aren't ready to extend his contract with the club just yet. The last #42 in the history of the game could spend the finals of his glorious career wearing a different uniform, surely this couldn't happen?

In all honesty its very unlikely to get to that. Mariano Rivera has been well paid by the Yankees throughout his career and as long as he proves his health throughout the upcoming season, there should be little question that he'll get the two year extension that he is looking for.

Some say that he should get the extension now and to show him the money. I don't argue this point but I think it is a prudent decision to wait and see how his arm holds up. The superstar closer is 37 years old and despite logging four straight sub 2 ERA seasons, age will catch up to him one day.

If Rivera is healthy then expect to keep hearing Metallica's music blazing in Yankee Stadium in 2008 and in the new ballpark in 2009. Just because they haven't already signed him up doesn't equate to them not showing him respect, the future of the Yankees involves Mariano Rivera, not just for 2007 but beyond.

Fenway Park - July 28 - A date for your diary

2007-02-12T23:32:00.000Z

July 28 2007, the Red Sox will be busy playing the second game of a three game series in Tropicana Field, Tampa Bay. Whilst they are away from home one of the greatest supergroups ever will be playing Fenway Park on their reunion tour.

Earlier today in a club in Hollywood, The Police announced that finally after a 23 year wait, the band who split at the height of their powers in the 80's were getting back together for a Worldwide tour that has gotten fans of the band giddy.

Drummer Stewart Copeland and bassist Andy Summers have always stated that they were willing to reform the group for a worldwide tour, with Copeland saying they should do in for the fans and give all the profits to charity. Lead singer and superstar Sting was always the member who wasn't keen but three months ago he decided it was time and here we are.

So despite the tenuous link to baseball, here is a 3,079 Miles... top tip for what to do on July 28th if you can't get down to the Trop, get to Fenway instead, you won't be sorry.

The fire is almost out

2007-02-12T18:02:00.000Z

He has been the mainstay of the Yankees line-up for the best part of the past 15 years but now it seems as though father time has caught up with Bernie Williams.

He was the first player I ever saw score a winning run in a game (my first live game on TV was the 2001 WS - Game 3) and he was a five time All Star. Four gold gloves and one silver slugger. 2336 hits, 22 round trippers in the post season, 80 RBI in October, all impressive stats in themselves and when you add them to his 162 game average of .297/22/98 you have to agree that he was one of the premier players in his position throughout his career.

However despite saying all that, he shouldn't be given a guaranteed spot on the 25 man roster for 2007. I am all for sentiment but when a player is solely on a roster just because of past glories then it isn't good for the team. Williams will surely have his # retired and a plaque in Monument Park and would be welcome to become a special advisor at Spring Training but you get the feeling he has other avenues to explore.

A music career beckons for the former Yankee great and it is time to concentrate on that part of his life. He will always have a special place in Yankee fans hearts but if fans want to return to the World Series and to win it, then they have a better chance doing it without Bernie Williams as a 5th OF on the bench.

Father time catches up to us all, and as one door closes another one opens. Williams' baseball career is coming to an end but the future is still bright.

It may be the off-season, but Yanks lose to Sox again!

2007-02-05T01:27:00.000Z

Well it may be exciting, but the quality level in Super Bowl XLI is atrocious - and that was before Prince's version of All Along the Watchtower - so much so that it has driven me to my first blog since 2006... in my defense, I was away getting married at Nathans on Coney Island to Theo...

And what drew me to awaken from my creative writing slumber - Schilling's contract demands? JD's failure to make the 40 man roster? the trade value of Dice-K in a fantasy baseball keeper league?

No, much more important than that - and possibly the key to the Red Sox season in 2007 - the emergence of Craig Hansen as a bona fide, major league... games player... come on - instead of playing Project Gotham Racing, couldn't he be working on that slider?

However, given this is a Red Sox v Yanks fan blog... I feel the need for one gratuitous swipe at the diminishing evil empire... even in the off season, it is good to to see the Sox hand the Yankees a defeat...

If teams were characters from The Simpsons...

2007-01-31T16:04:00.000Z

Both Neil & myself have been a bit busy recently and the stories out of the Bronx and Fenway have been few and far between. However today I was doing something and came across this article written by Dan McCarthy and thought it was pretty funny so thought you might like to read it.

American League:

New York Yankees - C. Montgomery Burns - Driven to success by an almost unimaginable wealth of resources, which they use to ruthlessly crush their enemies, although typically not by the most efficient means possible (blocking out the sun, Bernie Williams). Seemingly unaware of the (obvious) reasons why they are hated. They seem to have been a key actor in pretty much everything important that happened before 1970.

Boston Red Sox - Lisa Simpson - Beloved by all. Used to being overlooked and trod upon, so that when they finally get a day in the sun, they don't really know what to do with it. Unfortunate tendency to get a little self-righteous. Antagonistic relationship with those in positions of power.

Toronto Blue Jays - Bumblebee Man - Comic relief from the other side of the border. Inexplicably, they tend to get a lot of success out of recycled material (sight gags, Shea Hillenbrand) that wouldn't work anywhere else.

Baltimore Orioles - Maggie Simpson - Never says or does much of anything, but constantly brought up in discussions by virtue of their close associates. Stubbornly hanging onto something disgusting despite other people's well-meaning efforts to take it away (pacifier, Sidney Ponson).

Tampa Bay Devil Rays - Hans Moleman - Whenever they're on TV, you can virtually guarantee that they're hopelessly overmatched and that something bad is going to happen to them. You could start feeling bad for them, but then you remember that you don't care.

Minnesota Twins - Santa's Little Helper - Scrappy and quick; comprised mostly of parts that were rescued from a terrible existence elsewhere. Trapped indoors most of the time. Series of poorly timed medical problems (canine gastroplexy, Torii Hunter's ankle). Abused by an incredibly old, very wealthy man who is the very definition of greed and selfishness (Mr. Burns, Carl Pohlad). Nearly abandoned by their families (Bart gave him away; the near-contraction).

Chicago White Sox - Edna Krabappel - Betrayed by those closest to them somewhere in the distant past (Edna's husband leaving her, the Black Sox), leaving them bitter and jaded.

Detroit Tigers - Lionel Hutz - They often dumpster-dive for sustenance. Earn their living by attracting the attention of criminals and vagrants (criminals and vagrants, the city of Detroit).

Cleveland Indians - Apu Nahasapeemapetilon - Identity entirely based on a ridiculous stereotype of Indians. Jovial ongoing relationship with a big fat guy who underperforms a lot (Homer, C.C. Sabathia). Soldiering on gamely despite a terrible workplace environment (the Kwik-E-Mart, Cleveland). Used to play a much bigger role in the grand scheme of things, but now they make only occasional appearances, and they're usually getting abused.

Kansas City Royals - Gil the Salesman - Forever facing in an uphill battle to be competitive. Their failures tend to be more sad than comical. Others are just glad they're not them.

Los Angeles Angels - Troy McClure - You may remember them from one particular film in the past, although before (and since) then they've had some forgettable performances. An expensive facade covers a dark, vulnerable underbelly (McClure's fish fetish, shaky starting pitching). Loving the spotlight, but may not handle all the attention well. Won't ever be the top dog in Hollywood.

Oakland A's - Bart Simpson - Reliable bad-boy winners who march to the beat of their own drum. Locked in a constant struggle against the overbearing establishment. Every time you think they're going to get what's coming to them, they weasel out of it and surprise you again.

Seattle Mariners - Barney Gumble - Struggling against their personal demons. Just when you thought they were going to clean themselves up and they were looking bulletproof, they suffered an unfortunate relapse.

Texas Rangers - Col. Antoine "Tex" O'Hara (Fat Oil Magnate) - Distinctly Texan. Prone to making ill-advised business decisions that never turn out well (purchasing the World's Fattest Racehorse, trading Sammy Sosa for Harold Baines and Fred Manrique).

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Atlanta Braves - Ned Flanders - The very definition of "traditional," "white-bread," and "boring." Quietly keeping their affairs in perfect order, but they always end up as the butt of the joke. Spurred to success by a horde of Bible-thumpers. Made a living out of left-handedness in the '90s.

Florida Marlins - Snake - Riding high for a while, publicly executed, and then somehow cheated death to escape and rise again. Important players in cities known for their rampant drug and crime problems. They seem to be in trouble a lot, but never really go away. Almost lost something of great value to a much wealthier, more prestigious individual, but hung onto it in the end (stealing his girlfriend back from Mr. Burns, 2003 World Series).

Philadelphia Phillies - Milhouse Van Houten - Lack of adequate vision (blind without his glasses, hanging on to Jim Thome). Perpetual sidekick to a more successful leader who constantly takes advantage of their weaknesses. Striving for a goal (Lisa's affection, the playoffs) that looks unattainable in their current state, and nobody really takes them seriously.

New York Mets - Krusty the Klown - Close ties to Judaism. Ongoing love-hate relationship with their audiences, and they have a tendency to lend their names to bad products (Krusty Brand Non-Narkotik Kough Syrup, Jose Offerman). Have had some substance-abuse problems in the past that they would prefer to keep out of the public eye (chain-smoking, Darryl Strawberry/Doc Gooden).

Washington Nationals - Sideshow Bob Terwilliger - Repeatedly given second chances, and could never hold on to what was good for them (staying out of prison, Pedro Martinez/Randy Johnson/Gary Carter/Larry Walker/Moises Alou...). Handled incompetently by a governing body. Forever the second banana to flashier counterparts. Doomed to have victory snatched from their grasp even when it seems closest (plans being foiled, the strike season).

St. Louis Cardinals - Jebediah Springfield - One of the elder statesmen of the group. Great historic importance. Possessors of a silver tongue (prosthetic silver tongue, Jack Buck) and a saccharine, over-commercialized reputation for family-friendliness. Bit of a problem with suppressed history (actually a pirate named Hans Sprungfeld, rampant racism in the '50s).

Houston Astros - Marge Simpson - Their fortunes rise and fall with those of a guy who has put together an unbelievable string of successes despite obviously being an inveterate jerk. Seemingly infinite reservoir of patience for someone who has proven themselves to be not worth hanging on to (Homer, Brad Ausmus).

