Just as I was putting the finishing touches on a post about how important it is for the Yankees to re-sign Jorge Posada, no matter the cost, the word came down that Posada had indeed re-upped with the Bombers to the tune of $52.4 million over four years. Posada came within hours of hitting the market, as free agents are able to sign with any of the 30 major league teams starting today.

I’ll get to the length and cost of Posada’s contract (which just inches past the matching $52-mil/4-yr deals given Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui prior to the 2006 season) in a moment. First a word on Posada’s value on the field.

Put as simply as possible, here’s what the average major league catcher hit in 2007: .256/.318/.394.

Now here’s Posada’s 2007 season: .338/.426/.543 in 144 games.

Need I go on?

Okay, here are the top VORP totals by catchers in 2007:

Jorge Posada: 73.4
Victor Martinez: 55.0
Russell Martin: 46.1
Joe Mauer: 30.2

Notice how Posada’s total is nearly as high as the third and fourth best catchers combined? Notice that the other three players are a minimum of three years from hitting the market (Mauer and Martinez are signed through 2010, and Martin will be under team control through 2011).

Let’s do this with 2006, shall we?

Average C: .269/.329/.416
Posada: .277/.374/.492 in 143 games

VORP Leaders, Catchers:

Joe Mauer: 66.9
Brian McCann: 54.8
Victor Martinez: 47.8
Jorge Posada: 38.0

Sure, Jorge didn’t dominate the field in 2006 like he did in 2007, but notice the trend: Jorge outdistances the average catcher’s production by a laughable margin, while the VORP leaders at the position are once again Jorge and three guys who won’t hit the market for another three years.

To be fair, there are four other catchers from the 2006 top-20 who are currently free agents. Here are their 2007 seasons:

Michael Barrett: .244/.281/.372, 101 games
Paul Lo Duca: .272/.311/.378, 119 games
Mike Piazza: .275/.313/.414, 83 games (0 games caught)
Jason Kendall: .242/.301/.309, 137 games

By the way, Lo Duca’s 2007 season above was good for the 19th best VORP by a catcher this season, which means 11 teams did a lot worse at the position Actually, 12 did worse, as Lo Duca’s backup, Ramon Castro, finished 12th. Meanwhile, Lo Duca and Castro combined had less than one-third of Posada’s VORP total.

Any questions?

(more…)

The American and National League Rookies of the Year will be announced in a little more than an hour. In the AL, Dustin Pedroia, who hit .317/.380/.442 over 139 games while playing a strong second base, is the easy choice. Pedroia’s case gets even stronger when you set aside his April struggles and consider that he hit .333/.389/.467 over the remainder of the season. Pre-season favorite Delmon Young’s .288/.316/.408 just can’t compete, nor can the performances of Pedroia’s Japanese teammates Daisuke Matsuzaka (4.40 ERA, 15-12, 201 K, 80 BB) or Hideki Okajima (2.22 ERA in 66 relief appearances).

Though they really shouldn’t even be in the discussion, the Yankees’ best candidates in a year in which they had nine pitchers make their major league debut (six of them as starters) are Joba Chamberlain (0.38 ERA, 34 K and 6 BB in 24 relief innings over 19 appearances), Phil Hughes (4.46 ERA, 5-3, 58 K and 29 BB in 72 2/3 innings over 13 starts), and Shelley Duncan (.257/.329/.554, 7 HR in a mere 74 at-bats).

The NL’s a far more compelling contest with four strong contenders topping a deep field that also includes Josh Hamilton (.292/.368/.554, 19 HR in 298 AB), Mark Reynolds (.279/.349/.495, 17 HR in 366 AB), James Loney (.331/.381/.538, 15 HR in 344 AB), Yunel Escobar (.326/.385/.451 in 319 AB), Peter Moylan (1.80 ERA in 90 relief innings), and Tim Lincecum (4.00 ERA, 7-5, 150 K, 65 BB in 146 1/3 innings). Here are those top four:

Ryan Braun (3B – Mil): .324/.370/.634, 34 HR, 15/20 SB, (113 G)
Troy Tulowitski (SS – Col): .291/.359/.479, 24 HR, 7/13 SB, (155 G)
Hunter Pence (CF – Hou): .322/.360/.539, 56 XBH, 11/16 SB, (108 G)
Chris Young (CF – AZ): .237/.295/.467, 32 HR, 27/33 SB, (148 G)

On raw numbers, Braun seems the obvious choice, but his defense at third base was abysmal, while Tulowitzki’s play at shortstop was Gold-Glove worthy (though not Gold-Glove winning). Young nearly went 30-30 as a rookie, but his .237 average and corresponding sub-.300 OBP should eliminate him. Pence very well could have won this award if not for a broken wrist that cost him a month of the season beginning in late July. The big question is, can the tremendous chasm between Braun and Tulowitski’s defensive performances overrule the fact that Tulo gives up 11 points of OBP and a whopping 165 points of slugging to Braun while also having been inferior on the bases?

Update: Turns out Tulo’s defensive advantage was almost enough, but not quite. Braun won the NL Rookie of the Year by just two points over Tulowitski as he earned two more first-place votes. Of the 32 voters, 17 placed Braun first and Tulowitzki second, 14 listed Tulo first and Braun second, and one put Tulo first and Braun third. In the AL, Pedroia took it easy being listed first on 24 of 28 ballots. Delmon Young finished a very distant second followed by Brian Bannister (3.87 ERA, 12-9, 77 K, 44 BB in 165 IP), Matsuzaka, and Okajima. The first place votes that didn’t go to Pedroia went to Young (3) and Bannister (1).

