The Yankees are running out their starters (save the rehabbing Hideki Matsui) for their first home game of the spring today at 1:15 against the Rays. This will also be the first televised Yankee game of the spring. Unfortunately, my laptop died last week and the new one’s still on order, so my traditional liveblog will have to wait until later in the spring schedule.

In the meantime, you can listen to my appearance on Kenrick Thomas’s Real Sports Talk podcast from last night here (I’m the first guest).

Also, with the arrival of the games, we here at the Banter have finally put together some guidelines for commenting on this site. The post below, which will be permanently linked on the sidebar, includes instructions on using HTML codes in your posts, but is also a code of conduct (adapted from that of our longtime colleague Jon Weisman of Dodger Thoughts).  We ask that everyone, new and old, familiarize themselves with these guidelines so as to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve become accustomed to here at Bronx Banter.

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Apropos of nuthin…the great Lester Young.

As I avidly followed baseball in the early 1980s, some of my favorite ballplayers did not happen to play for the Yankees. One of those players was Billy Sample. He was playing for the Rangers at the time, a team with which I’ve never had any kind of affiliation. Sample wasn’t a star. He was a pretty good ballplayer, though, a speedy defensive left fielder who stole bases, hit for a decent average, and launched an occasional longball. In other words, he was a role player, one who had to overcome the stigma that comes with being five feet, nine inches tall. I’ve always liked role players, in part because they have to struggle—just like us. Little comes easy to them, but they find a way to contribute in tangible and important ways.

One winter day in 1984, I was doing some broadcasting for WHCL, the radio station for Hamilton College in Clinton, NY. As I was preparing my afternoon sports report, I noticed a transaction on the AP wire. It involved the Yankees. They had made a wintertime trade, sending an over-the-hill Toby Harrah to the Rangers—for Billy Sample. Yes!

I immediately began to think of what role Sample might play for the Yankees in 1984. Left field looked like the logical destination, perhaps in a platoon with the elder Ken Griffey. You see, the Yankees collected outfielders in the early 1980s the way that Adrian Monk collects phobias. Only stars played every day in the Yankee outfield back then, Hall of Famers like Dave Winfield and Rickey Henderson. A player like Sample, a complementary role player, appeared destined to platoon in pinstripes.

Even so, a timeshare in left field looked appealing to Sample, who was glad to be out of Texas, a team that had lost 92 games. He also looked forward to playing for a new leader in Yogi Berra, a man with a reputation for being the consummate player’s manager. Unfortunately, no one could have anticipated that Berra would manage the Yankees for a mere 16 games in 1985. An early managerial changeover brought the worst of possible successors for Sample—the fourth pinstriped tenure of Billy Martin.

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Since the games have finally begun (OK … only exhibition, but still) … today’s news is brought to you by someone who decided to videotape a Strat game:

• ESPN recaps A-Rod’s day as part of the Yanks 6-1 Spring Training opener, and offers these tidbits:

The slugger had dinner Tuesday night with former Yankees star Reggie Jackson, now a special adviser with the team.

“I told him to hit the baseball. It’s really an old story. It never really changes,” Jackson said. “Hit the baseball, and hit it like heck. That’s really about all that really matters.”

The Hall of Famer also passed along some words from Yankees co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner.

“He said, ‘You deliver this message: Just tell him hit the damn ball and hit it when it counts. That’s really the most important thing that he can do. All the other conversations, they don’t matter. The more you talk, the more you have an opportunity to make a mistake.’ “

[My take: What an interesting contrast and comparison to be had … A-Rod and Mr. October.  Who wouldn’t want to be a fly on the wall for their conversations?]

• Tyler Kepner points out the contributions of Swisher and Gardner in the win.
• MLB.com offers a capsule recap of the game.
• PeteAbe ponders why Igawa is not playing in the WBC, and gets a blunt assessment:

One of the Japanese reporters in Tampa covering Hideki Matsui was asked why Igawa was not considered for the WBC roster. He searched for the right words.

“They think … he is not so good,” the man said.

• PeteAbe also gets some interesting quotes from Reggie regarding A-Rod’s revelations:

“The best answer I can give you is that I was disappointed. I was very lucky to have been a good player. When I started playing I was a fan. When I played I was a fan and when I left the game I am a fan of Derek Jeter, of Alex Rodriguez, of CC Sabathia. I like to be at games, I like to watch the games. … I get affected as a fan. You get saddened.

“I get angry sometimes. I’ve been reprimanded by the commissioner and the president of our team. I’ve pleaded with them to understand that I’m personally affected; I’m personally involved. I’m hurt; I’m bewildered. I don’t know that we ever get past it.”

