Sorry, can I vent on a different topic?? Just read a lame article by P.Gammons on ESPN. He includes A-Rod in the section with Bonds and Clemens, in comparison with "good guys" like Mauer and Pedroia...WHAT THE F"#$ is wrong with A-Rod divorcing and dating who he chooses?? The guy works as hard as anyone, no hint of roids, and is one of the ten-best players ever...seriously, really tired of A-Rod bashing....
damn, I miss baseball games. hot-stove league really isn't doing it...
Ugh, no no no no no no! Stay as far away from AJ Burnett as you possibly can. This has Jaret Wright/Carl Pavano written all over it. Sigh, it was nice to watch the Yankees try and build from within for all of one year. They have no cohesive plan anymore, it seems like they try something (use the farm) for one year, it doesn't work exactly as planned, so hey, lets scrap that and sign every FA we can afford again! Who needs those draft picks? Meanwhile, Texeira is left by the wayside. Who the hell is assessing this team's needs over there?
The lack of copy in this post scared the bejeesus out of me. Thought ol' AJ was suddenly a done deal. On the other hand I don't care too much now: With Sabathia off MY radar, you gotta make do. Sheets and one of these old guys is fine at this point.
[2] I still maintain the Yankee front office never had a cohesive plan. They did whatever the hell they wanted at the given time and used the phrase "the plan" to justify it. The Kei Igawa signing should have been all the proof we needed there.
As for AJ, well, while its extremely disappointing, its not at all shocking coming from the front office that has made disastrous move after disastrous move for years now.
[5] hey, I for one am very excited about the Tim Thomas era!
this has been a pretty boring off-season so far... K-Rod to the Mets not really exciting news..wonder if he'll halp them fight off a third straight collapse?
everyone, check out the great Joe Poz today..abotu Rickey Henderson..an AMAZING stat he brings up. Rickey walked 796 times in his career..to lead off an inning...Rickey H, top-10 all time??
[8] Well, that's at least some news. I've been totally in the dark.
I drove past Shea the other day and just got so pissed off; pissed off about it being winter, pissed off that Shea is no more, pissed off that the Stadium is no more.
I even had a dream about a month ago that I was at a game in the New Stadium and, aside from the restoration Death Valley (the gaps were like in the 450s), everything was exactly the same. It was actually the old stadium, not the new one at all. I found that comforting.
When I'm not dreaming I just feel a sense of dread about the new colossus.
Hey, btw, the strip on the right-hand side of my screen runs right through my comment box, rendering what I write there nearly invisible.
Anyone know what I can do about that? It's quite annoying.
[8] Tim Thomas 2.0? Hah! You mean the Long and Breath-Bated Wait for the Bally-Hooed Arrival of Patrick Ewing, Jr.!
Knicks blog on the sidebar aside, I am disappointed with the "fascination with mediocre pitchers because they beat the bejeezus out of your own team" mentality that has clung to the organizational mindset for years like pommes de la rue in between the cleats. I'm really hoping that the Yanks are blowing as much smoke around as the player agents are.
[12][13] winter sucks indeed..and too much NFL everywhere!
Tristan..nice! though more to my taste is Maceo Parker and his boys coming to Tokyo soon..though at $90 a seat think i will pass...jazz is expensive here, but opera/classical is outrageous..the lady and I spent abotu $100 to go hear Brahms last year...at least baseball tix are cheap here!
[14] am i the ONLY Knick fan in the world who does NOT want LeBron? give me Bosh please! LeBron..all-time great but does he have the MJ mania for championships??
[10] Weep! I thought you got lost hunting wabbits or something... I need to be silly again, my friend. I'm tired of being so serious, it's like standing on a 40-foot ladder made of Legos™. Where're all the funny folk when you need them??
[16] No. I'd love LeBron here if they also managed to get Bosh. MJ couldn't do it by himself no matter how manic his was for championships, so whatever. Funny how that's almost the same situation here, except the Yanks aren't a complete black hole just yet...
Believe it or not, Igawa was a reasonable signing, a gamble against the proven mediocrity that was Ted Lilly. The move didn't work out. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.
