Yankees Outfield Mix

The Yanks' pitching is locked and loaded. A star-studded cast, reinforced by a long, long list of pitching potential insures we won't be enduring Sir Sidney this season. The infield is set, Girardi won't need an eraser when penciling in those names. Posada's bat is back and Molina will caddie with his glove. $200+ million buys a lot of stability. Not so fast.

As usual, holes persist. A notable chink in the Bombers' armor is the dubious outfield mix. A limited cast of characters enters spring's competition. The winners will swing away at competence. Pessimistic take?

Here are scouting reports compiled by Baseball Prospectus:

• Johnny Damon: "He has retained his speed and could still play a decent center but for an arm that is to throwing what Jason Giambi is to interpretive dance. Damon has always been inconsistent..."
• Brett Gardner: "his chances of getting it and holding on to it depend on a high enough OBP to overcome powerlessness."
• Melky Cabrera: "He remains a good defensive center fielder, but unless he can recapture the power he displayed in April or develop greater patience, he will need to contend for a batting title to avoid itinerant fifth outfielderdom--and there is no evidence he can do those things."
• Xavier Nady: "Nady's combination of pop, impatience, and fielding in a corner make him a highly qualified bench player and an upgrade on a falling starter, but only that."
• Nick Swisher: "he should snap back to form with the Yankees, who will do him (and themselves) the additional favor of not having him play center field.
• Austin Jackson: "Jackson's Double-A performance was a comedown from his 2007 High-A breakthrough. He is still a work in progress...In short, the Yankees may have a starting center fielder or a very solid fourth outfielder. Nevertheless, Jackson is also the only player in the system's upper levels close to being ready..."

For years, the front office failed to develop pitching or find Tino's replacement. The Bombers' Brass bought their way to competence and finally plugged persistent holes. Expectations insist the Yanks are back in the championship mix. Reality suggests it's never easy. As usual, holes persist.

PHOTO/BLEACHER REPORT

NY Yankees Book Review

The Truth About Ruth (And More) : Behind the New York Yankees' Most Popular Myths, Legends an Lore, will be released March 11TH. Author Peter Handrinos has compiled a diverse array of Yankees' history and examines the relationship between fact and fiction. The book is geared to : "Those interested in re-examining and re-thinking their way through some remarkable baseball will find the real stories behind the Yankees’ most popular myths, legends, and lore."

Chapters include:

• "The Truth about Ruth"
• "Getting Tough with the '27 Yankees"
• "Mickey Myths"
• "And Then Steinbrenner Fired"
• "Derek Jeter, Clutch Superstar"
• "Yankee Imperialism"

The book will appeal to Yankee fans of any age demographic. Old school can revisit what they think they know. New school gets a dose of memory lane. It's all good.

NY Yankees Scouting Report

Spring training shifts into gear and the baseball bookshelf blossoms. I snatched my copy of Baseball Prospectus 2009--The essential guide to the 2009 season. Let the homework begin, "Baseball Prospectus has become the standard by which all scouting guides should be measured."--Billy Beane, general manager, Oakland A's. Amen. 628 pages of comprehensive reports on every player in the majors provide a season-long companion for the serious fan.

Here are a few snippets from the Yankees section:

• 2008 in review: "they had one too many things go wrong...misfortune that befell the Yankees had every conceivable cause...Yet despite the sheer variety of aforementioned miseries, the subtext to many of their problems was age."
• "Age doesn't care what a player did last year; past accomplishments are unable to slow the forward march of time that carries an athlete to competitive demise."
• "...but the Yankees were not only the oldest team in the majors in 2008 but also had the third-worst Defensive Efficiency in the American League.

The report documents the roster's flaw but puts a positive spin on team architect Brian Cashman:

• Regarding the Santana sweepstakes: "To Cashman's credit, the strategy worked perfectly."
• "Naming Swisher the starting first baseman allowed Cashman to lie in the weeds (On Teixeira) Cashman pounced with an eight-year $180 million contract."
• "The signing allowed Swisher to move to a potential platoon with Nady in right, a better solution to the loss of Abreu than playing Nady alone."