“My first priority is the Yankees,” Posada said. “I would like to stay with the Yankees.”
(New York Times)

From what I’ve been reading, it seems as if the Yankees are moving quickly to re-sign Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera. The deals could happen as early as this week. Posada is looking for more than three years. That is crazy talk for a 36-year-old catcher, but with Jason Giambi in his final year with the Yankees in ’08, Posada would ideally slide into the DH role. Slowly, he could give up catching entirely and be the full-time DH, don’t you think?

Andy Pettitte, on the other hand, appears to be a longshot to play ball again. But if the Twins decide to move Johan Santana next month at the winter meetings, the Yankees will be involved…

Happy Monday, troops. Whatta ya hear, whatta ya say?

 Given the managerial change from Joe Torre to Joe Girardi, the Yankees’ coaching staff will have a new composition in 2008. Some of the likely new coaches are familiar names to Yankee fans: Bobby Meacham, who was considered the shortstop of the future in the mid-1980s, and Dave Eiland, a failed Yankee farmhand who earned rave reviews for his coaching tutelage of Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre. Meacham will likely replace Larry Bowa as third base coach, while Eiland is expected to take over the reins of pitching coach, replacing Yankee legend Ron Guidry.

Yet, another likely addition to the coaching staff has no direct connections to the Yankees. And if you didn’t follow the game in the late 1980s or early 1990s, the name might be completely foreign to you. He is Mike Harkey, an obscure name to be sure, who will work as the bullpen coach and assist Eiland. (There has also been talk that Harkey might become the pitching coach, but that seems less certain.) Though the name is murky to most, Harkey was at one time considered a better pitching prospect than Greg Maddux.

In 1987, the Chicago Cubs selected Harkey with the fourth overall pick of the amateur draft. If Seattle Mariners owner George Argyros had had his way, he would have taken Harkey first, but the Mariners’ baseball people convinced him to select a fellow named Ken Griffey, Jr. After Griffey, outfielder Mark Merchant (who never made the majors) went to Pittsburgh at No. 2, followed by right-hander Willie Banks to Minnesota. Harkey’s minor league apprenticeship lasted less than the three players taken before him, including Griffey; the Cubs brought him to Wrigley Field the following season and watched him post a 2.60 ERA in five games.

Though he walked a few more hitters than the Cubs would have liked, more than a few folks immediately proclaimed Harkey, a sturdy right-hander with a huge fastball, the Cubs’ pitching ace of the future. With his imposing build and arsenal of power pitches, Harkey seemed primed to become the Cubs’ best pitcher—better than veteran Rick Sutcliffe, and better even than the promising Maddux, who had enjoyed his first breakthrough season in 1988.

At six-feet, five inches and 220 pounds, Harkey possessed the ideal build for a pitcher—tall, long, and strong. The formidable Harkey appeared well equipped to handle the rigors of pitching every fifth day. Well, appearances can be deceiving. Harkey missed all of the 1989 season with shoulder and knee problems. He didn’t return to action with the Cubs until the following season, when he made a large splash on the Wrigley scene. Making 27 starts for Don Zimmer in 1990, Harkey won 12 of 18 decisions, struck out 94 batters in 173 innings, and put up a tidy ERA of 3.26. The Sporting News rewarded Harkey by naming him the National League Rookie of the Year.

Unfortunately, Zimmer made two questionable decisions with regard to Harkey’s usage that summer. In a June 24^th game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Zimmer allowed Harkey to throw 160 pitches as part of a complete game effort. (That, by the way, is the highest pitch count on record during the 1990s and the 2000s.) And then, with the Cubs struggling in mid-season, Zimmer opted to use a four-man rotation, forcing Harkey to pitch on three days rest. Considering Harkey’s shoulder problems, which became a chronic problem during his career, those might not have been the wisest strategies of Zimmer’s managerial career.

Well, even the most ardent pitch count advocates could have been excused for throwing up their arms in disgust. Felled by shoulder surgery, Harkey would make only 11 starts over the next two seasons combined. He would return to pitch reasonably well in 1993, splitting 20 decisions in half, before opting for free agency. Harkey then made what we now know to be a near suicidal move for pitchers—he signed a contract with the expansion Colorado Rockies. Forced to pitch half of his games at Mile High Stadium, about a decade before the humidor first sprang into action, Harkey pitched miserably for a bad Rockies team.

From Colorado, Harkey bounced to Oakland, California, and Los Angeles. Never again an effective pitcher, Harkey saw his career end with a ten-game stint for the Dodgers in 1997. Once one of the most highly touted pitchers in the draft, Harkey had instead put the wraps on a journeyman eight-year career in the major leagues.

Instead of leaving a game that had produced so much disappointment, Harkey decided to apply the knowledge from his failures to his next career. He became a minor league pitching coach with the San Diego Padres for six seasons, then left to join Girardi’s major league coaching staff in 2006, and spent the 2007 season as the pitching coach for the Iowa Cubs.

While Harkey has never before played or coached for the Yankees at any organizational level, he does have several indirect ties to the Bombers. As mentioned earlier, Harkey’s first manager was Zimmer, who in later years would become a Yankee Stadium icon as Joe Torre’s bench coach. Harkey still lists Paul O’Neill as his toughest out, though it should be noted that most of those encounters took place while "The Warrior" played with the Reds. And most importantly, one of Harkey’s catchers during his Cubs stint was Girardi, who now appears ready to hire his ex-teammate for a second time.

Harkey has received solid reviews for his work as a minor league pitching coach. If he can help Eiland in the development of some of the Yankees’ best young pitchers— Chamberlain, Hughes, and Ian Kennedy in particular—and remind Girardi never to ask one of them to throw 160 pitches in a game, the new bullpen coach should work out just fine.