Cincinnati Reds - Principal Seymour Skinner - Spent much of their existence under the hand of a domineering, insane woman who was impossible to please (Agnes Skinner, Marge Schott). Possessors of a dirty little secret that they would rather sweep under the rug (Skinner's true identity of Armand Tamzarian, Pete Rose). Their lives were given meaning in the '70s (Vietnam, the Big Red Machine) but now all they have to escape the monotony of their everyday existence is the flashbacks.

Milwaukee Brewers - Barry "Duffman" Duffman - Closely related to beer. More of a laughingstock than a legitimate presence. Employed by a guy who is constantly thinking up ill-conceived schemes to get people to throw money at an inferior product (Augustus P. Duff, Bud Selig).

Pittsburgh Pirates - Captain Horatio McCallister - Obvious relationship to the sea, but unfortunate things happen when they venture into international waters (resorting to homosexuality, the Roberto Clemente disaster).

Chicago Cubs - Moe Syzslak - Unloved but by a select few patrons, whom they have a tendency to betray from time to time. Even their closest friends acknowledge their loser status, and outsiders love to laugh at their failures. Constantly subject to self-doubt, and always coming up with new schemes to shoot themselves in the foot. Owners of a revolving-door establishment that never sees more than one or two likable characters at a time.

San Francisco Giants - Abe "Grandpa" Simpson - Even older than you would have thought. Surrounded by other decrepit crones, and they have a tendency to live in the past. Completely dependent on a big lug of questionable moral turpitude who, curiously, never seems to get any older.

San Diego Padres - Dr. Julius Hibbert - Sported a parade of laughable fashions in the past. A little shaky at what they do, but they look stellar given the alternatives in the region (Dr. Nick, the rest of the NL West). Bizarre tendency to lose their composure at inappropriate moments.

Los Angeles Dodgers - Disco Stu - Overconfident and forever predicting the return of their glory days. Brought up by devoted fans more often than is probably reasonable, considering their sporadic appearances. Haven't been relevant since the '80s.

Arizona Diamondbacks - Inanimate Carbon Rod - Inexplicably shot to prominence after an unbelievable rescue (sealing the Space Shuttle during re-entry, 2001 season). Hit the covers of every major magazine as heroes, and then faded back into obscurity almost as quickly as they arrived.

Colorado Rockies - Cletus Delroy, the Slack-Jawed Yokel - Will always have to compensate for where they came from to succeed, something they will probably never accomplish. Always accompanied by a ton of anonymous kids whose names you can't remember.

The Hall of Fame - 3,079 Miles... thoughts

2007-01-11T00:11:00.000Z

Yesterday the Hall of Fame opened its doors to two giants of the game, the original Iron man of the modern era, Cal Ripken Jr, and the man who just could flat out hit, Tony Gywnn. Both men only ever played for one franchise, and no one could argue their HoF credentials.

Last night Neil H and my good self were discussing the Hall of Fame and the selection criteria that should be used. Regular 3,079 Miles... commenter Corey had brought up the idea of just one year of eligibility, and if you fail to get in, then that it is - you are either always a Hall of Famer, or you are not. It is an interesting idea, but both of us questioned whether this would allow the necessary time to evaluate players numbers against other players of their era.

Neil H proposed five years instead of the current 15, 'otherwise you get teams like the Red Sox running a campaign to get rice elected after 13 years - sorry he is not a HoF. I mean if we don't appreciate him 10 years after he last swung a bat why should we after 19?' It is a valid argument. Ten years gives time for similar players of the era to retire and you can clearly look at players whilst their careers are fresh in the mind.

In a rare feat of Neil's agreement we agreed that to us the Hall of Fame should have players with at least ten years or so of top level performance with two or three years where they are at the peak of the game, as Neil H said, 'ten years of very strong performance with a great - and I mean great - peak in there - I really do believe that as far as the HoF goes, less is more.'

Neil H is getting to the point in his baseball life where players he has seen in, or close to, their prime are getting on the ballot, I am still years away from this, so it is hard for me to make a great argument on who should be in as all I can point to is numbers. Over the next decade or so, I too will be getting to the point where I can talk about players I have seen at their peak as they get their chance to join the immortals in Cooperstown, and the day that comes about, will be the day that my baseball education moves on to the next level.

Randy departs

2007-01-09T23:32:00.000Z

It is now official, Randy Johnson was announced as a Diamondback this afternoon meaning his time in the Bronx is over. To be fair to RJ, he came across very well in the news conference and he thanked the Yankees for enabling this move and for his time in Pinstripes. He said he'd played with some of the greats and for the greatest sports franchise on Earth and it was an honour to spend some time playing for the Bronx Bombers.

The Yankees move $14m off the books and add four players, a ML reliever in Luis Vizcaino and three minor league prospects, rated 18, 19 and 20 according to Baseball America out of the Diamondback organisation.

Russ Ohlendorf, a 24 year-old sinkerballer seems to be the player the Yankees are most excited about. They believe that he could be the new Wang and it seems as though they passed on Micah Owings to take Ohlendorf, a gutsy decision if true by Cashman and co.

The other players are Steven Jackson, a pitcher who posted nice numbers at Double A last season and a light hitting SS in Alberto Gonzalez.

Randy Johnson just didn't work in the Bronx, it wouldn't stun me if he returned to the NL and performed extremely well next season. It leaves the Yankees rotation looking weak with Igawa and Pavano at #4 and #5 and their are question marks over Pettitte's elbow and Mussina's health, but despite this, moving Randy was a deal that had to be made for both the franchise and for Randy himself, who wanted to be closer to home, and no-one can argue with that.

The Yankees payroll is now down to, well I say down to but it's still a stunning amount of around $180m. Yes there is a probability of Roger Clemens coming in for a huge deal of dollars but that would be a one year deal, in five years the Yankees may be down to a more sustainable level of expenditure, it'd be nice.

Pitching match-ups

2006-12-31T23:22:00.000Z

I read what I thought was an interesting post at the The Bard's Room - a White Sox blog on the MVN network of blogs - the post is an analysis of the value provided by 'slot' starters - that is, the relative performance of guys in the #1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 slots:

Here are the MLB average ERAs for each slot:

#1: 3.60
#2: 4.14
#3: 4.58
#4: 5.10
#5: 6.24

The post then provides the same ERA information for the AL:

#1: 3.70
#2: 4.24
#3: 4.58
#4: 5.09
#5: 6.22

The lack of difference between the two leagues actually surprised me quite a bit. However, the difference in quality between the slots really got me thinking - a 68% decline in ERA between the #1 and #5 slots is over 2 runs a start... a crucial difference in winning a game.

How did the Red Sox match up against this?

#1: 3.97
#2: 5.01
#3: 4.63
#4: 5.73
#5: 6.04

I used Schilling as our #1, but put Beckett in the #2 slot, and Wakefield in the #3 - I know they didn't start in that order, but I think it reflects the reality. For the #4 and #5 slots, the ERA is an amalgam of the numbers put up by Clement and Lester (for the #4), and Wells, Tavarez, Johnson, DiNardo, Gabbard, Jarvis, Pauley and Hansack (for the #5), but unadjusted for any bullpen numbers that they put up.

Clearly not pretty - better than average in the #5 slot, but everywhere else... below average, and quite significantly below in the #1 and #2 slots.

What interested me in all this, was how relevant is the slotting - we all in our minds have an idea of who is our #1 starter, #2 and so on - but does that matter - how often do they match up against the other team's #1, #2 etc...? (and this really is under the mildly interesting, but not particularly useful category of analysis)

The following table shows this data for the Red Sox match-ups in 2006:

	Opponent
	1	2	3	4	5
1	7	10	3	1	10
2	13	5	6	3	6
3	4	7	5	2	5
4	6	1	3	7	10
5	8	4	11	10	15

(With the Red Sox rotation rank on the vertical axis)

I allocated a rotation 'rank' by looking at the start of season rotation order, with some adjustments made for guys who would have started in a specific slot, but for injury - AJ Burnett being a good example - he would presumably have been the Blue Jays #2 behind Halladay had he been fit. For any team (including the Red Sox) where a starter was used who was not in the initial rotation, and would not have been in it had he been fit (pick any one of the gang of 8 above for the Red Sox for example), I ranked them as a #5.

As I said further up, this is more interesting than useful, but does perhaps show that we shouldn't get too caught up in any Red Sox spring training debate on the rotation order - all of our starters will see their fair share of 'ace' match-ups. The run differential between starter slots is really only crucial when they are matched up against a starter slot where the differential exists... but as the table above shows, those significant mis-matches are really quite common.

Christmas Day stunner - Randy wants out

2006-12-27T19:06:00.000Z

It may not be Christmas Day anymore, but 48 hours ago, when it was, Yankee fans were shocked by the news that the Yankees and Diamondbacks were locked in talks over moving lefty Randy Johnson to the desert.

Since then, it has become clear that Randy, whilst not requesting a trade, and told Yankees GM Brian Cashman that he wouldn't mind a move out west, this has caused the Yankees to open up talks with the D-Backs (who are said to be heavily interested in the Big Unit) Padres, Dodgers, Angels and Giants, although it is thought that the major players are the D-Backs and the Padres.

With Randy having a full No Trade Clause, Cashman is only talking with the teams that fulfills Randy's west coast criteria. Despite coming off a disappointing 2006 campaign, it seems as though teams are genuinely interested in Johnson, who is coming off back surgery and has as much cartilage in his knee as there is alcohol in a Lemonade Shandy.

The Yankees are keen to shed the $16m salary off the pay roll and are being potentially greedy by wanting top prospects in return. This sounds too good to be true but with a couple of teams looking genuinely interested in the lefty, it somehow make not be totally unrealistic.

Of course as it stands, should Randy be moved on, it would mean that the Bombers are relying on Carl Pavano and Kei Igawa in the rotation, but it opens up room for either Barry Zito or Roger Clemens, two players that would certainly be an upgrade over Johnson in the AL East in 2007.

Zito: I want the Yankees

2006-12-15T16:42:00.000Z

With Barry Zito now the only big name Free Agent pitcher on the market, the question is firstly who will land the laid back lefty and secondly how much money they'll have to dish out for his services over the past part of the next decade.