BP's perspective is open to debate. Once again, major failures on Cashman's watch are glossed over as if he had nothing to do with them, while focusing on his shrewd plan to fix things. Suggesting a strategy that pushed not-ready-for-prime-time-players Hughes and Kennedy into the Bronx fishbowl, where they floundered, while Santana starred in Queens, hardly, "worked perfectly." Swisher failed miserably in Chicago, was benched and pouted. The Yanks take a $24 million gamble that Nick can bounce back. Nady is in his walk year, a peaceful productive platoon? Not likely. Abreu signed a one year $5 million deal with LA. Shrewd plan or jumbled mess? Cash didn't "pounce" on Teixeira, in Brian's own words, "This was never part of the plan." It was widely reported that the Yanks were surprised that their offer was less than Boston. Once again Boras scores for his client by manipulating the market. Teixeira fell in the Yanks lap and for a change the Bombers got lucky.

More BP bits:

• Regarding Burnett: " ...made less sense due to Burnett's history of injuries in non-walk years, questionable effectiveness and age..."
• "...the organization has a veritable conga line of pitching prospects."
• ..."transformation began to take hold in the bullpen last year, the success of which was both the organization's and Joe Girardi's greatest accomplishment."
• "Yet even their deadly combination of wealth and wits doesn't guarantee them a return to the postseason."

Photo/ESPN

Girardi's Progress

Yankees' skipper Joe Girardi has done his homework. No surprise, he's known for impeccable preparation. Girardi's rookie year in the manager's seat was noted for: relentless running, deluded expectations, fawning over unproven prospects and terse media relations. Joe took baseball's glamor job under dubious circumstances, slipped on jersey #27 and came up short. Back to the drawing board.

Yankee spring training 2009 has morphed from boot camp to relationship building retreat. Gratuitous promotions are replaced by competitive challenges. A clenched jaw eases to a smile. Rather than dwell on 2008's disappointment, Girardi focuses on productive change. Credit is due for employing an open mind to deal with issues. Joe Girardi's homework is meticulously completed. The win column will determine the final grade.

Photo/NJ Star Ledger

Yankees Soft Underbelly

The New York Yankees' big names snatch the headlines. Expectations, spurred by a star-studded-staff, fortified by a lineup of former All-Stars, soar. The names are impressive but don't tell the story.

The accomplished veterans will need help. "Rust never sleeps."--(Neil Young) Posada, Rivera, Pettitte, Burnett and young-gun Chamberlain are question marks not exclamation points. Jeter, Damon and Rodriguez (See Juan Gonzalez.) aren't qualified for iron-man status.

Names like Ransom, Berroa, Molina, Cervelli and a long, long list of unproven pitchers are in the vital mix. What about the rebuilt farm? Good luck with that. After all the Yanks over-the-top spending, holes persist. The spring training auditions start, let's hope a bench-building group of unheralded reserves emerges. The Yankees traditionally ride a wave of injuries, that's not just bad luck or coincidence. It's the result of a rickety roster. The more things change; the more they stay the same.

Yankees Notes, Quotes & Rumors

There is a lull in the A-Rod storm, let's seek shelter on the diamond:

• How sweet it is: "Bernie Williams stepped into the batter's box at George Steinbrenner Field in Tampa Friday and started whacking line drives to the gaps. On his last swing, Williams hit a shot that cleared the wall in right, drawing applause from the crowd."--(Boston Globe)
• Nick has a question: "For maybe a few hours I was bummed. But how could they pass up a player like Mark?" Swisher said. "I've played against him for years, and he's a great hitter and a great first baseman. But I did wonder where that left me."--(USA Today)
• Searching for answers: "While talking to Nady, the conversation turned to baseball, and he revealed that nobody has talked to him at all this spring about being in a battle with Nick Swisher for the right field job. I found that interesting, especially since Joe Girardi was so quick to tell us on the first day of camp that Swisher would have an opportunity to win that job.Here was Nady on the topic: “I haven't met with anybody."--(Blogging the Bombers)
• The difference maker? " In the past three seasons, Burnett went 19-7 with a 3.29 ERA in 34 starts against AL East clubs. Overall, he was 38-26 with a 3.94 ERA in that stretch."--(Newsday)
• Thanks for the heads up: "We are a bad defensive team," Cashman was quoted as saying by Tyler Kepner of the New York Times, "so a guy that prevents the ball from being put into play is a good thing for us."--(The Providence Journal) Wonder who's fault that is?
• The AL East should provide an epic pennant race between three divergent teams. Rooting against Boston is easy, but the more I learn about Tampa the more I like. Joe Maddon sets an intelligent tone that is refreshing: "Last year in camp, we casually spoke about imperatives, and tried to brand ourselves with rhetoric. We're doing the same thing this year, but we have the precedent of it working last year," said Fernando Perez, the Rays' Columbia-educated outfielder."--(Seattle Times)
• Pinstripe Alley, links to an SI article that gives a sobering prognostication for Bombers' fans: " They're going to struggle to get into the playoffs." The gaudy contracts are signed, time to deal with the heat. Girardi's honeymoon is over and Cashman's Teflon coating gets another test.
• Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf, reviews Torre's "The Yankee Years" and concludes:"Taken as a whole, The Yankee Years is a standard bit of baseball memoir, no worse and perhaps better than others that have been published in recent years, but certainly not worthy of all the hype it received. Too bad it couldn’t have had a happier ending."