 Bruce Markusen is the author of Cooperstown Confidential at MLB.com.

Just for kicks and giggles, I plugged the words “Alex Rodriguez Yankees” into a Google search and in .36 seconds I was alerted that 10,529 stories existed with those keywords. It was a great way to see both the local and national landscape of headlines and angles of the next phase of this story that’s dominating the offseason, and also to see how the third baseman is being painted to the populace.

An interesting bit I found came from a newspaper in a city that has one professional sports team: Sacramento. The staff of the State Hornet compiled a list of possible destinations for A-Rod (nothing outside the obvious: the Cubs, Dodgers, Angels and Giants). Now when I say “interesting” I don’t necessarily mean “good.” There was no reporting involved; each writer presented a take on why A-Rod would “definitely” land with said team. One staffer, Alicia de la Garza, wrote about A-Rod going to the Angels and somehow forgot that he spent three years dwelling in the AL West basement with Texas before going to the Yankees.

“After playing seven years for the New York Yankees, third baseman Alex Rodriguez has opted out of his $252 million, 10-year contract. I need to take a timeout for a second.“

The timeout needed to be taken before that lead sentence was written. (I know I’m not perfect — my gaffe regarding the Girardi press conference last week was a bonehead move — but to make that basic of an error on the lead sentence of a story? It’s indicative of a lack of fact-checking in the industry.)

Anyway, spending the rest of this post to pick apart mistakes in other columns is not the goal here. What I found interesting was that Sacramento cared at all what happened to A-Rod.

Some other notes from the Land of the Obvious:

• The Yankees need a third baseman.
• A bidding war needs two teams. (Hundreds of stories had that theme. How does that happen?)
• MLBPA No. 2 Gene Orza accused NY Times columnist Murray Chass of being an enabler of collusion based on his Wednesday column, which featured close to a third of the league’s GM’s speaking on the record regarding their interest — or lack thereof — in Alex Rodriguez.
• As of 5 p.m. Saturday, the buzz has Joe Torre leaving open the possibility of Rodriguez becoming “LA-Rod.”

Brian Cashman Quote of the Week:
"I understand why people are asking. I’d ask. For the most part, we’re going to try to stay the course and build around our young pitching as we move forward. But talk is cheap. Actions speak louder than words, so let’s see where I’m standing come February."

This is classic Cash. He maintained the same even keel two years ago regarding Bubba Crosby and the center field position, and then right before the New Year, Johnny Damon was signed. In other words, don’t rule out the big splash. The reporters haven’t. They just haven’t set up the possibility of it like they have in years past.

From what I’ve read, viewed and heard, we’re no further along in the A-Rod proceedings. To follow up on Bruce Markusen’s Abbott and Costello theme from yesterday’s “Third Base Derby” post, “I Don’t Know” actually is the third baseman. What we do know, though, is that it will be difficult to search for information on the topic that we either didn’t already know or project as far back as six weeks ago, when midges changed the momentum of the Yankees-Indians series.

Here’s to a week of attending to real important business with the Yankees, like negotiating with Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera. Those stories will come out from hiding in the next few days. 

Rest in Peace, Norman Mailer. You will be missed.

With apologies to the legendary duo of Abbott and Costello, "who" will not be playing third base for the Yankees next season. Someone will have to replace Alex Rodriguez, certainly not in production but at least in terms of filling the position. The Hot Stove League season is fewer than two weeks old, but already several prominent names have been mentioned as hot corner candidates. Let’s consider them one at a time, working our way from best player to worst.

Migel Cabrera

Outside of A-Rod, he’s clearly the best available third baseman in terms of free agents/trade possibilities. The 24-year-old reminds me of Frank Robinson at the plate, a pure right-handed hitter who hits with equal parts efficiency and power. Even with his questionable attitude and lack of hustle, Cabrera projects as no worse than Dick Allen over the next six or seven years. Unfortunately, Cabrera plays like Allen at third base; he is a brutal defensive player who should be playing first base sooner than later. He would also cost the Yankees the most in terms of potential talent—a package of at least three young players/prospects. I can’t imagine the Marlins would let him go without acquiring either Joba Chamberlain or Phil Hughes in return, and that’s just not a smart proposition for the pitching-needy Yankees. If the Yankees can convince the Marlins to take a package of Ian Kennedy, Melky Cabrera, and someone like Ross Ohlendorf of Tyler Clippard, then by all means, make the deal. And then be sure to play Cabrera at first, while sliding the quicker and more sure-handed Wilson Betemit over to third base.

Miguel Tejada

A poor man’s Cabrera, Tejada would come far cheaper in the trade market. A package of Kyle Farnsworth, outfield prospect Brett Gardner and either Ohlendorf or Clippard might be enough to entice the O’s, assuming the Yankees pick up all of Tejada’s salary. The 31-year-old Tejada is a tough right-handed bat who hits well to all fields, puts the ball in play consistently, and doesn’t shrink from pressure situations. On the flip side, his home run totals have declined for three straight seasons, he doesn’t walk much, and he’s lost loads of range in the field. The latter point won’t matter much since the Yankees would play him at third, where his hands and arm are well suited. A bigger concern might be Tejada’s lack of effort. Consistently failing to run out ground balls and pop-ups, Tejada makes Manny Ramirez look like Charley Hustle. That attitude won’t fly under the microscope that is New York, especially under the watchful eye of a disciplinarian like Joe Girardi. The Yankees would have to hope that Tejada feels rejuvenated playing for a contender after years of stumbling through a zombie-like haze in Baltimore.