If it was up to the player himself, it'd be the New York Yankees.

A person with knowledge of the situation told 3,079 Miles... on the condition of anonymity that the Bronx was without a doubt the former Cy Young's preferred destination .

With a career 102-63 record with a 3.55 ERA, Zito is expected to command a deal around the $100m mark over six years. With the market being inflated this year with the likes of Gil Meche going for 5/$55m, there is little doubt that the player will receive a bumper salary.

It was thought that the Rangers and the Mets were the only likely destinations, but now it seems as though Zito may even take less money to join the Bronx Bombers a la Carlos Beltran, who was ready to leave $20m on the table in order to man CF in The House That Ruth Built.

The Yankees have no obvious spot for Zito, with a rotation of Wang, Pettitte, Mussina and Randy Johnson all but inked in with Carl Pavano or Kei Igawa set to battle in out for the #5 spot. However should they be able to snap up Zito at a reasonable price, it would enable them to trade Pavano and not pull the trigger on signing Igawa, the Japanese lefty whom they have exclusive negotiating rights with up until December 28.

Zito and the Yankees don't seem like an obvious fit, certainly now Andy Pettitte is on board but it looks like they could actually be serious players in the Barry Zito sweepstakes should they want to.

Cashman brings back Pettitte

2006-12-08T23:20:00.000Z

Three years and one draft pick (which was spent on Philip Hughes) later, the Yankees and Andy Pettitte once more became allies as the left hander agreed to a one year $16million contract today with a player option for 2008 also at $16million. The deal has been confirmed but is still dependent on the player passing a physical to be taken at some point next week.

$16million is probably too much for the 34 year-old but in this market and considering the arms the Yankees have down in Triple-A (Hughes, Clippard and Sanchez) this deal was one that has worked well for both parties.

Pettitte, who has four World Series rings gained with the Bombers in 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000. He also pitched terrifically in the 2003 World Series, going 1-1 with a 0.57 ERA. His biggest disappointment for the Yankees in postseason play was in 2001 where the lefty was tipping his pitches on a balmy night out in the desert as the Diamondbacks took Pettitte apart in Game 6 of the World Series.

Suddenly the Yankees rotation looks more solid, Wang and Mussina were both top ten pitchers in ERA last time around in the AL. Randy Johnson will now go into the season as the #4 starter on the Yankees behind Wang, Pettitte and Moose with lefty Kei Igawa or Carl Pavano vying for the final spot in the rotation.

I may not ever of been Andy Pettitte's biggest fan but this is a wise move by the Yankees, 2/$32m at most for Pettitte is better than 4/$40m for Lilly or 5/$55m for Meche is my eyes, let alone the 6/$102m that Bob Klapisch is reporting the Rangers have offered Barry Zito.

Now lets go and get the Rocket ;)

Democracy is dead, long live democracy

2006-12-06T02:07:00.000Z

Well it turns out, the Red Sox front office didn't listen to these guys after all - the JD Drew deal is apparently done, though with seemingly little fanfare.

What is more worrying in this story is the quote from Boras regarding the Dice-K negotiations:

"Matsuzaka has a dream of pitching in the major leagues. And he's going to fulfill that dream," Boras said. "The timeframe of it, I can't exactly predict. But he knows his skill level is one where he's going to be a major leaguer someday."

Boras also questioned the fairness of a system that could allow Seibu to get more money than Matsuzaka.

"The elephant in the room always is the principle of allocation," he said. "[That's] something that we don't normally have to deal with. We're all trying to create the saddle to ride the elephant, so we'll see."

The earlier version of the story included a line that quoted Boras saying that the '3 parties would need to compromise' to reach a deal - given that MLB have already said this is not permissable, it does seem that a significant spanner exists. The comment about the fairness of the situation where Seibu receive more than Matsuzaka is presumably what Boras was alluding to in the earlier quote.

Pettitte moves towards return to the Bronx

2006-12-06T00:51:00.000Z

In a move that would probably surprise most baseball fans, Andy Pettitte looks like he could be on his way back to the Yankees. The 34 year-old Free Agent who hasn't confirmed that he wants to play on has given a strong enough hint that his agents have been quoted as saying that they are in negotiations with the Bombers over his possible return to the Bronx.

Pettitte, who recorded a 21 win season in his last under Joe Torre back in 2003, would probably he available on a two year deal, possibly even one year with an option giving the Yankees a short term bridge to Philip Hughes, the man who incidentally, the Yankees got using the draft pick they received from Houston when they signed Pettitte as a Free Agent after that 2003 season.

If Pettitte did return to the Yankees then firstly it would be a great move by Cashman, secondly it would re-ignite talk of Andy's best mate the Rocket also coming back to the Yankees for one final stint. If Pettitte signs with the Yanks then I think you could rule out a dream return for the Rocket in Beantown as I can't see them wanting to play for opposing sides going at each other.

This news has excited me.

ESPN buys European cable network

2006-12-06T00:37:00.000Z

The news that had been rumbling has finally come through as today ESPN announced that they had agreed to buy NASN from Setenta Sports, with the deal being finalised early in the new year. The deal worth around £62m includes ESPN taking over all current TV rights that Setenta owns for the NASN channel.

The main question is now whether the channel will move off the 'stand alone' setup and on to a standard Sky package or whether it'll mainline a subscription channel. As I understand it ESPN's intention is to bundle it with the Sky Sports World package and establish themselves in the mainstream UK & Europe market with intentions to bid for the English Premiership Football Rights as well as the NFL Rights when both come up again, in 2010 and 2011 respectively.

In the short term, one thing that this news will definitely mean is the return of all eoe programming, including Pardon The Interruption, Around The Horn, Baseball Tonight and for the 2007 season for the first time, Sportscenter will be shown in the UK.

ESPN already have a footprint in the European market with the ESPN Classic channel. It is still unclear whether or not ESPN will be applying for a second channel on the Sky EPG to have an ESPN UK and ESPN UK 2, but the channel will be rebranded ESPN UK when the deal is complete in January.

Baseball wise there will be very little difference for the 2007 season, NASN already show 250 games live each regular season and ESPN's own Sunday Night Baseball will still be shown on terrestrial television in the UK on five.tv

Red Sox Nation... WARNING - may contain (pea)nuts

2006-11-30T04:33:00.000Z

Just be thankful that this crew didn't get to Curt Schilling before the crowd at SOSH did.

With all due respect we feel that Mr. Drew is not worth the rumored amount in the potential deal and we stand together in hopes that someone hears our voices and refrains from making another huge mistake

I guess we are all entitled to our opinion... but seriously - a player isn't worth the rumored amount, sign my petition...

Is their a petition that I can sign that says "the minute the front office starts listening to polls of 'the Nation' in making personnel decisions, we the undersigned feel you should resign"? Just provide the link in the comments section.

Let's run the guy out of town... before he gets here

2006-11-29T03:22:00.000Z

Well the jury is back, the verdict is in, and the convicted [insert your favorite lowlife scum term here] is sentenced to 5 (but hopefully only 4) years hard labor. To make up for the sentence though, the jailer hopes to pay the [insert that reference again] $56m - $70m.

At least I presume that JD Drew has committed some sort of crime to deserve this type of "welcome"!

At some point, presumably not in my lifetime, Sox reporters, and the media at large, will get over the fact that the Red Sox did not want Johnny Damon on their team in 2 years time. They never got the chance to offer Damon what the Yankees did - Damon's choice, no one else's - but we continue to slaver over him as if he were some sort of giant who won the world series single handedly for us. But then I suppose Damon did do that again with his new team...

As for the 'some player's aren't cut out for here' BS - I wonder why - maybe because the local media have already decided they don't want him, and will slaughter him at every opportunity?

It was LA where JD picked up the 'Nancy Drew' moniker - he missed 90 games in LA in his first year with a broken hand - what could he possibly do about that? He got hit by a ball - ah well he was dogging it. He missed 16 games in 2006 - why would you want that loafer in RF when we could just re-sign Trot 'Dirt Dog' Nixon - ah but Trot is a dirt dog, he always plays... except he missed 50 games in 06, 40 games in 05 and 110 in 04... I mean, let it go Boston press, 'DL' Drew as we wittily know him for the next four years has played more games in that period than gamer Trot Nixon, and at least he has put up serious production in the games he did play.

And Tony La Russa, the only manager in baseball history to manage two teams to WS sweeps, is the genius that we want to rely on for player assessment - he got Renteria right, so he must be right on JD? So why don't we just sack Theo and just run all our potential deals past TLR to get his thoughts?

In 2004 Drew played 145 games, in '05 a broken hand limited him to 72 games, while in '06 he played 146 games. Maybe, just maybe, the patella tendinitis in his knee really did impact him while he played for TLR, and maybe, just maybe, the guy who will hopefully be manning RF in Fenway next year isn't the same player that was in St Louis.

Yankees win Igawa rights

2006-11-28T23:58:00.000Z

ESPN's Buster Olney, who got the Daisuke Matsuzaka story on the nose, is now reporting that the New York Yankees have won the rights to Japanese lefty Kei Igawa at a daunting $25m.

That is too much money for me but I'll try and leave Yankee fans with the up side:

He's a lefty.

He's only 27.

He has a history of logging 200 innings.

He has a plus curve.

His fastball sits in the lower 90's, not the upper 80's as reported in various publications.

He doesn't cost us a draft pick.

He might catch players off guard with his stuff.

He'll cost the same as mediocre pitchers like Gil Meche.

And after all that, I still don't like this at that price.

A video of Igawa pitching can be found here

An open letter to Buster Olney... and all the HoF voters who read this

2006-11-27T01:22:00.000Z

In today's blog, Buster Olney touches on a subject that will likely get increasing coverage in the week's ahead... how should HoF voters deal with the steroid era?

You can read his full post behind the Insider wall, and I will quote a couple of sections, but there are a couple of things that make Olney's argument worth exploring - his conclusion in light of his earlier 'apologies' to the baseball world for his part in the non-reporting of the steroid era, but also his reasoning, as I think it will be the reasoning that each voter that ignores the steroid element of the steroid era will lean on.

From today's post:

I have a Hall of Fame vote, and as I've written here many times before, I will vote for the best players of the era, regardless of what is believed about whether or how or when they've used steroids.

