From IATMS.

After the Red Sox won the Serious in 2004 our man Cliff almost wore his fingers to the bone typing about how the Yanks needed to sign Carlos Beltran. Instead, they went out and got Tony Womack, Jared Wright and Carl Pavano and insisted that there wasn’t enough leftover to pay for Beltran, who reportedly offered to sign for less than he eventually accepted from the Mets.

The Yanks blew it, Cliff wrote all winter and we agreed.

Now, the Yanks have interest in Beltran who is still a useful player.

Let me say on Cliff’s behalf, though not in his words: Too late fuck-o’s.

Charlie Pierce on the Rodriguez-Selig slapstick:

That The Greatest Scandal That Absolutely Ever Was has come down to a faceoff between Rodriguez and Selig is proof enough of what a comic opera the whole escapade has been from the beginning. The hysteria over PEDs in baseball — and, thus, in every sport — has unfolded the way in which all drug hysterias in the history of this country have unfolded. It has been fueled by misplaced moral panic, anecdotal evidence, anonymous slander, and a fundamental disregard for legal and constitutional safeguards — all in the service of what has been sold as a greater good by executives and media members who became famous or wealthy in the pursuit. It has been an exercise in simplistic moralism, so why shouldn’t it come down to one villain and one hero? The whole thing has been a scary story for children right from the jump.

Rodriguez seems to have very few friends in baseball, and probably deserves to have even fewer than he does. His image has been leaking hot air ever since he joined the Yankees. And yes, he is floundering in a vain attempt to rescue the reputation he personally fed into the wood chipper. But, in his battle with Selig, it’s important to remember that — while Rodriguez is fighting for his reputation, and Selig for his legacy — they’re also both fighting just as hard to avoid something else. Neither one wants to be the lasting face of the steroid era. The commissioner would like to fit Rodriguez for the role, because that’s the only way to save Selig’s legacy; this makes his pursuit of Rodriguez look less like an attempt to rescue the game and more like an elaborate attempt to cover his own historical ass.

Yeah, I don’t expect Hiroki to return either. His time with the Yanks will be short whether he comes back or not but he’s been a pleasure to root for.

[Photo Credit: Aaron Josefczyk/Reuters]

McCann: yea or nay?

Should the Yankees imitate what the Red Sox did last winter?

Over at River Ave. Blues, Joe Pawlikowski doesn’t think it’d work. 

That said, I’d enjoy watching Shin-Soo Choo play for the Yanks.

[Photo Via: Getty Images]

Big story in the Times today detailing the sordid case against Alex Rodriguez:

In the nine months since Mr. Rodriguez and more than a dozen other players were linked to a South Florida anti-aging clinic that is believed to have distributed banned substances to professional athletes, baseball officials and the Yankee third baseman have engaged in a cloak-and-dagger struggle surpassing anything the sport has seen. The extraordinary investigative tactics, playing out in multiple locations, reflect Major League Baseball’s resolve to prove one of its stars cheated, and that player’s determination to discredit baseball officials.

Witnesses for both sides in the pending arbitration proceedings claim to have been harassed and threatened. Some were paid tens of thousands of dollars for their cooperation. One said she became intimately involved with an investigator on the case. And some witness accounts have shifted, leaving each side scrambling to defend the sometimes inconsistent stories provided by former employees and associates of the now-defunct clinic, Biogenesis of America.

The dispute — which involves lawsuits in Florida and in New York, and a battle over grand jury transcripts in Buffalo — has become so extensive that Major League Baseball has once again turned to its go-to consultant for complicated problems, the former senator George J. Mitchell, whose law firm is assisting with the growing caseload.

These details have been gleaned from dozens of interviews conducted by The New York Times over several months with witnesses, current and former law enforcement officials and lawyers involved in all sides of the dispute, and from documents obtained by The Times relating to M.L.B.’s case against Mr. Rodriguez, as well as police reports and lawsuits. Several witnesses and lawyers insisted on anonymity when discussing any aspect of the case because they have been ordered not to speak about the matter by the independent arbitrator who is hearing Mr. Rodriguez’s appeal of his 211-game doping suspension stemming from the Florida clinic investigation.

[Photo Credit: Umar Abbasi]

Derek Jeter and the Yanks have agreed to a new, one-year deal. 

[Painting Via The Lost Collector]

Cards look to stay alive and force a Game 7.

I say the Sox end it tonight.

Never mind the bollocks:

Let’s Go Cards!

This is the fear and loathing Whirled Serious for Yankee fans.

Gotta figure the Cards need to win tonight, right? They go back to Boston down 3-2 they are going to need a whole lot of Buckner on their side to pull this shit out.

I got no call on the game tonight–but I’m not feeling especially optimistic. Just hoping the Cards find a way.

Never mind the nerves: Let’s Go Red Boids!

[Photo Via: MPD]

Game Three, St. Louie. Says here the Sox take this one.

Hoping I’m wrong.

Never mind nuthin’:

Let’s Go Cards!

[Photo Via: Ghost in the Machine]

Cards look to leave Boston with the Serious tied one-game apiece. The Sox look to continue their postseason run of undisturbed good fortune.

Wacha vs. Lackey.

Never mind those shaggy bastards:

Let’s Go Cards!

Sox vs. Cards. Nothing to do but root for St. Louis.

Never mind the bitterness:

Let’s Go Card-‘nals!

Kershaw and the Dodgers hope to live another day.

A trip to the Serious is on the line for the Cards. It says here that they find a way to win.

Never mind nuthin’:

Let’s Go Dod-gers!

[Picture By Toni Demuro via This isn’t Happiness]

The ALCS is going back to Boston. Only question is, which team will have a 3-2 lead?

We’re rooting for the Tigers but I think the Sox will win, which means zilch because I always think they’ll win. Worst case scenario. That’s how I operate. So that says the Sox win. (Then again if the Tigers win that just means I think the Sox’ll win the next two at home.)

Just file me under hopeless hater, Red Sox division, American League.

Ah, never mind the angst:

Let’s Go Tig-ers!

[Photo Via: This Isn’t Happiness]

It’s starting to hit me. That we won’t see Mo pitch again. Small pangs at random times, but it’s sinking in. His playing career is over.

In this article about Rivera over at Broken LeaguesI was impressed with the picture by PJ McQuade.

But it’s knocking at the door for the Dodgers today.

Hate to say it but I think the Cards will end their season while the Red Sox take a 3-1 lead against the Tigers.

[Photo Via: The Minimalisto]

Couple of games today. First, the Red Sox will beat Justin Verlander in Detroit. Later, the Cards will take a 3-1 NLCS lead in Los Angeles.

Least that’s how I see it.

Never mind me: Let’s Go Base-ball!

Dodgers look to stay alive. They host the Cards tonight in Los Angeles.

Let’s Go Base-Ball.

[Photo Via: The Minimalisto]

Let’s Go Ti-Gers!

[Picture Via: This Isn’t Happiness]