The Hot Stove League is all about stats, and cold, hard cash. So says Buster Olney today in his column over at ESPN. Olney delineates several situations, like the A Rod-Nomie show up in Boston. He also touches on the latest turn in the Gary Sheffield soap opera and hits the nail on the head whe he notes that if the deal falls apart, “it might be the luckiest break for the team since Albert Belle reneged on his verbal agreement in the winter of 1998.” But if it’s drama that George wants, it is drama he will get:

Sheffield created consternation within the Yankees’ organization when he detailed his verbal agreement with George Steinbrenner to a newspaper — more evidence that Sheffield, typically outspoken in his career, could make regular and unwanted appearances in the headlines of the New York area papers. Or maybe Steinbrenner has grown weary of the genteel Yankees, and wants more Billy-Reggie type Bronx Zoo stuff. If so, he should rush to finish the Sheffield deal now.

Or maybe the Yankees will invest that $39 million earmarked for Sheffield, tack on another year to the deal and lock up Vladimir Guerrero, who is seven years younger.

But perhaps Sheffield isn’t really holding out for more money. According to Lee Sinins:

There is also a lot of speculation that this is a sham and the parties are just trying to delay an announcement as long as possible, in order to make it look like Sheffield wasn’t signed before Sunday’s deadline for the Braves to receive draft pick compensation. Meanwhile, the Braves are planning on filing a grievance with MLB over the Yankees’s actions.

Olney also goes on to mention that a Yankee official believes that the chances of re-signing Andy Pettitte “are slightly less than 50-50.”

THE PRO’S PRO

Tom Verducci, the head baseball writer at Sports Illustrated, is one of the most widely-read and respected sports journalists in the country. I have always appreciated his enthusiasm for the game and his even-handed writing style. I had the good fortune to speak with him last week. Here is our conversation. Enjoy.

Bronx Banter: Did you grow up playing sports?

Tom Verducci: I come from a very sports-oriented family. My dad was a high school baseball and football head coach and my brothers all played sports. Iím one of four boys in the family.

BB: Where did you fit in?

Verducci: Iím the third boy. So growing up we played just about anything and everything. But in high school, I played baseball, basketball and football. I grew up in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, which is in Essex County. I went to Seton Hall prep, which at the time was on the same campus as Seton Hall University in South Orange. It has since moved to West Orange.

BB: Do you have any sisters?

Verducci: I have four sisters.

BB: Wow, thatís a nice, healthy brood.

Verducci: Yup.

BB: And you played for your dad?

Verducci: Yes. In football, I did. At the time he was not a baseball coach any longer; he was just concentrating on football. We had great high school football teams when I was there.

BB: I saw in your bio column on SI.com that you made a big catch to win a big game at in high school.

Verducci: Yeah which is ironic because we were the proto typical three yards and a cloud of dust team. But my senior year we outscored the opposition 330-6. So we didnít need to throw the ball a whole lot. But yeah, the ball happened to find me in that state championship game. Timing is everything.

BB: So athletics was how you boys made your rites of passages.

Verducci: When I grew up, to me, the guys on the high school football team were the athletes I idolized. It wasnít the NFL or major league baseball players, although I certainly had favorite players. But when I was out in the street, I was pretending to be the guys on the high school football team. To me that was everything. On Saturdays I would go to practice with my dad, and of course I was there for the game on Sunday. So I looked up to those guys. If you are a high school football coach, itís a 24-7 job. At home, he was watching game film all the time. Or even if he was watching a pro or college game, he was jotting down plays he would use for his team. You just get absorbed into that culture.

BB: Were your two older brothers good athletes as well?

