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January 31, 2007

The Value Of "Bernie The RH-DH" In 2007

It's been suggested that Bernie Williams could be a useful DH for the Yankees in 2007 - against left-handed pitching. Since Giambi struggles against LHP - maybe Bernie can be an asset in this role?

The last 4 seasons, against right-handed pitching, Williams has been, basically, a .260-hitter with a slugging percentage near .400. Hence, no one is suggesting that he be allowed to face RH-pitchers with any frequency (at this point in his career).

There is evidence to support the notion that Williams can be an effective batter against lefties. He hit them extremely well last season - and, he did a decent job against them in 2003 and 2004. (Bernie was a bust versus lefties in 2005 - but that now appears to be a fluky thing - considering 2003, 2004 and 2006.)

But, here's the rub: What's the demand/need for a "Faces Lefties Only DH" in the American League these days?

To answer that question, I turned to the Complete Baseball Encyclopedia to see how many good lefties are presently taking toe to the rubber in the Junior Circuit.

First, I looked at AL LHP RSAA Leaders in 2006:

Since "0" RSAA means a pitcher is average, there were only about a dozen "stand-out" LHP in the AL last season - and, since Barry Zito has left the league and Francisco Liriano will miss a lot of time this season, there are only 10 pitchers from this dozen who will be possibly pitching against the Yankees in 2007.

How about AL LHP RSAA Leaders over the last three seasons combined? Here's that list:

OK, so, maybe, based on this list, we can add Mark Buehrle and Gustavo Chacin to the list of 10 from the 2006 cut - bringing the total back up to a dozen tough LH-pitchers who live in the American League.

Nine of these twelve pitchers are starting pitchers. It's in starts against these guys where you would want Bernie in there (as opposed to, say, Giambi) as your DH this season. However, how many games would we really be talking about here? Maybe something like 16 games over the full season - where the Yankees may actually face these tough LH-starters? If it is 16 games, that's less than 10% of the season.

Is it worth carrying a player on your roster who will only be a beneficial impact to your team, as a starter, for less than 10% of the season? Sure, maybe it could be - if that player can also help you off the bench as well? If such a player could be used as a key defensive replacement and/or pinch runner, then he could be an asset to your team when he's not starting.

Now, we are talking about Bernie Williams - who (at this stage of his career) will not only "not help" you in the field or on the bases, but, he "will hurt" you if used in these situations.

Therefore, Bernie Williams only use to the Yankees in 2007 would be to start as a DH in about 10% of the teams games. There has to be someone else who can be given that roster spot who will help the team in more games this season. Carrying Bernie Williams as a "Faces Only LHP" DH this season makes no sense.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 10:20 PM | Comments (12)

The New Boss Offers Some Opinion

Steve Swindal speaks, via mlb.com -

With Steinbrenner unavailable, Swindal fielded questions regarding the 2007 Yankees as they approach Spring Training and seemed very enthusiastic about the team's offseason moves.

"I think we've improved ourselves -- the bullpen certainly, the starting pitching, I'm very optimistic that we're going to be in the thick of things," Swindal said. "That's our goal every year, to get to the World Series. We've come up short the last couple of years, but it's not for a lack of trying. I'm feeling very confident that we'll get there this year.

"Anything short of getting to the World Series is disappointing."

Swindal was also asked about the future of outfielder Bernie Williams, who reportedly has been offered an invite to Spring Training. Considering the possible end of Williams' 16-year tenure with the Yankees seemed to tug at Swindal just a bit.

"It's up to our baseball people to make that decision but I'll tell you, he has contributed so much to the success of this franchise and the run we had," Swindal said. "You can't underestimate how important he has been to us."

Anything short of getting to the World Series is disappointing.

Can we just stop saying that already? It's starting to get as old as the YMCA dance by the Yankee Stadium grounds-crew.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 03:44 PM | Comments (6)

Will Torre Let Bernie Bump Melky?

From Jon Heyman -

SI.com has learned that the Yankees have made Williams a standing offer to come to spring training as a non-guaranteed, nonroster invite.

Since this is what I suggested two weeks ago, I'm in favor of this call...or, should I say was in favor?

Now, I'm starting to get concerned about the Torre-factor when it comes to bringing Bernie to camp.

Joe loves Bernie - as he should, considering what Bernie has done for Joe in the past. But, as Torre showed us last season, this is a dangerous thing. Joe put Bernie in CF last year 28 times - which was probably about 20 times too many - because of Torre's thinking of the past instead of the present (when it comes to Williams).

If Bernie comes to Tampa on an invite, and hits well this Spring, would Torre consider sending down Melky Cabrera (who I guess has options) in order to keep Williams on the team? I can almost hear Joe now saying:

"Matsui, Damon, and Abreu never miss a game. With Mientkiewicz now at first and Giambi at DH, it was going to be hard for us to get Melky some regular At Bats. We don't want to have him rust on bench here. At this stage of his career, Bernie's better suited to play once or twice a week than Cabrera....that's why we're sending Melky down to Triple-A when we break camp this year."

Gosh, that would be stupid. It would be as bad as the Yankees decision in 1992 to have Bernie Williams start the season in Triple-A.

I was pretty upset at that call back in 1992. If this happens to Melky in 2007, I think I'm going to be even more upset.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 01:38 PM | Comments (7)

Moose On Pavano, Johnson & Hughes

From Newsday -

"I think he has to be there," Mussina said of Pavano, when asked what the perennially injured righthander had to do to win back his teammates. "I think he has to pitch. I think he has to do his job. Just kind of be the new guy again, is the best way to put it.

"He's been away a long time. He's come and gone for periods of time, and he's been real close, and everyone thought he was coming back and he didn't. So he's got to earn some trust from some players again, from a coaching staff and a manager and an organization.

"But if he can do it, we know he can pitch, and we know he can get people out. If he gets over those other hurdles, he'll be an asset."

Asked if he was surprised that the Yankees traded Johnson, Mussina replied: "I guess yes and no. He doesn't seem like he has a lot of fun pitching in New York, and he certainly wears it on his sleeve. Even as poorly as he pitched, he found a way to win 17 games."

Mussina believes that Johnson never adapted. "I think the expectations in New York - playing for the Yankees, all of the media coverage - the expectations are large," Mussina said. "They're high. Randy, his name is synonymous with 15 strikeouts, 20 wins. When you put on pinstripes, you're expected to do that 35 times a year.

"Realistically, that's not possible, but then again, you can't fight it, either. You have to roll with it, and expect yourself to do well. I think he got a bad taste in his mouth and didn't adjust to it. He had a tough two years of dealing with what he thought was OK, and what everybody else thought wasn't good enough."

From the YesNetwork Site -

Hughes is so coveted that the Yankees refused to include him in any deal at last season's trade deadline, and some think he could steal the No. 5 starter's job with a strong Grapefruit season.

Though Yankees senior vice president of baseball operations Mark Newman said on Tuesday there's a chance that could happen, the Yankees want to see him further develop in Triple-A, and Mussina agrees.

"I don't think they should be throwing him into the fire at 20 or 21 years old, but he's not very far away," Mussina said. "I hope they let the kid go out there and develop and be a strong major league pitcher when it's time to ask him to be."

I've always felt that one of the best things David Cone did for the Yankees was to be a mouthpiece for the players - always there for the media - so that other players would not be bothered with the chore. Cone was bright and knew what to say, etc., because he had been around (and he knew New York). Mussina has those skills too. It would be nice to see him be more like Cone was, as he's doing here, on a more regular basis.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 09:42 AM | Comments (11)

Less Than 336 Hours Until.....

Pitchers & Catchers report down in Tampa for the Yankees.

Ah, it's just around the corner!

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 09:35 AM | Comments (3)

January 30, 2007

An Ounce of Pitching Is Worth A Pound of Hitting

I decided to run with the question at The Immaculate Inning (today) a bit. The question there was:

How often did the Yankees’ offense “do their job” and score at least five runs in a game? How often did the Yankees’ pitching “do their job” and limit the opposition to four or fewer runs?

Counting up the 2006 numbers, I was able to come up with this grid:

So, the hitters did their job 96 times in 2006. And, the pitchers did their job 81 times in 2006. This tells us that the Yankees pitching/defense did not do their job 50% of the time last year.

Further, there were only 49 games in 2006 where both sides did their job for the Yankees.

Where it gets interesting is where one side failed and the other did not (last year). When the pitchers/defense failed and the hitters did not, the team went 28-19. When the hitters failed and the pitchers/defense did not, the team went 20-12. Both of these marks are very good - but it's still better when the hitters failed as long as the pitchers/defense did not fail.

It does all fall into the common sense bucket:

When you hit and pitch, you win. When you don't hit and don't pitch, you lose. When you hit, and don't pitch, you can still win - but you will win more, even when you don't hit, if you pitch.

Yogi ain't got nothing on me.

Bottom line, these numbers should jump out at you:

The Yankees only lost 12 times last year when the team allowed 4 runs or less. And, when the Yankees allowed 5+ runs in a game last year, they went 28-53 (which is a losing percentage of .655!).

You can hit until the cows come home - but, if you don't pitch, it don't matter (even if you have "Murderer's Row & Cano").

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 11:25 PM | Comments (3)

Yanks Ask Melk To Shut It Down

From the AP:

Yankees outfielder Melky Cabrera will skip the Caribbean World Series at the team's request so he can rest up for next season.

Cabrera played the last part of the winter league season in the Dominican Republic and participated in the playoffs, said Mark Newman, the Yankees' senior vice president of baseball operations.

"We've asked that he shut it down at this point. It's been a long year for him," Newman said Tuesday on a conference call to discuss the team's top prospects. "We thought he needed some rest."

Six days in early February is going to make a difference (in terms of rest)? This is strange.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 10:27 PM | Comments (12)

TI^2: Did Your Job Stat

Over at The Immaculate Inning, mehmattski (with the help of some others) is running a very interesting study on how consistent a team is...as they put it:

How often did the Yankees’ offense “do their job” and score at least five runs in a game? How often did the Yankees’ pitching “do their job” and limit the opposition to four or fewer runs?

To answer the question, The Immaculate Inning is using a measure called Did Your Job Stat (DYJS).

If I'm reading the chart there correctly, the Yankees were best in the majors in terms of "Did The Job Offense" - but they were 22nd in the major is terms of "Did The Job Defense." I wonder how much of that was Randy Johnson?

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 05:06 PM | Comments (2)

Roger & Andy

No, not that Roger & Andy.....

I just came across a great story from seven years ago - about Roger Maris and Andy Strasberg (who was a fan). If you've never heard the tale, it's worth checking out.

I know someone, a fan, who has developed a similar relationship with a current Yankees great. So, it's possible that something like this can still happen today.

The key, to me, is that the ballplayer needs to be down-to-earth and classy. In the case of my friend today, I know the player is a good guy.

Sounds like Maris was a good guy too - unlike what some may have thought to be otherwise.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 02:26 PM | Comments (6)

Will The Love Swell Up For Alex?

I heard on the radio this morning that Phil Simms has recently said that, in his opinion, current and former NFL players are all rooting for Peyton Manning to get a ring this Sunday - because they respect the way he carries himself and goes about his work, etc.

Yeah, you know where this is going....

If the Yankees make the World Series this season, do you think Orel Hershiser or some other former star turned broadcaster will come out and say that he thinks current and former baseball players are all rooting for Alex Rodriguez to get a ring?

I don't think that will happen.

It would be nice if I can tell you that this won't happen because there is a difference in the way Manning and Rodriguez conduct themselves, etc. But, I don't know enough about Manning to confirm that opinion.

It's just a gut feeling - as to why I think it won't happen. Maybe I'm wrong? What do you think? Should A-Rod get that support from his peers? Will he? Use the comments section here to share your thoughts.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 12:27 PM | Comments (9)

Yanks and More

There's a relatively new Yankees blog on the scene: Yanks and More.