• The Babe Ruth monument has landed at the new Stadium.

[My take: No truth to the rumor that the Babe’s view of the field is blocked by the center field restaurant.]

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The Yankees kicked off their exhibition schedule this afternoon with an easy 6-1 win on the road against the Blue Jays, though neither team played their full set of starters.

Lineup:

L – Brett Gardner (CF)
R – Derek Jeter (SS)
L – Robinson Cano (2B)
R – Alex Rodriguez (3B)
S – Nick Swisher (RF)
R – Shelley Duncan (DH)
L – Juan Miranda (1B)
S – Todd Linden (LF)
R – Kevin Cash (C)

Subs: Justin Leone (1B), Cody Ransom (2B), Ramiro Peña (SS), Kevin Russo (3B), P.J. Pilittere (C), Colin Curtis (RF), Austin Jackson (CF), John Rodriguez (LF), Jesus Montero (DH)

Pitchers: Brett Tomko, Jose Veras, Dan Giese, Kei Igawa, Christian Garcia, Michael Dunn, Steven Jackson, David Robertson

Opposition: The Jay’s B-squad

Big Hits:

Brett Gardner (1-for-3) led off the game by hitting Brett Cecil’s second pitch over the right-field wall. Alex Rodriguez (1-for-1, 2 BBs) added a two-run jack off Rickey Romero in the fourth. Robinson Cano and Austin Jackson (both 1-for-2) both doubled. Todd Linden (1-for-3) picked up an RBI single against B.J. Ryan. Kevin Cash went 2-for-3 and stole a base.

Who Pitched Well:

Everyone except Jose Veras. The other seven pitchers combined for eight shutout innings, allowing just three hits and a walk.

Who Didn’t:

Jose Veras gave up the lone Blue Jay run in the third on a one-out John McDonald double, a hit batsman, a wild pitch, and a sac fly. He then walked two batters before getting out of the inning.

Battles:

Gardner‘s home run was no small thing. Last year he hit just three home runs between the minors and majors, spring training included. Cecil, meanwhile, allowed just six in 118 1/3 innings. Kevin Long’s been working with Gardner to get his legs into his swing. If Gardner can hit for power this spring, he’ll take the center field job with ease. His throwing error came on a strong throw to the plate that just happened to hit the runner. Swisher affirmed his ability to reach base at a high rate by drawing two walks, but didn’t hit a ball fair in three trips, striking out in his other turn at-bat. Veras put himself in an early hole in the bullpen battle, but David Robertson was also wild in his one inning of work (issuing a walk and uncorking a wild pitch). Pete Abe reports that Robertson loaded the bases in the ninth. I assume two of the Yankees’ other three errors (one by Leone, the other two on throws by Peña and Russo) were involved. Veras and Robertson did combine for four of the Yankees’ seven strikeouts, but  Steven Jackson was perfect, getting two groundouts and a strikeout.

More:

• Melky Cabrera has switched to Bobby Abreu’s old number 53.
• I’ll be on Kenrick Thomas’s Real Sports Talk podcast tonight at 10pm. Give a listen.

The Yankees start their spring schedule this afternoon in Dunedin, where they’ll face the Blue Jays starting at 1:05. The game won’t be televised, on the radio, or even available via on-line gamecast, but you can follow it via Peter Abraham’s liveblog over at LoHud. Joe Girardi is running out his B-team, save for the three WBC participants (Jeter, Cano, and Alex Rodriguez). Brett Gardner and Nick Swisher get the starts in center and right. Brett Tomko will take the mound to start.

Check back this afternoon for my recap of the game.

Meanwhile, here’s a recap of some of the things we’ve learned since camp opened:

Injuries: There’s been nothing but good news on the four recovering Yankees. Chien-Ming Wang has experienced no pain in his foot. Jorge Posada has been stretching out his arm without discomfort. Hideki Matsui and Mariano Rivera are coming along more slowly, but without cause for concern. In Rivera’s case, the slow progression is typical of how he gets ready in the spring, as he tends to throw most of his spring innings in the second half of March.

Aches and Pains: Edwar Ramirez has been shut down for a few days with shoulder bursitis. Otherwise, there have just been a few sore hamstrings (Jeter, Marte) and a couple of stomach flues (Sabathia, Cervelli), but nothing thus far that has effected a player’s availability for more than a day or two.

Lineup: Mark Teixeira will bat third ahead of Alex Rodriguez. Hideki Matsui will be the DH making only “emergency” appearances in the field. Neither of these things were unexpected.