To repeat, here's my quandary: If I don't vote for McGwire or Bonds or the other guys who have been in the middle of the public discussion over steroid use, then what do I do about the candidacy of other many great stars from the era who I believe -- but can't prove -- also used steroids?

So given this very principled stance - essentially going with the innocent until proven guilty* standard of justice - how can we help Buster ease his conscience and convince him not to vote for suspected steroid users?

(* Although this is undermined by his real position of, I don't care if you are guilty, I don't know who else is guilty, so I can't hold you to a different standard... this is just insane logic - the analogy would seem to be, I know that you were involved in a plot to commit a crime, but because we don't know who the other plotters were, I won't punish you... seriously?)

I would ease Buster's conscience by saying... rely on that other stalwart of our justice systems - reasonable doubt. Just don't vote for people that you have a reasonable suspicion were steroid users - it is that simple!

Players do not have a right to be in the HoF - it is an earned privilege. When you vote for someone for the HoF, every element of it is subjective - there is no scorecard that determines qualification, rather voters weigh the elements that are important to them within the historical context, and decide their votes that way. You are allowed to decide that the 583 home runs outweigh the .263 batting average, you are allowed to decide that the career 3.31 ERA doesn't make up for only 287 wins... I mean you (and I don't mean you specifically, I mean HoF voters generally) are wrong on that last one but... and that is the important bit... you are allowed to decide whatever you want.

'Reasonable' is a subjective standard - what is reasonable to me, that, for example, the Yankees should be disbanded for the good of the sport, may not seem reasonable to all - to me, reasonable is exactly the standard that you will use for all other parts of your HoF consideration, why should it not apply to steroid use?

You have the privilege of anonymity that means you never have to reveal your votes if you don't want to, or alternatively - you could go public. You could make up for the 5+ year period where you were silent, absolutely silent about steroid use, and say that you have reasonable doubts about a player's performance that mean you are unable to vote for a specific player. If you are worried about the legal implications there will be language that can be used - but again you could simply say nothing...

When the real steroid 'scandal' broke, when Congress decided there were votes in haranguing baseball players, Buster came out and said sorry - as a baseball writer, I let the baseball public down by not drawing attention to what appeared obvious to our eyes - and personally, I gave you credit for at least retrospectively taking your share of the responsibility for the steroid era, limited though that might be.

Yet now, you want to back track from that and vote the best performers of that era, regardless of your own suspicions about the way in which that performance was generated, into the HoF? So you stayed silent while you knew / suspected players of steroid abuse, and now you want to compound that error of judgment by voting players into the HoF, regardless of your views on whether or not they used steroids, to protect your conscience...

Frank Robinson shouldn't have to make his views, and no doubt the widely held views of many HoF's, public to try and influence the voting process - it is not Frank Robinson's job to protect the integrity of the HoF - that is your job as a HoF voter.

Having failed once, it is time to make sure you get it right this time round.

Very quick Matsuzaka thoughts

2006-11-15T11:05:00.000Z

I literally have seven minutes until I leave for work and I still have to put on a shirt, jumper, coat and shoes but whilst I knew the Red Sox had won, I've just found that they won at $51.1m.

MLB people say the Mets bid $39-40m and the Yankees in the $32-33m range.

Just an absolute stunning amount of cash, and a signal that the Red Sox are ready to spend big and do whatever it takes to win it all and the beat the Yankees and the rest of the field, after RSN took a beatdown last year.

You've got to say the Red Sox have shocked everyone with their determination, a bid above $50m is crazy, but hey they won.

Enjoy your $15 beers Fenway folks.

Ok three minutes and counting...

Let the hysteria begin

2006-11-15T03:13:00.000Z

Someone has to say it...

The Red Sox win... the Red Sox win... ttthhhhheeeee Red Sox win... the rights to negotiate.

Well at least one hot stove saga has reached part of its conclusion... almost.

The 'Evil Empire' win the Matsuzaka bidding war

2006-11-14T10:34:00.000Z

Well if Larry Luccinho can call the Yankees the evil empire for committing $32m over four years to a player that the Red Sox wanted (Jose Contreras) then surely Yankees fans have the right to make a similar retort following the Sox committing around the $90-100m mark on a player the Yankees wanted?

No?

Bitter?

Possibly.

In all seriousness, if the Red Sox have come up with over $40m to bid for the rights just to talk to this guy, which is the figure being banded about, then firstly they've overspent, but secondly, they've got the best option out there to bolster their starting rotation.

Every single projection has Daisuke Matsizaka at worst as a #3 guy on a good team, and in all honesty he's a #1/#2 guy. He would be a star for the Red Sox and props to them if they've won the auction, which now seems all but assured. I'm not going to say that because the Yankees haven't gotten him that he's suddenly a bad pitcher, I really think this kid will come over a win 18 games with an ERA in the mid 3's in the AL East, which is about as stud as you get in that division, and if I'm being honest, that is my worst case scenario for him, if he's injury free and settles into the American culture and way of life quickly, then maybe his line will be even better at the end of the year.

I do think they've overpaid for him, and I'd of thought the Yankees had at that price as well. However as a fan deep down you don't really care how much your team spends as long as you get the players you want, so that is probably only a minor point. One thing that I do feel is that the Sox have now lost the rights to sulk and moan about the 'Big, Bad Yankees' as they are committing a stunning sum of money to a player and are the favourites to commit to a huge contract to JD Drew n all. If they sign both these players then suddenly their payroll starts creeping up, still a fair stone's throw down from the Yankees I agree, but it'll be closer to $150m than $100m and for the 2007 season alone (because the posting fee is a one-off hit) then the amount spent on players would be pretty damn close.

I fully expect to hear noises out of Red Sox nation that the Yankees are evil at some point during the season, they are ruining the game, we can't compete etc, it just seems par for the course now.

Still, on the Matsuzaka front, the Sox have won this exchange and gained an ace, with Barry Zito the next biggest option out there, then you have to say that is is a huge win for the Red Sox in the opening round of the 2006/2007 off season. Last year then traded Hanley Ramirez, Anibel Sanchez and another whose name escapes me for Josh Beckett and won the opening exchanges, as yet that hasn't come to fruition as a great deal for Boston, the Daisuke Matsuzaka one though will have a very different outcome..

FInancial analysis

2006-11-14T04:55:00.000Z

One other thing to get off my chest...

While the media make loud noises about the Sox irresponsibility in dragging the franchise into financial ruin, I just have to ask a simple question.

Should the Red Sox simply not have bid on this guy?

If the Sox are the highest bidder, and that is still an if at 11.50pm ET, what number should we be focusing on? Is it $42m, or is it, as this simple observer might suggest, the difference between $42m and the bid of the 2nd highest team?

If the Mets bid $38m, the Sox overpaid by $3,999,999.99 - spread over a 3, 4 or 5 year contract, is that really that silly a move? If the 2nd place team was the Rangers who may have bid $32m, the Sox would appear to have overpaid by $9,999,999.99 - spread over a 3, 4 or 5 year contract, is that really that silly a move...?

Presumably the contract that Boras negotiates with the Sox would be the exact same contract that he would have been able to negotiate out of every other bidder... well maybe except the Rangers, we know how Boras and Hicks get to it when Boras has Hicks negotiating against himself..., so whatever is spent there is the same for every team, so all we are really talking about is the dollars that the Red Sox bid, that the 2nd place team didn't. Even if that gap is as high as $20m, are we really saying that $20m is so crippling an amount that the Sox cannot compete for years to come?

So again, I would ask all commentators that want to complain about the Sox (seemingly) winning this auction, should the Sox even have been allowed to bid?

Financial ruin... *

2006-11-14T04:17:00.000Z

Well, we had better enjoy the last days of our Boston Red Sox - admit it, it has been fun, we enjoyed it while it lasted, heck, we even got to see them win it all in our lifetime!

But sadly, it is all over. The media has decided - there is no way that the Red Sox can survive the financial mistake they are about to make... $42m on a guy that has never pitched in the majors... ever... why that is just crazy... apparently we should have spent that money on Johnny Damon... or Bobby Abreu... then we wouldn't be silly, and the future of the earth would be assured...

So basically I read it this way - if the Sox don't spend the resources that they have, they are just being cheap - not 'going the extra mile for their supporters' as one observer so memorably put it. If they do spend that money, they are not being smart, no "it wouldn't be because the Sox were particularly visionary. It would be because they were lucky." as Ken Rosenthal tells us in his Fox Sports column today. This really is a case of damned if they do, damned if they don't.

At some point, the national media will get over the fact that the Sox didn't re-sign Damon last year - may not happen in any of our lifetimes, but presumably at some point they will. But to assess whether Rosenthal et al have a point, lets look at the similarities between Damon and Matsuzaka, based on their 2006 stats:

	Damon	Matsuzaka
Age	33	26
Position	CF	P
IP	0	186.1
W	0	17
ERA	0.00	2.13
WHIP	0.000	0.923
BAA	0.000	0.199
K	0	200
K/9	0	9.66
BB	0	33

(Unadjusted for the fact that these were achieved in the equivalent of low A ball / Little League, while Damon played all his games against the AL All Star team).

Seriously, the Japanese guys ERA is over 2 runs higher than Damon - that is like us buying a guy with a 7 ERA relative to Beckett, and we all know that we should never have traded for that guy, not when we gave up the NL Rookie of the Year, and future multiple MVP, and a future multiple Cy Young award winner (guaranteed - guys that are that good in their rookie seasons always, ALWAYS, follow that up with HoF level careers), and don't even get me started on the embarrassing stats that I couldn't bring myself to quote to save me from the reflected shame... (hint, check out the number of losses each pitcher put up last year).

So, go on, criticize the Red Sox for over spending on a 26 year old pitcher, you would have criticized them for coming up a million short behind the Yankees as well, but that doesn't matter - they are just as bad as the Yankees now - and we all know how that hasn't worked out.

* PS - we don't even know whether the Sox have won, what they have bid, whether or not they can get the guy signed... but again, no matter!

Today is surely Matsuzaka day

2006-11-12T22:16:00.000Z

It is a beautiful Tokyo morning.