PHOTO

A-Rod's Empty Legend

A few years ago, I'm sitting in the nose-bleeds behind home plate at the Stadium. Just me and the pigeons watching batting practice. The lofty perch offers a perspective not found in the front row. Look beyond the wall in left-center, past the fence, down the alley an ambulance is parked. Alex Rodriguez steps to the plate and promptly lasers a line drive that short-hops the ambulance. Years later, I can't recall the details of the game that day, but I have a vivid recollection of that line drive.

Alleged Yankee fans spent years booing the golden child at third base. I would derisively wonder what they were thinking. We have a natural in our midst. A legend to be savored, not abused.

Now, I'm not so sure. Alex's credibility has vanished. If the truth will set you free, what will concocted lies do? The NY Daily News reports: "Embattled Yankee Alex Rodriguez has had a long relationship with a steroid-linked trainer who's been banned from major league clubhouses,..He's an unsavory character," said a source.
Another source said Presinal accompanied A-Rod for the entire 2007 season, staying in the same hotel as the A.L. MVP, but in a separate room with the "cousin" Rodriguez pegged three days ago as his steroid source from 2001-03."

Let's face the facts, the Yankees' natural legend is an accomplished cheat and liar. Now what? Let the rationalizing begin, Alex is in pinstripes for 9 guaranteed years. Love him or hate him, he's ours. The stats will be pretty but pride won't make an appearance. He anchors a potent lineup and fickle applause will follow. On days he gets booed in the Bronx, sympathy won't be in the mix. The historic accomplishments are hollow. It is what it is.

Photo/NY Daily News

New York Yankees Gibberish

"I still hear in my dreams the wild stupid gibberish coming out of that yo-yo's mouth."--Hunter S. Thompson.

Let's go around the horn for some New York Yankees related gibberish:

• "Opinionated and outspoken, Sheffield still occupies a fixed place in New York's news orbit, and he has also battled reports of steroid use... "I always look at things from a biblical standpoint..."Gary Sheffield plans to let his vicious swing do the talking this season.
  The 40-year-old designated hitter, one away from the 500-homer club, insisted he's going to keep his oft-controversial opinions to himself.
  "After a while, you just get tired of the rhetoric," Sheffield said" Amen.
• The New York Post reports on the new stadium: "Architectural Digest bedrooms aren't as classy as the players' locker room. Stainless steel rods just to hang their socks. Individual wooden closets. And let it be known my behind sat in Derek Jeter's space." This was written by Cindy Adams--Yikes.
• " Hughes (22 years old) and Kennedy (24) are back in camp with very little chance of making the rotation, barring injuries...I like it," Kennedy said of needing to push his way in. "I like the competition part." Ian has a way with words. So does his boss:""In terms of what they can be, they haven't dropped in our opinion," Cashman said."
• "As ESPN has proven, a few bells and whistles can make every sports story into a highlight-reel event, while building a brand for the network that delivers it.
  Just as sports fans click to ESPN every night for "Sports Center," even if they don't know who was playing, YES could become a go-to spot every February for a press conference in which another Yankee star admits using steroids."--(NY Daily News)
• Nothing written regarding Yankees' gibberish is complete without a Brian Cashman segment. For those of you keeping score at home (Good luck with that--have the erasers ready.) A-Rod's stuff hit the fan, presto a story appears in the NY Daily News that discloses signing A-Rod was never part of Cash's plan. Now it turns out: "Then we have Brian Cashman, who clearly would like to find a Wayback Machine, go back to 2007 and get rid of his third baseman."--(LoHud) "How about that."--(Mel Allen)

A-Rod's Fall From Grace

In the wake of A-Rod's mea-culpa, I happened to read Gary Smith's, "Home Run Fever" which gives us a literate feel for the legendary home run race between Big Mac and Sammy Sosa. Written a decade ago, at the crest of baseball's power surge, the stark contrast between then and now is palpable.