Mike Lowell

Although he’s a personal favorite of mine, I’m the first to admit that he won’t be the same hitter away from Fenway Park. He’s also 33 and will likely require a four-year contract if the Red Sox don’t reel him back in. Still, there’s plenty to like about Lowell, a first-class individual who works hard and keeps himself well conditioned. He’s also become a much better opposite-field hitter the last two years, especially when it comes to breaking balls on the outer half of the plate. Defensively, Lowell has lost nothing; he has terrific range, good hands, and a reliable throwing arm. If Lowell can hit .280, slug .475, and hit in the vicinity of 20 home runs, that should be good enough, especially given his fielding and leadership skills. There would also be an intangible benefit to adding Lowell. We wouldn’t have to hear fans pining for Scott Brosius anymore.

Edwin Encarnacion

There have been whispers of a possible trade that would send Kennedy to the Reds for Encarnacion straight-up, but that won’t happen until the Yankees have fully explored the possibilities with Miguel Cabrera. Like Cabrera, Encarnacion is only 24 and immensely talented, but also carries questions of attitude. Most notably, he angered former Reds manager Jerry Narron by failing to run out batted balls. (Is this the new epidemic in baseball, or what?) Defensively, Encarnacion is better than Cabrera, but his footwork still poses problems from time to time.

Mike Lamb

Not an ideal choice because he swings from the left side, Lamb would nonetheless come relatively cheaply as a free agent. At one time, he was considered a candidate to play third base in the Bronx—until the trade for A-Rod. The 32-year-old Lamb is a useful player, but he’s ideally a backup on a good team, a versatile left-handed hitter who can play third or first, and fill in at second on an emergency basis. If the Yankees were to sign Lamb, they’d likely have to acquire someone else to platoon with him. And that could be…

Morgan Ensberg

He could become available if the Padres non-tender him this winter. At his peak, Ensberg was a dangerous right-handed power hitter and a solid third baseman with a strong arm. But the 32-year-old has fallen off the map the last two seasons, leading to a trade from the Astros to the Padres. Unfortunately, he appears to be one of those rare players who has become overly passive at the plate—he simply takes too many pitches. A change of scenery could help him, but then again, Death Valley at Yankee Stadium might not be the best medicine for a right-handed pull hitter like Ensberg.

Pedro Feliz

If the Yankees are willing to sacrifice offense completely and emphasize defense as a higher priority, Feliz could be an option on the free agent market. The 32-year-old Feliz has consistent power (he’s hit 20-22 home runs over each of the last four seasons), but struggles to reach base (a .290 on-base percentage in 2007). Realistically, the Yankees will need to have a better-balanced offense without A-Rod, and that means securing some production from both first base and third base. There’s simply too much of a drop-off to Feliz, so the Yankees should pass on this possibility.

So there you have it, a half-dozen realistic candidates, ranging from good to mediocre, or perhaps even worse. If the Yankees don’t turn to an in-house candidate like Betemit—and assuming that A-Rod doesn’t accept arbitration—one of these men could be your starting third baseman in 2008.

Bruce Markusen is the author of eight books on baseball and writes "Cooperstown Confidential" for MLB.com. He can be reached at bmark@telenet.net.

I’m in the process of putting the final proof-reading touches on The Best Sports Writing of Pat Jordan. (The book will be released next spring.) I am the editor of the project, which, in many ways, has been like making a literary mix tape. Jordan has long been one of my favorite writers, so it has been an utter joy to read through well over one hundred of his magazine pieces from the past 40 some oddd years and select 25 cherce cuts for this collection.

I’ll have more to say about Pat and the book as the release date approaches. In the meantime, you can check out a bunch of Pat’s New York Times work, which has recently been made available via the Times on-line archive (the only piece that is there that is also in the forthcoming book is the Roger Clemens story).

Here is an excerpt from a piece Pat wrote about clubhouse harmony in spring training, 1989, when both the Mets and Yankees were dealing with “chemistry” issues. I thought you guys would get a kick out of it:

Reporters, however, take the…disturbances seriously. They wonder, in print and on television, if dissension is ripping apart what they perceive as the delicately stitched fabric of clubhouse harmony each team must weave if it is to be successful? They see it all so clearly from their perspective, as men and women who have never been part of such clubhouses. They have always imparted to clubhouse harmony a certain romance of brotherhood they would only laugh at if someone tried to impart it, say, to the boardroom of I.B.M. They see relationships among players in a baseball clubhouse as merely an extension of the child-play relationships they remember from their youth.

In a way, this is condescending to the players, implying as it does a childishness on their part, which, as grown men, they don’t have. What reporters see, then, exists only in their mind’s eye. Which is why the players laugh. They know that clubhouse harmony or the lack of it hasn’t much to do with a team’s success on the field. Players know that good-natured camaraderie in the clubhouse, shared intimacies over a locker, plans to get together with families for a cookout on a day off, all have nothing to do with a team’s success.

…Like most men in business, baseball players compartmentalize their jobs. What goes on across the white lines is infinitely more important than what goes on behind them. A close friend who consistently strikes out with the bases loaded isn’t as much use to a ballplayer as a despised teammate who consistently strokes game-winning hits. The respect a player feels for a teammate’s personal life has nothing to do with the respect he feels for a teammate’s baseball talent. Babe Ruth, Pete Rose and Wade Boggs are three of the greatest hitters ever in the game, and yet not many teammates might envy their personal lives. Yet to a man, every player in the game would want one of those three at the plate if a World Series championship was on the line.

Check it out. There is even a “Rickey being Rickey” line about Henderson, the original Manny.