Verducci: Yeah. The oldest brother has actually coached in the NFL. He spent three years with the Bengals, and last year was with the Dallas Cowboys. Frank Verducci. He was offensive line coach last year with the Cowboys. Before that he did the typical iterant college assistant route. He was at lots of schools, but primarily at Iowa with Hayden Fry. My other brother

The Gary Sheffield signing has hit yet another snag according to reports in The New York Post and The Daily News. Sheffield, who had a handshake deal with Yankee owner George Steinbrenner last week for 3 years at $39 million, now wants more money. Do you think he reads the papers? Obviously, with Alex Rodriguez likely to wind up in Boston by next week, he has. (So has Nomar Garciappara, who took to the airwaves in Boston yesterday.) Will this latest move push the Boss too far? Perhaps, but I doubt it. According to Joel Sherman:

A veteran agent who has been talking to the Yanks said: “You have a crazy owner and a crazy player. Who knows if they even know what their last offer was to each other? There is no surprise to anyone in the business if things unraveled when it is these two coming face-to-face.”

Yankee fans, brace yourself: This could be the start of a (cough, cough)beautiful friendship. Reggie vs. George Part II. Of course there is now talk that the Yankees should pursue Vladimir Guerrero instead of toying around with Sheffield. I can’t be partial here. Guerrero, the Bizzaro A Rod, is one of my favorite players, and I don’t even want to excite myself dreaming that he could become a Yankee. I think that George and Sheffield will eventually work a deal out, but we should stand forewarned: If Sheffield comes to the Bronx, it will be a wild, sordid ride. Sheff might produce on the field, but he’ll be a constant headache off it.

Meanwhile, the Yanks have reportedly inked Boomer Wells to an incentive-laden minor-league deal, and are still interesting in signing OF Kenny Lofton (feh). The Mets made a big splash today by nabbing the latest Japanese star import, Kaz Matsui (though Sheffield and the Yanks still managed to grab the backpages). Does this deal make sense for the Mets? Rob Neyer thinks that there is reason to be leery.

Rich Lederer interviewed Mike Carminati this past weekend over at Rich’s Weekend Baseball BEAT. The interview is in two parts (part one, and part two), and it is highly entertaining. Mike C and Rich both share a passion for baseball history as well as a talent for analysis. Don’t miss this one.

While you are at it, stop by and check out the latest edition of Mudville Magazine, brought to you by Peter Schilling and friends. Essential reading for sure.

The Yankees offered arbitration to David Wells, Andy Pettitte and Gabe White last night, and also re-signed Ruben Sierra to a one-year contract. The Atlanta Braves did not offer arbitration to Gary Sheffield (or Greg Maddux). Expect Sheffield to be announced as the newest Yankee this week.

Meanwhile, the Mets are expected to announce the signing of Kaz Matsui as early as today.

Red Sox fans must feel torn. Their owner has had direct communication with Alex
Rodriguez, who is widely considered to be the best player in the game. The two are trying to work out a deal that would send A Rod to Boston and Manny Ramirez to Texas (they have about a week to work something out). Major League Baseball will apparently help facilitate a trade between the Sox and the Rangers. And of course, Alex Rodriguez is eager to espcape Texas for a baseball-crazed town like Boston. (Somwhere, George Steinbrenner must be smoldering, green-with-envy.)

What is not to love if you are a card-carrying member of Red Sox Nation? Oh, you’d just have to part ways with your own All-Star shortstop, Nomar Garciaparra. Garciaparra does not have the marketing appeal of Derek Jeter or Alex Rodriguez, but he is a class act who has played his entire career in Boston (remember when he gave the Fenway Faithful a standing O after the last home game of the season a few years ago?). He is the Red Sox answer to “The Big Three.” He doesn’t love the Boston media, but he does appear to enjoy playing for Red Sox Nation.

Now, he will be sent packing if the Sox can land Rodriguez. Understandably, Garciaparra, who recently married soccer star Mia Hamm, has hard feelings about what is transpiring. His agent, Arn Tellem told The Boston Globe:

“After all Nomar has done from the first day he stepped on the field for the Red Sox, to wake up on his honeymoon to read the paper and to see that John Henry is in direct talks with A-Rod is a total and complete slap in the face to Nomar,” said Tellem when reached by phone.

