Daily Archives: December 30, 2009

The Yanks have gotten younger. No Maas is on pernt with the details.

Here is an NPR interview with Wil Haygood, author of the new Sugar Ray Robinson biography, Sweet Thunder.

And here is Pete Hamill’s review of the book, which appeared in the New York Times Book Review a few weeks back.

Yes, it has come to this: the Eggheads take on the Dude and The Big Lebowski.

Speaking of Bridges, check out this L.A. Times piece about the music for his new movie, Crazy Heart.

And dig this: the Film Society at Lincoln Center is hosting an evening with Jeff Bridges on Saturday, January 9th. An interview with the actor will be followed by a screening of The Last Picture Show.

Boss!

Can the Yankees win with Brett Gardner as their starting left fielder? Why certainly.

Dave Cameron weighs in:

we should not be so surprised that New York is bargain shopping in left field, avoiding the likes of Matt Holliday and Jason Bay. They are at the other end of the win curve, and it doesn’t make much sense to spend a lot of money there either. The marginal value of the 101st, 102nd, and 103rd win in terms of playoff odds is really quite small. And that’s approximately the upgrade that Holliday would represent over the current production that Gardner offers in left field.

The Yankees have entered the prime area of significant diminishing marginal utility. They are so good that adding another high quality player doesn’t help them that much in 2010, and because of the long term contract that is required, they’d be risking future flexibility to add wins that may actually matter for an upgrade that just isn’t necessary.

It’s a rational decision made by smart people who understand just how good their roster currently is. In the past, New York has pursued every big ticket free agent on the market because they represented a real, tangible improvement in their quest to bring home another championship. Given how well Brian Cashman has put together this roster, though, a big ticket left fielder is superfluous. He’s right to keep his money locked up. They just don’t need another good player.

David Levine, the brilliant caricaturist, and one of my heroes, died yesterday. He was 83 and will be missed.

In case you missed it, here is a fine, if upsetting Vanity Fair profile of Levine by David Margolick.