Rotation: Joe Girardi just announced today that the opening rotation, barring injury, will be Sabathia, Wang, Burnett, Pettitte, Chamberlain. That order properly staggers the lefties and pitching styles the five starters and puts Chamberlain in the five spot where he can be skipped occasionally to keep his innings down. That said, Girardi also said the plan is for Chamberlain to make about 30 starts. At an average of six innings a start, that would be 180 innings–too many coming off a seasons of 112 1/3 in 2007 and 100 1/3 last year.

Bullpen: Really, the only thing we’ve learned about the ‘pen is that Phil Coke will not be starting, but will indeed be in the mix as a reliever. That doesn’t mean he’s made the team (though he has an excellent chance of doing so), only that the Yankees have recognized where he’s most valuable to them. We’ve also been told the Yankees intend to take a long reliever north, but I think that would be a mistake and will believe it when I see it.

Finally, there was one piece of news that was bigger than baseball, that being Jason Johnson’s optical cancer. After experiencing blury vision, Johnson got himself checked and caught the tumor early enough that his doctors were able to quickly get the disease under control, delaying his arrival to camp only briefly. Johnson’s disease doesn’t change the fact that he has no business being in camp with the Yankees, but while I won’t be rooting for him on the field, I’ll be rooting hard for him off of it. You can read more on Johnson from my good friend, optical cancer survivor Steven Goldman.

Today’s post is powered by a classic personality pitching a (for its time) classic baseball video game:

• Edwar Ramirez has been diagnosed with mild bursitis in his right shoulder, and won’t pitch again until this weekend.
• Mariano Rivera notes that his shoulder is well on its way to full recovery:

“It’s feeling strong and now I am building muscle,” Rivera said of the shoulder, which was operated on after last season. “I have been throwing, playing long toss and it’s getting better every day.”

The next step for Rivera is to get on a bullpen mound, but he isn’t sure when that will occur.

“I don’t want to push it,” said Rivera, who vowed on the first day of spring training he would be ready by Opening Day, April 6.

• Tyler Kepner has a nice piece on Hideki Matsui’s efforts to get all the way back:

Matsui will be 35 in June, and his knees have made him a full-time designated hitter. He had surgery on his right knee after the 2007 season, then on his left knee on Sept. 22. Matsui delayed that operation so he could play in the final game at Yankee Stadium.

He stayed in the United States until December, working to strengthen the knee. In Japan, he practiced jogging on grass. He did not jog here until Monday, and he ran the bases gingerly after a round of batting practice Tuesday. He will not be ready to play when the Yankees visit the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday in Dunedin. …

Matsui spent 10 seasons playing his home games on artificial turf at the Tokyo Dome. At 6 feet 2 inches and 220 pounds, Matsui said he was among the bigger players in Japan and worried about damage to his knee cartilage.

“I knew there was a certain level of stress that was being put on my knees and my lower body in general,” he said. “I did have that fear that at some point, something was going to happen.” …

“I still feel I have a lot of baseball in me,” Matsui said. “Yes, I did get injured the last few years, but in terms of how I feel physically and my baseball skills, I don’t feel like I have any issues.”

• Kepner also details the positional battles to be address over the next five weeks:

With Edwar Ramirez dealing with bursitis in his right shoulder, there could be another opening in the bullpen. Mariano Rivera, Brian Bruney and Damaso Marte are locks. The Yankees will probably take a long reliever, too, which leaves three more spots from a group including Jose Veras, Phil Coke, Dave Robertson, Jonathan Albaladejo, Mark Melancon and Ramirez. …

Others who will try to squeeze onto the roster include the versatile infielder Cody Ransom (who is on the 40-man roster), and non-roster players like shortstop Angel Berroa and catcher Kevin Cash. Among the other non-roster players with major league experience include Shelley Duncan, Todd Linden and John Rodriguez.

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BP’s Steven Goldman

Yo, the Baseball Prospectus crew will be at the Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center this Sunday promoting the new annual.  That’s March 1.  They’ll be on at 2 p.m.  For more info, call (973) 655-6891.

Check, check ’em out.

My friend Kevin is a painter. I met him in college and we spent a lot of time smoking cigarettes, laughing, drawing, and talking about painting.  “Modigliani paints the best babes,” he told me one time.   He just might be right about that.

Kevin is still painting.  Here is his website.

Recently, he painted this picture of the President.

Kev is selling t-shirts of the painting for those of you who might be interested in that sort of thing.   I think they are pretty cool myself.

Unlike the center-field battle in which the prize is a full-time starting job with the loser likely to be banished to Triple-A, the far end of the bench, or perhaps even another organization, the battle between Swisher and Nady is simply over who will have the upper hand in right field. Regardless of the outcome this spring, both are likely to make more than 400 plate appearances this year.