[18] Lurch, I need you to roust CC into action so we can all sleep with the knowledge that Banter has something exciting and new for us to read early tomorrow morning... >;)
[1] Gammons is a fossil. Pedroia is the star du jour in Boston and Gammons is an organizational lap dog. He is home grown, scrappy, dirty and hey, it's Boston, so being white doesn't hurt. Who cares if the world hates Arod...the less he tries to get people to like him, the better he seems to play. So, I say Ha! to all his critics and hope Arod does the same.
[2] Why exactly is pursuing quality free agents the same as abandoning a strategy of building from within? In fact, it actually could be interpreted as doing the opposite. After all, the Yankees are not considering trading Hughes, Chamberlain, Jackson or even Kennedy. The list of home grown players who will be expected to contribute in 2009 is still relatively high. Instead, it seems as if Cashman is trying to hold onto to minor league talent by signing free agents. After all, that's why the Yankees are in the Sabathia hunt instead of resting on their Santana laurels. With the Yankees resources, they can both develop from within and sign big name free agents.
The draft pick argument is also a bit of a red herring. The Yankees already have a protected supplemental first round pick that is protected, so they only stand to lose their 2009 first rounder. I am sorry, but you can't let a late first round pick stand in the way of talents like Sabathia.
[7] Like [20], I don't think the Igawa signing was horrible at the time. Igawa actually pitched as well as Dice-K in some seaons in what was thought to be a better league. Considering that the Yankees did not have high expectations for him, I don't think you can criticize them for poor planning. Unfortunately, Igawa didn't even live up to those low standards.
As for Burnett, it is unfair to compare him to Pavano and Wright. At the respective times in their careers, Burnett has much more talent and shown much more durability than both. Even though AJ is still an injury concern, his upside dwarfs that of Pavano and Wright.
I am also not comfortable with the numbers being thrown around, but don't think signing him would be awful. Sure, it's a risk, but it does come with a reward. If the Yankees lose out on C.C., they simply can't go into the season with Wang, himself coming off an injury, as the only definite starter. Pettitte is far from given coming off his 2008 season, and we all know about the innings concerns for Joba and Hughes. The Yankees can not simply punt next season. Burnett, Sheets and Lowe all have definite talent along with different risk/reward considerations. Eventually, the Yankees will need to acquire some pitching, and aside from C.C., that trio seems to be the most attractive.
[20] They had spent most of that off season preaching fiscal discipline. IIRC, that was the first time anyone in the organization publicly suggested that the team itself was losing money (which they of course more than made up with YES and various other ventures).
Then they plopped 46 million down on a long reliever.
am pleased that a single photo of Burnett can prompt 25+ comments and the winter returns of Weeping, Chyll and Williamnyy23... wonder how many comments a Beyonce pic would bring then??
Igawa..local sportwriter here said they knew he would fail in NYC as he "lacks fighting spirit" (it sounds much fiercer in Japanese..)
[25]They had spent most of that off season preaching fiscal discipline.
"The Yankees said they could not afford DAVID CONE and JACK McDOWELL, but three weeks after McDowell signed a two-year, $10.15 million contract with the Indians, New York signed KENNY ROGERS to a four-year, $20 million deal."
I'm sure if you look enough, you'll find other times where the Yanks preached fiscal responsibility,
[26] Though I will say that Igawa should definitely try the Sasha Fierce routine to make himself look attractive to some other team in a laid-back area of the country looking to part with their stud pitcher or position prospect...
Abraham is reporting that Cashman and Sabathia are in Frisco. If Sabathia doesn't sign, he's making my list. What a dick move it would be to drag this poor guy around the country just for leverage with the Giants.
[29] Yeah, I kinda thought you were up on the "Identifying & Separating My Stage Persona" gimmick with her new album. The videos are appropriately eye-popping, jaw-dropping, whatever, but I feel kinda icky staring at a woman who wriggles in scantily clad clothing on TV, knowing her just-as-famous husband Joe Camel is probably off-camera scowling at the video crew.
How does this relate to Kei? ummm... he's not quite what you see... on the... big stage... but in the privacy of AAA... he's... super?