We should finally hear who has won the rights to talk to this kid at some point today (this Tokyo day). I hope we'll know by the time I go to bed but surely by the time Neil H turns in we'll be in the know.

I really want him, Neil H hopes he's worth the hype.

The best bit about this whole process has been finding this Mount Fuji webcam, hopefully I'll get to see Matsuzaka in Pinstripes as a bonus!

Bye bye Bubba

2006-11-12T19:23:00.000Z

The Bubba Crosby era is over in the Bronx after the OF agreed to a one year deal with the Cincinnati Reds. Crosby, who came over from the Los Angeles Dodgers with Scott Proctor for Robin Ventura on July 31 2003, had been unhappy that he'd been optioned to AAA and believed he didn't get the respect and playing time that he deserved.

I have to admit, I was one of the Yankee fans that wondered what the Bubba phenomenon was all about. He was a below average hitter, a decent fielder, an ok runner, but because he had all this supposed heart and guts, he was an important player for the Yankees. Well let's be honest, Bubba was not an important player for the Yankees and losing him is not in any way shape or form a blow to the 2007 team.

I hope Bubba does well for himself but he isn't good enough to be a starting outfielder in the bigs, and personally I question his ability to even be a 4th or 5th OF.

Cashman makes a Wright move?

2006-11-12T14:09:00.000Z

New York Yankee fans can rejoice as pending approval from the commissioners office, Jaret Wright has been traded for RHP Chris Britton and cash to the Baltimore Orioles.

Wright, whose option is due today will be reunited with old pitching coach Leo Mazzone, but I doubt many Yankee fans give two hoots about that, they want to know how about whose we've got for the overpaid starter.

Chris Britton is a 278lbs monster who was the Orioles 8th inning guy last term. At just 23 years of age, the pitcher is still considered a prospect. His main asset is that righties hit just .186 off him last year, however lefties pounded him for a .301 average.

He was optioned back to AAA at the end of the season as his pre (2.20) and post (5.14) All Star ERA's are quite different. His fastball sits in the 89-92 range, which worried manager Sam Perlozzo before last season, "You can be a two-pitch pitcher and do something like that, but if you're a straight fastball guy and you're not throwing more than 96 or 97 mph, then you better have something else to get them off your heater."

The Yankees will also send money, believed to be $4m to the Orioles, which will cover the amount they would have to pay Wright anyway to buy him out of his contract for this year. Overall I'm certainly not sold on Britton, but essentially he is a free player for Wright, and at worst he will add a live arm to the 'pen and take some pressure off of Scott Proctor's shoulders.

Night time over on Fuji

2006-11-11T14:56:00.000Z

It is now night over at Mount Fuji (trust me, it is Mount Fuji). Still no official word on Matsuzaka. Sean McAdam of the Providence Journal says that he believes the Buster Olney reports are 'probably accurate' and Ken Davidoff says that both NY team believe they have been beaten.

Day three of Matsuzaka watch and still we are nowhere near knowing where this kid will end up.

It is Saturday morning in Tokyo

2006-11-10T23:20:00.000Z

The Sun has risen in Japan, will today bring Matsuzaka news?

Photo from the Mount Fuji Webcam

Update from Buster Olney via Sportscenter:

Red Sox wanted to win the rights for these three reasons:

1) Upgrades their starting with a #1-#3 projected starter on a good team with plus stuff.

2) Plants their flag in the Asian market.

3) At worst keeps him away from NYY in '07.

Update two via Scott Boras on XM Radio:

Boras has stated that the Boston rumours were false. Now how he knows this I don't know but according to those that heard him, he sounded pretty definate on the issue.

This whole thing should be made into a blockbuster film, it really should.

Sheffield traded

2006-11-10T20:20:00.000Z

The Yankees have traded OF Gary Sheffield to the Detroit Tigers for three prospects, the Tigers announced today. Whilst everyone waits for word on the Japanese pitcher, the Yankees quietly stole the limelight by making a move which has impressed Yankee fans.

I am not a Minor League expert but I have heard good things about the top prospect in the deal, Humberto Sanchez. He is a 6ft6", right handed pitcher, who was ranked by Baseball America as the #3 prospect in the Tigers organisation. Also traded was #8 prospect Kevin Whelan and Anthony Claggett.

Sanchez split time in 2006 with AAA and AA whilst both other pitchers spent the year in A ball. The Yankees have seemingly not sent any money to the Tigers as part of the deal. Some fans had questioned why the Yankees had turned down a Scott Linebrink for Sheffield deal earlier in the week, but this is a better deal, one top ranked prospect in the upper levels and two good prospects for the farm.

As I've stated previously I'm no mL expert but from what I read elsewhere, the Yankees have done very well considering they could've got nothing for him had they not exercised their option.

Sox make highest bid, unsure if winners

2006-11-10T18:24:00.000Z

Buster Olney is now reporting not as speculation but as informed fact through good sources that the Red Sox have made the highest bid for the rights to Daisuke Matsuzaka. The bid is understood to be between $38m and $45m, which is a quite staggering amount just for the rights to speak to a player. Should the Red Sox now go ahead and sign the Japanese star then they will have to fork out at least another $38m on his contract due to a rule in the posting process meaning you have to at least match the amount posted in a players contract.

However there is talk and rumour flying across messageboard nation that the only reason the Seibu Lions have yet to accept the bid is the bid may not of been made in good faith, and that the Red Sox just want to keep Matsuzaka away from the Yankees for the 2007 season.

The last time the Yanks and the Sox went heads up for an international FA was Jose Contreras when the Yankees seemingly stole the Cuban from right under the Sox' noses.

Of course nothing official yet but this is the clearest news as yet on this much anticipated story.

Matsuzaka watch - Red Sox, Yankees, Rangers

2006-11-10T17:31:00.000Z

It seems as though the general consensus is that one of the above teams has won. Jackie MacMullan said on NESN yesterday that she believed that the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim had stunned the big hitters to win the rights to talk to the Japanese hurler but no-one else seems to have the Angels as players.

There is an article claiming that the Rangers have indeed won at around $30m but also over at Buster Olney's ESPN Insider Blog there is talk that the Red Sox have blown everyone out of the water with a quite simply stunning $45m bid.

If the Yankees do not win then I wonder how quickly the stories will be written that this is great for baseball that the big bad empire didn't get the one they wanted. Of course if the Yankees do win then Yankee fans will have to deal with the media absolutely killing the Yankees and the system for spending more money than anybody else.

The long and the short of it though is that there is no news.

PS: I don't want him in Texas because of my fantasy team.

JD Drew an unrestricted FA

2006-11-10T01:57:00.000Z

OK - I would call this officially interesting!

Another sign that the FA market this winter is not that strong - JD Drew, like Aramis Ramirez, before him, has chosen to void the final years on his deal, to take his "chances" on the market. Given that he is walking away from $33m, I am guessing his agent has given him a warm and fuzzy feeling about what might be out there.

Drew, who turns 31 on Saturday, hit .283 with 20 homers and 100 RBIs last season -- his second with the Dodgers. He signed a five-year, $55 million contract on Dec. 23, 2004, and had been guaranteed $33 million over the next three years with Los Angeles.

No one has ever doubted Drew's ability, the questions have always surrounded his willingness to display that talent consistently, and in an injury free manner. Indeed, many of the questions have seemed to surround just how serious an injury it actually takes to get Drew out of the lineup - a broken fingernail, a split end...

So do the Sox say those trends (SLG, OBP) are worrying, or is JD a RF option in 2007?

=======

Update:

It is probably fair to say that the Dodgers aren't responding to Drew's actions the way the Cubs are;

"He wants out, he can have out. He's moving on, we're moving on. We'll find players who like playing here. If he doesn't want to be here, he has the right to leave"

Let the bidding begin - Matsuzaka posted

2006-11-02T23:14:00.000Z

The Seibu Lions today made it official as they posted the Yankees half of 3,079 Miles... favourite Daisuke Matsuzaka. The pitcher (who I incidentally already own in a keeper league due to my excellent drafting policy) is 26 years of age and had a 17-5 record with his Japanese side in the past season, posting a 2.13 ERA. He was also the MVP of the inaugural (ooo look at me with the posh word) World Baseball Classic.

The Yankees are expected to make a very strong run at him as are the Mets, however the Mariners who were expected to be strong suitors have seemingly pulled out of the bidding. It is a ruse to lull the big east coast teams into a false sense of security or have they really been priced out of it by the rumours of his posting fee being in the $25m-$30m range?

If the Mariners are being straight up with the media then you have to make the Yankees the favourites to land the pitcher. The posting fee doesn't count towards any luxury tax leaving the Yankees free to blow any teams out of the water with a bid. If Matsuzaka is posted for around $30m, which is at the top end of the scale and then signing a 4yr/$44m deal, then that would bring the total cost of Matsuzaka to $74m for just four years.

That is an awful lot of money but the Yankees desperately need starting pitching and despite him not having any ML experience, I'm backing him over the prized FA Barry Zito in a barren year for Free Agents.

Jeter wins third Gold Glove

2006-11-02T23:10:00.000Z

For the third straight year Derek Jeter has won a Gold Glove in the American League at the SS position. In a move that'll piss off my good friend Pete J over at The Spurious World of Baseball the Yankee great has again won the award due to laziness on behalf of the voters who have overlooked better and more deserving defensive players for the award.

I may be a Yankee fan but I have no idea how no Red Sox players came away with a Gold Glove despite an excellent season defensively. Mike Lowell over at 3rd had a very deserving case but even more deserving was Alex Gonzalez, whose seven errors and .985 FP dwarfs Jeter's 15 errors and .975 FP.

I love Derek but he's only an average to good defensive SS and his forte is making the great plays. His range to his left is nothing to write home about and I really do question how he's gotten this award.

However if he wins the MVP I won't be so hard on him as for me, he is a legit candidate for that.

Mike Lupica, just how he is allowed to write about the Yankees?

2006-10-29T22:19:00.000Z

Just a quick one from me for now.

Does anyone know how Mike Lupica gets away with just slagging off the Yankees day after day, week after week in a NY newspaper? I know he's a Mets fan but surely with his level of bias and seeming hate for all things Torre/Cashman/Yankee, he shouldn't be allowed to write about the Bronx Bombers, and worse of all he gets paid a hefty salary and has limited national fame due to his column and appearances on ESPN.