“[The Red Sox’] position has been that it’s been more Texas, but, obviously, I believe their statements, in light of their actions, are a bit disingenuous. The fact that John Henry is actually in talks and gotten permission from the commissioner to talk with A-Rod, and is doing it, sort of undermines the Red Sox’ position that this has all been generated by the Rangers and there’s nothing going on.”

…”We’ve had a number of talks and we’ve indicated that Nomar would like to stay, would like to remain with the Red Sox,” said Tellem. “And really, the ball is in their court. I guess they’re at some point going to engage with us. But, obviously, there’s a lot going on that they’re not sharing with us. I think for a player like Nomar, you would expect at a minimum to be treated honestly and with respect. And, in my opinion, that has not occurred.

“I recognize that it’s a business and the Red Sox are going to pursue what’s in their best interest. What’s disappointing to me is that I would hope that they would be forthcoming, and, at least, considerate of Nomar. And again, at least be respectful in the way they treat him, at least be honest in what they’re doing. If they are pursuing this other player, [they should] at least be able to disclose to [Nomar] what their intentions are. To come out like it has, I think, is extremely disappointing and hurtful to Nomar. No one’s drawing lines in the sand because of their actions, but I can say it doesn’t help or make it easier.”

I wonder how Red Sox fans feel about all of this. Losing Nomar and adding Alex, you are going from great to greatest. (This is what you call “a good problem to have.”) Sentiments be damned. It’s just business, Nomie. Or to quote the last line in “Chinatown,” Arn Tellem should put his shoulder around Garciaparra and tell him, “It’s Beantown, Jake.”

Do the Red Sox recieve preferential treatment from Bud Selig and the suits at MLB? Just a few weeks ago, the Sox were granted an extension to negotiate with Curt Shilling promting this response from Mike C:

It was disconcerting to see Bud Selig extending the deadline for the trade to Saturday. I know that the trade was completed on Friday, and now Theo Epstein is being heralded as the genius du jour. But it seems that Bud is incapable of going out of his way to help his cronies in Boston.

Whether it’s laundering a player in baseball-owned Montreal before turning him over to the Sox (Cliff Floyd) or rescuing a player from a contract he’s already signed with a professional Japanese team so that the Sox can sign him (Kevin Millar), the commish just has to get involved in John Henry’s business. Epstein, who may not be old enough yet to rent from Avis in some states, apparently is a genius who still needs to have the training wheels on his bike.

Now, MLB appears willing to help the Red Sox land Alex Rodriguez. According to The Boston Globe:

In a breakthrough that could hasten a historic swap of baseball’s only $20 million-a-year superstars, Red Sox principal owner John W. Henry has scheduled a high-stakes meeting this week with Alex Rodriguez and his agent, Scott Boras, about restructuring the MVP shortstop’s extravagant contract to clear the way for a trade involving Manny Ramirez, industry sources said yesterday.

Henry and Rodriguez recently held at least a preliminary discussion after the Sox received permission from commissioner Bud Selig to waive a rule prohibiting teams from discussing business with players under contract, according to a highly placed baseball official.

…One reason Selig may have approved such a rare negotiation between Henry and Rodriguez is Major League Baseball’s preference for A-Rod, one of the sport’s most magnetic personalities, to escape the obscurity of Texas and play on the big stage in Boston.

Peter Gammons reports that this deal is about Rangers owner Tom Hicks, and Boston’s owner John Henry, along with Alex Rodriguez and his agent, Scott Boras. Clearly, A Rod is going to have to bend

New York is covered in snow today. But baseball is still on the front burner here on the east coast. With the winter meetings one week away , the Red Sox are hot on the trail of Alex Rodriguez. What started as wild speculation is now becoming a real possibility. According to Lee Sinins:

Red Sox owner John Henry met with Alex Rodriguez yesterday.