[35] with the Pacific between us the pop-culture gossip gets time delayed, but I'm good now! eagerly awaiting the latest dope Fresh Prince and Jazzy Jeff track to drop too, damn, that Fresh Prince got style, he could even be on his own sitcom one day if he plays it right...
Igawa..the sports press here can get nasty with the baseball players they don7t like..until they return home, then all if forgiven
[31] Well, as much as Cash looks like Raggedy Andy, I give him to be made of sterner stuff. Remember how people would describe Cashman as a "shark" and say, "watch out for him, he's smart" ? I don't really think he's lost his mind in a few short years, but I do worry sometimes that free agency isn't his strongest suit, unless it's he who's about to walk out the door.
[32] You and Diane could be the new comedy duo sensation to sweep Banter! (brooms are in the closet, so start sweeping...) >;)
good luck! pre-holidays here there is nothing to do at the office but keep looking for CC updates and explore new jazz blogs...thanks the Gods for the Banter!
anyone up for some "10 best players of all time" debate??
catching up on some news..can we get a new verb going, "to Blagojevich", to make unreasonable demands based on a highly overvalued sense of self-worth? synonyms: to Boras? to Marbury??
[25] Something tells me that the “losing money” theme was intended more for the purposed of securing tax free bonds than to influence player acquisitions. I am sure part of the Igawa decision was in reaction to the Dice-K bidding, but at the time, there was a case to be made for Igawa. The reviews of the signing at the time were not all negative. Hindsight is 20-20.
[26] Not sure about Beyonce, but I could go on for days about Salma Hayek, and weeks about Salma Hayek in Yankee pinstripes.
From the NY Post:
LAS VEGAS – CC Sabathia is not going to play on the West Coast. He is not going to play in the National League. CC Sabathia is going to be a Yankee
[46] There are a lot of alternate realities in the NY Post. Whenever someone cites the Post as a source, I always recall the definitive headline announcing Dick Gephardt as Al Gore's running mate in 2000. That very day, Gore introduced Leiberman has his VP.
The story may be true, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Post is just taking a stab.
[47] PeteAbe has NOT reported it, but has reported on the activity leading up to 'it'. No.... it may not be verified yet, but it certainly looks like it's happening. I'll bet PeteAbe will have the story within a few hours.
[48] I am not so sure PeteAbe is much of an authority either. Although he is very good at gathering news, I can't recall him breaking many stories. It used to be that when Bill Madden broke a story about the Yankees, you knew it was true because of his relationship to George. I am not sure if any NY reporter has been designated as a choosen one, but I do know that the words "the NY Post has learned exclusively" mean very little.
Having said that, the events leading up to the alleged conclusion did seem to be pointing that way.
Sorry, can I vent on a different topic?? Just read a lame article by P.Gammons on ESPN. He includes A-Rod in the section with Bonds and Clemens, in comparison with "good guys" like Mauer and Pedroia...WHAT THE F"#$ is wrong with A-Rod divorcing and dating who he chooses?? The guy works as hard as anyone, no hint of roids, and is one of the ten-best players ever...seriously, really tired of A-Rod bashing....
damn, I miss baseball games. hot-stove league really isn't doing it...
Ugh, no no no no no no! Stay as far away from AJ Burnett as you possibly can. This has Jaret Wright/Carl Pavano written all over it. Sigh, it was nice to watch the Yankees try and build from within for all of one year. They have no cohesive plan anymore, it seems like they try something (use the farm) for one year, it doesn't work exactly as planned, so hey, lets scrap that and sign every FA we can afford again! Who needs those draft picks? Meanwhile, Texeira is left by the wayside. Who the hell is assessing this team's needs over there?
[2] agreed!! signing Burnett is going to make it one depressing New Years....
[1] oh, only just saw the more A-Rod post below, that comment more appropriate there obviously!
The lack of copy in this post scared the bejeesus out of me. Thought ol' AJ was suddenly a done deal. On the other hand I don't care too much now: With Sabathia off MY radar, you gotta make do. Sheets and one of these old guys is fine at this point.
Feh. If the Yanks do get Burnett or his ilk, I'm ready to consider rooting for the Knicks again >|-p
Will, NO FRIEND OF MINE Will Root for the Knicks...