Who was the first celebrity that you ever had a crush on? I think the first woman whose sexuality overwhelmed me was Deborah Harry. It was intimidating–the red lip gloss, the bedroom eyes. She just seemed so adult, so nocturnal, so foreign. I knew there was something inherently exciting about her, but it was scary too (and if Deborah Harry made me uneasy, then Grace Jones simply terrified me). I’d probably say Bo Derek was the first sex symbol that I was down with. Lynda Carter was there too, along with Valerie Bertinelli, Daisy Duke, Pam Dawber, Julie Newmar and Agent 99 (re-runs). I was hot for Bailey on WKRP too. Later, the first woman I really fell in love with on screen was Jessica Lange in Tootsie.

What about you? And this doesn’t just have to be a straight guy thing.

In New York, the football Giants and the Knicks have not yet been able to wrestle the back page from the baseball boys yet. Nothing really new to report, but after a quick look around, here’s what I got for the daily schmooze:

Tyler Kepner on the Yanks; David Pinto on Miguel Cabrera; Steven Goldman on the Hot Stove; a Miguel Tejada-to-the-Yankees rumor out of Baltimore; Steve Treder digs up some gems from the past over at The Hardball Times;

Oh, and this from Buster Olney a few days ago:

Andy Pettitte had to give the Yankees an answer by Wednesday about whether he was going to opt out, and he did. Most players feel the tug of home, but I always thought he was atypical among players in how he copes with that: He is the only player I can remember openly admitting, after a poor outing at the end of a long road trip, that he was distracted by the absence of his kids. So it would not be surprising at all that Pettitte would retire, at age 35. The accumulation of more wealth and the pull of a possible Hall of Fame candidacy — he does, after all, have 201 victories and could pitch another five or six years, if he really wanted to — mean little or nothing to him. Some within the Yankees’ organization believe Pettitte is going to retire. I’d bet he is going to retire.

But remember, the early part of the offseason is an easy time to embrace the idea of retiring. As the fall turns to winter and players naturally begin to think about picking up a ball and about spring training, his body will feel better. You could set the official odds at 50-50 that he will be back, and the Yankees have told him they are ready when he is to talk about another year.

Drop a Gem on ‘Em

Lastly, in matters unrelated to baseball, here are a few more links:

Roald Dahl’s wicked short story, Lamb to the Slaughter; W.C. Heinz’s classic column, “Death of a Racehorse”; Kenneth Tynan’s colassal New Yorker profile of Johnny Carson; Steven Rodrick’s piece on Judd Apatow from earlier this year in the NY Times magazine; a site devoted to the ‘blurb reviews of the late, great Pauline Kael; hilariously bad impressions from Mel and Albert Brooks.

Before seeing a screening of No Country for Old Men, the new movie by Joel and Ethan Coen, I decided to read the book by Cormac McCarthy. One, because I haven’t read any fiction in years and I figured this would give me an excuse to read a novel, and two, because I get so nervous in thriller movies that I wanted to find out how things turn out in the end before seeing the movie. (There is a twist in the narrative and the Coen’s are faithful to the book.)

But once you know the twist, half of the fun is gone. (Do movies like The Sting or The Sixth Sense ever get better with repeated viewings? Not for me.) I didn’t care for the book, which is written in a minimalist style that I found pretentious, but it felt as if the Coen’s could have written it themselves. It’s right up their alley and the book reads like a screenplay.

The movie is skillfully made. There is some vivid imagery (Roger Deakin’s photography is often stunning) and wonderfully tense moments. The Coen’s use sound very well–the sound of a rotary dial phone, the squeak of a suitcase; in fact, several sequences don’t have any music at all. There are familiar Coen touches–tracking shots of the open road from a car’s point-of-view, ceiling shots looking down on a sleeping character, grotesquely funny-looking yokels, voice-over narration, goofy haircuts, dry dialogue and inside jokes (Mike Zoss Pharmacy–Mike Zoss is the name of their production company).

The movie is terse, and brutal but I thought it was empty. It’s like a B-Movie made with A-Movie talent. There isn’t much pulpy fun in it, despite the trademark Coen humor. It takes itself seriously in that it portends to say something heavy about human nature (Maybe it’s just another bleak film noir–the Coen’s never take themselves too seriously, but the movie felt too serious). As a friend who recently saw the movie said, “it slams you up against the wall and there is no room for your imagination to roam.”

When it was over I just thought, “Why? What’s the point?” I’m sure the Coen’s have their reasons–again, the material is so well-suited to their tastes that perhaps they just couldn’t turn it down.

I won’t be surprised if the movie turns out to be one of the Coen’s biggest commerical hits. But it reminds me of Silence of the Lambs, another technically well-made entertainment that felt soulless. (I don’t think Demme has ever recaptured the funky spirit that infused his early movies like Melvin and Howard, Something Wild and Married to the Mob.) This movie isn’t a departure for the Coen’s, but it feels like an excercise in style. It looks great and delivers thrills, but, again, when it was over, I just shrugged my shoulders and was like, “And…So…?”

The Yankees will offer Alex Rodriguez arbitration. Joel Sherman has more on the story.

Meanwhile, the Yankees met with the Marlins last night to talk about Miguel Cabrera. Joe Girardi, who is at the GM meetings, told the Times:

“He’s a great player, a smart player,” said Girardi, who managed Cabrera in 2006. “He really understands the game of baseball. I was impressed in how mature he was as a hitter at a young age, his approach on a daily basis. I did not have any problems with him. He worked hard for me.”

Cabrera is an amazing hitter and an indifferent fielder who has developed a reputation for being a fat slob who likes to party. That is the major concern. Will he have a great career or become a major disappointment? The Yankees say that they are not interested in moving Joba, Phil Hughes or Ian Kennedy, but why wouldn’t you trade Kennedy (or even Hughes) along with Melky in a package deal for a talent like Cabrera? Unless you think Cabrera is a complete nutcase, isn’t that a trade you have to make?