If you stop by, tell them that WasWatching.com sent ya!

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 09:53 AM | Comments (8)

Clemens: "Call Me."

From The Daily Texan -

Someone ought to give Roger Clemens a call - namely his former Houston Astros, New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox teammates.

The seven-time Cy Young Award winner isn't sure if or where he will pitch this season, but the decision may come down to who's on the other end of the line.

"If somebody makes a phone call, and I think I can do it again physically, I probably could," the former Texas Longhorn said Saturday after throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at the school's alumni game at the Dell Diamond.

"The only reason why I'd continued to play was because of my teammates calling me," he said. "Guys made the phone call to get me back out of the house to play."

"I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. I'll make that decision when it comes," Clemens said. "I'm in good shape, but I'm nowhere near baseball shape. Mentally, it's going to be another challenge for me."

Click here to see a photo of Clemens throwing the ceremonial first pitch at the Texas alumni game last Saturday at the Dell Diamond in Round Rock.

It looks like he can afford to lose 20 pounds. Time to break out the B-12 shots?

In any event, I wonder if any Yankees are working the phones to get Rocket to come out and play?

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 09:29 AM | Comments (3)

January 29, 2007

Art Fowler Passes

From the Times:

Art Fowler, who became George Steinbrenner’s sixth, ninth, 17th and 26th Yankees pitching coach in a turbulent baseball pairing with his often hired and fired manager and drinking buddy Billy Martin, died yesterday in Spartanburg, S.C. He was 84.

Ron Guidry, reflecting on his days as an active pitcher when Fowler was his coach, once said: "Every time he'd come out there [to the mound], I'd say, `Art what am I doing wrong?' and he'd always tell me, `I don't know, Ron, but you're (getting) Billy (angry).'"

That's how you get to reach age 84 - keeping life simple. Fowler knew what he was doing.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 11:48 PM | Comments (0)

New Look To The Site

I decided to go with an image file instead of just text for the banner here. If a million people hate it, I might change it back. Otherwise, it's staying. If you have any feedback on the new look, please share it here. Thanks.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 02:29 PM | Comments (35)

Move Over Marv Gomez, Alberto Gonzalez Is The New Leather Man?

Kevin Goldstein at BP lists his verison of the Yankees Top Ten Prospects -

Excellent Prospects

1. Philip Hughes, rhp
2. Jose Tabata, rf

Very Good Prospects

3. Joba Chamberlain, rhp
4. Humberto Sanchez, rhp
5. Dellin Betances, rhp

Good Prospects

6. Kevin Whelan, rhp

Average Prospects

7. Tyler Clippard, rhp
8. J. Brent Cox, rhp
9. Ian Kennedy, rhp
10. Alberto Gonzalez, ss

Sticking on #10, Baseball America recently said this about Alberto Gonzalez:

He's a tremendous defensive shortstop with well above-average range and a strong arm. Though he has improved offensively, he doesn't offer much in the way of power, speed or walks. He spent most of 2006 in Double-A, hitting .290/.356/.392 with six homers and 50 RBIs in 129 games. If it all works out, he could become an Adam Everett-type player.

Man, if he is "Adam Everett good" with the leather, then, maybe it's time to think about my plan from last November with a small tweak: How about moving A-Rod to 1B, Jeter to 3B, and letting Alberto Gonzalez play SS once he proves himself at Triple-A?

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 11:43 AM | Comments (24)

Upset Over MLB's DirecTV Plan?

FYI, those Yankees fans who are getting the short end of it because of MLB's call to make Extra Innings packages an exclusive of DirecTV will want to check out this link to BaseballMusings.com - it leads to an e-mail address that you can use to let MLB know how you feel on this.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 11:16 AM | Comments (0)

Schilling: I Would Not Play For The Yanks

From the Boston Globe -

Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling said this morning on Boston sports radio station WEEI that he will not retire from baseball at the end of this season, as he previously had planned.

"I will play in 2008," were the words Curt Schilling told Red Sox Nation this morning on WEEI.

His contract with the Red Sox ends after this season.

"Where I'm going to play beyond 2007, I hope it's Boston, but I will go out and find a home to pitch,” he said. "I hope it's here but there's also that possibility [of pitching for another team]."

Would he consider pitching for the Yankees in 2008?

"It wouldn't be in New York,” Schilling told host Gerry Callahan. "No. I could not make that move."

Guess what Curt: Yankees fans don't want you here. So, we're happy that you could not make that move.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 09:57 AM | Comments (6)

January 28, 2007

The Best New York Sports Arguments: The 100 Most Controversial, Debatable Questions for Die-Hard New York Fans

I've been thumbing through a copy of Peter Handrinos' new book, The Best New York Sports Arguments: The 100 Most Controversial, Debatable Questions for Die-Hard New York Fans.

To be candid, before I opened the book, I was lukewarm on the probability of enjoying this work. This was no reflection on this particular book. More so, it was based on my experiences reading these types of "all-sports" debate books in the past. I'm no longer a huge football fan and I've never been a fan of hoops, hockey, or boxing (which The Best New York Sports Arguments also covers in addition to New York baseball).

However, I am enjoying the heck out of reading The Best New York Sports Arguments.

First of all, Handrinos addresses arguments that I can relate to - even if I'm not a fan of the sports.

For example: Living in the New York area, even if you're not a diehard fan of football, you probably know who Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick are - and can appreciate the debate on who is the best coach? Or, you can know nothing about boxing, but, you'll probably know who Mike Tyson is - and you can enjoy the question of was he ever a great heavy-weight? And, while I've never watched a Knicks game, I understand the question of was Patrick Ewing to blame for them never winning a title while he was there.

This aside, still, I should share that it seems like at least half of the "arguments" in the book are baseball-related. So, perhaps that's why The Best New York Sports Arguments is really winning me over?

In any event, secondly, and more importantly, what I think I am enjoying the most about The Best New York Sports Arguments is that Peter Handrinos is not shy an offering a strong opinion on each of the "arguments" presented in the book. And, while I agree with him on some and disagree with him on others, I am enjoying reading what he has to say on each.

Reading The Best New York Sports Arguments is as if you're sitting in a sports bar, by yourself, and you overhear the guy sitting next to you talking to the bartender about something sports related. And, the topic is something that you find interesting. So, you start to engage the guy when the bartender leaves and you find out that this guy has a lot of entertaining positions on many of the local sports teams, etc. Again, you may not agree with everything that he says, but, since he shares it in a manner that makes you think, it's a good time.

There's plenty Yankees/Sox, Yankees/Mets, A-Rod/Jeter stuff in the book that will appeal to Yankees fans. And, you can tell that Handrinos has his favorites in these debates. Still, again, the way he presents his cases are more than just a guy picking his favorite and not having a good reason to back it up.

Since The Best New York Sports Arguments: The 100 Most Controversial, Debatable Questions for Die-Hard New York Fans is a paperback book, it doesn't cost you more than it would to pick up a couple of magazines at the newsstand. At that price, and given it's entertainment value, it's a worthy pick-up for the New York area sports fan who enjoys hearing positions being taken, and therefore getting stimulated themselves, on various New York sports debates.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 03:37 PM | Comments (3)

The Curse Of 2001?

The blog Red Sox Reality Check takes a shot at comparing the Yankees and Red Sox this year. One of the questions that they ask is:

Can the Yankees break the mysterious curse placed upon them in 2001 by a former employee's wife?

This was a new one on me. So, I did some searching - which brought me back to Red Sox Reality Check, where, on October 07, 2006, they wrote:

I traveled to a conference in August and met a former Yankee employee at the most unlikely of places, the Lazy J Ranch not far from Vail. He explained how the Yankees would not win the World Series this year, just as they had failed the past five seasons. George Steinbrenner had fired him not long before the 2001 World Series. He didn't sulk, whine, or complain. His wife cursed the Yankees.

I have no idea who this former employee could be...and if you're reading this and you do, please let me know. In any event, in searching, I did find this theory (from 2005) for the Yankees post-2000 blues: The Carpetbagger Curse - here's how it goes:

Could the fortunes of the storied New York Yankees be tied to the tenure of Hillary Rodham Clinton (D) in one of New York’s Senate seats?

Here are the facts: Clinton, elected in 2000, took office in January 2001. The Bronx Bombers last won a championship in 2000 and have endured a five-year dry spell since, despite making the playoffs every year. Most recently, they lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Anaheim/Los Angeles Angels.

Coincidence? Some think not. As James Taranto of The Wall Street Journal’s GOP-leaning OpinionJournal blog put it last week, “This is known as the ‘Carpetbagger Curse’ — though at least it’s not as bad as Boston’s ‘Curse of the Bambino,’” which allegedly deprived the Red Sox of a title for 86 years.

For further perspective, we turn to Kevin Madden, spokesman for Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas) and one of the Hill’s notable Yankees fans, to say nothing of his status as a rare Republican from the New York metro area.

“A theory that sturdy has GOTTA be true,” Madden wrote us. “We have the bats, we have the pitching and we have the best manager in baseball. But having a Chicago Cubs fan who is also a Democrat serving as one of New York’s senators is like tying a brick to a cinder block. We need to defeat her in 2006 and get back to winning championships and getting real leadership in the Senate.”

To be fair, however, Clinton has long said that growing up, the Yankees were her American League team of choice.

Yet, however strong or weak the theory, some quick research reveals that this isn’t the first episode of “carpetbagging” that’s coincided with a turn in Yankee fortunes.

From 1960 to 1964, the Yankees made the postseason every year, winning championships in 1961 and 1962. In fact, they missed the playoffs only nine times in the 30 years ending in 1964.

Back then, however, Massachusetts’s own Robert F. Kennedy stepped down as President Kennedy’s attorney general to run for Senate — from New York. He was elected in November 1964 and took office the following January.

The result? No more Yankee postseason trips until 1976.

Finding this, I have to offer now that Hillary has got to go. It may not be fair, or logical, but, better safe than sorry when it comes to dealing with whammies (I always say).

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 10:08 AM | Comments (8)

January 27, 2007

Still Looks Like It's Coming Down To Igawa Vs. Papelbon

Earlier today, I shared Inside the Monster's comments on the Yankees 2007 starting rotation. And, last night, I shared a comparison of the Yankees and Red Sox bullpens (this season) using Ron Shandler's projected 2007 Base Performance Value (BPV) marks to assign some value on each pitcher in the pens.

Thinking about both those items now, I came to the conclusion that it might be fun to look at the projected '07 BPV marks for the starting rotations of the Red Sox and Yankees this season. Here are the numbers:

Mussina - 97, Schilling - 113
Pettitte - 88, Matsuzaka - 110
Igawa - 65, Papelbon - 96
Pavano - 57, Beckett - 69
Wang - 39, Wakefield - 39

This means that the Red Sox rotation projects out to having better skills than the Yankees rotation.

I'm willing to throw out the "39" for Worm Killer Wang - it's his strikeout rate that probably ruins his BPV projection. And, back in November 2005, I wrote: "I like to believe that Wang has the stuff to whiff hitters, via 93 MPH gas, it's just that he prefers to get outs quicker with grounders."

Guess what? Ray Murphy (in Shandler's 2007 Forecaster) proves that Worm Killer has a higher K-rate in situations where a whiff is more beneficial than another form of out. So, that sort of backs my belief.

Further, I cannot believe that Papelbon's bullpen "stuff" is going to be the same skills that he'll bring to the mound every five days. There's a big difference between letting it rip for 15-20 pitches three times a week and pacing yourself over 100 pitches once every five days. I expect Papelbon's hit and walk rate to go up, and his whiff rate to go down, as a starter.