Under MLB rules, the Redsox needed permission from both the Rangers and the
commissioner’s office in order to talk to him. There is a lot of
speculation that the meeting is a sign that a trade is close.

Where does that leave Nomar? Well, The Boston Globe reports that both the Dodgers and Angels have strong interest in Garciaparra. Looks like Theo Epstein is looking to give Red Sox fans a Christmas gift of a lifetime.

I will gladly join the throng of Yankee fans throwing up their hands in despair if the Bombers sign Kenny Lofton to replace Bernie Williams in center. If Williams becomes a full-time DH, what does that do to Giambi, who will need a spell from the rigors of playing the field every now and again? (Don’t laugh.) I would understand it if they signed a good defensive outfielder to back up Matsui and Bernie. I would understand it if Williams is a part-time DH and part-time left fielder too.

But I can’t help but notice just how little respect Bernie seems to command. I understand that he is older than Jeter and more of a liability in the field at this stage in his career, but isn’t it interesting how ready people are to simply stick Bernie into the DH role while Yankee fans are offended by the mere mention of moving Jeter to third? Bernie is not Chad Curtis. This is the senior-ranking member of this Yankee team we’re talking about. I wonder how he feels about not playing the field anymore? I also wonder if anyone has spoken to him about any of this? With all due respect to Jeter’s place in team history, Williams is a four-time gold glover (even if he was overrated in his prime), who has gotten on base more than Jeter and hit for more power than Jeter has. A little respect is in order.

Speaking of craziness, check out Bambino’s Curse, for the latest A Rod-to-Boston rumor. It’s a pip.

Larry Mahnken and Aaron Gleeman have excellent takes on the Vasquez-Johnson deal. Like many Yankee fans, Larry is sad to see Nick go, but thinks the Yankees made a good trade, while Aaron thinks both teams benefited from the deal.

David Pinto responded to my post this morning. He writes:

Where I would disagree with Alex’s analysis is that the Yankees don’t have to crash and burn. As an example of this, I’ll point to Atlanta. Every year, Atlanta seems to be able to point to their weaknesses and address them. And every year (expect 1994) they’ve won the division. They don’t let the team get old and stale. They improve with a combination of free agent signings (Pendelton, Sheffield) and bring up youngsters (Justice, Millwood, Lopez, Furcal, Giles). And they don’t seem to destroy their farm system doing it either. If everything works out, the Yankees win the division again this year. But Jeter, Williams, Giambi and Posada become bigger question marks every year health wise. It doesn’t take much bad luck to see those four hurt , and then where is the offense?

I agree the moves the Yankees are making aren’t as bad as the moves they made in the 80’s, but I think the treadmill is moving, and it possible that it will reach high speed very quickly.

I agree with David that the Yankes don’t have to crash and burn. Personally, I wish they wouldn’t. However, I’m just looking at this from a realistic point of view. Why bring common sense into the equation? History tells us that Steinbrenner doesn’t function in a rational world. George is not going to change his spots this late in the game. If anything, he might become increasingly frantic as he gets older. It’s true that his deals for Mondesi and Boone already indicate a return to his impetuous ways of the eighties. Still, we aren’t at the point of no return just yet. Perhaps, we will be soon as David suggests. I can’t dispute that. In the meanwhile, the Yankees will still be a very good team. They may even win another championship. But what goes up must come down, and they Yanks will eventually fall from grace. And when they fall, they will fall hard. Hey, every dog has his day, right?

Earlier this week Buster Olney wrote a column about how George Steinbrenner is up to his old tricks once again and that the 2003-04 Yankees are starting to resemble the Yankee teams of the 1980s:

It all seems familiar. From 1976-1981 — a period of six years — the Yankees had dominant pitching, with Sparky Lyle and Ron Guidry and Goose Gossage and Catfish Hunter, won two World Series and played in two others and made the playoffs every year but one. Steinbrenner asserted even greater control, lured free agents, stripped the farm system. By 1983 the Yankees had a lineup of Roy Smalleys and Steve Kemps, aging hitters who had seen their best years, and by 1986 the Yankees’ leading starter was Dennis Rasmussen, an 18-game winner; no other pitcher won 10 games.