That said, Nady, who was acquired at the trading deadline last year and finished the season as the Yankees’ left fielder, entered camp as Bobby Abreu’s successor in right field. It will be up to Nick Swisher, acquired in a November trade with the White Sox, to prove to Joe Girardi and his staff that he is the superior option for right field, which, truth be told, he is.

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Another season ticket holder horror story.  This one is from Jay Jaffe and she ain’t pretty.

I am pleased to announce the first (hopefully annual) “Banter Battle” fantasy baseball league over at Yahoo! Sports.

It’ll be a 6×6 (the usual 10 categories, plus holds and OPS) non-keeper roto league, with a live draft to be held on Monday, March 23rd at 9:30 pm Eastern time.  (You can pre-rank your selections if you can’t be there live).

In order to join the league,  go to the game front page, click the “Sign Up Now” or “Get Another Team” button and follow the links to “Join a Custom League”. When prompted, enter the League ID# and password below.

League ID#: 112369
Password: cashman

Its free to play, and we won’t be playing for any $.  However, the winner will get his/her (user)name placed on the Banter sidebar for all to admire.

The only requirement we insist on is that you not abandon your team in the middle of the season.  So, serious replies only please.

Play ball!

Today’s news is powered by a baseball-themed clip from Conan O’Brien’s final show:

• The infirmary report on Jorge Posada keeps improving by the day:

Reporting to camp well ahead of pitchers and catchers, Posada has had plenty of time to work out the kinks. He is incrementally moving closer to getting behind the plate in a big league game, and he is still eyeing Opening Day on April 6 at Baltimore as the moment he will stick a few fingers down for CC Sabathia.

The 37-year-old made 15 throws from distances as far as 220 feet Sunday, drawing praise from Yankees manager Joe Girardi, who called it “substantially different than what I saw just four or five days ago.”

• Ken Davidoff writes about Joe Girardi philosophy when it comes to making out line-ups:

Torre’s early Yankees teams, particularly those from 1996-99, carried amazing depth on the 25-man roster.

Joe Girardi, part of that depth on those clubs, knows he won’t be able to match that. But in crafting the lineup cards this season, an admittedly crucial one for him, he hopes to strike that magical balance among stability, variety and versatility.

“I prefer to have a set lineup. I think it works best,” Girardi said yesterday after a second straight relatively tranquil practice that was light on the A-Rod. “But sometimes, similar to some of the teams that I was on, you’re better if there’s some platoon situations, or your bench is extremely strong, or everyone’s in the mix, or everyone’s healthy. We just have to see how it shakes out.” …

… Girardi struggled to get a feel for when to start his players and when to rest them, a failing that came to life Aug. 11 in Minnesota, when he benched Johnny Damon (10-for-24 in the previous five games) against Twins starter Glen Perkins. Justin Christian led off and went 0-for-4, and the Yankees fell meekly, 4-0.

The Yankees used 130 lineups last year, and they used their Opening Day lineup – Damon in leftfield, Derek Jeter at shortstop, Bobby Abreu in rightfield, Alex Rodriguez at third base, Jason Giambi at first base, Robinson Cano at second base, Posada at catcher, Hideki Matsui at designated hitter and Melky Cabrera in centerfield – only on April 1.

• Joe Girardi decided to cancel workouts Monday and instead organize a team “field trip” to a local pool hall.  Mariano Rivera turned out to be the best pool player of the bunch:

The idea hit Girardi in the early days of Spring Training, realizing that camp runs longer this year because of the World Baseball Classic and a day of respite might be welcome before exhibition games begin.

It would also be a good way for Girardi to better familiarize himself with the team.

“I think every year you’re here as a manager, you want to have more knowledge about your players and their personalities,” Girardi said. “You want to feel closer to your players. You want to bring a group together. It’s important that a group is united when they leave Spring Training.”

Looking for an event that could not be impacted by weather, Girardi originally considered renting out a bowling alley, but the idea of having his pitchers whipping 12-pound balls down the lanes dissuaded him.

The Yankees found a billiard hall that could accommodate a large group, and Girardi told the Yankees to book it for a few hours. The tournament was expected to last about 2 1/2 hours — until lunch — but Girardi acknowledged it might take longer, with no real pool sharks known to be on the roster.

[My take: The mental image I have of Sabathia leaning over the table to make a tough shot scares me a bit.]

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With the Grapefruit League schedule kicking off on Wednesday, I wanted to take these last two day of inaction to take a look at the key position battles being waged in Yankee camp. I’ll start today with the most significant: the center-field battle between Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner.

