Today the Yankees agreed to contracts with all of their remaining arbitration-eligible players. Their projected payroll, based on the 25-man roster using league minimum players to fill in wherever there is not an obvious starter, is now at about $188 million dollars.

Masahiro Tanaka appears to be a player the Yankees want desperately. Will they break their backs for him? Ponder this current roster this weekend and do whatever kind of dance you need to do to help the Yankees land Tanaka.

If they do, they’ll have no chance at shrinking the payroll enough this season to fit the original austerity plan and they’ll be free to sign more bullpen and rotation depth and to try to upgrade second and third base through trades. But if they don’t sign Tanaka…

Can you imagine them stepping over the $189 million threshold for Ubaldo Jimenez or Ervin Santana or anyone else that’s currently available? The Yankees have been crash-dieting ever since 2011. Masahiro Tanaka is the diet-breaker – the butter-soaked porterhouse. These other guys aren’t even Kit-Kats.

A New York City Safari – lions on the inside.

Hey, light day of blogging on my end so here’s an open thread. Have at it.

Picture via MPD. 

And you can quote me on that.

Van.

[Photo Via: This Isn’t Happiness]

“Nude in an Interior” by Pierre Bonnard (1912-14)

Welcome one and all; we’re back with another round of Where & When.  Still looking for interesting pics and anecdotes to go along with them, searching for little twists to challenge you with. All in a few minutes of feverish work or days of planning? Doesn’t matter, we have fun.

Take this pic for example:

Easy, right? You’ve seen that building before, and you can still see it if you like.  But you know me by now, it’s not that simple.  I want to know if you can tell me where the photographer was standing when this picture was taken.  There are obvious clues and not-so obvious to help you figure that out, so you won’t need any clues from me.  When it was taken shouldn’t be too hard to figure out either, though I will accept an approximation in lieu of an exact date.  As a bonus, name two prominent buildings in the picture.

Your favorite root beer in a decanter if you are the first with the answers, your favorite cream soda in a spritzer bottle for all follow-ups and a scoop of ice cream for the bonus.  Be fair, don’t look at the photo credit for the answer and show your math (which means something this time around).  I’ll be back in the afternoon (hopefully) with the answers.  Hmm, and full credit will be given only for complete answers and proof of your strategy; that means you won’t get credit for only answering one question per comment, but feel free to utilize the comments to map your strategy before presenting.  Have fun!

[Photo credit: NYC Past]

Dolla, dolla bill y’all.

[Photo Credit: Chris Williams/Icon SM]

The Savuer 100. 

Cool hand…

“Conversation” by Henri Matisse (1909)

First lines.

My Dad died on this day 7 years ago. I just learned that today is also National Hot Pastrami Day.

Fitting.

Lemon and chocolate. Sure thing.

Happy Birthday to a couple of Grandmasters.

Uncle L and Slick Rick.

[Photo Credit: Martha Cooper]

“Young Girl With Fan,” By Paul Gauguin (1912)

Alex Rodriguez vs. The World.

Sue Who? Sue Everybody.

Oliver Wang on De La’s third album Buloone Mindstate. 

And more De La, here.

The First Mess gives this roasted fennel quinoa salad.

Crunch.

Salute Judy Protas.