After the Yankees traded for Javier Vasquez yesterday, I heard many fans bemoan the fact that in trading Nick Johnson, the Yankees are in fact headed back to the dark ages of the eighties. First of all, dark is a relative term: while the Yankees didn’t make the playoffs between 1982-1994, they weren’t terrible for all of those years. Plus fifteen years is a drop in the bucket for a Cubs fan or a Sox fan or even a Phillies fan. Hey, when was the last time the Mariners were in the World Serious? Secondly, I don’t think the Yankees will spin back that far so long as Joe Torre is managing the team. (We’ll talk again next year.)

We’re headed back to the dark ages. Is this true? Well, yes and no. Indeed George has taken control of player transactions in a way that he hasn’t in a long time (anyone paying attention could see this going down from jump last winter when Steinbrenner bashed Jeter in the papers). But what else would you expect him to do? Did anyone actually believe that King George would go out quietly, with humility and dignity? Who do you think we are dealing with here? Gene Autry?

Now that Steinbrenner is spending cash freely and loading up on free agents like Gordon, Quantrill and Sheffield, Yankee fans are reminded of the shopping sprees of the eighties. The team is getting older, and more expensive, but I think that it is premature to think that this is the 1982 Yankees. The Yankee teams in the 1980s did not have Mariano Rivera, or a starting rotation with the likes of Mike Mussina, Javier Vasquez, and (hopefully) Andy Pettitte.

I checked in on some of the old Bill James Abstracts last night and found a few interesting excerpts regarding the old Yankee philosophy. In the early part of the decade, the Yankees, like many teams simply misunderstood what their needs were:

Whenever you talk yourself into thinking that you need a player that’s when you pay too much for him. And that’s what George has been doing in the last few years.

Hello, Davey Collins. James writes that the approach Steinbrenner took during the first free agency period of 1976-1981 worked out better:

Ignore the needs of your team, ignore the strengths and weaknesses of the players available. Just identify the best player out there, and go after him.

…What I’m saying is this: Great players’ careers are relatively much less vulnerable to fluctuations in value than are ordinary players’ careers. That’s why great players hang around until they’re 40; if they have a bad year, they still have value. There is a security in them.

from the 1984 Baseball Abstract

Hello, Gary Sheffield. Obviously by the end of the decade, things had gone terribly wrong for the Yankees:

The New York Yankees are trapped on a treadmill. Although they have not won anything since 1981, the Yankees have the best winning percentage of any team during the decade, or should I turn that around: although they have the best winning percentage of any team during the eighties, the Yankees have not won anything since 1981. They are acutely aware of this, and so the winter of 1987-1988 was spent in frantic preparations to make the 1988 season the season in which the great nucleus of this team is surrounded by a cast good enough to lift the Yankees off of that 85-to 92-win treadmill, and onto the championship rung. There is an irony in this, for it is exactly this philosophy that creates the treadmill from which the Yankees are so anxious to escape.

…The Yankees don’t believe in staying with a young pitcher or a young player through the bad stretches; they want everybody to succeed now. When a young player goes through a down phase or when a veteran has an off year, the Yankees give up on him. The pressure, the fear of making a mistake and getting shipped immediately to Columbus, inhibits the development of young players, and in many cases flatly destroys them. That means that over a period of time, nobody on the roster is getting better, while some people are getting worse. To keep from slipping back, you have to keep bringing in new taletn, players who are on the top of their game. That drives the treadmill. But when the treadmill starts to gain on you, when you start to slip back toward the middle of the pack, what do you do? You turn up the power, of course. You bring in more players who are coming off of good years. You put more pressure on the players. You give up more quickly on the kid who has a couple of bad outings. So then the treadmill runs faster.