LOL
[2] I still maintain the Yankee front office never had a cohesive plan. They did whatever the hell they wanted at the given time and used the phrase "the plan" to justify it. The Kei Igawa signing should have been all the proof we needed there.
As for AJ, well, while its extremely disappointing, its not at all shocking coming from the front office that has made disastrous move after disastrous move for years now.
[5] hey, I for one am very excited about the Tim Thomas era!
this has been a pretty boring off-season so far... K-Rod to the Mets not really exciting news..wonder if he'll halp them fight off a third straight collapse?
[6] >;) Cashman better... er, um... he'd better not... uh... aw, phooey. Dunk it, Cash, no frickin' finger roll...
Hey, Team.
Just wanted to stop in and say hi.
Winter sucks.
[10] hi Weeping, how's the Lohengrin?
everyone, check out the great Joe Poz today..abotu Rickey Henderson..an AMAZING stat he brings up. Rickey walked 796 times in his career..to lead off an inning...Rickey H, top-10 all time??
[8] Well, that's at least some news. I've been totally in the dark.
I drove past Shea the other day and just got so pissed off; pissed off about it being winter, pissed off that Shea is no more, pissed off that the Stadium is no more.
I even had a dream about a month ago that I was at a game in the New Stadium and, aside from the restoration Death Valley (the gaps were like in the 450s), everything was exactly the same. It was actually the old stadium, not the new one at all. I found that comforting.
When I'm not dreaming I just feel a sense of dread about the new colossus.
Hey, btw, the strip on the right-hand side of my screen runs right through my comment box, rendering what I write there nearly invisible.
Anyone know what I can do about that? It's quite annoying.
Fuck winter.
[11] :)
I'm actually going to see Tristan on Friday, so that's something!
[8] Tim Thomas 2.0? Hah! You mean the Long and Breath-Bated Wait for the Bally-Hooed Arrival of Patrick Ewing, Jr.!
Knicks blog on the sidebar aside, I am disappointed with the "fascination with mediocre pitchers because they beat the bejeezus out of your own team" mentality that has clung to the organizational mindset for years like pommes de la rue in between the cleats. I'm really hoping that the Yanks are blowing as much smoke around as the player agents are.
[12][13] winter sucks indeed..and too much NFL everywhere!
Tristan..nice! though more to my taste is Maceo Parker and his boys coming to Tokyo soon..though at $90 a seat think i will pass...jazz is expensive here, but opera/classical is outrageous..the lady and I spent abotu $100 to go hear Brahms last year...at least baseball tix are cheap here!
[14] am i the ONLY Knick fan in the world who does NOT want LeBron? give me Bosh please! LeBron..all-time great but does he have the MJ mania for championships??
[10] Weep! I thought you got lost hunting wabbits or something... I need to be silly again, my friend. I'm tired of being so serious, it's like standing on a 40-foot ladder made of Legos™. Where're all the funny folk when you need them??
[17]
you rang?
(funny folk)
[16] No. I'd love LeBron here if they also managed to get Bosh. MJ couldn't do it by himself no matter how manic his was for championships, so whatever. Funny how that's almost the same situation here, except the Yanks aren't a complete black hole just yet...
Believe it or not, Igawa was a reasonable signing, a gamble against the proven mediocrity that was Ted Lilly. The move didn't work out. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.
[18] Lurch, I need you to roust CC into action so we can all sleep with the knowledge that Banter has something exciting and new for us to read early tomorrow morning... >;)
[20] Proven mediocrity, you say? I smell mid-season pickup! (or is that the pommes...)
[1] Gammons is a fossil. Pedroia is the star du jour in Boston and Gammons is an organizational lap dog. He is home grown, scrappy, dirty and hey, it's Boston, so being white doesn't hurt. Who cares if the world hates Arod...the less he tries to get people to like him, the better he seems to play. So, I say Ha! to all his critics and hope Arod does the same.