"He walks past the bleating fans, never looks up. Every head, every camera is on him. His face is a mask, eyes gripping a nothingness before him...Two hours before game time, the leftfield stands are choked with people with mitts. The air crackles...Twenty-two compact swings in all, seven bullets into the sea of begging bare and leathered hands...With distance, up here in the crowd, you can see the appetite for legend that he's feeding. He's the caricature that a children's artist would draw of a home run slugger."

"Amazing, how everything changes up here. With words out of the way. Sammy's pure heart comes shining through--he's the faithful mute using hand and body language to keep a steady patter of appreciation for the legions behind him."

Ten years is a baseball lifetime. The profound fall from grace is dramatic and permanent. A-Rod will have plenty of company.

Editors note: Excerpts taken from, "Beyond The Game--The collected sportswriting of Gary Smith"

Selig's Scandal

Having trouble keeping my eye on the ball. Mixing spring training's sanctuary and baseball's sordid scandal is sacrilege. The thing is, I'm allergic to hypocrites. My inner mute button doesn't work. While cruising the information highway, I hit a Bud Selig pot hole:
“I don’t want to hear the commissioner turned a blind eye to this or he didn’t care about it,” Selig said. “That annoys the you-know-what out of me. You bet I’m sensitive to the criticism. The reason I’m so frustrated is, if you look at our whole body of work, I think we’ve come farther than anyone ever dreamed possible.” "There he goes again."--(Reagan) Let's jog down memory lane and set the record straight. Enough said.

Notes:

• The Yankees blogosphere is mushrooming in the glow of spring training. Zells combines with Yankees Rumors and morphs to an impressive The Voice of Yankees Universe. Click here for some quality photos of the new Yankee Stadium.


• I was a proponent of signing Teixeira before it was a popular perception. The opinion was based on Mark's on-the-field acumen. After hearing his AW Shucks interview yesterday, The New York Daily News points to another angle: "In fact, if it's hip to be square in baseball these days, Major League Baseball should be thrilled that Teixeira is now a Yankee, likely to raise his profile as one of the game's best players. The squeaky-clean slugger, if you will.
  Or call him the anti-A-Rod."

Illustration/Baseball Almanac

Yankees Big Man

Today marks a lull in the A-Rod storm. The melodramatic film-fest resumes tomorrow. We all know the drill. A contrite Alex will croon that he only cheated for three years in response to the out of control expectations of the Arlington stage. The Big Apple's baggage was handled cold turkey. A star-studded guest list will be in attendance: a somber skipper, a fidgety enabler and a crew of super-duper supportive teammates will assume the position. Been there done that.

Let's forget the soap opera rerun and focus on weightier issues. Sports Illustrated, published an article titled, "Supersize Me--Looking for pitching? There's nothing wrong with being a chubby chaser"--(Reiter/Dec. 2008) which details CC Sabathia's considerable girth and resume.

A few prime cuts: "The list of major league pitchers who enjoyed extended and successful careers despite carrying some excess meat on their bones is as long as the hurlers are wide."
...Sabathia might be the most coveted pitcher ever to hit the market...Sabathia is listed at 6'7'' and 290 pounds although one wonders if the scale involved in the measurement was borrowed from an especially disreputable pawn shop. He is a behemoth..." A member of the Fenway Faithfull (AKA crass cronies) chimes in," The thought of 365-pound CC Sabathia laboring through a 98 degree game at Yankee Stadium in 2012 with four more years and $105 million remaining on his contract. Please, God..."

We get the picture. SI solicits a panel of experts that conclude: "one can effectively be both a pitcher and a belly-itcher." Who knows, perhaps this was part of the latest plan: "...if you find a big fat guy with a good arm, sign him because he'll probably pitch for 20 years."

I will confess to not being an objective analyst on this topic. I maintain a pesky notion that a professional athlete should be in shape. My gut says slovenly isn't the way to go. When the big man takes the hill in the Bronx, I'll be cheering, while fervently hoping that CC eventually pulls a Bruney and puts down the doughnuts.

Yankees Optimism Rules

Optimism rules in baseball's spring training. Reality can wait. The Yankees' stacked rotation is one step closer to fruition. Reinvented mechanics, bruised buttocks and tired arms haven't arrived in Tampa. It's all good.