So, if you bump up Wang, and knock down Papelbon, it's not a reach to say that it's Wang/Mussina/Pettitte against Matsuzaka/Schilling/Beckett this year - with those groups being pretty even. And, then, for these two teams, it's going to come down to Igawa/Pavano (or someone else) against Papelbon/Wakefield.

This ring a bell? It should - it's what I said last Monday, based on feel, rather than having numbers (like BPV) as a driver.

This is a problem for the Yankees - because the odds of Igawa/Pavano out-pitching Papelbon/Wakefield in 2007 are not good. Pavano and Wakefield is a push of sorts. It's Igawa versus Papelbon that's the big issue (for New York).

The Yankees are going to need an injury to hamper Papelbon and/or for Igawa to sneak up on folks in his first couple of tours around the league. Now, this could happen - but it's not a lock to happen. And, if it does not happen, then the Red Sox will have a better starting rotation this season than the Yankees. It's not a huge edge, but, it's an edge nonetheless.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 11:04 PM | Comments (4)

A-Rod To Make It A Gang Of Four?

Thanks to the readers of WasWatching.com and Lee Sinins, I was able to put together a list of players who joined the Yankees after having a successful playing resume elsewhere. Here's the list (of 67 players):

The next thing I wanted to know, off this list, was "How many of these stars joined the Yankees younger than or equal to age 36 - and went on to play with the Yankees for at least 3 seasons?" Here's the answer:

So, to date, there have been 26 stars in their prime (meaning before reaching their 37th birthday) to join the Yankees - who went on to stay in New York for at least 3 seasons. The next question that came to mind here was "How many of these 26 never won a World Series ring as a member of the Yankees?" Here's the answer to that:

The above 15 are guys who brought their "star" to New York, stayed a good while, and either left or are still there without a ring.

Now, let us assume that Alex Rodriguez plays with the Yankees in 2007 - because he should, at this junction. Should A-Rod leave New York after this season, and the Yankees don't win a ring in 2007, Alex Rodriguez would then become only the 4th "star" to join the Yankees under the age of 30 who would play with the team for at least 4 seasons, and never win a World Series ring while in New York - joining Rickey Henderson, Danny Tartabull and Dave Winfield.

Now, Rickey and Winnie are Cooperstown material - as is A-Rod. That's fine company. However, in terms of a "Yankees-legacy," I'm not sure being in the Rickey-Tartabull-Winfield class is what Alex had in mind when he joined New York.

Of course, winning a ring with the Yankees would make this all moot for A-Rod.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 03:56 PM | Comments (11)

Edelman On Yanks Starters

Inside the Monster, Mike Edelman's Red Sox blog, takes a look at the Yankees starting pitchers (as well as those for the Sox). Here is what he had to say on the Yanks rotation:

Mussina:

Mussina has been injured in each of the past 3 years and has been limited to significantly less innings than was typical of his career before age 35. His age and heavy use work loads throughout his entire career also put him at risk for injury.

Mussina made a mechanics adjustment that he attributed to his succes in early 2006. Something was obviously different as his numbers last year were really very atypical of previous years at a similar age. His numbers began to slip as the season went on which could be an indication of the league adjusting to his new pitching style or may just be due to the wear that forced him onto the DL in the second half.

Wang:

Wang's been a pretty special story so far and managed to come in second in last year's AL Cy Young voting despite a WHIP of 1.31 and a BAA of .277. I guess you can do that though when you have a mid-90's slider that's seemingly impossible for hitters to drive.

Pettitte:

He's been rather healthy of late having pitched 436.2 in the past two years. In the past had trouble coming off 200+ inning seasons and he will be 35 next year but there are no red flags.

Pavano:

Even if he is healthy both mentally and physically next year, it will be hard for him to make 150 innings given how little he's pitched the past 2 years.

Igawa:

He's struggled in the past 3 years and was sent down the minors in 2005 having allowed an ERA of 3.86 (2nd to worst among the team's starters). He was largely criticized by Japanese fans but improved in 2006. He's pitched out of the most extreme pitcher's park in Japan (Koshien Stadium) his entire career. It's the same one that made Hideki Irabu's statistics look misleadingly good prior to his transition to the majors.

I cannot disagree with a single word here. I think Edelman is right on the mark with these comments. As I've said before, the Yankees should be concerned about the back end of their rotation.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 09:04 AM | Comments (9)

Thank You Jeff Weaver?

From the South Bend Tribune -

Jeff Weaver and the Seattle Mariners have just about finalized a one-year contract worth $8,325,000 -- the same salary he had last year.

Only minor details remain for the deal to be worked out, a person familiar with the negotiations said Friday, speaking on condition of anonymity because the deal had not yet been completed.

The 30-year-old right-hander, who helped the St. Louis Cardinals win their first World Series title since 1982, probably will take a physical early next week.

St. Louis had been hoping to re-sign Weaver, who won three games during the postseason.

Could this mean that St. Louis might renew their interest in Carl Pavano?

I hope Cashman makes a few calls on this before he heads off to China.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 08:42 AM | Comments (1)

January 26, 2007

Bronx Pen Better Than Beantown Pen?

On Monday, I suggested that the Yankees and Red Sox bullpens this year would probably add the same value to their teams this season. Since I took some heat for that comment, I decided to look deeper into the numbers.

I decided to use Ron Shandler's projected Base Performance Value (BPV) marks to assign some value on each member of the pens for 2007. BPV aims to reflect, in one number, some fundamental skills used to evaluate a pitcher's performance: K/BB ratio, K/9 IP, HR/9 IP and a pitcher's ability to prevent hits. For relief pitchers, a BPV around 75 is good stuff and anything close to 100 is great.

Here are the numbers:

Hideki Okajima is anyone's guess now. I suppose, at the worst, he could match Mike Myers' BPV projection. Maybe he could rate as high as 75 in '07? More than likely, it will be somewhere in between.

I was surprised to see the BPV projection for Proctor. Last year, his actual BPV was 80. This was 51 in the first-half of 2006 and 121 (!) in the second-half of the season. That projected mark of 57 may turn out to be very low.

In any event, using the BPV projections tells me that I was wrong earlier this week. The Yankees '07 pen has four guys with the potential to be very good and two others who should be acceptable arms. The Red Sox '07 pen has two guys who should be acceptable and four others (being kind and including Okajima here) who might be average at best. In a nutshell, the Yankees pen has a potential ceiling that the Red Sox pen can't even hope to touch at this point - at least on paper.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 10:44 PM | Comments (3)

Keith Law: Yanks Farm Rates

From ESPN.com -

The Yankees have long had the game's biggest payroll, but their farm system has lain fallow for several years, the result of some uninspired draft picks and trades that rid the system of the few prospects who remained. Over the last 18 months, however, the Yanks' system has made a stunning turnaround, going from one of the five worst systems in the game to one of the 10 best.

What sets the Yankees' system apart from most others is the presence of two of the 10 best prospects in baseball, something no other organization can claim.

It's a significant improvement for such a short period of time, and it's very bad news for the other four teams in the AL East.

Ah, Good Rights & Sweet Dreams....

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 01:59 PM | Comments (5)

A-Rod's March To 500

Alex Rodriguez needs 36 more homers to reach 500 for his career. It's very possible that milestone should be reached this season - as it's pretty accepted to project a 40-HR season for A-Rod in 2007.

Thinking about this leads to some questions for me.

How should the Yankees handle career homerun # 500 for Alex should it come at the Stadium? Should they just let the fans react to it, with an announcement on the scoreboard? Or, is this cause for a stop the game, have a moment on the field thing - since there's a good chance that A-Rod would be the youngest player to reach 500 homers?

At this time, I think it makes more sense to just let the fans react, etc. It's not going to help Alex's image to stop the game and stick a microphone in front of him at that moment.

Secondly, is the race to 500 a good thing for the Yankees in 2007? You know that Alex is going to start to press when he hits #499. Anyone who thinks different has not been watching A-Rod over the past year. If it's a close race for the A.L. East, and it's late in the season, do the Yankees really need Rodriguez jumping out at every pitch trying to hit his 500th homer? Won't that just lead to more booing and more pressing?

It will be interesting to see if these questions become a big deal for the Yankees and A-Rod this season. I think it's more likely that they will - rather than they do not.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 01:38 PM | Comments (8)

The Farns For Lieber?

Via BaseballMusings.com, I noticed that The Good Phight suggests a Yankees-Phils trade:

Lieber to the Yankees for RP Kyle Farnsworth

Everybody admires the Yankees' newfound willingness to go with unproven kids at the back of their rotation, but nobody really believes that Joe Torre will start the season with some combination of Kei Igawa, Jeff Karstens, and Philip Hughes in the back of his rotation. (No, I don't see Carl Pavano having a role here; he'll likely strain his glaven in the second week of March, and spend the next six months rehabbing.) Lieber has pitched well for Torre in the past, and with Scott Proctor and newly acquired Luis Vizcaino on hand, Farnsworth is expendable for the Yanks.

Three weeks ago, I suggested that the Yankees should look at Lieber. And, we know that Torre doesn't like Farnsworth's baby-me routine...

Could this suggested trade happen? Considering the issues with the back end of the Yankees rotation, and the depth now in the Yanks pen, it at least makes sense to consider it.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 12:49 PM | Comments (15)

Looking For Yankees Fans Input

I'm preparing for a study and could use some input from my fellow Yankees fans.

Which players, in your opinion, had the best career numbers prior to joining the Yankees?

Note the stress on "prior." This would kick out guys like Red Ruffing and, for most, Paul O'Neill.

Here, I'm looking for the Ruths, Mizes, A-Rods, etc. - and even the Kevin Browns and Jose Cruz Sr.'s.....

Leave your selections in the comments here, or, e-mail them to me: staff (at) waswatching (dot com). Thanks in advance!

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 12:27 PM | Comments (22)

January 2007 Survey Question # 5

If Curt Schilling has a great season in 2007, and if he does not retire and becomes a free agent, should the Yankees look to sign him for the 2008 season?

Update, 1/29/07: This poll is now closed. The people have spoken!

Half of the Yankees fans who answered said they can't stand Schilling, and don't want him. And, overall, 78% who answered said "Just say no to Schilling."

Click on the thumbnail below to see the results:

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 10:45 AM | Comments (8)

Don't Let Pavano Fool You

From The Post -

After spending the winter in Phoenix working out with fitness guru Brett Fischer to reinvent his oft-injured body, Pavano takes the hill today for the first time since suffering a broken rib in an auto accident last August.

However, Pavano said, "I know there is a lot of anticipation. I am willing to talk, but the Yankees want to do a conference call next week.

"I just want to put this [garbage] behind me and talk about performance,'' said Pavano, who hasn't pitched in a big league game since June of 2005 when a right shoulder injury that didn't require surgery shut him down. He missed all of last season with back, elbow and rib problems. "I am sure you are tired of asking about car accidents and broken ribs."

It's interesting that this story is running today - because just last night I started to write something about Pavano here, and, I canned it because I did not want it to seem like I was trying to make news (by bringing up Pavano) on a day when there was no need to talk about a particular player. (Boy, I wish now that I saved it as a draft instead of just deleting it.)

The upshot of what I started to write last night was around what was a reasonable expectation for a season's innings pitched total from Pavano - based on his big league career to date.

Getting more than 137 big league IP from Carl Pavano in a season is a rare thing. Sure, he posted 200+ IP in 2003 and 2004. However, it's a much safer bet to expect less than 140 IP (in a season) from the Duke of the D.L, the Rajah of Rehab, the Prince of the Paycheck-Cashers, or whatever you want to call him.

Based on what we've seen from Pavano, I would say there's a 80% probability that he fails to make more than 20 starts in 2007 - even if he's doing fine now and looks O.K. in the spring. (He's only had 20+ starts in a season 4 times in his 9 year career.)