[2] Why exactly is pursuing quality free agents the same as abandoning a strategy of building from within? In fact, it actually could be interpreted as doing the opposite. After all, the Yankees are not considering trading Hughes, Chamberlain, Jackson or even Kennedy. The list of home grown players who will be expected to contribute in 2009 is still relatively high. Instead, it seems as if Cashman is trying to hold onto to minor league talent by signing free agents. After all, that's why the Yankees are in the Sabathia hunt instead of resting on their Santana laurels. With the Yankees resources, they can both develop from within and sign big name free agents.
The draft pick argument is also a bit of a red herring. The Yankees already have a protected supplemental first round pick that is protected, so they only stand to lose their 2009 first rounder. I am sorry, but you can't let a late first round pick stand in the way of talents like Sabathia.
[7] Like [20], I don't think the Igawa signing was horrible at the time. Igawa actually pitched as well as Dice-K in some seaons in what was thought to be a better league. Considering that the Yankees did not have high expectations for him, I don't think you can criticize them for poor planning. Unfortunately, Igawa didn't even live up to those low standards.
As for Burnett, it is unfair to compare him to Pavano and Wright. At the respective times in their careers, Burnett has much more talent and shown much more durability than both. Even though AJ is still an injury concern, his upside dwarfs that of Pavano and Wright.
I am also not comfortable with the numbers being thrown around, but don't think signing him would be awful. Sure, it's a risk, but it does come with a reward. If the Yankees lose out on C.C., they simply can't go into the season with Wang, himself coming off an injury, as the only definite starter. Pettitte is far from given coming off his 2008 season, and we all know about the innings concerns for Joba and Hughes. The Yankees can not simply punt next season. Burnett, Sheets and Lowe all have definite talent along with different risk/reward considerations. Eventually, the Yankees will need to acquire some pitching, and aside from C.C., that trio seems to be the most attractive.
Okay then, g'nite...
[20] They had spent most of that off season preaching fiscal discipline. IIRC, that was the first time anyone in the organization publicly suggested that the team itself was losing money (which they of course more than made up with YES and various other ventures).
Then they plopped 46 million down on a long reliever.
am pleased that a single photo of Burnett can prompt 25+ comments and the winter returns of Weeping, Chyll and Williamnyy23... wonder how many comments a Beyonce pic would bring then??
Igawa..local sportwriter here said they knew he would fail in NYC as he "lacks fighting spirit" (it sounds much fiercer in Japanese..)
[26] Yawn. Not fawning over married women, no matter how fiercely they pretend not to be. >;)
[25] They had spent most of that off season preaching fiscal discipline.
"The Yankees said they could not afford DAVID CONE and JACK McDOWELL, but three weeks after McDowell signed a two-year, $10.15 million contract with the Indians, New York signed KENNY ROGERS to a four-year, $20 million deal."
I'm sure if you look enough, you'll find other times where the Yanks preached fiscal responsibility,
[27] mmm...am sensing some pun in your reply that i do not understand? is there some Igawa-Beyonce connection I don't know about?
[26] Though I will say that Igawa should definitely try the Sasha Fierce routine to make himself look attractive to some other team in a laid-back area of the country looking to part with their stud pitcher or position prospect...
Abraham is reporting that Cashman and Sabathia are in Frisco. If Sabathia doesn't sign, he's making my list. What a dick move it would be to drag this poor guy around the country just for leverage with the Giants.
[17] :)
Horse walks into a bar, bartender says, "Hey buddy, why the long face?"
Eh? "Why the long face!"
Waka-waka!
[28] I think that's just another example of the Yankees making decisions on a whim. I don't see how that negates the Igawa debacle.
[30] ah, looked it up..Sasha Fierce indeed...can that be Igawa's new nickname if he makes the majors again??
[29] Yeah, I kinda thought you were up on the "Identifying & Separating My Stage Persona" gimmick with her new album. The videos are appropriately eye-popping, jaw-dropping, whatever, but I feel kinda icky staring at a woman who wriggles in scantily clad clothing on TV, knowing her just-as-famous husband Joe Camel is probably off-camera scowling at the video crew.
How does this relate to Kei? ummm... he's not quite what you see... on the... big stage... but in the privacy of AAA... he's... super?