His latest column slating Brian Cashman is available here if you really wanted to read about what a terrible job Brian Cashman is doing and how in fact it is all Cash as to why Joe kept his job, despite everyone else in the media and all members of the NYY hierarchy indicating that Joe's call to George (which was brokered by Cash to be fair) was the main reason he came back.

He ends with this question, 'How many times do the Yankees have to fall short of the Fall Classic before Cashman goes on the line?' Mike Lupica might be a bit of a biased twit but he isn't thick so I don't know why he bothered writing this. The whole world and his mother knows that Cashman has only gained total control this year and when he had significant control back in the late 90's the club were winning until George demanded bigger and better stars at every position.

I'm not the world's biggest expert on the Yankees, there are tens of bloggers out there writing about the club and if I could do a better job than Lupica, which I reckon I could, then think about all the guys that are better than me that could do that job. If the Daily News want a good Yankee reporter go out and get one of the excellent bloggers instead of letting Lupica write about them, I promise you that you'd get better more balanced articles.

Stoking the Hot Stove

2006-10-29T22:18:00.000Z

Well some guys didn't wait too long to get their papers in - and while the consensus is that this is a week FA class, both the Red Sox and the Yankees have a fair bit of work to do - both need pitching, while the Red Sox also have decisions to make on the hitting side.

We will both look out for trade rumors that impact our teams, but this is clearly the time of year when thoughts and rumors can run unfiltered by such boring things as facts. Neil M spotted this by way of the NYYfans forum - a Braves fan's view of what might be available for Andruw Jones.

From the Red Sox - he would like to add Beckett to the mix and add Hudson from the Braves, but you would have to think that is wishful thinking despite Beckett's inconsistency in his first year in Boston. The remainder of the 'deal' - Crisp, Hansen and Ellsbury. I don't see the Red Sox wanting any part of the Beckett / Hudson part, but given the reported interest in Jones at the trading deadline, is the rest interesting?

The starting point of the 'deal Jones now' article was Boras's comments in midweek that he will be looking for a $20m+ a year deal when he enters free agency next year. Is he serious? - well it is Boras, and with the new agreement in place between owners and players, the consensus is that there will be a lot of money in the game the next few years - but that seems a lot for a CF when the Yankees and Mets are set, and would still be a minimum 20% of any teams payroll that did take him... I struggle to see the Sox doing that, particularly given that it only moves out of the realm of the impossible if the Sox no longer have Manny on their payroll - why lose the payroll flexibility that comes from moving on Manny to replace it with Jones, even if you buy the argument that Jones defensive upside makes up for Manny's offensive edge (I am talking today, not trying to account for an age decline).

From the Yankees, the article asks for Hughes, Cabrera and Proctor - and as Neil M wouldn't trade Hughes for all the tea in China, then this is just wishful thinking, and ignores the reality of the Yankees already having one surplus OF earning more than a 4th OF ever should... what is his name again... oh yeh, Sheffield

Are the Bombers doing wrong as to da Shef? The Neil's have it out

2006-10-28T21:29:00.000+01:00

Neil H says:

So Mazz gone, Donnie in?

Neil M says:

Little change for me really, Donnie might've been the hitting coach last year but seemingly he was Joe's #1 confidant, I'd imagine that he'll still be heavily involved in hitting and is clearly being lined up to be the NYY gaffer in 2008

Neil H says:

If the Yankees struggle in-season, does Donnie take over?

Neil M says:

No, you've asked me this one before and several people have questioned this but I cannot see any way in which Torre is gone mid-season, if he was going to go, he's already gone, as it is, he'll be there until the Yankees make their last out or throw the last pitch of their 2007 season

Neil H says:

If the Yanks don't meet their 2007 goal, and Joe retires though, is Donnie really going to be able to step in for 2008?

Neil M says:

The thing with the AL is that there is very little in-game management for the managers, so he can step in and do a job, whether or not he's the right man for the job we'll see but the fact Joe Girardi is expected to sign with the YES network this season shouldnt be overlooked

Neil H says:

You think that he is being asked to try out from the booth?

Neil M says:

I think that he's stayed out of other jobs and stayed 'in-house' because he thinks he could well have a shot at the top job

Neil H says:

Is that realistic?

Neil M says:

Its just as realistic as Donnie taking over, Girardi could be a manager of an MLB team today but he's decided he doesn't want that job, he's waiting for something else and the job he did in Florida didn't go un noticed and he's highly thought of within the organisation. Personally I was surprised that he didn't become the bench coach this year with Donnie staying as hitting instructor but he's still hanging around and there must be a good reason for that

Neil H says:

What do you make of the Sheffield noises?

Neil M says:

He's moaning that the Yankees have guaranteed him $13million next season, anyone that moans about being guaranteed $13million is an idiot

Neil H says:

He isn't worried about next season though - he is thinking 2008 and beyond. Where does he play if he is still with the Yankees in 07 - that play-off experiment at 1b wasn't pretty?

Neil M says:

The chances of Gary Sheffield playing for the Yankees next year are about the same as my chance of becoming the 2008 President of the United States of America

Neil H says:

But who takes him? He has already said he will be the pain we know he can be for anything less than a 2 year extension - who will take that risk on a guy that couldn't hit last time he played?

Neil M says:

Honestly, will Gary Sheffield walk away from $13million and be put on the inactive list?

Neil H says:

No, but he will play poorly, he will cause serious issues in a clubhouse, he will not run out ground balls, he will take no risks with his body - again who trades anything for that risk?

Neil M says:

Well early reports indicate no fewer than eight teams are interested and one GM who wasn't named was quoted as saying "To be honest, I was kind of put off [after talking to Cashman] leaving me to believe he's got at least a couple of teams really pushing him hard [for Sheffield]."

Neil H says:

Speculate on the identity of the 8 teams that would pay $13m for an outfielder, who at 39 wants a 2 year extension, and who hasn't hit in 4 months?

Neil M says:

Well they were all named, Orioles, Angels, Astros, Giants, Rangers and Cubs with the extra bonus of keeping both the Red Sox and Mets out of the loop -

if Sheffield becomes a Free Agent you know the Red Sox are going after him hard, also the Mets are in the market to replace Cliff Floyd

Neil H says:

Nope - I guarantee you right here, right now, the Sox have no interest in a 39 year old that wants a three year commitment

Neil M says:

But thats the thing, Sheffield doesn't get three years anywhere, if he hits Free Agency, he gets an incentive laden one year with an option for a second year depending on criteria

Neil H says:

I think he does get three if he is FA - Franco gets a 2 year deal, of course someone gives him 3 in this market, as long as he isn't looking for 3/40?

Neil M says:

Franco wasn't coming off health issues and was a $4m commitment over two years, Sheff wants three years at $13m+ each year, he has active links to BALCO and steroids and GMs no doubt are aware of that. I honestly believe teams will roll the dice on a one year rental because of the thin FA market but to commit $40m to him would be an awful decision, saying that, it brings the Orioles right back into play, thanks to Mr Angelos

Neil H says:

Well why would you take a one year risk at 13m, and give up a player, when he says "If they do that, if I just [go] to a team for one year, there's going to be a problem."

Neil M says:

Because if Sheffield doesn't produce this year then he doesn't get a big pay day when he does hit Free Agency. It's a bit like why does T.O keep getting chances, he might be a bad team mates off the field but on the field, if healthy, he'll produce

Neil H says:

TO keeps getting chances in a completely different environment where they can cut him and not pay him there and then if he doesn't play - sheff is guaranteed $13m. Go on then, give me another giggle - who do the Yankees get for a 13m RF that hasn't hit in 4 months?

Neil M says:

The biggest name that has been mooted in the press is Brad Lidge, but I think most fans would be delighted with a BP arm or an AA or AAA catching prospect

Neil H says:

Well for entertainment value I hope he stays in the AL East just to see what he does in 18 games against the Yankees

Neil M says:

And that is another reason why the Bombers picked up their option, they can trade away from the AL East, Sheff's whinging is hilarious, before the year he was moaning about the Yankees not picking up the option, now he's moaning that they are, also he's bemoaning the contract, the one in which he negotiated directly and triumphed it and belittled those that used agents, you've got to admit that is amusing

Neil H says:

I agree it is amusing as a Sox fan, but I am not sure that treating a player like this is that amusing - you may not agree with his stance, but his stance has never changed - he isn't complaining about you picking up his option if you play him in RF, he is complaining if you pick it up to play him at 1b, or to trade him - he moved to 1b to try and help the team and be a team guy, and now, in his mind, he is being punished for it - that surely isn't that unreasonable a view?

Neil M says:

His effort was appreciated, however Bobby Abreu is the Yankees RF for next year so unless we are planning on starting two RF's one either has to move position, sit on the bench or leave the club. We aren't treating him badly at all, we are just going by the contract, if he wanted a NTC then he should've made sure he got one, remember George wanted him over Vlad whom Cashman had agreed a deal in principle with so Sheffield had a lot of leverage and failed to get one, that is his error, not ours

Neil H says:

So basically you are happy with the, it is his own fault, move on 'meat;' approach - you are comfortable that George didn't oversell how easily the option would be exercised, how certain that Sheff would never be traded?

Neil M says:

$13million 'meat' to play baseball, hard life, diddums, so yes I may have a heart of stone thinking he has a torrid life to play baseball at stupid money

Neil H says:

I have to disagree - what does what he makes have to do with wanting to be happy at work? He didnt make the decision to pay that the Yankees did?

Neil M says:

I have to disagree wholeheartedly, he doesn't have to play baseball next year, he's not being forced to, if he wants to get another job then he's free to. He signed a contract and he now wants to worm out of it because things aren't perfect

Neil H says:

He isnt trying to worm out of it, he wants his employer to honour his contract - he didnt sign to play anywhere other than RF - if the Yankees dont want him at RF, then dont pick up the option - the Yankees are picking up the option to suit their own needs, not because they want him - you cant see why that analogy would seem unfair in your own life?