The Yankees should not allow themselves to get any false hope around Pavano. This is a "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me" situation. Don't be fooled Cash, this one, for sure, will be on you.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 09:22 AM | Comments (9)

January 25, 2007

MLB Asking Yanks To Nail Save For Baseball In China?

From the AP:

Yankees president Randy Levine and general manager Brian Cashman will head a delegation that travels to Beijing next week for meetings that could lead to Major League Baseball establishing an academy in China.

"Everybody thinks that that is a great place to grow the sport of baseball," Levine said Thursday. "There's a real appetite for it. The Chinese want to move forward and expand their talents in the game and really make it a well-known, very active sport."

The team hopes to establish an agreement in which it would send coaches, scouts and player development staff to China, and have representatives of the Chinese Baseball Association come to New York and the team's springtraining complex in Tampa, Fla.

Levine said baseball in China is in the "infancy stages," and that the Yankees had been talking with the CBA for six months and were invited to make the trip.

"We intend to invest some serious man-hours and money in order to make this work," Levine said. "This is paving the way for all teams."

"This is paving the way for all teams."

One question then: Just what happened when baseball tried this two years ago? From a Major League Baseball International's Envoy Program press release made in 2005:

Major League Baseball International and the China Baseball League (CBL) will take the MLB Road Show on a tour of five cities throughout The People's Republic of China from March 4 - April 3, it was announced today. The MLB Road Show is an interactive fan experience that enables participants to learn more about baseball by taking swings in a batting cage, testing their throwing skills in a pitching tunnel and learning about the sport through an interactive media pavilion.

The MLB Road Show will be operated in conjunction with the China Baseball League, and CBL players and coaches will appear at Road Show locations to provide instruction to baseball beginners.

Activities such as the MLB Road Show are part of an agreement announced in November 2003 between MLB and the China Baseball Association (CBA) to enhance the development of baseball in China. As part of the agreement, Major League Baseball has been implementing a variety of game development initiatives in China, including national team development, coaching development, umpire development and youth initiatives geared toward helping school-aged children in China learn and play the game of baseball. In addition, a system was established enabling Major League Baseball Clubs to scout and sign Chinese players to professional contracts.

"Road Show are part of an agreement announced in November 2003 between MLB and the China Baseball Association (CBA) to enhance the development of baseball in China."

So, baseball had a crack at it for three years and now it's up to the Yankees to make it work "for all teams"? I hope Randy Levine gets some serious chips for this one - to cash in when it's time for baseball to do something for the Yankees.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 03:37 PM | Comments (4)

Iggy: More Splat Than Pop?

Via What Japan Thinks:

Last weekend goo Research, in conjunction with Yomiuri Weekly, released the results of a survey into what people thought the coming year may bring. For a week spanning the end of November and the start of December 11,648 members of goo’s online monitor group successfully completed a private internet-based questionnaire.

Here's the part of the survey that caught my eye:

Considering how the Yankees need Igawa to do well this year, this is not great news - even if you have modest expectations on Igawa. Those responding to this survey have probably seen him pitch more than most fans here.

One thing that I did notice seeing some clips of Igawa the other day - he's got a funky way of finishing off his delivery. It's almost as if he's just about ready to finish his delivery, the way you would expect a pitcher would, and then he stops and sort of freezes like he just saw Medusa - leaving his left foot hanging in the air for a second or two - before landing to field his position. If that's his normal delivery, I have no idea if it will help him or hurt him in the United States. It could distract the hitter and/or put him in a position to get smacked with a batted ball. Hopefully it will be more of the former than the latter.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 12:47 PM | Comments (19)

2006 Win Shares Above Bench

Dave Studeman at the The Hardball Times last week detailed a new stat called Win Shares Above Bench, or Baseline - aka "WSAB."

This is a refined approach to Win Shares, in which each player's total Win Shares are compared to the Win Shares an average bench player would have received, given that player's time at bat, on the mound or in the field.

When you look at the 2006 Yankees, in terms of WSAB, you find this:

Notice what happens when you use WSAB rather than total Win Shares.

The distance in the totals between A-Rod and Jeter stay the same. But, Posada and Giambi move closer to Jeter - instead of being 9 or 10 behind (in WS) they're now 6 behind (in WSAB). And, Mike Mussina moves from 18 behind (in WS) to 10 behind (in WSAB).

This does not mean that Derek Jeter was not very valuable to the Yankees in 2006. It's just interesting that WSAB allows guys like Posada, Giambi, and Mussina to close the gap from Jeter whereas it does not for Alex Rodriguez.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 10:32 AM | Comments (7)

Yanked Foul

There's a relatively new Yankees blog on the scene: Yanked Foul.

If you stop by, tell them that WasWatching.com sent ya!

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 10:07 AM | Comments (0)

Words On Waldman

The Pinetar Rag offers some comments on Suzyn Waldman:

Good News Yank fans–they have re-signed former showgirl and Boston native, Suzyn Waldman, to work with Sterling on the radio. So now, when you want a middle aged woman who’s experience was high kicks and jazz hands, to tell you that Randy Johnson isn’t getting “awn tawp of his sloyduh”, you’ll get those valuable insights for another year.

Damn, that's funny.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 10:00 AM | Comments (3)

Fan: Watching Jeter In Bathroom Is Cool

From the St. Petersburg Times -

Stardom reached critical mass at the Hyde Park Cafe in Wednesday's early hours. Another celebrity and it might have collapsed in on itself, birthing an infinitely dense black hole of fame.

Mere mortals orbited outside the curtained-off VIP area. At thin gaps in the gauze, tube-topped women jostled for peeps at basketball legends Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, baseball stars Derek Jeter and Gary Sheffield, golfer Tiger Woods and professional poker player Phil Ivey.

The beautiful people are in town for the fourth annual Derek Jeter Celebrity Golf Classic in Avila this Monday. Last year's event raised $600,000 for Tampa area schools.

Last weekend, Jeter played in Jordan's own charity golf tournament in the Bahamas. Jeter owns a house in Tampa, spring training city for his Yankees.

"The first time I met him, I wasn't nice because he's Jeter," said Boston-born, rival Red Sox fan Peter Hannouche, a co-owner of the nightclub. "But he's the kind of guy who wins you over. He's a class act."

So classy, in fact, that Jeter didn't even deck the young reporter who grabbed his bulky biceps and asked for an interview on Jeter's way out of the club.

"No, man, I ain't talking to no papers right now, man," Jeter said.

[Brett Coover's] friend and co-worker Matty VanHook, 26, saw Jeter in the restroom and witnessed him tipping an attendant.

"It wasn't going to change my outlook on life or anything, but it was definitely a cool happening," VanHook said.

Back in 1981, I had a chance to be a summer laborer at an oil shipping and refinery port. I was just a kid. One of the guys there was at least 40 years older than me and extremely wacky. In many ways, he was like Ernest T. from Mayberry - expect his first name was "Dickie." One day, Dickie comes up to me, out of nowhere, and says "Hey, kid, want a tip?" After I said sure, he said to me "Buy twins beds, you'll never get screwed."

While that information was useful, somehow I think that bathroom attendant got a better tip from Jeter.

When Jeter said "No, man, I ain't talking to no papers right now, man," how many Yankees fans out there thought of the first words Henderson spoke in the Yankee clubhouse back in April 1985? Remember when Rickey said "Don't need no press now, man" to the media?

Good thing Dickie wasn't as shy as Rickey and Jeter - or else I would have missed that great tip.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 09:23 AM | Comments (0)

January 24, 2007

Who Needs An iPod When You Have Yankees News?

First I saw the story at Peter Abraham's blog - then I saw this in the Times:

The Yankees have scheduled a news briefing today to tell about their plans, but all they said yesterday was that it was about an international venture.

A baseball official, not a travel agent, disclosed that the Yankees were going to China next week.

This will be an executive journey — Randy Levine, the Yankees’ president; Brian Cashman, the senior vice president and general manager; and Jean Afterman, vice president and assistant general manager.

They will explore opportunities, both baseball and business. They will establish contacts. They will determine the most likely source of future talent and very likely initiate conversations about future working agreements, like the one they have with the Yomiuri Giants in Japan.

Great, thanks to the Yankees, I started out today with the Black Eyed Peas "My Humps" stuck in my head, and, now, I have Siouxsie and the Banshees "Hong Kong Garden" stuck in my head.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 11:25 PM | Comments (3)

Best Seasons By Yankees Third Basemen

Continuing with the WasWatching.com Yankees "ten best seasons" (ever) series, today we look at third basemen. Here is what I believe are the top ten seasons for Yankees third basemen, with stats via the Complete Baseball Encyclopedia:

Click on the list below for a larger view ~

It should not be a shock to see Alex Rodriguez at the top of this list with his 2004, 2005, and 2006 seasons. Back in September of last season, I gave a clue as to where A-Rod's 2006 season ranked in Yankees history.

What this list does drive home for me is how few "big" offensive seasons there have been by Yankees third-sackers. Just check out the top ten careers by Yankees three-B's:

Click on the list below for a larger view ~

There's not a lot of fire power there in those sticks, huh?

Here's a little trivia for you: Who are the only two RH-batting 3B to ever post 80+ RCAA in a season? A-Rod in 2005 and Al Rosen in 1953. The two "A.R." men are the only righties at the hot corner to do it.

Getting back to that top ten season list, I have to wonder about this: If A-Rod opts out of his contract following 2007, and then Jeter moves to third and plays there for another seven years, Derek Jeter should then go down in history as both the best hitting SS and the best hitting 3B in Yankees history. How many guys can make that claim - to be the best with the stick for one team at two separate positions?

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 10:50 PM | Comments (0)

If You Outlaw Scalping, Then Only Outlaws Will....

...well, you get it. Yankees For Justice had a quick and amusing interview with a Yankees ticket scalph...er...broker yesterday.

Jose is taking a break from his winter job at a South Bronx pizza joint.

“I’m a ticket broker,” he snaps. “I don’t make anyone do anything they don’t want. If you want tickets, I’ve got ‘em. If you don’t, keep walkin’.”

“It doesn’t really matter who they are playing anymore. The Yankees are what people come to see.”

Jose knows the team-specific elasticities of demand for attendance, but, can he make a calzone fit for the Big Stein?

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 04:26 PM | Comments (0)

It's Bernie Williams Day In Blog-land!

Links'a plenty!

Inside the Stadium

The Bronx Cheer

Rivera's Cutter

Green Pinstripes

Hot Stove New York

Yankee Roundtable

Replacement Level Yankees Weblog

And, of course, you have what I wrote last week.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 02:32 PM | Comments (0)

When The Going Gets Rough.....

...some get going and others go in their pants?

New York Yankees etc. takes another look at A-Rod in the clutch.

As Travis (of NYYE) commented elsewhere here on this today:

i just did a quick study of some clutch stats. just going by leading and trailing stats (04-06), among Arod, DJ, Beltre (being a fairly avg 3b) and Ortiz.

The things i learned -

- Arod is the only guy among these 4 to hit worse (than his overall OPS) when trailing. the other 3 hit better when trailing.

- Ortiz has the highest trailing OPS, 1.023. (overall OPS of 1.011)

- When trailing, Jeter has the highest increase from his overall OPS (+42 or .896) vs .854 overall OPS.

- Arod's trailing OPS is actually higher than DJ, at .905. But this is well below his overall OPS, which is 40 points higher, .945.

This certainly explains why Arod is seen as 'unclutch,' while DJ is seen as the opposite.

I think what really kills A-Rod in this study is that .770-ish OPS over the last 3 years when the team is down by 2 or 3 runs. In the words of Randy Jackson, "Yo, Dawg. It's not good."