First the tale of the tape:

Cabrera is theoretically the incumbent, but Gardner started in center in 12 of the Yankees’ last 15 games of 2008 after Cabrera effectively lost the center field job in early August. Cabrera made just five starts in center after August 3 and was even demoted to Triple-A for three weeks and recalled only after rosters expanded in September. In that sense, Gardner is the incumbent, but really, despite the large discrepancy in their major league service time, neither player entered camp with the upper hand in this battle.

This battle is topsy-turvy in other ways. For example, the less experienced Gardner is the win-now player given his minor league promise of solid on-base numbers (.389 mL career OBP), excellent defense, and spectacular speed on the bases (153 minor league stolen bases at an 83% success rate, 13 for 14 on the bases in the majors). Meanwhile, the appeal of Cabrera, the experienced major leaguer, is his potential. Cabrera has shown flashes of power at the plate, particularly early last season when he slugged .505 with six homers through May 4. Cabrera is unlikely to ever develop into a serious home-run threat, but Gardner is a pure slap hitter, with just nine career home runs as a pro and an isolated slugging in the minors of just .094. Gardner seems unlikely to ever hit for much power, but there remains some hope that Cabrera, who is a year younger, may yet blossom into a complete hitter.

The problem is that Cabrera’s performance on the field has been heading in the opposite direction. Cabrera hit .280/.360/.391 as a rookie left fielder in 2006, displaying solid plate discipline for a 21-year-old as well as some doubles power (26 in 524 PA) and falling just short of a league-average performance overall. In 2007, however, his plate discipline melted away without a corresponding increase in power (.273/.327/.391), and last year, after that hot start, he simply stopped hitting, batting .235/.280/.286 from May 5 through the end of the season, a line worse than Gardner’s seemingly pathetic rookie showing.

Given that Gardner was just breaking into the majors last year, been reliably productive in the minors, and seemed to heat up at the end of last season, hitting .294/.333/.412 in 73 PA his second of two major league stints, there’s every reason to believe that Gardner will significantly improve on his overall major league line if given the chance this season, but given Cabrera’s steady regression, there are far fewer reasons to continue to believe in Melky. It’s not as though Melky does anything else better than Gardner. Melky can steal bases, but he might steal 15, while Gardner could easily steal more than 50 and lead the league if he starts every day, and he’ll do it at a higher success rate than Cabrera’s. Melky has shown flashes of brilliance in the field, but Gardner, thanks in part to his superior speed, is going to turn more balls into outs in center, just as he’s likely to make fewer outs at the plate.

According to Dave Pinto’s Probabilistic Model of Range, Melky was the best defensive left fielder in baseball in 2006 but has displayed merely average range in center over the last two years. Gardner did not play enough to register on Pinto’s major league-only system, but per Ultimate Zone Rating, Gardner’s defense in center was worth  9.1 runs to Melky’s pedestrian 0.6 last year, a remarkable stat given that Gardner played just 160 2/3 innings in center for the Yankees, while Melky played 973 2/3. Of course, the small sample warnings about Gardner’s major league statistics are particularly acute when it comes to fielding, both because he spent a significant chunk of his first major league stint in left, and because fielding stats are so suspect to start with. It would be cherry-picking to write off Gardner’s poor performance at the plate in the majors as a small sample while emphasizing his absurd advantage over Cabrera in UZR. That said, what I saw watching the games supported the statistics’ assertion that Gardner has the superior range in center. Cabrera still has the better arm, but not by as much as one might think;  Gardner recorded four assists in his 22 major league games in center, showing a strong and accurate throwing arm that opposing runners would be ill-advised to test.

So Melky’s case comes down to power and potential, and it seems unlikely that he has shown enough of either to outweigh Gardner’s advantages on the bases, in the field, and in getting on-base. Melky’s 2008 season cracked the lenses of the rose-colored glasses that looked at his first two seasons and saw shades of fellow switch-hitting center fielder Bernie Williams’ early-career struggles. Bernie didn’t really start to come on until his age-25 season, which would give Cabrera another year, but it’s hard now look at the stocky, stumbling Cabrera and see any resemblance to the fawn-like awkwardness of the blossoming Bernie.