Yankees' fans bristle at pleasant, hunky-dory news. Angst is genetic. So let's tip our hats to the glowing reports and skip to a sore spot. The Great Rivera speaks: "It was painful but I did it," said Rivera, who said the worst days were the ones when he pitched more than one inning or for the third game in a row...The end is coming, oh yeah," --(Peter Abraham) Reality bites.

Yankee fans have been spoiled by Rivera's perpetual excellence for 15 years. Let's hear from the guy who's had 11 years to prepare for the inevitable: "Ultimately he's a question mark," general manager Brian Cashman said. "All the reports are good, but you just don't know." "Life without Rivera is not something Cashman can bring himself to consider.
"Mo is irreplaceable," he said. "Whoever winds up doing that when his day is done will never do what he's done or even come close to it." --(USA Today)

Upon further review, it's too early to cope with the facts. Joe Girardi puts spring training in perspective: "It's nice to see them playing catch today and just listen to the sound of the ball hitting the glove."--(A.P.) Amen.

Notes:

• Bronx Baseball Daily, provides photos.
• The Rays' Joe Maddon knows what it's about: "“I’m talking about the liberal arts form of baseball. Teach all of it. Hitting, pitching and defense.”

Yankees Spring Training Notes

It's 4:30 AM in the swamps of Jersey. I snatch the morning paper from the frigid porch in quest of Yankees spring training nuggets. Brush past the A-Rod is tainted but Pettitte can relate stuff. No interest in the Leyritz only failed four more breathalyzers. Finally, pay dirt: "Yankees add Tomko" a Nancy Kerrigan flashback ensues, a screeching WHY? results.

• Expectations never sleep: "whizzing baseballs across the George M. Steinbrenner Field complex in a $243.5 million game of catch, the newest additions to the Yankees' rotation are just beginning their journey as teammates. It is the opening of what they both hope will be a long and fruitful relationship, filled with championship rings and parades down the Canyon of Heroes."--(MLB)
• Joe is in mid-season form: "right field is also an open question, with Xavier Nady and Nick Swisher fighting for time. “That’s something we have to make a decision on in the next seven or eight weeks,” Girardi said. “If I were making the lineup today, would X be in it? Maybe. I can’t say for sure.”--(NY Times)
• The Tomko thing has me in a quandary. The roster is loaded with arms , what's the point? I have an acquaintance who worked the clubhouse for the "We are family" Pirates. He mentioned that in the spring, teams add a couple of rubber arms to the mix so the real players don't push themselves. It's either that or another shrewd, stealth plan.

Photo

Yankees Baseball Links

Yesterday, I wrote about focusing on the field, in order to escape baseball's perpetual trials and tribulations. With this concept in mind, I sifted through 149 Yankees Baseball Google Alerts. When you edit out the tabloid tripe and hysterical hype, slim pickings follow:

• LoHud lobs out the first pitch of spring.
• Full Count Pitch documents "Chasing the dream"
• The San Francisco Chronicle, doesn't think much of the Yanks' latest plan: "It's a good thing the Yanks picked up Sabathia and Mark Teixeira for $28.2 billion, or whatever it was, because this is one flawed outfit..."
• Today's photo comes courtesy of the NY Times Travel section, dated March 2005, detailing Tampa's spring training ambiance as a way to escape sports' scandals. Not much has changed.

Escaping Yankees Distractions

Spring training starts and Yankee fans are drowning in distractions. The annual A-Rod saga replaces last year's Clemens/Pettitte fiasco. Owners stealing gets bumped by players cheating. The hyped-hysteria of the tabloid-driven mob remains the same. "And so it goes."--(Kurt Vonnegut)

We didn't buy into baseball because of the baggage. The attraction was the game: The crack of the bat. The play at the plate. Deft double plays. Late-inning comebacks. It's all good.

"You remember baseball: small, white spheroid. Leather gloves. Flimsy wooden bats." "It's a sport that Jeter still loves, that makes him smile in the dugout whenever a teammate smacks a double in the gap...You ask Jeter a question about real life, you'll likely get a curt evasive sen tence. You ask him about baseball, his face lights up and he'll talk your ears off."--(Bondy/NY Daily News.)

Conflicted Yankee fans have a choice: Get ensnared in MLB's rancid net or get back to basics and focus on the field. Pitchers and catchers starts Friday. Have fun.