Update: Looking at the stats, Rodriguez has 281 PA in the last 3 years where the Yankees were trailing by 2 or 3 runs. That's a pretty good sample size.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 01:19 PM | Comments (5)

Whistler's Daughter Is Out

Damn, that didn't take long - what was it? Two months?

Jossip.com has the story - and a great picture of Sean Combs getting caught trying to scope some blouse puppies.

Don't get me wrong, Gabrielle Union is a beautiful and talented woman too. It's just that it was going to be interesting to see if Jessica Biel was going to be a Janet Jones type for Jeter - or a Marilyn Monroe type.

In any event, Jeter sure does get around - and he works off the A-list as well. There are no gorps or dying quails on his hit list.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 01:00 PM | Comments (8)

Levine: YES Is Cotton Candy, Not Docosahexaenoic Acid

From three true outcomes who saw Randy Levine at George Washington University -

Randy Levine sounded like, well, what you expected him to sound like. He praised the Boss (though I believe that’s because Steinbrenner has spies everywhere). When asked about diversity, he responded, “If a guy’s good, and we want him, we’ll get him.” (Which prompted Perlozzo to say, “I don’t think I like this guy anymore.”) He talked about how the new Yankees stadium will look like how 1920s Yankees Stadium looked. I thought he had a good response when someone asked about the ethics of a team being strongly associated with a network (e.g. YES, MASN). He responded that not everyone can be the New York Times or the Washington Post, that the goal of the YES network was to entertain Yankees fans, rather than inform them.

Hey, Randy, you can inform and entertain at the same time, ya' know?

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 10:26 AM | Comments (8)

Survey For Yankees Fans

Via Baseball Musings -

Caitlin A. LaGrotte of Temple University asked me to post a link to a survey she's conducting. Here's the description:

Here is an opportunity to share your experiences at baseball games when the Yankees are playing the Red Sox.

This survey hopes to better understand the environment created in baseball stadiums when rivals are playing. The study will not ask for any personal information and will allow for better understanding of the rivalry between the Yankees and Red Sox. If you have attended a Yankee versus Red Sox game at Yankee Stadium or Fenway Park please click the link below to take the survey. Thank you.

You can take the survey here.

Speak up Yankees fans! I took the survey. It only takes about 10 minutes or less.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 10:12 AM | Comments (4)

Old-Timers Offer Opinions On The Past & Present

Comments from the Baseball Assistance Team fundraiser last night...

First, via the Journal News -

The winters of Randy Johnson and Bernie Williams took different paths, and those paths were a hot topic last night at a dinner honoring the 1977 Yankees.

Former Yankee and current ESPN analyst Jim Leyritz, for one, couldn't wait to say good riddance to Johnson. Other former Yankees didn't leave much hope that Williams, a free agent, would remain in the Bronx.

"I am looking forward to it," Leyritz said when asked about life without Johnson. "He didn't fit in here from the beginning. When you come to New York, you have to expect the attention. He played here enough to know what it would be like. He just thought he could come here, get his ring and go home."

Gene Michael, a special advisor to George Steinbrenner now and a coach on the 1977 team, said Williams isn't finished.

"Bernie has been a great player for us,'' Michael said. "It would be different without him. But he can still play.''

Reggie Jackson came to the 1977 Yankees as a free agent, arriving in spring training saying he was "the straw that stirs the drink. Munson thinks he could be the straw that stirs the drink, but he stirs it bad.'' Graig Nettles sees it differently. When asked last night who was the soul of that team, the former third baseman said: "Munson. He was the captain and the leader of the team.''

My thoughts:

1. When did Leyritz become a spokesperson for the Yankees nation?

2. Stick must have had a few lollipops last night - or he was being kind.

3. Thirty years from now, will we hear Jorge Posada telling us that Jeter was the leader of the team and not A-Rod - like Nettles now talking about Reggie and Munson? I don't fault Puff for having an opinion - and, I do agree with him - but if the media won't let that question die, after three decades, then will they ever let the Jeter/A-Rod one go?

Next, via Reuters -

New York Yankee veterans agreed on Tuesday that the Bronx Bombers needed Alex Rodriguez to rise to the occasion in the postseason to help them return to World Series glory in 2007.

Rodriguez, the man nicknamed A-Rod who now patrols third base at Yankee Stadium, has carried the burden of high expectations in New York where boisterous boo-birds feel he has not lived up to his $25 million yearly salary as baseball's highest-paid player.

"A-Rod, he needs to get over that hump. He needs to have a good postseason," [Graig] Nettles told Reuters.

"He puts up good numbers during the season. If he just continues that during the postseason I think the fans in New York would embrace him and love him."

Nettles' views were echoed by Gene Michael, a former Yankee player, coach, manager, scout and general manager, who is now a senior advisor to the team.

"He just needs to get over the hump," Michael said, before drawing a parallel with Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, who had a reputation for coming up short in the playoffs before leading his team to this year's Super Bowl.

"Manning needs to get over that hump. He won that big one the other day and now he needs to win one more."

Jim Leyritz, a hero of the 1996 Yankees World Series triumph over the Atlanta Braves, said theories about A-Rod suffering from lack of support in the clubhouse were unfounded.

"Hopefully the things with A-Rod last year will take care of themselves," he said.

"I think it's a joke. We had 25 guys on our team and we didn't always get along either," said Leyritz, a cocky part-time player, who would not have won any congeniality awards on the '96 team.

"We weren't best friends. We didn't all like each other.

"The only thing is, he hasn't done it in the postseason when they've really needed it. That's why it's looked like he's having a hard time making it in New York.

"A-Rod has to make the adjustment himself to get used to playing in New York City."

My thoughts:

Great, now I've got the Black Eyed Peas "My Humps" stuck in my head.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 09:51 AM | Comments (2)

January 23, 2007

Dude, Where's My Car?

Click on the thumbnail below for a larger view ~~~

The above concept image of the new Yankee Stadium is sweet to look at - until you think to yourself "Where are the parking lots?"

Aren't they going to make it easier to get to Yankee Stadium? Wasn't that the plan? If the parking lots are 5 miles away from the Stadium, is that going to make it easier?

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 10:42 PM | Comments (7)

What Keeps Randy Levine Up At Night

From the AP -

"Every night I go to sleep, and as I put my head on the pillow, I say, 'How can I come up with a way to limit the amount of money that Major League Baseball takes from the New York Yankees?''' he [Randy Levine] joked.

"We believe in revenue sharing, we believe in player restraints as to payroll,'' Levine added. "It is just a question as to what is fair, what is equitable.''

Sweet dreams Randy.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 10:18 PM | Comments (0)

Dr. Cash's Heart Transplant?

From the recordonline.com -

If you read between the lines of the moves that Yankees GM Brian Cashman has made this off-season, you can clearly see a pattern by now, a philosophical shift, a definite, albeit low-key master plan.

Cashman obviously sensed that what's been so terribly wrong about these Yankees in recent years, why they can't push themselves through the playoffs into the World Series, has nothing to do with the talent he's been putting on the field, but what lay deep inside his players' hearts and souls.

That something other than the soiled uniforms just didn't smell right in that clubhouse.

Cashman has been secretly telling us all winter — not with words but actions — that the Yankees have indeed been damaged at the very core, devoid of any real camaraderie, if not spiritually bankrupt. Not remotely a family, like they had been so beautifully during their championship years, but merely a collection of huge contracts and self-absorbed egos and strange personalities.

So Cashman, without Steinbrenner breathing down his neck all the time to do something earth shattering anymore, can finally listen to his gut now and do the right thing, not simply react to a string of blustery words shouted into his ear.

He can work with subtlety if he chooses to, rather than rely mostly on the mega-million dollar signings of star free agents.

So, no, he didn't land an A-Rod or Randy Johnson or Johnny Damon this time around, never really jumped in with both feet into the Barry Zito pool of madness.

Didn't feel the need to.

Instead, with the signing of a former championship family member, Andy Pettitte, and a couple of additions by subtractions this winter, Cashman has gone about the quiet business of fixing the Yankees where he's convinced that they're broken the most.

From the inside out.

So along went that 6-foot-10 churl named Randy Johnson to Arizona. In his two seasons here, the Big Unit added nothing to the locker room but his bony back and stony silence. He stuck his head in his stall like an ostrich in sand the whole time, rarely mixing with anyone in pinstripes or out, coming across as nothing more than a passing-time interloper that cared about his performance, for sure, but no one else's.

And along went to Detroit that me-first yammer-mouth Gary Sheffield, who came to the Yankees with the label of being a clubhouse cancer and did little to shed it in his three seasons here. In the last couple especially, Sheff seemed to say something divisive or distracting or completely insane every other time he flapped his lips — that is, when he wasn't ready to pummel some fan in the stands. The Yankees came to a conclusion about him: The guy had more pop and wiggle left in his mouth than his bat. Enough was enough.

I would pay money to see Cashman and Torre sing this song on a commerical for the YES Network:

A great slugger, we haven't got.

A great pitcher, we haven't got.

A great ball club, we haven't got.

What've we got?

We've got heart.

All you really need is heart.
When the odds are sayin' you'll never win,
That's when the grin should start!

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 05:39 PM | Comments (3)

Heartbreaker, Brubaker....

File this one under "What Would Gabe Paul Listen To"?

This morning I was stuck in traffic on I-287 north-bound - there was a huge glass spill that backed up traffic for about 8 miles.

As I'm sitting in traffic, I notice a FedEx truck in the lane next to me, about three or four cars ahead. The truck was dirty - covered in dust. Someone wrote on the back of the truck, with their finger, in the dust, "Ridin' Dirty."

I laughed when I saw that. Times have changed since when I was a kid. Back in my day, that FedEx truck would have been a target for "Wash Me" - but, "Ridin' Dirty" never existed then...heck, Hip-Hop didn't exist then either.

This made me think of the references where Yankees G.M. Brian Cashman disclosed that he listens to Hip-Hop.

That makes me feel very old. But, it also makes me wonder - do you think Big Stein has ever left Cashman's office humming DMX's "Where The Hood At?" without realizing it?

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 02:56 PM | Comments (7)

Bad Boys Today, Good Boys Tomorrow?

Darryl Strawberry and Wade Boggs are among those to "star" in "Pros vs. Joes" on Spike TV this week.

This got me thinking.

No, not about the sad nature of Straw and Boggs to do anything for a buck and/or ten seconds of spotlight. More so, it's this:

What if I told you now that David Wright (of the Mets) and David Ortiz (of the Red Sox) would help the Yankees win the World Series in the year 2016?

Would that be any different from me telling you in 1986 that Darryl Strawberry and Wade Boggs would help the Yankees win the World Series in 1996?

Not really, right?

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 12:53 PM | Comments (8)

RLYW On A-Rod's Clutchness

Today, SG over at Replacement Level Yankees Weblog looks at Alex Rodriguez and His Clutchness (or Lack Thereof).

I would love to see the Rodriguez Play by Play results By Deficit broken down by season - as I think 2005 makes 2006 look more like 2004 when you look at all the data (for the the three years) as a whole. But, I'm also just guessing that now.

Otherwise, it's a nice little study here by SG.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 11:57 AM | Comments (14)

It's Not The Number On His Back That Will Land Rocket

From Michael Morrissey -

The Yankees are preparing for Roger Clemens - at least, numerically speaking.

Recently, the club asked All-Star second baseman Robinson Cano to hand over his No. 22 in the event of another Rocket launch in The Bronx, The Post confirmed yesterday.

Cano will switch to No. 24, and he's as eager as anyone to see the seven-time Cy Young Award winner in pinstripes again.

Cano's number already has been officially adjusted on the team roster, according to a source.