…The problem with the Yankees is that they never want to pay the real price of success. The real price of success in baseball is not the dollars that you come up with for a Jack Clark or a Dave Winfield or an Ed Whitson or a Goose Gossage. It is the patience to work with young players and help them develop. So long as the Yankees are unwilling to pay that price, don’t bet on them to win anything.

From the 1988 Baseball Abstract

Does any of this feel familiar? Yes, the Yankees have essentially given up on developing players for the next few years. The players they have developed are now veterans. But the old Columbus shuttle isn’t as frequent as it used to be. If this were the old days, Jeff Weaver’s head would be spinning more than Jim Beattie’s did. Yes, George is acquiring proven stars to lead the way, a ploy that ultimately failed during the eighties. But from what I can tell, the Yankees are doing a relatively good job of identifying their needs. They needed a right fielder, and are going after the best–OK, maybe the second-best–one available. They needed to upgrade their bullpen, and went out and signed Gordon and Quantrill (who are a far cry from the likes of Osuna and Acevado). They need starting pitching, they traded for Javier Vasquez.

I don’t see a Steve Kemp or a Jack Clark yet, although if they sign Kenny Lofton he would fit that category just fine.

The Yankees have sacrificed their prospects to win now, and guess what? They’ve been to six of the last eight World Serious’ and have won four of them. That’s got to come at a price. You can’t have everything. The Yankees can’t stay on top forever. One year, gasp, they will actually miss the playoffs. I don’t know that it will be in 2004, but it’s bound to happen. George isn’t just going to sit back and say, “OK, we made the Serious this year, let’s take a few steps back and build for the future.” This man is in his seventies, and desperately wants to win another title or three before he leaves us.

No, the Yankees will have to crash out of playoff contention, and suffer through some hard times before they start to rebuild their farm system again. The best way for this to happen on George’s watch may be to get the old man suspended again.

Things go in cycles. I empathize with the panic that Yankee fans must be feeling, but they need to relax. As John Harper correctly points out, yesterday’s trade was proof that Brian Cashman still exerts a degree of influence over his boss:

This was something of an anti-Steinbrenner deal that’s all about solid baseball evaluation, not marquee value. It’s also a deal for which The Boss surely will put GM Brian Cashman on trial, pending the results.

Chances are Steinbrenner had barely heard of Vazquez before his baseball people identified him as a target this offseason. Curt Schilling is more Steinbrenner’s idea of a big catch, which is at least partly why he was so furious when the Red Sox got him.

…As a result, one person with knowledge of the Yankees’ internal discussions said yesterday that Cashman, with the support of superscout Gene Michael, had to do a hard sell on Steinbrenner to convince him that Vazquez was the way to go.

…”[Cashman] gave (Steinbrenner) a lot of numbers on Vazquez to show how good he could be for the Yankees,” the person close to the situation said yesterday. “He made the point that Vazquez is still getting better, and that he’ll be twice the pitcher he was with Montreal because he’ll have more run support. (Cashman) did his homework on the guy.”

I heard a lot of Yankee fans crying yesterday about how losing Nick Johnson is the sign of the end. “We’re headed back to oblivion.” Can you imagine how we must sound to other fans around the country who would kill to have these kind of problems? The Yankees were not going to retain the classy chemistry of the ’96-’01 team indefinetly, and I think that may be what is so upsetting to Yankee fans. But instead of living in a fantasy world and believing that the Yankees were going keep the David Cone-Paulie O spirit alive forever, we should appreciate just how precious and special that team was in a George Universe. Then we can wake up and appreciate that for all of his bluster, for all of his arrogance, George Steinbrenner is once again putting together a very good team for 2004. I urge Yankee fans to enjoy the spirit of the season and be thankful for what we have and not complain about what we don’t have.