Photo/NY Times

A-Rod's Latest Act

The latest act of the A-Roid soap opera followed a heart wrenching script. A contrite Alex issued a mea-culpa to the pontiff of ESPN baseball analysts, Peter Gammons. Let the healing begin--good luck with that.

In yesterday's episode, poor naive Alex did the dirty for three measly years in Texas. The intense pressure of Arlington pushed a "young and stupid" Alex to cheat with "unknown...banned substances." The result was an MVP trophy garnered with gaudy stats. According to the pretzel logic tale, A-Rod then quit and moved on to the Big Apple. "I proved to myself and to everyone that I don't need any of that." Presumably, a mature, confident A-Rod, bolstered by illicit numbers, took on the hysterical hype of Gotham without help. Yeah, that's the ticket.

Selig's salacious saga is what it is. Perpetual BS is part of the mix. "Baseball's steroid age is like a sunken ship, still leaking oil. Still poisoning the water. Every so often we look to find yet more pollution. Another slick."--(Lopresti/Gannett)

Note: Speaking of slick, here's an excerpt from Bill Madden's column in yesterday's NY Daily News: "When A-Rod opted out of the last three years of his 10-year, $252 million contract three weeks earlier, no one was happier or more relieved than Cashman, whose goals as GM were to significantly reduce the payroll and build a team in his own image...Not that Cashman's grand design of building from within wasn't a noble one. It's just that when A-Rod told Hank he wanted back in, Cashman was helpless."

When Brian Cashman vowed to come back and "rewrite the story" he was serious. In today's version, a "helpless...noble" Cash was, once again, a victim. Yeah, that's the ticket. (Where's Jon Lovitz, when you need him.)

PHOTO

Scandal Stains Spring Training

Spring training starts Friday--pitchers and catchers--a traditional time of optimism in baseball circles. The Sunday New York Daily News (Print edition) gives us a jolting preview. A syringe adorns the front page, along with A-Rod's mug shot. Headlines hammer home a point: "Give us the Juice A-Rod, admit what you did, don't be another Bonds or Rocket" "Yanks Stuck with A-Fraud" "Bowa Shocked Hopes Info is A-Wrong" "Forget Cooperstown, Alex in Hall of Shame" "A-Storm to hit Tampa" Yada, Yada, Yada.

Overreaction? Tabloid sensationalism? The facts speak: 27 Yankees have been implicated in Selig's steroid scandal in eight years. They are not alone: "a steroid scandal that has tainted five of the top 12 home run hitters of all time and destroyed the reputation of the greatest pitcher of his generation."--(Dahlberg/AP)

Baseball fans are sparked by the joy emanating from a great game. Bud Selig, complicit ownership and a long list of cheating players have tainted the game and its record book. Nefarious news gets old but isn't going away. Spring training is here--be careful what you wish for.

Photo

A-Rod Adds to Baseball's Baggage

Spring training is knocking at the door and baseball's baggage is packed. Bonds smirks from a courtroom. Big Mac's legacy shrivels in the Hall of Fame's glare. Clemens and DNA won't go away. Sosa is a trivia answer. And Bud Selig's biggest nightmare plays third base for the New York Yankees.

Allegations that Alex Rodriguez tested positive for two steroids in 2003, guarantee a new wave of nefarious news. The golden child is tainted--guilty or not. The record book is officially cooked.

Last year Selig tried to pretend everything was grand. The historic cheating scandal was washed away in a wave of epic revenue. Greed was good. Bud got paid.

That was then, this is now. Bud's bubble has burst. Hope that A-Rod would cleanse baseball's record book with honest accomplishment is finished. Monument park is full.

Photo

Yankees Rumors, Notes & Links

Spring training dawns and winter's baseball chill thaws. Let's go around the horn with Yankees news:

• Bill Maher isn't the only one with new rules: "Chamberlain has thrown off a mound four times, according to the AP, and added extra shoulder strengthening exercises to his offseason workout program.
  