"I was happy to give up the number to a future Hall of Famer if Roger comes aboard," Cano said in a statement. "Hopefully, he will be one of my teammates, I'll have the pleasure of playing with him."

Moreover, indications are the Yankees already have relayed Cano's number switch to Clemens' camp - even if the 44-year-old righty has no imminent plans of making a decision of where to pitch in 2007, or whether to retire.

"No decision will be made until well after spring training, perhaps until after the season starts," agent Randy Hendricks wrote in an e-mail yesterday.

What a shame it is that the Yankees are asking Cano, an All-Star, to monkey around with his uniform number...because this is how the Clemens-signing thing is going to go down:

Roger Clemens will not sign with anyone until May 1st. He's going to wait until then to see how things are going with the Yankees and Red Sox pitching.

If either Boston or New York has a glaring need for a starting pitcher, he's going to use that leverage to make the other team (the one that doesn't need the starter) pay mega-bucks for him. If both Boston and New York have a dire need for a starter, he's going to play them both off each other to make sure he gets top dollar.

If it turns out that neither Boston or New York needs a starting pitcher, after the first month of the season, Clemens will sign with Houston on May 1st, still getting a ton of money, and will enjoy the sweet-heart deal that he gets there playing in his backyard (not having to take road-trips, etc.).

It's going to be all about the money - and where/how he can get the most of it. That will decide where Clemens plays in 2007. Anyone who thinks different doesn't know Roger Clemens.

Clemens will wear whatever number is around...12, 21, 22, whatever...as long as the right numbers are there to the right of the dollar-sign.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 09:56 AM | Comments (11)

January 22, 2007

Projecting The Yanks & Sox Wins

Yanksfan vs. Soxfan has an interesting look at predicting the win totals for Boston and New York this season.

I'll take a shot at it without using any heavy math.

I'm going to assume that each team's bullpen will win around 35 games, as a group. That's about 5 wins per relief pitcher, probably a tad less considering that a team may end up using 8 or 9 pitchers, or more, (at some point and time) out of the pen.

I think the "Big Three" in the Yankees starting rotation should be good for 42 wins in 2007. And, I think the Red Sox "Big Three" from their rotation should be good for 42 wins in 2007.

So, that's 77 wins for each team - leaving just the 4th and 5th starters on each squad to determine the final win tally/projection for each team.

Jonathan Papelbon and Kei Igawa - who will win more games? Tim Wakefield/Jon Lester and Carl Pavano/Jeff Karstens/Darrell Rasner - who will win more games? What about Roger Clemens? Until Clemens signs somewhere, I can't factor him into the equation.

I think the Papelbon & Igawa win totals are the key here - since both teams will be lucky to get about 10 wins from their 5th man-combo in the rotation. Let's assume those 10 wins - which puts both teams at 87 wins each, with Papelbon & Igawa deciding the final numbers.

Papelbon & Igawa could both win 13 games (each) - giving both Boston and New York near 100 wins for this year. Or, one of them could win 15 games and the other could win just 10 games - meaning a 5-game gap in the standings for New York and Boston.

We have no idea how Papelbon will react from his conversion this season. We have no idea how Igawa will pitch in America this year. Nonetheless, right now, sans Clemens signing with New York or Boston, assuming all other pitchers remain healthy and produce to normal levels this year, Jonathan Papelbon and Kei Igawa may just be the keys to determining who finishes on top between the Yanks and Sox.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 10:03 PM | Comments (8)

Last 3 Post-Seasons, Who's To Blame?

The Yankees are 3-10 in the postseason since the end of Game 3 of the 2004 ALCS. So, who should we blame for those ten games lost? Can WPA tell us the answer? Here are those ten losses and who WPA says should get the "L" next to their name:

Game 4 of the 2006 ALDS: Jaret Wright
Game 3 of the 2006 ALDS: Randy Johnson
Game 2 of the 2006 ALDS: Robinson Cano

Game 5 of the 2005 ALDS: Mike Mussina
Game 3 of the 2005 ALDS: Randy Johnson
Game 2 of the 2005 ALDS: Worm Killer Wang

Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS: Kevin Brown
Game 6 of the 2004 ALCS: Tony Clark
Game 5 of the 2004 ALCS: Tom Gordon
Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS: Paul Quantrill

What, no A-Rod?

Actually, the only games here where Alex Rodriguez had really bad games, according to WPA, were Game 2 of the 2006 ALDS and Game 5 of the 2005 ALDS. (These were both games that were started by Mike Mussina - go figure.)

Of course, Game 2 of the 2006 ALDS and Game 5 of the 2005 ALDS turned out to be pretty big games in the grand scheme of things - so, maybe that's why some people look at A-Rod's performance in those games and make it into a thing where he's to blame for the Yankees losing in 2004, 2005, and 2006.

However, the reality of it is all about the pitching.

Blame Quantrill, Gordon, and Brown for 2004.
Blame Johnson and Mussina for 2005.
Blame Johnson and Wright for 2006.

Or, blame the guy who put them on the team. But, Alex Rodriguez is not the reason why the Yankees have lost 10 of their last 13 post-season games. Maybe A-Rod hasn't been the cause for them to win 10 of their last 13, but, I'm pretty sure he's not the guy to blame for them losing 10 of their last 13 contests either.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 04:41 PM | Comments (8)

You Don't Get What You Paid For?

From J.P. McIntyre at The Hardball Times -

Net Win Shares Value essentially estimates the "expected" production from a player based on how he was signed (as a free agent, arbitration-eligible or not eligible for arbitration) and how much he was paid, then compares that to how he actually did. The difference is multiplied by the average amount teams paid for each Win Share Above Bench last year. If the number is positive, the player was a relatively good deal for the team; if not, not.

Let's now look at a team that was the opposite of the Tigers, the New York Yankees:

Player ~~~ Net WS Value
Wang ~~~ 9,689,000
Karstens ~~~ 1,399,000
Rasner ~~~ 824,000
Wright ~~~ -1,184,000
Ponson ~~~ -1,807,000
Mussina ~~~ -2,590,000
Chacon ~~~ -3,930,000
Johnson ~~~ -6,481,000

Despite having one of the best values in baseball in Chien-Ming Wang, the Yankees were 11th in the AL in terms of payroll value for their starters, and that is not even including the $9 million they paid Carl Pavano to heal slowly. Mike Mussina had a solid season, but the Yankees were paying him so much that it was not cost effective. The Yankees received 125 starts from Wang, Johnson, Mussina, and Wright, but used eight other pitchers to make the remaining 37 starts, some with some rather inefficient results.

It's a good thing the standings are determined by "W's" and "L's" and not "ROI's."

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 04:05 PM | Comments (1)

A Very Bad Rating

Jerry Nielsen pitched in 20 games for the Yankees in his career - all of them coming in 1992. The Yankees lost 18 of those 20 games.

Think that's bad? Dale Murray pitched in 62 games for the Yankees - and the Yankees lost 50 of those 62 games.

Or, what about Gary Jones? He pitched in 14 big league games during his career - all with the Yankees (from 1970-71)- and every game was a loss for New York. That's Oh-'fer Fourteen.

That's more than bad - it's sad.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 02:15 PM | Comments (3)

January 21, 2007

Michael Morrissey Interview

Michael Morrissey has been writing about Major League Baseball since 1997. He has been honored in "Best American Sports Writing" three times. He's been covering baseball in New York City since 2000 and currently writes for the New York Post. From January 11, 2007 through January 19, 2007, I had a chance to do a "Q&A" session with Michael on his new book which details the 2006 baseball season in the Bronx. In the process, Michael also shared some very interesting insight on Joe Torre, Brian Cashman, Alex Rodriguez, and Derek Jeter. Our exchanges follow herein.

WasWatching.com: Your book, The Pride and the Pressure: A Season Inside the New York Yankee Fishbowl, is slated for release on April 10th of this year. What can you tell us about the book now and what was the driving force behind your decision to write it?

Michael Morrissey: Steve, I'll handle the second part of the question first, because it's something the publishing houses wanted to know when we were shopping the book proposal. What I told various publishers was that my idea for "The Pride and the Pressure" came to mind during the winter after the 2005 season, when a confluence of events hammered home the uniqueness of being a Yankee. GM Brian Cashman broke down in tears at the end of the team’s season, and there was widespread speculation that he would move on. Also, manager Joe Torre was dissatisfied with the culture of the organization, and he spent a week in October debating whether to honor his contract for 2006.

Meanwhile, Matt Lawton was busted for steroid use. Lawton said he panicked after a 3-for-38 start as a Yankee and buckled under the pressure of playing in New York. At the same time, Alex Rodriguez was waffling as to whether he would play in the World Baseball Classic, and for the Dominican Republic or the United States. To top it off, the continued specter of steroids surrounded Gary Sheffield and Jason Giambi.

During the winter, I came to the conclusion that nobody in this most recent era had written strictly through the prism of the pressures and prestige of being a Yankee. People had written excellent books about the beginning and the end of the Yankee dynasty and the rivalry with Boston. They had written great biographies of certain players. But no one had focused on the uniqueness of being a Yankee circa 2006. In my mind, A-Rod's tenure with the team alone merited a new book on the current status of the organization.

In the spring, I approached Yankee officials from the top down concerning my idea. Team president Randy Levine pledged his cooperation with the book. Cashman, who remained as GM, told me he hoped the book would become a best-seller and also agreed to offer insight. Torre generously agreed to be interviewed exclusively during the course of the season. And since I’ve been with the Post since 2000, I’ve developed a rapport with guys like Sheffield, Giambi, Bernie Williams and Derek Jeter.

As far as what the book is about, I'd say it's one writer's inside look at the tradition and turmoil unique to the Yankees. I tried to make this book a look behind the clubhouse door through the eyes of these players - with refreshing, off-the-beaten-path honesty - as much as I could. I'm reluctant to talk a lot about the actual contents until it's published for obvious reasons, but there will be some very interesting insights and information.

So often in a newspaper, we're limited by the constraints of time and/or space. While that's true in a general sense in the book world, you have much more time and much more space to report, to analyze and finally, to put forth words. People who love Bernie Williams, for example, will be treated to an entire chapter on Bernie. There are other issues that are examined in more depth than they've ever been examined. That's about as specific as I can get until April 10th, unfortunately.

Also, I will begin blogging this week about the book-writing experience and life in the "Yankee Fishbowl," on my new website, http://www.myspace.com/theprideandthepressure, so I encourage any Yankee fan with interest in the book to check it out.

WasWatching.com: Pressure, or stress (if some prefer), and dealing with anxiety, etc., have always interested me. Pressure brings change - but it can either make a diamond or dust. It's been my experience that there are two kinds of stress - actual, true, would rattle anyone pressure and the stress/pressure that someone creates on their own in the way they decide to deal with a particular situation (that may not stress everyone). In your opinion, was the pressure on the 2006 Yankees something that was real or something that certain individuals created on their own? I know that you cannot get into too many specifics, but, could you try and share why you think it was one way, or the other - or even both?

Michael Morrissey: It's my opinion that, from the top of the Yankees on down, as well as from the media and fans, there is a mandate to win a world championship that creates a certain level of pressure. Brian Cashman and Joe Torre admit that there's a pressure that doesn't exist in other cities, and by speaking of it publicly, I think they try to alleviate some of the anxiety. Their feeling is, hey, it exists, let's not pretend it's the elephant in the room. Cashman told me back in the 2000 season that there are plenty of people who would prefer not to be a GM in such a high-pressure situation, and the same goes for players. We see guys shy away from playing in New York every winter. So there was a certain alert level in play at the beginning of the season.

Then, there's the self-imposed pressure beyond what's expected of the team. One of the most famous examples was Roger Clemens trying to fit into a world championship clubhouse back in 1999, instead of simply being "The Rocket." Torre had to tell him to be himself more than once, but Clemens admittedly didn't truly feel comfortable for about a year and a half. The performance suffered.

