Daily Archives: December 9, 2003

The Hot Stove League is all about stats, and cold, hard cash. So says Buster Olney today in his column over at ESPN. Olney delineates several situations, like the A Rod-Nomie show up in Boston. He also touches on the latest turn in the Gary Sheffield soap opera and hits the nail on the head whe he notes that if the deal falls apart, “it might be the luckiest break for the team since Albert Belle reneged on his verbal agreement in the winter of 1998.” But if it’s drama that George wants, it is drama he will get:

Sheffield created consternation within the Yankees’ organization when he detailed his verbal agreement with George Steinbrenner to a newspaper — more evidence that Sheffield, typically outspoken in his career, could make regular and unwanted appearances in the headlines of the New York area papers. Or maybe Steinbrenner has grown weary of the genteel Yankees, and wants more Billy-Reggie type Bronx Zoo stuff. If so, he should rush to finish the Sheffield deal now.

Or maybe the Yankees will invest that $39 million earmarked for Sheffield, tack on another year to the deal and lock up Vladimir Guerrero, who is seven years younger.

But perhaps Sheffield isn’t really holding out for more money. According to Lee Sinins:

There is also a lot of speculation that this is a sham and the parties are just trying to delay an announcement as long as possible, in order to make it look like Sheffield wasn’t signed before Sunday’s deadline for the Braves to receive draft pick compensation. Meanwhile, the Braves are planning on filing a grievance with MLB over the Yankees’s actions.

Olney also goes on to mention that a Yankee official believes that the chances of re-signing Andy Pettitte “are slightly less than 50-50.”

THE PRO’S PRO

Tom Verducci, the head baseball writer at Sports Illustrated, is one of the most widely-read and respected sports journalists in the country. I have always appreciated his enthusiasm for the game and his even-handed writing style. I had the good fortune to speak with him last week. Here is our conversation. Enjoy.

Bronx Banter: Did you grow up playing sports?

Tom Verducci: I come from a very sports-oriented family. My dad was a high school baseball and football head coach and my brothers all played sports. Iím one of four boys in the family.

BB: Where did you fit in?

Verducci: Iím the third boy. So growing up we played just about anything and everything. But in high school, I played baseball, basketball and football. I grew up in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, which is in Essex County. I went to Seton Hall prep, which at the time was on the same campus as Seton Hall University in South Orange. It has since moved to West Orange.

BB: Do you have any sisters?

Verducci: I have four sisters.

BB: Wow, thatís a nice, healthy brood.

Verducci: Yup.

BB: And you played for your dad?

Verducci: Yes. In football, I did. At the time he was not a baseball coach any longer; he was just concentrating on football. We had great high school football teams when I was there.

BB: I saw in your bio column on SI.com that you made a big catch to win a big game at in high school.

Verducci: Yeah which is ironic because we were the proto typical three yards and a cloud of dust team. But my senior year we outscored the opposition 330-6. So we didnít need to throw the ball a whole lot. But yeah, the ball happened to find me in that state championship game. Timing is everything.

BB: So athletics was how you boys made your rites of passages.

Verducci: When I grew up, to me, the guys on the high school football team were the athletes I idolized. It wasnít the NFL or major league baseball players, although I certainly had favorite players. But when I was out in the street, I was pretending to be the guys on the high school football team. To me that was everything. On Saturdays I would go to practice with my dad, and of course I was there for the game on Sunday. So I looked up to those guys. If you are a high school football coach, itís a 24-7 job. At home, he was watching game film all the time. Or even if he was watching a pro or college game, he was jotting down plays he would use for his team. You just get absorbed into that culture.

BB: Were your two older brothers good athletes as well?

Verducci: Yeah. The oldest brother has actually coached in the NFL. He spent three years with the Bengals, and last year was with the Dallas Cowboys. Frank Verducci. He was offensive line coach last year with the Cowboys. Before that he did the typical iterant college assistant route. He was at lots of schools, but primarily at Iowa with Hayden Fry. My other brother

The Gary Sheffield signing has hit yet another snag according to reports in The New York Post and The Daily News. Sheffield, who had a handshake deal with Yankee owner George Steinbrenner last week for 3 years at $39 million, now wants more money. Do you think he reads the papers? Obviously, with Alex Rodriguez likely to wind up in Boston by next week, he has. (So has Nomar Garciappara, who took to the airwaves in Boston yesterday.) Will this latest move push the Boss too far? Perhaps, but I doubt it. According to Joel Sherman:

A veteran agent who has been talking to the Yanks said: “You have a crazy owner and a crazy player. Who knows if they even know what their last offer was to each other? There is no surprise to anyone in the business if things unraveled when it is these two coming face-to-face.”

Yankee fans, brace yourself: This could be the start of a (cough, cough)beautiful friendship. Reggie vs. George Part II. Of course there is now talk that the Yankees should pursue Vladimir Guerrero instead of toying around with Sheffield. I can’t be partial here. Guerrero, the Bizzaro A Rod, is one of my favorite players, and I don’t even want to excite myself dreaming that he could become a Yankee. I think that George and Sheffield will eventually work a deal out, but we should stand forewarned: If Sheffield comes to the Bronx, it will be a wild, sordid ride. Sheff might produce on the field, but he’ll be a constant headache off it.

Meanwhile, the Yanks have reportedly inked Boomer Wells to an incentive-laden minor-league deal, and are still interesting in signing OF Kenny Lofton (feh). The Mets made a big splash today by nabbing the latest Japanese star import, Kaz Matsui (though Sheffield and the Yanks still managed to grab the backpages). Does this deal make sense for the Mets? Rob Neyer thinks that there is reason to be leery.