[35] with the Pacific between us the pop-culture gossip gets time delayed, but I'm good now! eagerly awaiting the latest dope Fresh Prince and Jazzy Jeff track to drop too, damn, that Fresh Prince got style, he could even be on his own sitcom one day if he plays it right...
Igawa..the sports press here can get nasty with the baseball players they don7t like..until they return home, then all if forgiven
[31] Well, as much as Cash looks like Raggedy Andy, I give him to be made of sterner stuff. Remember how people would describe Cashman as a "shark" and say, "watch out for him, he's smart" ? I don't really think he's lost his mind in a few short years, but I do worry sometimes that free agency isn't his strongest suit, unless it's he who's about to walk out the door.
[32] You and Diane could be the new comedy duo sensation to sweep Banter! (brooms are in the closet, so start sweeping...) >;)
[34] So it is written... so it shall be done!
Okay, I really do have to go to bed; early call tomorrow morning. G'nite! >;)
good luck! pre-holidays here there is nothing to do at the office but keep looking for CC updates and explore new jazz blogs...thanks the Gods for the Banter!
anyone up for some "10 best players of all time" debate??
yawn....
[33] Point was to take "fiscal responsibility" with a grain of salt when we're talking about the Yanks, or any team in general, come to think of it.
Regarding Igawa?
http://tinyurl.com/48fn43
http://tinyurl.com/4pt4rx
http://tinyurl.com/526lgn
http://tinyurl.com/3z68kz
http://tinyurl.com/3pkhrd
[32] termite walks into a bar and says: "hey, where's the bar...tender?!"
i'd stick to my day job, but i don't really have one!!!
hey Thelarmis, what's on the 4/4 man?
catching up on some news..can we get a new verb going, "to Blagojevich", to make unreasonable demands based on a highly overvalued sense of self-worth? synonyms: to Boras? to Marbury??
just got done listenin' to Ornette Coleman New York Is Now on Blue Note!
i was just reading the Rickey Joe Pos wrote at your behest [11]. i cracked up out loud at this thoroughly awesome comment!!! :
Have you ever noticed if you say “Mike Sweeney” and
“Mike’s a weiney” quickly they sound exactly the same.
uh...rickey ARTICLE that joe pos wrote... ah, it's late! ain't nobody here but us chickens!!!
[42] shit, say "mike sweeney" fast over and over and over. the effect is truly hysterical! well, if you're super silly like i am... : ~
[25] Something tells me that the “losing money” theme was intended more for the purposed of securing tax free bonds than to influence player acquisitions. I am sure part of the Igawa decision was in reaction to the Dice-K bidding, but at the time, there was a case to be made for Igawa. The reviews of the signing at the time were not all negative. Hindsight is 20-20.
[26] Not sure about Beyonce, but I could go on for days about Salma Hayek, and weeks about Salma Hayek in Yankee pinstripes.
From the NY Post:
LAS VEGAS – CC Sabathia is not going to play on the West Coast. He is not going to play in the National League.
CC Sabathia is going to be a Yankee
[46] There are a lot of alternate realities in the NY Post. Whenever someone cites the Post as a source, I always recall the definitive headline announcing Dick Gephardt as Al Gore's running mate in 2000. That very day, Gore introduced Leiberman has his VP.
The story may be true, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Post is just taking a stab.
[47] PeteAbe has NOT reported it, but has reported on the activity leading up to 'it'. No.... it may not be verified yet, but it certainly looks like it's happening. I'll bet PeteAbe will have the story within a few hours.
[48] I am not so sure PeteAbe is much of an authority either. Although he is very good at gathering news, I can't recall him breaking many stories. It used to be that when Bill Madden broke a story about the Yankees, you knew it was true because of his relationship to George. I am not sure if any NY reporter has been designated as a choosen one, but I do know that the words "the NY Post has learned exclusively" mean very little.
Having said that, the events leading up to the alleged conclusion did seem to be pointing that way.
And an hour later, it's all but confirmed that CC will be a Yankee
[50] ESPN has stopped citing the NY Post (i.e., they are confident enough to steal the story) and John Heyman has also confirmed the report.
I guess C.C. is going to be wearing a very large pinstriped suit this summer. Now with that done....
Wait...I think I'll let this sink in for a few minutes first.