Alex Rodriguez, obviously, is the most obvious current example. Anyone who watched the Yanks last year knows that A-Rod squeezed the sawdust out of his bat during certain stretches. He tried to do too much, he tried to end the booing with one swing, and it didn't help matters. Same thing: people like Torre and Don Mattingly told him at certain points to just relax and have fun. Larry Bowa was another guy, as you'll see in the book. Reggie Jackson has a great anecdote in the book on this subject.

I go back to the Matt Lawton answer from the first question, because to me it hammered the idea home. If you take Lawton's explanation of steroid use at face value (which I did), and you believe he was a nice guy, always clean throughout his career, who suddenly panicked because he was in New York and in a slump and in danger of losing a job, it makes perfect sense. Guys like Kenny Rogers who had decent careers elsewhere couldn't, admittedly, cut it here. I believe that's because of the unique stress that's imposed, outwardly and inwardly.

WasWatching.com: Part of me wants to believe that the eventual results of the 2004 ALCS, coupled with the Game 5 loss in the 2005 ALDS, may have led to a heightened sense of pressure for the main ringless players on the 2006 Yankees team - like A-Rod. However, the fact that Alex Rodriguez was the league MVP in 2005 starts to poke some holes in that theory. It seems odd that A-Rod did not feel the performance impacting pressure in 2005 like he did in 2006. So, maybe the 2004 ALCS had nothing to do with it? (Perhaps the Yankees just knew that the Red Sox could pitch, pardon the pun, rings around them in 2004?) This still does leave the 2005 ALDS end result as a possible cause for more pressure in 2006. Was this your finding? Or, was there something else out there that made 2006 more pressure packed than most other Yankees seasons?

Michael Morrissey: There is no doubt that the guys like Mussina, Giambi, A-Rod, et al. feel a heightened sense of being ringless. In fact, there's an anecdote early in the book where it's addressed as a team. They all, in one form or another, shared that sentiment. They all could've played anywhere; they came to where they thought they had the best chance of winning a World Series ring. Yes, Rodriguez agitated for a trade, but he would've only played in a couple of competitive cities once he realized the mess that he was in with Texas.

Now, I don't personally think that the fact that the team collapsed in 2004 and suffered a disappointing early exit in '05 was the only cause for what happened in the '06 playoffs. For those that think the collective playoff failures, however, causes a snowball effect that rears its head every October, I'd tend to accept that as part of the reason for the pressure.

As for A-Rod, he had a terrific year in 2005 but then was terrible in the playoffs, and he admitted trying to carry the whole load - which he addresses in the book. In '06, I believe the lineups the manager put forth contributed a great deal to A-Rod feeling pressure and not performing.

As far as the ultimate defeat, I feel that the Game 2 swing was pivotal, and the Yanks looked flat for the final three games after Damon's homer. Part of that was Detroit pitching, but part of that was an energy thing, a chemistry thing, even a lineup thing, whatever you want to call it. And consider this: if Yankee fans were asked at the beginning of the year if they wanted Jaret Wright - a back-end starter the entire season - to pitch a Game 4 facing elimination, what would they have said? So ultimately, there was also some unsupported optimism (or hope) in the back end of the rotation by people in the organization.

WasWatching.com: I was all set to ask you some questions about the process of writing the book at this point. But, something you just said begs me to ask for more on it. In your opinion, in what way did Torre's line-ups contribute a great deal to Rodriguez feeling pressure and not performing?

Michael Morrissey: In my opinion, the decision to bat A-Rod sixth to begin the Division Series was either very poorly thought out or simply misguided. Based on what I observed before and after, it had a strong effect. Now, keep in mind the Yankees won the first game with a timely RBI single from Gary Sheffield and without any contribution from Rodriguez, who stung the ball a couple of times. That said, the lineup decision turned workout day into an absolute circus, I feel that played on A-Rod's psyche. How many ballplayers would ask himself these questions: why is Skip bumping me down to sixth? I haven't hit there in 10 years. I've been hitting cleanup much of the season. I finally jumped out of my latest slump. I'm swinging good. The guy hitting cleanup has been hurt all year. The guy hitting cleanup has way worse numbers than I do off Nate Robertson. I've tattooed Robertson over my career. Why make a change now? What's Skip trying to prove? Why is he doing this to me?

If you want to dismiss it as one writer's opinion or armchair psychology, that's OK. But the proof is in the pudding. If you look back on the coverage of workout day, it became a gigantic story.

Now, if Torre's initial intentions were to take the heat off Rodriguez and try to get him to relax by hitting sixth, you can chalk it up as a noble but failed experiment. As soon as the Yanks lost, though, A-Rod was back up to fourth. So much for relieving the pressure. When they lost again, he was dumped to eighth.

Objectively, based on where A-Rod batted most of the season, through thick and thin, based on where he batted after Matsui and Sheff returned, based on stats against the Game 1 starter, based on the probability that Sheff was not in midseason form (something he admitted in November), based on the likelihood that a commotion would be made if/when the manager changed the lineup from what it was in September - all these things are evidence that Torre made a mistake. Messing with A-Rod's spot in the lineup (and thereby his head) affected him, in my view, and he went 1-for-14. Torre has historically made his career on putting out brush fires. He's one of the best ever at it. But in my humble opinion, he created one here - and it raged out of control into a forest fire.

The issue is discussed at great length in the book, and I'm curious to what your readers think. Were they perplexed when they initially saw A-Rod dumped to sixth for the playoff opener? Were they thrilled that he wouldn't be in the heart of the order? What did they think of the Game 3 and Game 4 lineups?

WasWatching.com: Well, I can tell you what I wrote when I first saw that Torre decided to bat Rodriguez 8th in Game 4 of the 2006 ALDS:

"Mark down today's date: October 7th, 2006. This is the date that we can look to when judging the acquisitions of Giambi and A-Rod. The results of today's starting line-up tell you everything you need to know. In a 'must win' or die game, the manager of the team feels that he cannot count on these guys to be major factors towards a chance to win."

As far as the readers of WasWatching.com, if I recall correctly, the reaction was a mixed bag. Some were fine with the decision whereas others thought it brought cause to no longer defend Torre's moves. Some thought it was a sign that A-Rod must leave town and others thought that Torre should be fired for the decision.

You mentioned this matter is discussed at great length in the book. Was that hard to do? Do you have any concerns about this, or anything in the book, creating a situation where it may damage your standing with those you still need to report on? Are you expecting that you may have to do some fence mending this Spring?

Michael Morrissey: It wasn't necessarily hard to do, because I'm a writer who has been taught at the Post to shoot from the hip. You can't really hedge your analysis or criticism based on the fact that someone might not like it, or else the readers, in the end, are the ones who suffer. It was my opinion, and my editor at Doubleday backed me, that whitewashing what turned out to be a disappointment wouldn't be right, wouldn't be true.

Now, that said, I'm sure some people will be unhappy when the book comes out, but I'm not worried about it damaging my standing with them.

Sportswriting has changed so much just in the course of a generation or two. I encourage all your readers to pick up the great Jerome Holtzman book, "No Cheering in the Press Box." It's a great read about a bygone era, and any baseball or history fan should enjoy it. I'm mentioning it because there are a couple of great anecdotes about how certain writers were, among other things, sycophants for the players. Nowadays, there's a wariness between athletes and sportswriters, at best. At worst, it's a downright confrontational relationship. Doing the job in the clubhouse has never been more difficult.

I recall the great Peter Gammons - who I can unabashedly say was my sportswriting hero growing up, and the reason I got into this industry - saying that early in his career, he used to occasionally shag fly balls for some of the Red Sox players during early BP. Folks, if I tried to do that nowadays - I say this half-jokingly - the security guards would probably hustle me off the field and right out the Stadium.

So that was a roundabout way of saying that things have changed. To really answer the question, while I highly respect Brian Cashman and Joe Torre and all they've done in building and sustaining the premier franchise in sports, I'm not afraid to report on what I felt were the team's shortcomings. The same holds true for the players. I don't think the standing will be damaged, because much of the book is based on what people have told me through their own eyes. Additionally, the reporting of the results is unmistakable. In other words, you can't argue that a franchise that demanded nothing less than a 27th world championship since the first day of spring training lost to an inexperienced (if not inferior) club, which in turn lost to an 83-78 club in the World Series.

As far as certain anecdotes or certain candid remarks, yeah, some people end up looking bad. Savvy Yankee fans can probably even guess who they are. And I'm sure some Yankees might be offended by them when the book comes out. But all I can do is stand by my reporting and my analysis, and I'm fully comfortable with that.

WasWatching.com: Speaking of life in the Yankees clubhouse, from your view, has there been much of a change there in terms of the overall climate and how people relate to each other, now, as compared to 6 or 7 years ago? In what way? If the change has been in the wrong direction, is it something that can be corrected this season? What would that require, in your opinion?

Michael Morrissey: I arrived in New York after the 2000 season was already underway, so I missed most of the camaraderie that may have existed on the earlier teams. That already seems like a long time ago, and I remember them as not often in the clubhouse and kind of grumpy - maybe because I was a "rookie" that year, or maybe because I so vividly remember them losing 15 of 18 at the end of the regular season. I guess the point is, I don't think it's a radical change to what the press saw last season and in '00.

I can speak to this: I think in 2006, the Yankees were better than they were during '04 and '05 (I was on the Mets beat in 2002 and 2003, so I can't speak to those years). The fact that a player tried to do something out in the clubhouse, like Sal Fasano and the chess game with the B List guys and the fact that players tried to grow mustaches, even if it was only a few and for a few days - these are moves forward. But they're small moves. If you ask your friends who might follow other baseball teams religiously, ask them about all the goofy, off-beat stuff that their teams do over a six-month period. Seems like even when you think about it in your own head, there's more gung-ho stuff that happens elsewhere, from the Frat Boy A's of the early 2000s to the Idiot Red Sox of '04. Even the Mets openly crowed about how loose they were last year, and I seem to remember a Sports Illustrated cover piece on just that topic (which the Mets then blew up a replica of and hung proudly on their clubhouse wall).

Point being, I think the Yankees are always going to be one of the most buttoned-down teams in baseball compared to others. The guys I talked to in '06 thought the chemistry was really strong for the most part, even A-Rod I think said it was the best since he had been there. But Gary Sheffield argued that the Yankees can do much better in that area, and it's something that we talk about in the book.

One thing that could get better would be the perception around A-Rod, from the media, fans, and, yes, his teammates. The fact that everyone from Rudy Giuliani to Darryl Strawberry is commenting on the Rodriguez boobirds and the Jeter/A-Rod dynamic is not a good thing, Yankee fans. On that topic, the status quo in '07 would not be a good thing. That can be corrected by Rodriguez sprinting out of the starting blocks and staying hot until he wins the league MVP and a World Series title. I know Yankee fans would gladly take that.

Otherwise, I think the contagious enthusiasm the young players like Cano and Cabrera show will continue to positively affect the vets, and I think you'll see good chemistry as long as they keep winning. Having Sheffield and Johnson out of town and not moping around certainly helps.

WasWatching.com: The constant commenting on A-Rod thing is tough - because it's such a deep topic that always seems to pull you back into it. For instance, right now, I should ask you about how the Yankees can get more "younger players" into the clubhouse, given that their starting eight on the field and their DH are locked up for the next few years. Or, maybe I should ask about what one thing you want your readers to take away from "The Pride and the Pressure." But, the suggestion that Alex getting out of the gate in good fashion will help him this season with respect to the focus on him, forces me to ask this question: Wasn't A-Rod the A.L. Player Of The Month For May last season? Did that help him last year in the long run? It seems, at least to me, that Rodriguez tanked in June when Matsui and Sheffield went out. And, that's when the heat and booing started up heavy for Alex. Could it just be that it's in the Yankees best interests to make sure they have big bats around Alex so that he doesn't have to feel like he has to carry the team and then start pressing? See, it's so easy to just keep talking about A-Rod!