As I’m sure you’ve all heard by now, Andy Pettitte has declined his 2008 option. Pettitte says that he needs more time to figure out what he wants to do.

“Obviously we want Andy to stay with the Yanks and pitch for us in ’08,” general manager Brian Cashman said last night. “In fact, I’d say I need him to. He’s an important piece for us…I appreciated the fact that he called me directly. He’s not ready to make a decision about playing or retiring yet, and he’s earned the right to take some more time as far as we’re concerned.”
(Feinsand, Daily News)

In 2003, I was all for the Yankees moving on without Pettitte. Now, it’s crucial that the Yankees keep him. Go figure, man.

Following the lead of my fellow Toaster, Jon Weisman, who asked Alex and myself for our thoughts on Joe Torre’s managing, I asked Jacob Luft, my editor at SI.com and a longtime Bronx Banter supporter who just so happens to be a Marlins fan, for his take on Joe Girardi’s tendencies as a manager. Here are the highlights of our resulting conversation:

Jacob Luft: He likes to bunt . . . a lot. He used to sac bunt with Hanley [Ramirez] at first and Dan Uggla up to bat in the first inning. I used to throw a shoe across the room. Hanley at first, who can fly, gets bunted over by a guy with 30 home run power . . . in the first inning!
Bronx Banter: Does he even bunt with middle-of-the order guys?
JL: Yes, with everybody. But the guy is good with pitchers; exceptional with pitching.
BB: Really? How so?
JL: Handling a staff, handling a bullpen . . . excellent. He knows which relievers to go to, gets pitchers in the right mindset.
BB: Is he creative with his use of relievers or does he assign roles to guys?
JL: Everybody assigns roles these days, but i never had a problem with when he brought guys in. He’s also a hard ass, disciplinarian, real drill-sergeant type.
BB: I wonder how much that’ll change given a team of more established players.
JL: It’s a weird fit, but possibly a very good one. The [Yankees] do have young pitchers that will benefit a great deal, but he’s a take-no-shit kind of guy, which really worked with the ’06 Marlins. Fredi Gonzalez came in [in 2007] and it was like a zoo. The other thing with Girardi is he’s got a temper. The guy told his owner to fuck off. I ripped him when he left, but after seeing Fredi let the kids go nuts in the clubhouse this year, I miss the guy. Though without all the bunts our offense went ballistic this year. Girardi is also very smart, he’s a Northwestern grad, so it’s possible he’ll learn to change his in-game offensive strategy.
BB: His entire staff is college guys save Tony Peña, which shows a preference for smart coaches. Any opinion of Bobby Meacham as a third-base coach?
JL: Uh, not really.
BB: That’s a good thing, you generally only have an opinion of the third-base coach if he keeps sending runners into outs.
JL: True.

In other news, the general manager meetings kick off in Orlando, today, so that rumor mill should be a-buzzin’. For the Yankees, they’ll be focusing on inking Posada and Rivera and finding a third baseman. Don’t be surprised if Brian Cashman turns up a reliever or two in the process. Meanwhile, the Yankees will know by the end of the day on Wednesday if Andy Pettitte is coming back.

As expected, the Yankees have picked up Bobby Abreu’s $16 million option for the 2008 season. It was really a rather obvious move to make. Having lost their cleanup hitter, the Yankees could ill-afford to lose their number-three hitter as well and though Abreu had his worst full season last year, which continued a downward trend in his production as he eases into his mid-30s (Abreu will turn 34 during spring training), that was largely the result of a slow start, as Abreu hit just .228/.313/.289 in April and May, but then flipped the switch and hit .309/.396/.520 over the final four months, which was right in line with his career numbers of .300/.408/.500.

Given this year’s weak free-agent class, no team could afford to part with so productive a hitter. The best available alternative would have been Andruw Jones, but Jones is a career .263/.342/.497 hitter coming off his own worst full season (a dismal .222/.311/.413), has a bad reputation as far as conditioning and team chemistry go, and is only three years younger than Abreu to begin with. Sure, Jones is a Gold Glove center fielder rather than a wall-shy right fielder, but Jones’ defense has slipped in the last few seasons. Most importantly, there was no guarantee that the Yankees would have been able to sign him, and, as he is the best hitter on the market (save for hot potato Barry Bonds and the banished Alex Rodriguez), they would likely have overpayed if they did. Instead they have Abreu, whose better than Jones at the plate and an established and popular member of the team both in the clubhouse and in the stands, for one year at $16 million. Not bad at all.

I’ll be back in a bit with a look at how Abreu’s return could impact the rest of the 2008 Yankee lineup.

The Yankees introduced Joe Girardi as the new Yankee manager at a press conference at the Stadium yesterday afternoon and, later that evening, the Dodgers announced that they had signed Joe Torre to a three-year deal worth $13 million. Between the Yankees’ press conference, which provided opportunities the YES crew to interview Brian Cashman and Yankees COO Lonn Trost among others, and Mike and the Mad-Dog’s 20th anniversary show, which featured interviews with Girardi, Torre, and Derek Jeter (as well as Bernie Williams, Darryl Strawberry, and many more of the biggest New Yorks sports stars from the past 20 years), we have plenty of information to put the Yankees’ managerial saga to bed and shift our focus to the team’s pending player transactions, which will begin today with the decision on Bobby Abreu’s $16-million club option and continue with next week’s general manager meetings in Orlando, Florida.