Hitting coach Kevin Long seems to believe that he can get Gardner to hit with doubles power by increasing the involvement of Gardner’s lower body in his swing. If Gardner shows any signs of proving Long right this spring, the job should be his. The catch is that, due to Cabrera’s pennant-race demotion last year, Melky is now out of options, meaning the Yankees would have to either keep him on the 25-man roster as a fifth outfielder (a platoon with Gardner wouldn’t work–Melky hit just .213/.279/.299 against lefties last year and has hit just .251/.319/.329 against southpaws in his major league career, while Gardner actually had a reverse split in Triple-A last year), or expose him to waivers in an attempt to outright him to Scranton. The latter would almost surely result in Cabrera being claimed by another team. The Yankees avoided arbitration by signing Cabrera to a $1.4 million contract last month, which would seem to strongly indicate that the Yankees have no intention of divesting themselves of Cabrera, but as a fifth-outfielder, Cabrera would be  a drain on the roster and would stand little chance of restarting his development. Then again, perhaps that $1.4 million price tag is just enough to prevent the sort of team that might make a claim on Cabrera from doing so. If Cabrera can’t win the center field job in camp, that may be a chance the Yankees have to take, particularly with Austin Jackson headed for Triple-A already having already unseated Cabrera as the team’s Center Fielder of the Future.

Let’s get right to it …

• PeteAbe has a longer-length column on Joe Girardi “more personal approach” this season:

Girardi approached the Yankees last season like one of the industrial engineering assignments he undertook as a student at Northwestern. If he applied enough of his own hard work and logic to whatever issue came up, he would find the solution. But those pesky variables, other people, kept getting in the way. …

Eight days into his second spring training with the Yankees is not enough time to determine whether Girardi truly has changed the methods that led to the reconfiguration of his coaching staff, tension in the clubhouse, and a fractured relationship with the reporters who cover the team. But his reaction to the Rodriguez scandal reveals a man willing to change.

Relentlessly positive a year ago, Girardi has been measured in his support of Rodriguez – a position that reflects the mood of the team – while at the same time using the situation as a way to better connect to his players. The bridges that he vowed to build last fall are falling into place, plank by plank.

• Steve Serby has a fluffy but fun Q&A with CC Sabathia, including this instant classic exchange:

Q: Why do you wear your hat cocked?

A: It feels straight to me when I have it on.

• John Harper details the financial risks Andy Pettitte took in the off-season:

When all the haggling was finally done this winter, Andy Pettitte turned down $10 million and wound up signing for $5.5 million with incentives, which is the kind of deal you think would get an agent fired in most cases.

Pettitte says no, he has no problem with Randy Hendricks and no problem with his deal. He was determined to get the $12 million he thought he was worth, and in the end maybe he paid a price for playing his hand too boldly, but he insists it was worth it for the chance to prove the ugly finish to last season doesn’t mean he’s one step from being washed up.

“Hey, around July last year I thought I was going to win 20 games,” Pettitte was saying Saturday. “I felt that good. So don’t tell me that based on my last 11 or 12 starts I’m done. I had a shoulder problem.”

As it turns out, he’s essentially betting $4.5 million that he can stay healthy and reach the incentives that could get him to $12 million, and for a 36-year-old pitcher with a history of elbow injuries to go with last year’s shoulder problem, that’s a risky bet.

• Wallace Matthews profiles the always energetic Nick Swisher:

Wedged in among the dramatics of A-Rod, the stoic professionalism of Jeter and the quiet dignity of Mariano Rivera, Swisher sticks out like a lunatic in a library.

“Swish is very energetic, I’ll tell you that,” said a bemused Posada, who sits four lockers away, still close enough to feel the bass vibrations in his sternum. “He looks like he’s really enjoying being here.”

Think Jack Black with a first baseman’s mitt or Ozzy Osbourne with the ability to draw a walk, and you’ve got Swisher pegged.

And his high-energy pre-workout routine – a little air guitar, a little wrestling with the kids running around the clubhouse, some mosh pit writhing – was just a warm-up for his post-workout session. That’s when he spent an hour in the batting cage with hitting coach Kevin Long, honing his swing from both sides of the plate while shouting “Nobody else is working like this!” between hacks.

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Welp, tonight’s the night, if you care about this sort of thing. I don’t, but I do enjoy bagging on all the celebrities, goofin’ on all the pomp and whatnot.  I like being a contrarian and the almost certain prize for Heath Ledger, which he seemingly won before the latest Batman movie was released, is perfect to get me going.  I didn’t think he was so terrific in the role either.  He wasn’t bad, but, ah, anyhow, it’s something to talk smack about. 

So, who do you like to win the big awards?

I love the New York Post’s sports section (if not the cartoons), but George King sometimes makes strange observations in his role as a beat writer for the Yankees. In last Sunday’s Post, King warned the Yankees not to commit Joba Chamberlain to the rotation because of the age of closer Mariano Rivera. “The Yankees… pray the end isn’t here [for Rivera],” King wrote on Sunday. “Because if they use Joba Chamberlain as a starter, there isn’t a closer candidate in the organization.” Well, I’m not so sure of that. Right off the top, I can think of three. Hard-throwing right-hander Mark Melancon (who reaches 97 miles per hour with his fastball) is generally ranked among the top ten prospects in the Yankee system and is scheduled to begin the season as closer at Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre, assuming he doesn’t claim one of the last spots in Joe Girardi’s bullpen. Then there’s the talented Humberto Sanchez, finally recovered from Tommy John surgery two years ago and likely to begin the season a step away at Triple-A. The Yankees also have right-hander Anthony Claggett, who dominated hitters at Double-A Trenton and might start the season in Scranton, too.