  "[I did it] just to keep it as strong as you can," Chamberlain said. "It's a long season." A full season from Joba in the rotation would be a major step in the right direction.
• Hip, hip Jorge: "Molina's 2009 forecast calls for a .229/.271/.325 line in 171 PA (0.6 WARP), and any expansion of his role beyond that would constitute a major drag on the Yankees' offense. As a result, the Yankees need Posada to resume everyday work behind the plate while approaching his career numbers (.277/.380/.477). A 60/40 split in playing time leads to a total .243/.304/.380 performance between them, not something the Yanks can afford.
• Beauty is in the eye of the beholder: "the Braves seem to have emerged as the club most interested in Yankees outfielder Nick Swisher. But there are indications the teams got hung up when the Braves asked the Yankees to eat some of the $22.05 million Swisher has coming over the next three years -- and got turned down flat." (Hat Tip: River Ave Blues) On paper Yanks should keep Swish for bench depth, but keep in mind he went into pout mode last year over lost playing time due to poor performance.
• Yankee Universe, quotes FanGraphs": "Everyone is quick to point fingers at A-Rod or concoct other reasons for their dearth of recent championships, but perhaps much of it has to do with how offensive production looks sexier than defense, and the Yankees have trotted horrible defenders out, time and time again.

Photo

Opposing Yankee Perspectives

Baseball America's current print edition, features an article titled: "To the Yankees go the spoils after offseason spending binge" written by Peter Gammons. Some interesting snippets for Yankee fans:

• "The Yankees patiently waited for a year and allowed Cashman to pass on Johan Santana so that when he rebuilt the Yankees, it would not be at any expense to the farm system he wanted to build."
• "Now the Yankees are back in the high life, again, in a position where they will be the heavy favorites with the pressure that anything less than winning the 2009 World Series will be considered failure."
• "...the Yankees are not only rich and abetted by the mayor of their city, but also the Steinbrenners have turned the operation over to a very smart man in Cashman,.."
• "Didn't Hal Steinbrenner invest $423.5 million to buy back the we're-the-Yankees-and-you're-not swagger?"

This is an interesting perspective from a respected source that leaves me perplexed:

• The Yanks pass on a proven ace for the opportunity to keep Hughes, Kennedy and Cabrera. Santana flourishes in Gotham's glare while the kids are not all right. I don't find success in the mix. The farm system Cash "wanted to build" included Kei Igawa as the best starter in Triple-A, no impact position player on the radar and a botched 2008 draft. Victory? Can the bar be set any lower? (Note: the festering notion that binging on free agents this year doesn't effect the farm ignores the sacrificed draft picks.)
• There is no question that the Yanks talent pool has been replenished but how "smart" is it to over-bid the market by $40 million for clearly the best pitcher available then increase it by $20 million and add a player-friendly opt-out, when there is no competition for the big man's services? How "smart" is it to pay $80 million for a brittle Burnett? Teixeira was an excellent acquisition and Brian has acknowledged, "this wasn't part of the plan."
• I can't find any evidence to support the notion that the "Steinbrenners have turned the operation over" to anyone. Hal has been quoted as saying Cash negotiates the contracts. The facts would suggest that is accurate.
• The exorbitant expectation angle from a Boston perspective is interesting. $800 million spent in a year has produced a roster with a 37-year old catcher coming off major shoulder surgery, and iconic closer who must continue to baffle Father time, a dubious outfield and a bench to be named later. The Yankees have a formidable team but "heavy favorites?" I must be missing something.

Photo

Tainted Baseball Reporting

Baseball Analysts, in an article titled, "Heyman Breaks Another Story" details the reporting resume of S.I.com's John Heyman. A long list of rumor inspired articles focusing on Scott Boras' client Manny Ramirez leads author Rich Lederer to conclude: " While Boras is no fool, Heyman is a tool for the Scott Boras corporation."

Complicit baseball reporting is nothing new. Super-agent Scott Boras exploits a flawed system. In Babe Ruth's day, loyal beat reporters wrote of the Bambino's voracious appetite for hot dogs which was code for female conquests. Regular readers of today's Gotham press know quid pro quo remains part of the sports reporting mix.

Exhibit A--Yankees GM Brian Cashman--a master at manipulating an ever changing image. This time last year, Cash had morphed from years of failed free agent signings (None of it was his fault.) to the Father of the farm system. A cogent long-term plan built on a foundation of shrewdly drafted prospects, would replace the need to buy your way out. Patient nurturing wasn't on the drawing board and the kids weren't ready for prime time. One year and $800 million later a new day has dawned. The same cooperative press members who lavished praise on Bran for last year's bold boondoggle are on this year's shrewd stealth bandwagon. A new story is written, the hero has a familiar face.

It is what it is. Reporters compete for access. The information power brokers pull the strings of the accommodating image enablers. "And so it goes."--(Kurt Vonnegut.)