Neil M says:

Yes they've picked up the option for their own needs but Sheffield has signed the contract, undoubtedly it was the prudent move to use the contract to the Yankees advantage, if they have, as reported, picked up the option

Neil H says:

So if they have picked it up for their own ends, don't complain about Sheffield whinging, or him going all out to damage his trade value - those are his ends

Neil M says:

He's whinging that the Yankees used the contract he signed for their benefit, his fault he signed the deal, he should've inserted a clause if he wanted a release

Neil H says:

Again - if that is your view, fine, but don't complain about him doing the same thing back

Neil M says:

We just have wildly opposing views, he can't blame anyone but himself as he put together the contract

Neil H says:

And the Yankees can't blame anyone but themselves as he is exactly the same person as he signed!

Neil M says:

I don't think anyone at the Yankees are complaining, lets be honest, unless Cash had something lined up he doesn't trigger the option, he clearly has something he likes on the table so has according to the reports, he won't be the Yankees problem for very long.

At this point the conversation drifted towards the football as it was Saturday afternoon and Neil H's Dundee U were losing and the gaffer was on the verge of losing his job. Neil M's Portsmouth won again, but it wasn't all good news as his radically changed fantasy team had a slow afternoon with no clean sheets, one goal and two assists between them, poor, very poor.

More debates to come including one on A-Rod's future and trade value, the annual Manny question and possibly others when we get around it to.

3,079 Miles... - The blog with a structure, kind of, sorta, possibly, maybe...nah

Baseball stays on the air in the UK

2006-10-28T18:33:00.000+01:00

For those of you who weren't watching Game 5 last night over here on Five.tv you may of missed the surprising but excellent news regarding coverage. In past years the channel has never had a long term deal to show baseball and went on a year by year basis and usually done a deal just before the season started, this year though this are different.

Five.tv will show Major League Baseball for both the 2007 and 2008 seasons with the studio team of Jonny Gould and Josh Chetwynd continuing for the foreseeable future.

This is excellent news for fans of the sport in the UK and with talk of ESPN buying NASN from Setanta and moving the channel on to the standard Sky package and off the stand-alone channel status it currently has, these could be exciting times for baseball fans in the UK.

Woeful World Series

2006-10-28T15:33:00.000+01:00

Well the Cardinals are the Champions...

And a lot of people are asking... was this as bad as it gets?

No Fall Classic, for sure.

Flatter than the Midwestern heartland and a flop in the TV ratings, this World Series crowned a champion that barely made it to the post-season and then had to survive rain and cold as much as the bumbling Detroit Tigers.

AP

Are these really the best teams in baseball? Because it certainly doesn't seem like it.

Teams aren't winning games in this World Series so much as losing them.

Jim Caple - ESPN

This sloppy mess was a perfect ending to an ugly postseason, as even the heretofore clean-playing Cardinals had some defensive miscues (perhaps they were mocking the Tigers through satire?), although they were confined to right field and only gave Detroit one run instead of three. St. Louis won this World Series not through great play and certainly not through tremendous talent, but by making fewer mistakes than their opponents

Keith Law - ESPN (Insider)

And, after a sloppy and often uninspiring five games against the favored but overwhelmed Tigers, this Series certainly won't go down as a classic among Fall Classics. It won't, in fact, come close.

But, seriously: You think the people in St. Louis care about any of that?

John Donovan - SI

The last point there is an interesting one - should Cardinal fans care? No they shouldn't, but equally, they should develop a pretty thick skin, because this team is never getting the respect they might feel it deserves.

Posted by Neil M on behalf of Neil H

Rogers thumb...

2006-10-23T01:39:00.000+01:00

Well this may be a real controversy in Game 2 of the WS.

On their broadcast, Fox just showed a brown substance on the base of Roger's thumb - it clearly wasn't sweat, or a bruise, it looked sticky - perhaps pine tar as McCarver suggested?

Presumably if the Cardinals have someone watching in the clubhouse La Russa will have to ask the umpires to look at his hand in the 2nd inning - though equally if the Tigers have someone watching, they have him washing his hands right now?

The rules of baseball are:

8.02 The pitcher shall not -
apply a foreign substance of any kind to the ball;

PENALTY:
For violation of any part of Rules 8.02(a)(2) through (6):
The pitcher shall be ejected immediately from the game and shall be suspended automatically for 10 games.
If a play follows the violation called by the umpire, the manager of the offense may advise the plate umpire that he elects to accept the play. Such election shall be made immediately at the end of the play. However, if the batter reaches first base on a hit, an error, a base on balls, a hit batsman, or otherwise, and no other runner is put out before advancing at least one base, the play shall proceed without reference to the violation.
Even though the offense elects to take the play, the violation shall be recognized and the penalties in subsection (a) will still be in effect.
The umpire shall be sole judge on whether any portion of this rule has been violated.

Is it a real risk that Rogers is thrown from this game? Or will we never hear anymore about it?

Full rules are available at MLB.com.

==========

Update

Well someone was watching in both dugouts - La Russa clearly asked, Rogers clearly washed his hands - will this go any further?

The pre-game "show"

2006-10-23T01:17:00.000+01:00

Genuinely, can Fox do anymore to cheapen the World Series?

First we wait, with absolutely dead air, for John Cougar Millencamp to sing the theme to the current Chevrolet adverts - sorry the first single from his new album - then we cut to Bob Seger promoting his new album, as if him singing America the Beautiful wasn't enough of a plug last night...

But hey, as Jeanne said, I would rather have a Millencamp delay than a rain delay - well no Jeanne, a rain delay is an integral part of the game we love, whereas a Millencamp delay...

Joe stays, what happened, what's going to happen, Neil M rambles on

2006-10-11T13:18:00.000+01:00

I said to Neil H and to people over at the NYY Fans Forum that if I went to bed on Monday night and Joe Torre was still the manager, then he would survive and live to fight another day and lead the New York Yankees into the 2007 season.

On Tuesday, perhaps quicker than most people thought, Joe Torre opened his annual postseason Press Conference with the news that he'd just gotten off the phone to George Steinbrenner, who'd told him that he'd be back to manage the club in 2007.

I am delighted.

I have made no secret that I am a Joe Torre guy, many Yankee fans believe that going six years without winning a World Series just isn't good enough and wanted Joe out. My blogging buddy despite being a Red Sox fan also thought that it was time for Joe to go.

The fact is the Yankees lost this October because they didn't have starting pitching that could match the Tigers. That is the primary reason the Bombers aren't getting ready to entertain Oakland at the Stadium right now. Sure Joe made mistakes, moving A-Rod up and down the line-up, the Sheffield experiment at first, but neither of those decisions cost the Yankees the Tigers series.

The Yankees came into the ALDS with a rotation lined up of the excellent young Wang, the aging but still very good Mussina, an injured future Hall of Famer and then a choice of Wright or Lidle for the fourth game, Wang would go again in game five if needed.

Now Wang got off to an effective start, winning his game, but when Mussina lost his game, the series was tied at one and the Yankees had inferior starters going both nights. They faced up to an inspired Kenny Rogers, who really pitched his butt off with a curveball that was genuinely awesome and a Jeremy Bonderman whose slider was first rate. The Yankees threw out Randy Johnson, who lets be fair to him, gutted his way through several innings and pitched pretty well considering he has a bulging disc in his back and Jaret Wright, who didn't pitch well at all, but not like we were expecting anything different.

Several people wanted Wang on short rest and then to worry about game give later, well I wasn't one of those people and here's why. Wang is a guy whose had rotator cuff injuries in the past, has pitched more innings than ever before this season and would be going on short rest, if that isn't a recipe for disaster then I don't know what is. It would of been a foolish move to put Wang out there, not just for this series but by doing so you are jeopardising the kids future, this guy could be an ace of the New York Yankees staff for years to come, and with all that history behind him, it was a risk the Yankees were not willing to take. Add to that Wright would've then gone in game five anyway and you have a damned good argument for not starting Wang. In addition, the Yankees weren't able to get anything going offensively really until Jorge's 2 run shot in the 9th, so you are in retrospect asking Wang to go deep into the game and give up nothing on short rest, a very tall order indeed.

As for the Yankees chemistry, I said this yesterday, "The way I see it is the Yankees have far too many egos and I personally don't think anyone could manage them. You have three clear factions, the players who were there through the dynasty years, the free agents who are ready to play the team game, Giambi, Damon, and then your great players who came to the Yankees for a huge payday and rings, Randy, Moose, Sheff, A-Rod, I don't think its possible to manage all three factions to greatness"

Can you ever have too much talent? No. However talent often comes with egos and that is the current problem the Yankees face. As for the four I mentioned, Sheffield and Mussina are probably gone, Sheff's comments after the game four defeat should've clinched the Yankees not picking up his option for 2007 and Mussina failed to hold a 3-1 lead in game two and has slagged off his team mates all year. Randy is going to need surgery on his back and may not return and A-Rod could well be dealt following the news that Torre is staying, despite clearly having respect for each other, Joe clearly has doubts about Alex's ability to thrive in his current environment (see Joe Torre's Press Conference) and believes he has found it hard to adapt to not having to be, 'the man' on the Yankees, as they already have several great talent on the ball club.

Should all four of these players move on then I think you'll find the clubhouse a more harmonious place. My boy Matsuzaka will be posted this off season and I fully expect the Yankees to make a heavy run at acquiring his talents for the rotation. The Japanese as a race are respectful and deeply knowledgeable, and I'd fully expect this player to settle into the clubhouse well, just like Matsui did, with Matsui there it may well help him settle even easier.

The great Yankee teams had star players but also role guys who complimented the stars. I think that is what we'll see over the next couple of years as the high priced free agents contracts expire, look to see a move away from just looking at the numbers, and looking at the overall package that you are signing. Look at the Marlins, a young ball club full of energy and players willing to do it all in an attempt to win, in life human beings feed off positive energy and that is something the regular season 2007 Yankees had, the postseason version didn't seem to.

I expect the Yankees to become a wiser and better run franchise top to bottom over the next few years. The farm system isn't great but at low levels there is talent, the pundits that talk about these things believe the Yankees had an excellent 2006 draft and when you add the signing of #1 ranked International Free Agent Jesus Montero (a catcher with big power for those who do not know) then you can see the club are committed to building from within for the first time in a decade.

