Daily Archives: November 13, 2003

A fellow named Avkash Patel has devised a simple yet meaninful new statistic that measures offensive patience at his Mets-related web page, Raindrops. I’m sorry that I didn’t link the article earlier, but it has received rave reviews in the blogging community. Jay Jaffe does a great job of sorting out Patel’s theory. I’m afraid that writing about performance analysis is not my strength–though I still enjoy reading about it–so I prefer to pass you along to someone who can.

Jay is just about to go on the DL himself. He has a torn labrum in his shoulder and is going under the knife next week. Stop by and wish one of the best baseball bloggers well.

Tony Pena and Jack McKeon took home manager of the year honors in their respective leagues yesterday. No surprises there. They were both deserving. I have one minor complaint though. Why didn’t Frank Robinson recieve a little more support? It seems as if he had one of the most arduous tasks in the majors, trying to keep his team focused as they shuttled back and forth from Canada to P.R. I know he had some talent to work with, and I’m not saying he should have won the award, but I thought he would have recieved a little more love from the writers.

Here are a few more pieces on the AL Rookie of the Year voting controversy–from Rob Neyer, Aaron Gleeman and Ben Jacobs. I have to say I was mildly amused that Jacobs allowed himself to get so steamed over comments made by Boss George Steinbrenner. It’s not that I don’t agree with Jacobs here, but I have developed such a thick skin when it comes to the Boss that I hardly ever get worked up by anything that comes out of his big, fat mouth.

Tabloid gossip is as New York as handball, hip hop and the screwface stare. Today, the rumor mill is in full effect, and it is as dizzying as watching Chinese Chess in Chinatown. Here is the lowdown according to New York’s finest…

The Curt Schilling talk is still hot, although the two teams are predictably miles apart. The Diamondbacks want both Nick Johnson and Alfonso Soriano in exchange for their $12 million ace headache and second baseman Junior Spivey. Kevin Kernan thinks the Yankees would be making a major mistake letting Nick Johnson go for Schilling, while John Harper thinks it is a sacrifice worth making. One thing is for sure, there are those in the Yankee organization (led by Stick Michael) who do not want to lose Johnson, but George Steinbrenner is not one of them:

“Stick hasn’t changed his opinion of Nick,” one Yankee insider said yesterday. “He still thinks the kid can win a batting title in the next few years. But George is frustrated because he keeps hearing he doesn’t have the kind of prospects in the (farm) system to make a deal like this.

“He’s 70-something years old and he doesn’t want to hear about the future. If Nick is his ticket, he’ll use him.”

That is a point worth noting. George has always constructed his team to win now, but at his age, why should he think about the future if he won’t be around to enjoy it? We are talking about a world-class, instant-gratification egotist after all.

But the Yankee brass isn’t alone in their appreciation of Johnson. According to Kernan:

“You know who Nick Johnson is?” one GM told me yesterday in the lost-in-time lobby of the Arizona Biltmore. “He’s the kind of player the Yankees of 1996 used to build around. He’s a Paul O’Neill type. The type who will work you deep into the count and drive the pitcher crazy.”

It is unlikely that any trade will be made soon. Hopefully for the Yankees, Cashman and Stick Michael can keep their raging bull of an owner from doing anything rash.

Meanwhile, Cashman met with Bartolo Colon’s agent, and also huddled with Expos GM Omar Minaya regarding Javier Vasquez. Roberto Alomar’s agent has approached Cashman about his clients’ desire to play for the Yankees, and the Bombers are also interested in Vlad Guerrero too. (With the White Sox willing to move Magglio Ordonez, right field has some interesting options.)

MEL TO RETURN

The New York Post is reporting that Mel Stottlemyre will in fact return as pitching coach next season. Joe Torre said that he hasn’t spoken with Stot since the end of the season but expects to hear from him in the next week. Looks like he’ll have his old friend back by his side. You think Andy Pettitte will notice?

HAVEN’T GOT TIME FOR THE PAIN

Derek Jeter apparently played through the ALCS and World Series in serious pain. Jeter strained ligaments in his left thumb in Game One of the ALCS against the Red Sox. Last night, at a fund-raiser, Joe Torre told reporters:

“After the first game against Boston I got a phone call the next morning and we weren’t sure he was going to play anymore,” Torre said last night at his Safe At Home Foundation dinner in Battery Park.

“It’s one of those things you test yourself as a manager and say, ‘Well, it’s out of our control now.’ But this kid was something. He got some pain shots the first couple of days and he said, ‘I can’t feel my thumb, I can’t take these shots anymore.’ “

Jeter, who was in attendence too, played coy:

“Mr. T blew a secret, huh?”

There are no plans for Jeter to have surgery this winter.