Without much doubt, closers are easier to find than quality starters, especially in the current Yankee farm system, where relievers are growing like the vines at Wrigley Field. That’s not to say that the Yankees will find anyone the equal of Rivera, who might just be the best reliever in major league history. Heck, unless the Yankees can find the next Dennis Eckersley, chances are that ANYBODY they choose will fall short of the great Rivera. But the Yankees clearly have promising options outside of Chamberlain—options that aren’t light years away. And they also have several short-term possibilities at the major league level, including Jose Veras, Brian Bruney, and Jonathan “Kerfeld” Albaladejo, the latter coming off a wondrous Winter League performance. So let’s not start this Joba-must-be-in-the-bullpen chorus just yet…

***

This has been a lousy free agent market for most players, but it may provide some unexpected benefits for the Yankees later this spring. A number of serviceable players remain unsigned—the master list includes Orlando Hudson, Orlando Cabrera, Garret Anderson, Ben Sheets, and Joe Beimel—some of whom could fill potential holes should the Yankees spring a few leaks in Tampa. For example, let’s say that something happens to Jorge Posada, that something being that his shoulder won’t allow him to catch. Brian Cashman has already missed opportunities on Henry Blanco and Gregg Zaun, but there could be an option in Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez, who remains unsigned. I-Rod has a standing offer from the awful Astros, but reportedly is holding out hope that the Mets will show interest. Therein lies the problem; the Mets already have two healthy catchers in Brian Schneider and Ramon Castro. So if Rodriguez remains stubborn, he might still be available.

Then there’s the center field situation. If both Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner flop in the Grapefruit League, the Yankees could consider Jim Edmonds as a cheap alternative. Edmonds is a fragment of his former self and hits lefties about as well as Jim Spencer once did, but still plays an above-average center field. He hit well for the Cubs during the second half of 2008; the Yankees would do cartwheels over a repeat of that performance.

Finally, the Yankees could take a run at Juan Cruz if they decide their bullpen needs another veteran. A beefier version of Domingo Jean (remember him?), the razor-thin Cruz excels in the seventh and eighth inning but has a history of blowing up in save situations. As long as Rivera remains capable, Cruz wouldn’t have to worry about pitching in many of those situations in pinstripes.

***

Former major league outfielder and onetime Yankee scout Ted Uhlaender died earlier this month at the age of 68, the victim of a heart attack. Cruelly, his passing came only one day after he’d received some encouraging news in his ongoing battle against multiple myeloma. A fleet-footed outfielder who played a nifty center field in the late 1960s, Uhlaender started his career with the Twins before being included in the deal that sent future Yankee Graig Nettles to the Indians. He saw his career fall off abruptly by 1972, but not before he made a cameo appearance in the World Series for Cincinnati’s “Big Red Machine.”

After a brief stint as a minor league manager, Uhlaender opted to go into private business. He returned to the game in 1989, joining the Yankees as a minor league coach before becoming the team’s advance scout in 1994 and ’95. He prepared in-depth reports on upcoming opponents for Buck Showalter and his staff. Those reports paid some dividends in ’95, as the Yankees claimed their first playoff berth in 14 years.

A few years ago, I met Uhlaender in spring training, where he was working as a coach with the Indians. As I asked him if he would be willing to answer some questions about the ’72 World Series, I noticed his face; he had that stern, sandpaper look of a hardened baseball veteran. Though I was intimidated at first, Uhlaender answered all of my questions, calmly and without fanfare. He was a pro, a characterization that was confirmed for me when I read Tracy Ringolsby’s touching tribute to him last week. Like the late John Vukovich and Pat Dobson, Uhlaender was a hard-working baseball lifer whose hard-edged appearance only masked a deep love of the game. As with Vuk and Dobber, we’ll miss a solid guy like Uhlaender.

Its Saturday morning … you wanna sleep late … but your cat has other ideas …

Important note!
I would rather not (further) play into the MSM’s fixation with the A-Rod PED story. I don’t want to help feed the “let’s hunt down every possible angle til we tear down Rodriguez” monster, so from here on, I will only post a PED-related A-Rod story if it has a direct result on his playing status (ex. he needs to miss a game to speak to Congress). Otherwise, I’m gonna let it slide.  This has Alex Belth’s blessing.  I hope you understand.