The most important information to come out of the day was the identity of Girardi’s coaches. Pete Abraham, who’s been doing incredible work on this story, be it by simply posting the audio of the team’s various conference calls and press conferences over the past week, or by getting the tremendous Torre-to-L.A. story scoop, got the scoop on the coaching staff as well back on Tuesday. I updated the sidebar here accordingly, but have been reserving comment until the staff was officially announced. That didn’t happen today because some of those coaches still have to sign their contracts, but Brian Cashman did confirm that the staff Abraham posted is indeed the one he’s trying to assemble. Here’s the breakdown.

Bench Coach: Rob Thomson

Not to be confused with former Giants second baseman Robby Thompson, Rob Thomson was a catcher/third baseman in the Tigers system from 1985-1988. After playing just two games in 1988, he became a minor league coach for the Tigers at the tender age of 24. The Ontario-born Thomson has been in the Yankee organization since 1990. From 1990 to 1997 he was a minor league coach and manager, his one season as a manager coming at the helm of the Oneonta Yankees in the short-season New York-Penn League in 1995. Since 1998 he’s been a roving coach and instructor (officially a “Field Coordinator” or “Special Assignment Instructor”), which is technically a front-office position. Thomson was promoted to Director of Player Development in 2000 and again to Vice President of Minor League Development in 2003. He has been the hidden member of the major league coaching staff since 2004 as the Major League Field Instructor, most visibly filling in as a third base coach for Luis Sojo when Sojo was on bereavement leave in 2004.

Brian Cashman and Joe Girardi wanted Don Mattingly to stay on as the bench coach, but Mattingly, at least according to his public statements, didn’t think it would be fair to Girardi to have another managerial candidate in the dugout with him as it would prompt “Fire Joe, Hire Donnie” articles at the first sign of trouble. Girardi didn’t think that would be an issue. Mattingly, who is leaving the organization on good terms with both Cashman and Girardi, will most likely serve as Joe Torre’s bench coach in L.A. Thomson is an excellent second choice given his 18 years in the organization and 20 years of coaching and front office experience.

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Joe Torre is officially the new manager of the Dodgers. My father would have been delighted. Not so much because he cared about the Dodgers since they left Brooklyn, or because he thought Torre a true class act, but because Torre told the Yankees to screw off and then set out for Hollywood. At least that’s the way Pop would have seen it.

I’m really happy about the news too. I have no idea how Torre will do with the Dodgers but I do feel this: Is there really any other place he could have ended up? It’s perfect. It’s Brooklyn-to-L.A., it’s the Yankees and the Dodgers, it’s celebrity and personality, Broadway-to-Hollyrock. I love it. The Dodgers have a rich history and beautiful home uniforms. Plus, what do I care about the Dodgers? They play in the National League West. I haven’t paid attention to them–outside of what I read at Dodger Thoughts–for years. Torre instantly makes me interested, win or lose.

This is cool.

Jon’s already got some great analysis–thanks to Cliff, Jay Jaffe and Steve Goldman–over at DT. Check it out.

In some respects, that the Yankees were ousted in the first round served as a benefit to the local media. Yes, I called this the “silly season” due to the prevalence of rumors, but there certainly is no shortage of subject matter, and the scribes have been relentless in their stumping, particularly in the past two weeks.

After the writers had their field day with the Joe Torre situation, Scott Boras and Alex Rodriguez notified the Yankees of his opting out during the middle innings of Game 4 Sunday night, giving anyone with a byline something to kvetch about. (I wonder how Commissioner Selig would have disciplined Boras and A-Rod had the Rockies come back and forced a Game 5, since he notified the Yankees before the 10-day opt-out window even started.)

Was anyone surprised by this development? Many friends and colleagues of mine who are either fans of the Yankees or follow the team closely deemed it addition by subtraction.

THE ANGLES OF THE A-ROD STORY
1) He was above the game

The usual suspects like Mike Lupica and Buster Olney discussed the notion of super-duo of A-Rod and Boras putting themselves above the game with their pre-Series-ending announcement. Olney’s commentary was fact-based, solid, and went outside the scope of New York, bringing into account the similarities of his power play in Texas and the history of disingenuousness demonstrated by A-Rod and Boras. Lupica, on the other hand, his argument had more holes than Sonny Corleone at the toll booth. He asked why we as fans should have expected A-Rod to stay, considering he’d have “no loyalty to a manager who batted him eighth” against the Tigers, and when Daisuke Matsuzaka had more RBIs on one hit in a World Series game than A-Rod had in the last three postseasons. The loyalty bit really got me, especially when all year the talk from A-Rod and Joe Torre centered on how they mended their relationship and how Rodriguez enjoyed playing for Torre. Tim Kurkjian reported Monday night on SportsCenter that if Torre gets the Dodgers job (more on this later), that L.A. would be a likely landing spot because he enjoys playing for Torre. Good luck on that ace, Lip.

2) From the files of Captain Obvious … He was greedy
Monday night’s SportsCenter’s teaser: “Greediest move ever?” Who cares? It was greedy. He’s baseball’s version of Gordon Gekko. There were a number of indicators, as Olney pointed out in his column, leading one to believe that A-Rod would not sign an extension in New York.

3) Where will he end up?
The juxtaposition of A-Rod’s opt-out and Mike Lowell’s free-agent status had a certain faction of New York writers salivating about the potential of the third basemen changing places. The majority determined that Lowell would be best-served staying put.

Quick poll: Should the Yankees overpay for two or three years of Mike Lowell?