My man Christian Ruzich has a cinematic take on the Yankee-Expos deal. It’s “lol” as they say in cyberspace.

I’m sure that as festive as the off-season has been thus far for us in the northeast, fans around the country aren’t necessarily moved by the Yankee-Red Sox rivalry (not to mention the moves the Phillies have been making). Good thing that we are generally too self-absorbed and self-aggrandizing to care what the rest of the country thinks. On that note, David Pinto and Edward Cossette discuss a good article by Howard Bryant of The Boston Herald which accuses the Red Sox of being the evil twin of the New York Yanks.

David also has an interesting comparison between Flash Gordon and Paul Quantrill that you should check out. And Jay Jaffe has a tremendous piece of work on how the Yankees should build their starting rotation (one that will evidently need updating as of this afternoon).

According to Lee Sinins, the Expos have called a 2:00 press conference to announce a major move. ESPN is reporting that the Expos have traded Javier Vasquez to the Yankees in exchange for Nick Johnson, Juan Rivera, and a third player, believed to be southpaw reliever Randy Choate.

Is there any surprise that MLB is trying to make news on the day that Barry Bonds is due to tesitfy in court? I don’t know, is there any surprise that the Yankees made the deal on the day that the Red Sox introduced their new manager? You do the math.

And what about Sheff? Gary is talking the talk (like the straw that stirs the drink) in an interview with USA Today. This should end all speculation about whether or not he’ll be in New York next year:

“We’re not going to lose, you can be assured of that,” Sheffield said. “(Yankees owner) George (Steinbrenner) didn’t even bring up the Red Sox during our talks. I don’t think they’re even a concern to him.

“He just kept talking about how bad he wants to win more World Series championships. The Red Sox can say what they want, but look at us. Who’s going to beat us? Nobody.

“I know I speak my mind, but I don’t just talk the talk, I walk the walk. And if we don’t win the World Series, everybody can come and see me first, because I’ll take the blame.”

…”I really thought the final chapter of my story in baseball would end wearing a Braves’ cap, but I think there would have been a little piece missing, not knowing what it’s like playing in New York, and with George and the Yankees.

“I know there’ll be more criticism. I know the expectations will be great. But there’ll be no more pressure in New York that I don’t already put on myself.”

Sheffield has not been introduced as a Yankee yet, and he’s already talking like Reggie Jackson. This is not Paulie O’s Yanks anymore, in case you hadn’t noticed. Red Sox fans must be licking their chops; with Clemens gone, at least there will be one easy target for them hate in New York (as if they needed an excuse).

More later…

According to a report in The New York Times, Gary Sheffield will be wearing Yankee pinstripes next year, but the Bombers could wait until as late as next week to announce the deal. They have yet to officially introduced Tom Gordon or Paul Quantrill as the newest members of the Yankee bullpen, but they did announce that they had signed left-handed specialist Felix Heredia to a two-year deal (John Flaherty has also been resigned to a one-year deal to be Jorge Posada’s backup, a move that will continue to vex those who think the Bombers make horrible choices with utility players).

Steve Karsay, who is in Tampa working-out said that Sheffield was around the Yankees complex yesterday. Jeff Weaver, who had been working with pitching guru and Friend-of-George Billy Conners this fall before Conners had heart surgery last week, has made some adjustments to his delivery. According to the Times:

Weaver said in a telephone interview that Connors altered his arm angle, telling him he had been throwing sidearm too often and swinging his leg too far behind him in his delivery. Weaver was relieved to find a mechanical cause for his struggles.

“It’s like if you practice a bad golf swing over and over, you’re not going to really notice what you’re doing after a while,” he said. “I was throwing sidearm for so long, I didn’t even realize I was down so low and really dropping my head.”