Now, back to the news:

• David Ortiz admires Mark Teixeira, and his fortunate timing contract-wise:

“Everybody needed a player like him at the time and the market was wide open. He walked into a situation that was perfect for him, and on top of it he was a very good player. Everybody who performs at that level wants to be put in that situation.” …

Under his previous deal, (Ortiz) could have potentially hit the free agent market at the age of 31.

But in the first month of the 2006 season Ortiz chose to sign a four-year, $52 million extension with a team option for 2011. …

“Teixeira was 28 years-old. In a few years I’ll be 35. It’s a totally different situation,” Ortiz said. “They know what you deserve and you go from there. But I’ll tell you what, if I was 28 I would be thinking like that.

“The market (when he signed his deal) wasn’t like it is now. It wasn’t close to what it is now. The year after I signed my deal the market exploded with the big television deal. I know it will be hard to get that kind of money a few years from now. I haven’t really sat down and thought about it. All my focus is about doing my thing. You work, try to get better every day for a reason. I’m not planning to go anywhere.”

• Johnny Damon and Xavier Nady are experiencing some financial liquidity issues:

Damon, 35, and Nady, 30, told FOXSports.com on Friday morning that their finances are frozen because of money they have with a Stanford company.

On Monday, the Securities and Exchange Commission froze all assets of three entities — Stanford International Bank, Stanford Group Co., and Stanford Capital Management — all managed by Robert Allen Stanford. Those were the only three entities whose assets were frozen, according to the SEC filing.

“I can’t pay bills right now,” Damon said at the Yankees’ spring training facility in Tampa. “That started on Tuesday. I had to pay a trainer for working out during the offseason. I told him, ‘Just hold on for a little bit and hopefully all this stuff gets resolved.'”

Nady faces similar concerns.

“I’m affected in some ways. I have the same (advisor) as Johnny,” Nady said. “He said I didn’t have money with Stanford (investments). But all my credit card accounts are frozen right now because of that situation. I’m trying to get an apartment in New York. I can’t put a credit card down to hold it.”

[My take: Maybe Nady should see if A-Rod’s apartment is still up for sale (vacant)?]

(more…)

It’s been said that the biggest problem with American men is that we are forever stuck in adolescence. Sometimes my wife will look at me and ask, “What are you thinking?” I’ll saying, “Nothing,” and if she presses, most of the time I’ll confess, “I was thinking about El Duque’s wind-up.” And that is the truth. I day dream about sports, especially baseball, all the time.

The reason that I’ve enjoyed rooting for Alex Rodriguez goes even further back–it is infantile and all about my relationship with my father. My dad was not a mediocre man. He was exceptionally bright, charming, and exuded self-confidence. At one time, he had the world on a string, he was a comer. But it crumbled and so did he. He was a dreamer who dreamed big, grandiose dreams. It wasn’t enough to start small and eventually succeed. It had to be boffo from the start.

In the end, he was a failure in his professional life. He drank himself out of a marriage. He talked the talk, but he fell down a lot.

On the other hand, my mother walked the walk in life. If my dad was Reggie Jackson, home run or strike out, my mother was Willie Randolph or Don Mattingly or Derek Jeter. Hard-working, earnest, competitive, tough. She was very much a heroine. Not without her own flaws and problems of course, but she took care of my brother and sister and me, and thrived professionally when she could have fallen apart.

Still, her success always underscored my father’s failure. And as a kid, my dad was my hero. I wanted to believe his promises, needed to believe that he’d eventually come through. Defended him when it seemed that everyone in our family, and in the world, was against him.

Which is why I’ve been drawn to rooting for Rodriguez. It’s about wishing for greatness to be realized. And not just solid, dependable greatness like Jeter, but fantastic, over-the-top, all-time greatness.

I came to accept my father, warts and all, as best as I could. By the time I was in my Thirties, I became my own man and didn’t need him to be a hero anymore. And since he’s been dead, I think about him with more compassion than I ever could when he was alive.

But baseball is different. It brings out the kid in us who yearns for heroes. I may know intellectually that ball players, like other entertainers, are not necessarily admirable human beings, but that doesn’t matter.

I figure things are going to continue to get worse for Rodriguez because he’s like a beautiful-looking version of the hapless Charlie Brown. Today we find out that the drug he got in D.R. was illegal. There will be more mishegoss to follow, I’m certain.

But even if Rodriguez isn’t a guy I’d want to hang out with, or to know personally, that doesn’t prevent the little kid in me from wanting him to make good, just like the kid in me hoped for my old man to strike it rich and fulfill his great potential.