Wally Matthews opined that the Mets should put themselves in the running for A-Rod, probably to make amends for failing to acquiesce to his demands in 2001. Never mind that reports from Newsday’s Mets beat man David Lennon – the following day, no less – confirmed that the Mets are not interested in trading Jose Reyes or moving him to second base to make room for A-Rod. It’s not a good sign when beat colleagues are covering for columnists’ bravado. As you’ve probably seen over the years, it happens frequently.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Monday was an interesting day as far as the Yankees’ managerial decision was concerned. Around 1 p.m., Pete Abraham posted on LoHud that the Yankees had made an offer to Joe Girardi. I was skeptical about the truth of the matter, until I saw on a ticker later in the afternoon that Don Mattingly announced that he would not return as a coach next season.

As I’ve written in this space and said to many friends and colleagues, I thought the best-case scenario, that would appease fans and help the Yankees save face from a PR standpoint, was to hire Mattingly as manager and bring Girardi on as bench coach. I thought Girardi would be biding his time for the Cubs job when Lou Piniella’s time is up. I was wrong.

THE ANGLES OF THE GIRARDI STORY
1) Girardi is not Joe Torre
The similarities: they were both catchers. They both held broadcasting jobs before managing the Yankees. They’re both named Joe and have Italian ancestry.

The differences: Torre was a talker, a people person. His pregame powwows with the media could last anywhere from five minutes to a half hour. He was accommodating to anyone as long as the questions asked didn’t put him on the defensive. Girardi, while an excellent broadcaster, is very succinct and direct. It’ll be interesting to see how he manages the egoes of the players, and protects them the way that Torre did.

From what I gathered, the Girardi hire was treated as a ho-hum story. SportsCenter dedicated maybe two minutes to it Monday night, playing excerpts from the conference call. The newspapers were not much different in their presentation. Yes, it was headline news on Tuesday, but there were as many articles dedicated to Mattingly and Torre as there were to Girardi.

Since Tuesday, Girardi has been a nonentity in the local papers. Torre still dominates. Newsday’s Ken Davidoff, who was a busy man Monday, had an interesting take on how Torre has become a martyr in New York.

The most striking component of the announcement, to me, was that it came with no pomp outside of a conference call. Two years ago when Torre and Cashman re-upped their deals, a joint press conference was held and broadcast live on YES.

Are the Yankees growing humble? Did they consult Girardi and ask his preference for conference call over a large press conference? Having covered that craziness, I’d imagine that facing the horde in that capacity would be good practice, because in February, it’ll be worse.

2) It’s make-or-break time for Cashman
The Steinbrenner brothers were proved correct. The Girardi decision was all Brian Cashman’s. Many writers cited Girardi’s work ethic, statistical preparation and attention to detail as qualities Cashman admired. As many veteran NY writers noted, if GMS III was still ruling, Mattingly undoubtedly would have been hired.

The commentary on both topics will grow even more intense as the Yankees’ free agent picture comes into focus. The hot stove has a tendency to alter the writers’ brain chemistry.

Over at Slate, Josh Levin has a critical piece about Sports Illustrated. In part, Levin writes:

Let’s begin with SI’s hiring, two weeks ago, of Dan Patrick. The former ESPN host is no man of letters. Take it from his ex-colleague Keith Olbermann, who once called Patrick’s softball-filled jock-talk column “a bi-weekly toe dip in the shallow end of the journalistic pool.” But Sports Illustrated didn’t hire Dan Patrick the writer. It hired Dan Patrick the sports-themed corporation. His magazine column, Web site, and radio show “represent engaging platforms to both sports fans and the advertisers looking to connect with them,” according to SI’s press release. When longtime columnist Rick Reilly departed for ESPN days later, SI’s biggest personnel move in years became, in effect, a swap of TV personalities. Who needs a journalist when you can get a celebrity multimedia empire?

SI’s focus on brand extension is a reaction to the competitiveness of the media environment. Before ESPN the Magazine launched almost 10 years ago, SI had never faced a sustained challenge from the print world. Rather than having faith in its product—curious, well-written literary journalism and vigorous reportage—Sports Illustrated has taken to imitating its younger rival. The result: a magazine that’s as hip as a 55-year-old with his hat turned backward. In 2004, the mag unveiled “SI Players,” a front-of-the-book section filled with lifestyle pieces that could’ve been lifted from a dumpster behind the ESPN offices. The section bursts with reports on Martin St. Louis’ glute exercises (“jump straight up and drive hips forward”) and Jose Vidro’s favorite off-day activity (“washing my cars”). In pandering to the sort of people who (allegedly) care about Dane Cook’s thoughts on George Steinbrenner, Sports Illustrated is allowing market research to masquerade as editorial judgment. Perhaps it’s effective from a business standpoint—the mag has maintained its huge circulation lead over ESPN the Magazine, and a recent industry survey showed an increase of 14 percent in readers between ages 18 and 24 the last two years—but it’s making the magazine an inferior product.

I’m curious as to what you guys think. How many of you still look to SI as a cornerstone of sports reporting? And if SI doesn’t hold that spot any longer, where do you turn for the best sports writing?

Joe Girardi was introduced as the new Yankee manager yesterday while reports have it that Joe Torre has agreed to a three-year deal with the Dodgers. Presumably, Torre would bring Don Mattingly and Larry Bowa to L.A. with him. Lee Maz might jern them too.

Here’s what’s what around the web:

Joe Girardi: Tyler Kepner, Ed Price, and Mark Kriegel.

Joe Torre: Roger Angell, Murray Chass, Mike Vaccaro, T.J. Simers, Bill Shaikin, Bill Plaschke, and Jay Jaffe.

Don Mattingly: Joel Sherman, Filip Bondy, and Kat O’Brien.

Alex Rodriguez: John Harper, Adam Rubin, Ken Rosenthal, Steven Goldman, Nate Silver, and Hank Waddles.

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