Somewhere in Florida, Pat Jordan must be thinking, “Well, it’s about time.” Late this summer Jordan told me:

Iíd raise [Weaver’s] arm level about 45% and have him thrown 3/4 overhand, instead of that side arm shit that he throws. If he got his arm up, and was throwing 93, 94 miles an hour

Mike C over at Baseball Rants is one of the great baseball historians in the blogging community. Stop by and catch his latest on the new Hall of Fame ballot. Mike isn’t alone, as Rich Lederer is right up there with him. Rich has a nice tribute to Warren Spahn up at Rich’s Weekend Baseball BEAT (not for nothing, but Mike C is due up next in Rich’s interview series with bloggers).

Here is a good passage from “On the Run,” Maury Wills’ autobiography:

I refuse to get upset with modern ballplayers who can’t bunt or run the bases. They said the same things when I was playing.

So it doesn’t drive me nuts to got to a game and see players who can’t execute fundamentals. There were only a handful of players when I played who could do the little things like bunting properly. The game hasn’t really changed that way. Managers get made because someone didn’t sacrifice a man over, but very few managers insist that their players learn to bunt.

…They don’t have a column in the papers to tell who’s leading the league in sacrifice bunts. You don’t see guys demand that their salaries be doubled because they lead the league in sacrifice bunts. There’s not glory for bunters. All bunting does is win ballgames.

…Learning to bunt takes a lot of time. The manager ends up assuming that some guys can do it and others can’t and he leaves it at that. You have to have time for infield practice. You have to have time for batting practice, the great priority. You have time for all that other stuff, but you don’t have time for bunting.

If Wills wasn’t a great bunter, odds are that he would not have lasted in the big leagues too long, no matter how fast he was. I think he makes a good point about bunting. Think Frank Howard or Rocky Colavito were ace bunters?

Gary Sheffield is still not a Yankee, and who knows if and when he will come to the Boogie Down (though I suspect he eventually will). There is a new member of the Yankees today though. According to Peter Gammons, reliever Paul Quantrill has signed a two-year deal worth $6.8 million. I remember not looking forward to seeing Quantrill come out of the pen when he pitched with Toronto a few years back. But as David Pinto points out, Quantrill is a groundball pitcher moving to a team with a mediocre defense. My man Cliff isn’t too thrilled with either Flash Gordon or Quantrill.

The Yankee bullpen is improving and I’m sure there will be much ink devoted to how much money the Bombers are spending on their relief corps. (You can just see the snide remarks about how the Yankee bullpen costs as much as the total payroll of some teams. Mike Lupica, can you hear me knocking?)

As for the Kevin Brown-for-Jeff Weaver scenerio, it seems to be a lot of hooey. The New York Post says the deal is not likely to go down, at least not as it is presently structured. The Dodgers could be interested in moving Brown for a hitter, and the L.A. Times says that the 39-year old righty would be open to being dealt.

Lastly, David Pinto has a link to an interesting article on New York’s favorite imported monster, Godzilla Matsui, who talks about his first year in the Major Leagues.

Jon Weisman, over at Dodger Thoughts, thinks swapping Kevin Brown for Jeff Weaver makes sense for L.A.:

Brown is a significant injury risk with a huge salary on a pitching-rich team. Especially with the ownership in transition, they would be eager to add flexibility to the payroll. Moreover, he is the symbol of the misguided excess of the failed Kevin Malone “Bring ’em on” era. If the team can trade the other symbol of the Fox era, Gary Sheffield – which they did fairly easily – they could and should absolutely trade Brown. He is Cisco stock purchased at $80 a share.

Of course, Jon would be love to see Nick Johnson thrown in the deal too, but he’ll settle for Jeff Weaver. I don’t see how a one-for-one deal would go through. Right now, it seems like a whole lot of wishful thinking. But it’s good to know that Yankee fans aren’t alone in wanting to see this trade made.

There is no question as to who is running the Hot Stove Show in New York, reports Buster Olney. That’s right, the Boss of Bluster himself, George M. Steinbrenner. Olney thinks this is a bad sign for Yankee fans.