I don't expect the team to win it all every year, I just want to watch enjoyable baseball, winning isn't everything, it's a huge part but it isn't the be all and end all. I enjoyed this season, the Boston massacre was just awesome to watch, the Yankees fought for each other and played great baseball, and that series in captures how I'll remember the 2006 New York Yankees. They were good, they were very good, but it just wasn't to be.

As for 2007, I'm already looking forward to it.

Posted by Neil H for Neil M

When a man's down...

2006-10-11T03:15:00.000+01:00

Kick him hard... real hard.

From today's Rob Neyer chat on ESPN (behind the Insider curtain):

Brian (Villanova, PA): Please answer this, how cool would it be if the Yankees decided to go with Arod and move him to Shortstop and traded Jeter to another team, then he came back and helped his new team beat the Yankees in the playoffs? Then Jeter could finally be loved by non-Yankee fans, this has to happen

SportsNation Rob Neyer: Well, leaving aside for a moment that the Yankees would not trade Cap'n Jetes, I don't think Rodriguez can play shortstop any more. Not unless he lost some weight and dedicated himself to learning shortstop again.

Now that the Yankees have made one choice, the media pressure is only going to grow for one man - at least till the Yankees lose a couple of games in April to the Devil Rays.

The Boss speaks

2006-10-10T20:38:00.000+01:00

"I spoke to Joe Torre today and I told him, 'You're back for the year. I expect a great deal from you and the entire team. I have high expectations and I want to see enthusiasm, a fighting spirit and a team that works together. The responsibility is yours, Joe, and all of the Yankees."

"Yes, I am deeply disappointed about our loss this year, we have to do better. And I deeply want a championship. It's about time."

Reading between the lines then basically Torre's only hope of getting another contract is by winning the World Series, and not just winning it, winning it in style. Considering he was clearly gone on Saturday night, the voices in the bosses ear must've been working overtime to calm him down.

My personal view is George wants him out and even though he had every opportunity, he's listened to his appointed successor and his General Manager, so one last question.

Where's the real George Steinbrenner?

Torre stays

2006-10-10T18:28:00.000+01:00

Joe Torre will manage the New York Yankees in the 2007 season.

More later

Also in addition, this move means A-Rod is gone. Cubs, Angels, Dodgers?

Why Joe should go - A Sox perspective

2006-10-10T00:17:00.000+01:00

I know, why would you care - bitter Sox fan says, Yankees should fire Torre... no news there, but... they should - I have yet to see one argument, anywhere, beyond the emotional appeal, that says Joe is the best manager the Yankees could have.

But truthfully - beyond the emotional argument, what reason is there not to fire Joe? Yankees management are very clear each year - the goal is to win the World Series - not the AL East, not the AL - you can argue all you like on the reasonableness of that goal, but that is the goal - and the Yankees haven't achieved that goal in 6 seasons, heck they haven't even won the AL pennant in 3 seasons now (and believe me that should be 5...). Shouldn't the manager take some of the blame?

I would hope that no one would argue that Joe isn't a consummate player's manager - he has managed a club-house full of large egos...

Well that is a line that is always trotted out, but is it actually true? Who are these amazing egos? The Yankees are (and I am grinding my teeth as I type this) the largest franchise in baseball - the team has its own ego, the history of the franchise has its own ego - very few players rise up and become (even) as large as the Yankees - that is why so many of us, even those of us with little rooting interest in the Yankees, can name those players... Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Berra, Mantle, Jeter... that is a pretty short list for a team with 26 World Series rings (and genuine apologies, I am a Red Sox fan, I know I will have missed some players that should be on that list - Neil M can admonish me tomorrow).

So who are these massive egos? Sheffield had the potential to be difficult, but aside from one or two minor grumblings, has been a team player... Giambi's BALCO admissions had the potential to be noisy, but the media (as they did originally) really just let this part of the story die on the vine at the alter of the chase for Bonds... A-Rod v Jeter - the NY fans and media were only letting there be one winner in that story, and A-Rod acknowledged that the day he agreed to move to 3rd base - and in that clubhouse - full of veterans - don't some of the other players, including Captain Intangibles, deserve some of the credit for keeping a quiet clubhouse? So which massive ego has Joe managed to the benefit of the Yankees?

I would also ask - is a manager really there to make sure all his staff are happy - isn't a manager there to make sure his team performs? I wouldn't mind my boss bringing me coffee, donuts and a morning paper every day - it would certainly make me happy - might not make me perform at my best... every player says Joe is a great manager, but a great manager knows when to pat, and when to punish - isn't the recent A-Rod SI story the first time we have heard him speak "harshly" of a player in public? Ah, I hear you mutter, that just shows how good he is - what happens in the clubhouse, stays in Joe's clubhouse - then if that is true, he chose to break that habit with A-Rod, in SI, two weeks before the play-offs? In this intense media age, isn't it just more likely that he just doesn't do 'tough love' in the clubhouse?

(And yes, he has practiced tough love on Kevin Brown... and no doubt on one or two other nobodies, but really, how hard is it to practice tough love on a guy that nobody liked...)

The thing that amazed me watching the Yankees over the last few days was the lack of fight - clearly in play-off series, particularly the DS - a good team can lose to a not so good team, but they shouldn't be outplayed, out-thought or out-fought - shouldn't the manager take some responsibility for that lack of fight, for the lack of passion shown by the team... and he isn't the go to guy for displays of fire, anyone looking to Torre for passion on the bench on Saturday was greeted by a glum, gum chewing guy with his hands in his pockets...

And it is not as if Yankee fans theselves think that Joe is beyond reproach... every blog has questioned his bullpen moves at some point this year, and his willingness to run the bullpen arms he trusts into the ground in the regular season has hurt the Yankees in the postseason, even if that wasn't a particular contributor to this year's failure.

But perhaps this story from the New York Sun sums up what I am trying to say (and a hat tip to The Weblog That Derek Built):

So, how is this Joe Torre's fault? The simple answer is that it's not. He did make some awfully stupid moves.

Starting Gary Sheffield at first base was incomprehensible, starting Wright over Cory Lidle was pretty ridiculous; his lineup moves from batting Bob Abreu third against a lefty to batting Rodriguez eighth were goofy as hell, and his puzzling rotations of Melky Cabrera, Bernie Williams, and Jason Giambi in and out of the lineup may as well have been based on astrology. None of that would have much mattered had the team had better starters.

Not being a failure doesn't make him a success, though, and it's his handling of Rodriguez that really marks the difference between why he should stay and why he should go. Torre has never been much of a strategist or tactician — his main strength has always been his ability to manage the egos of players and put them in position to succeed. He not only hasn't done that with Rodriguez, he's brutally humiliated him, first by participating in the shameful and repulsive team hit job on the embattled third baseman that ran in Sports Illustrated last month, and then by batting him eighth in a playoff elimination game.No matter how badly Rodriguez was hitting, he wasn't hitting any worse than anyone else on the team. Singling him out that way made him the story, rather than the collective failure. It was a crass move, and it didn't work.

For me "Not being a failure doesn't make him a success" sums up why, after 11 years in the job, and 6 years since the Yankees last bothered lower Manhattan in October, it is time for Joe to go.

And as a Sox fan... seriously George, Lou is the right man for the job...

Joe Torre is hanging on

2006-10-09T01:11:00.000+01:00

Joe Torre is hanging on to his job as manager of the New York Yankees following a crazy 24 hours. Torre was gone after the defeat on Saturday night but slowly the powers that be are softening big George's stance and the longer this goes on, the more likely it is that Torre stays. Should I go to bed tomorrow night with Torre still in his job, then he will enter the final year of his contract and hope to end his Yankee career on a high.

Obviously there has been a lot of talk since last night and one thing is clear, if George still held absolute power then Joe Torre would already be gone, and Lou Pinella would be ready for his Press Conference tomorrow morning.

If Torre goes then all the good work Brian Cashman has done in wrestling control from the Tampa will be undone. If Torre goes and Sweet lou comes in then the dynasty is over and the era of it being the Derek Jeter team is over. If Sweet Lou comes in then I fear for the young arms the Yankees have, I really fear for Philip Hughes. If Sweet Lou comes in then I fear for the dynamic of the clubhouse. If Sweet Lou comes in then A-Rod stays and becomes teachers pet, maybe that'll help A-Rod's psyche, having a manager who believes 100% in him, the question though of course is at what cost to the rest of the ball club.

I am a Joe Torre guy. I think the job he did this year was extraordinary, they failed in the playoffs, they stunk in the playoffs, but in all honesty they walked right into two great starting pitching performances and were throwing out a gutsy but injured 43 year-old and a bum who should never of been signed.

The Yankees need to get some live arms, that is the problem, the problem isn't hitting despite its poor showing in the past three games, these players will hit. I read over on Pete Abe's blog about moving Giambi to full time DH, asking Damon to learn 1B in Spring Training and having the kid Melky as the starting CF, not the worst suggestion I've read, not by a long shot. Damon is a keen learner and would have much more time to learn the position compared to Sheffield.

So the right thing to do is keep Torre and staff, let Sheffield walk, sign Matsuzaka, keep your hard throwing BP core of Bruney, Proctor and Farnsworth (unless this back issue will still be a problem in '07) bring back Dotel (who despite being shocking this year should be ready for next) ask Damon to move to 1st, move Melky to CF, bring in some starting pitching somehow and roll the dice on Kerry Wood joining the 'pen.

As for A-Rod, if you get an offer for him that involves some young stud starting pitching then consider it, if you don't, then keep him. I'm not an A-Rod hater, I'm not an A-Rod fan, I don't know what to think about him I must say, but what would be best for A-Rod is to leave the Bronx and return to SS elsewhere, whether or not he would do this is another matter, but it hasn't worked for A-Rod in NY, and despite all the great numbers he has posted, he can't win unless he does the business in the big games, and rightly or wrongly he hasn't, and the media won't let him forget that.

This Yankees team could go through another dynasty if Cashman is allowed to do his stuff, if he is then Torre's his guy, if he isn't then you know Cashman's authority isn't half as great as we'd been led to believe.

Joe Torre for New York Yankees manager in '07 - That's my two cents.

Posted by Neil H for Neil M