Hat Tip: Yankee Universe

Photo

Book Review: Confessions of a She-Fan

A new book hits the baseball bookshelf today, Confessions of a She-Fan, is released and Yankee fans get a treat. Novelist and Yankees-lifer, Jane Heller writes a chronicle of the Bombers' 2007 season. Ms. Heller parlays a frustration venting essay, to a NY Times article that results in a book deal, which takes her on a baseball journey that documents a memorable Yankees' season.

The author sets a tone that Yankee fans can relate to: "...I should flat-out admit that the quality of my days and nights is significantly influenced by whether the Yankees win or lose."

The daily travails of an inconsistent Yankees team are documented from the stands, by one of us. Written in a humorous, conversational style, Confessions of a She-Fan, is entertaining, be prepared for perpetual smiling: " Molina comes out of the hotel, and everyone yells 'Melky!' "

Jane Heller takes a long-strange-trip with the Yankees "traveling carnival" and produces an enjoyable memoir that belongs on any Yankee fans bookshelf.

Photo

Boss Rocks Tampa

The information highway is cluttered with Yankees' recycled redundancy. Spring training can't come soon enough. Football's Super Bowl provided a diversion and served as an appetizer for the main course.

Bruce Springsteen and the legendary E Street Band cranked out 12 minutes of South Jersey energy at half-time that brought heat to winter's chill. There isn't a baseball reference in sight, but somehow that's all right.

Notes:

• Let's stick with the Springsteen thread: ""I feel the heat. I've always felt the heat. I've never not felt the heat," Cashman said. "Do I think it's any hotter now than it was before? No. But do I feel it every day? Yeah, I do."Notes:@ Cashman is paying special attention to closer Mariano Rivera and C Jorge Posada, both coming off shoulder surgery. Posada was in New York on Monday for a checkup. "We will definitely go into spring training and as we enter the '09 season with concerns about the health of two extremely important positions on any team that wants to get to the promised land,"
• River Ave Blues, garners amusing headline of the week: "It is high, it is far, it is terrible" John Sterling aka "The Voice" makes an indelible impression on the senses.
• The garrish headlines and knee-jerk pot shots have waned, now people are actually starting to read the Torre/Verducci book: "precisely what "The Yankee Years" does, providing an unexpectedly thoughtful, even nuanced, history not only of Torre's 12 years as manager of the Yankees but of Major League Baseball during that time. It's a period ripe for just this sort of overview: the steroid era, the rise of moneyball. " As Mel Allen used to say, "How about that."

Photo

Yankees Notes

Baseball's spring training countdown moves from months, to weeks, to days, there is relief in sight. Until then, a few random notes regarding New York Yankees baseball:

• Baseball Intellect, scouts Yankees' prospects, Phil Coke (#6): "the bottom line is that he will be the second lefty out of the Yankee bullpen in 2009 and the only one who can go multiple innings at a time. He’ll find himself in plenty of high leverage situations and he has the stuff to succeed in that role.
• Here's a report on Humberto Sanchez, who the Yanks took for Sheffield: "Former top pitching prospect has seen his stock drop as he has battled command and weight issues ..." Fortunately, Sheffield flopped in Motown, addition by subtraction prevents this transaction from being another bust.
• More surgery updates from Chad Jennings: "based on their handling of Mark Melancon and J.B. Cox, I'm betting Horne opens in Tampa or extended spring because of the weather. I realize he didn't go through the same surgery as Melancon or Cox, but still, shoulder surgery on a pitcher won't be taken lightly in an organization as cautious as the Yankees.
• The list of unemployed millionaires is noteworthy: "Bobby’s a very even-keeled person, and he’s been very patient,” Greenberg said. “But he’s disappointed. Perplexed might be a good word. He had a good year last year, and from the offers we’re receiving, he’s very surprised — and surprised the Yankees didn’t make any effort to retain him in any way, shape or form.”
• Randy Levine's claim that the Yanks new stadium would revitalize the Bronx springs into action: "Job seekers have been standing in the frigid cold outside of the old Yankee Stadium to apply for a thousand new jobs that'll be created when the new stadium opens in April. They're trying to land everything from hot dog vendors to concession stand positions -- during baseball season. The Yankees snatch a few hundred million in tax free bonds and the people prosper by getting the opportunity to make piddly wages for a few months. Gordon Gecko ("Greed is good.") would be proud.

Photo/Daylife