Oh, and, by the way, any thoughts on getting more younger position players in the Yankees clubhouse and what it is you want readers to take away from your book?

Michael Morrissey: [Laughing] We'll get to the last two questions, I promise. I was kind of joking that A-Rod needed to jump out of the starting blocks and then keep going, put his stamp on a year to remember like the year McGwire hit 70 or George Brett hit .390, etc. etc. We all know that isn't likely to happen, and there will probably be some slump or rough patch over the course of a six-month season when Rodriguez gets booed again. That's what makes sports so interesting: how do you handle the adversity?

I think you make an excellent point that Matsui and Sheffield going down came right around the time A-Rod slumped, either through coincidence or through pressure by the fans and media (or even self-imposed pressure). His final numbers, though, were something that virtually any hitter would gladly accept.

The Yankees, in my humble view, need to convey on the most personal, human level possible that Rodriguez is their most pivotal player for 2007 and beyond, and that they are on board to help him navigate the ups and downs of New York. Whether that's Brian Cashman, whether that's Joe Torre, whether that's Derek Jeter, whether that's a combination of people, I think the Yanks need to make a good-faith effort to put A-Rod at ease beginning in spring training, and make him understand that "the ship ain't sailing without him," to use a term.

Cashman mentioned something about bedside manner regarding Andy Pettitte the last time the lefty was on the free-agent market. He said their bedside manner could've been a little better in courting Pettitte back in '03.

In my mind - and this is one man's view - the Yanks' bedside manner regarding A-Rod needs to be much better in '07. If Rodriguez fails, if he opts out of his contract when the year is up, at least the club can say it did everything in its power to make it work out.

The Yankees can get younger by using what they have and properly grooming what they want to have. By playing Melky Cabrera regularly (two or three times a week when the other outfielders need a day off), that will help the energy level. Pitching-wise, they're preparing for a life without Mussina, Pettitte, Clemens, etc. They simply need to make wise choices in how they bring guys like Phil Hughes along and get a little bit of luck on the health aspect with these young prospects. My understanding is the team doesn't really have any great young infielders on the come, so it's up to someone like (outfielder) Jose Tabata to make a difference in a few years.

The thing I think I want readers to take away from the book is what a unique, precious and privileged thing it is to be a Yankee - and a Yankee fan. These players understand that, and I hope it comes through vividly. I can say unequivocally the organization is filled with good men and good women who care, and that the baseball operations department - starting with Brian Cashman - is absolutely focused on winning that next world championship. They are, for the most part, dedicating every available resource to do that.

However, with the tradition and the excellence comes a trade-off, and I hope the book portrays that properly. There are no medals for finishing second. Nobody that I know of is sporting "2006 AL East champs" T-shirts around town.

WasWatching.com: As a Yankees fan, it's great to hear from someone with access to the inner workings of the team that there are good people, who care, and who are focused, working the controls. It's interesting that you said there are "no medals for finishing second." It reminds me of that old Bill Parcells book "No Medals for Trying." Maybe that can be the Yankees team slogan for 2007?

You said the Yankees need "a good-faith effort to put A-Rod at ease" and that "the Yanks' bedside manner regarding A-Rod needs to be much better in '07." I'm a believer in root cause analysis as part of any sound remediation plan. Do you have any opinions on what brought cause for the Yankees (both in the clubhouse and the front office) to develop a bedside manner towards Alex that causes him not to be at ease? If the Yankees put a Band-Aid on the situation, without changing why it happened, isn't it likely to develop again? By this I mean, if the Yankees reaction is the result of something in A-Rod's control, should not he also be charged with making some changes in 2007? Does this make sense?

Michael Morrissey: This is my opinion, but I simply think A-Rod is a high maintenance superstar. Furthermore, I think Joe Torre grew frustrated or exasperated trying to figure out what made Rodriguez tick and get him to relax in 2006. Obviously, Rodriguez had a great year in 2005, so it was perplexing to see him struggle through long stretches the year after, especially defensively - where he regressed. I think the manager, who has so much on his plate, figured his cleanup guy would break out of it. But that it took Jason Giambi to exhort the manager to action (see SI's "Lonely Yankee" story) is telling. Torre usually knows the right thing to say, and a little goes a long way with the stuff he says. A-Rod either didn't take it to heart or didn't hear the right thing about relaxing, trusting yourself, understanding the Yankee fishbowl, etc., etc.

Beyond that, the Jeter/A-Rod relationship is something that could get better. There's no denying it. Everyone from Mike Lupica on down wrote about a relationship that was called various degrees of "frosty" over the course of 2006. For the fans, I'll say it's not a case of sportswriters making this stuff up; it's the most respected names in our industry remarking on the dynamic. The fact that Jeter said at the World Series that there's nothing more he can do tells me it's likely that nothing will change, though.

The fact that this has always been Jeter's team and A-Rod is an outsider coming to New York are root causes of the comfort level, I'd say. Again, though, he won the MVP in 2005, so it's not like he's a bust. He had one "bad" year where the media perception was certain key people might've hung him out to dry a little. It can get better by him finally realizing and actually believing that, like it or not, he'll be booed by some until he's cheered at the end of a victorious World Series, and for that to not distract him from the day-to-day task at hand. He certainly needs to relax more, no doubt about it.

WasWatching.com: I suppose, in some way, A-Rod might be better off being ignorant and/or apathetic towards people's opinions of him. The need for approval thing is just not working in his favor - at least last season. Perhaps having a buddy like Mientkiewicz on the team this year will provide some sort of confidant option to him - much like Fran Healy was for Reggie Jackson back in the day when Jackson was not getting along with his manager and teammates in the Bronx? As a Yankees fan, I hope it all works out.

In closing, and getting back to your book, was there something that happened, or came to your attention, in the process of writing "The Pride and the Pressure" that surprised and/or pleased you more than anything else? If so, what was it and why does that item or event stand out? Related, was there one item or event that you wished had not happened?

Michael Morrissey: I'm not sure I was surprised by any one thing. Having said that, there are one or two things that a couple of the key figures on the team said that will certainly be surprising to people. Although there are opinions baseball fans have of certain people or certain events around the Yankees, I think there will be some coloring in.

The death of Cory Lidle was certainly something that I wish hadn't happened. I had a chance to speak with him a few times, and although I learned people in baseball were divided on him, I found him to be a very humble, very down-to-earth guy. There is a lengthy interview with him at the end of the book, and I hope even Yankee fans who didn't get to know him/like him gets something from his feelings about being a Yankee.

I just wanted to thank you for this interview, and I wanted to welcome Yankee fans everywhere to my blogs (at Amazon and MySpace). In the next few months, I'm going to try to begin posting regularly about the Yankees, the book, and other events inside and outside the baseball world. Thanks all, and good luck with your team this year!

WasWatching.com: Thank you Michael - for your time and candor in answering these questions. I'm sure that Yankees fans will appreciate and enjoy what you've shared here, will be sharing in your blogs, and have shared in The Pride and the Pressure: A Season Inside the New York Yankee Fishbowl. Best of luck with all your projects!

That's it. Once again, our thanks to Michael Morrissey for granting WasWatching.com this interview!

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 10:07 PM | Comments (14)

January 20, 2007

If The Yanks Have Pitching, Bet On Them In October

Some like to believe that the team with the best pitching wins, or should win, a post-season match-up. I can understand this position. But, does it always happen?

I decided to look at every Yankees post-season series since 1995 and compare the Yankees pitching staff against the team they played - using Runs Saved Above Average (RSAA) as a measuring stick of each team's pitching in the series. This is what I found:

Looking at the results in this chart, it brings the following thoughts to mind:

+ The 1995 Yanks-M's ALDS, pitching-wise, really was a toss-up.
+ The 1996 Braves should have beat the Yankees in the World Series.
+ The 1997 Yankees should have beaten the Indians in the ALDS.
+ The 1998 Yankees did what they were supposed to do in the post-season.
+ The 1999 Red Sox and Braves should have done better against the Yankees in the post-season.
+ The 2000 Yankees were better than anyone they faced in the post-season that year.
+ It really was a miracle that the 2001 Yankees made it to the World Series, much less making it to Game 7 of the World Series.
+ The 2002, 2005, and 2006 Yankees were all out-armed in their ALDS match-ups - and because of this they probably deserved to lose them.
+ The 2003 Yankees should have won the World Series - and losing it was a major letdown by New York.
+ The 2004 Yankees were lucky to beat the Twins in the ALDS, based on the pitching match-ups, and they were totally out-armed in the 2004 ALCS as well.

In total, in the last 25 post-season series that the Yankees played in, they had the RSAA edge on their opponent 12 times - and won 10 of those 12 times (where they only lost to Cleveland in '97 and the Marlins in '03). That's a success rate of 83%.

On the flip side, in the last 25 post-season series that the Yankees played in, they did not have the RSAA edge on their opponent 13 times - and they lost 6 of those 13 times. Based on this, New York's post-season odds are about 50-50 when they don't have the pitching edge.

Where New York beat the pitching odds: The 1996 ALDS & WS, 1999 ALCS & WS, 2001 ALDS & ALCS, and the 2004 ALDS.

Imagine if the Yankees had lost the 1996 World Series, 2001 ALDS, and 2004 ALDS? Losing just these three post-season series would have re-written modern-day Yankees history in a huge way.

Without a win in 1996, maybe there's no letdown in 1997. With no crushing 1997 ALDS loss, maybe the drive during the 1998 season is different?

But, if they lose the 2001 ALDS, then Games 4, 5 & 7 of the 2001 World Series never happen. And, of course, if they lose the 2004 ALDS, then the 2004 ALCS never happens.

This leads to another interesting question: As a Yankees fan, would you trade in the rings of 1996 and 1998 to avoid the pain of 2001 and 2004? Is that a wash? Is it better to have loved, and lost, than never to have loved at all?

If asked, I would take the rings. I'd rather have good memories and bad memories than no memories at all.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 11:16 PM | Comments (16)

Projecting Alex Rodriguez '07

Looking at the 2007 batter projections in The Bill James Handbook 2007 and Ron Shandler's Baseball Forecaster 2007 today, I noticed that they agree on a projection (this season) for Alex Rodriguez. See their projections, along with A-Rod's Yankees stats to date, below:

Basically, the projections suggest that Alex' 2007 season with the bat will look a lot like his 2006 offensive results - with a few more homers. And, that's not a terrible thing - because those are Hall-of-Fame season type numbers that Rodriguez posted in 2006 - when you just look at the numbers alone. Still, based on the reaction that these numbers got A-Rod last season, in the media and with the fans, how will people react to a repeat of 2006 in 2007 for Rodriguez?

If I had to guess now, I would offer that it's not going to be a good reaction - albeit fair or not.

The sad part of this is, that, if the Yankees traded A-Rod for some guy named "Joe Smith," and Smith played 3B for the Yankees this season and he batted .290/.390/.540 for New York with 40 HR and 120 RBI, the media and fans would make him into a hero.

I once heard a story that Mickey Rivers started calling himself "Miguel Rivera" when creditors were after him. Maybe Alex should consider changing his name to "Al Roberts" this season and give himself a make-over while he's at it - and then let his numbers stand without the A-Rod name on them? It certainly would make for an interesting sociological experiment.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 10:37 AM | Comments (32)

January 19, 2007

How Do You Like Your String Cheese?

Mike at "Charlie Weis Ate My Baby" wrote this about Paul O'Neill today:

I imagine that Red Sox fans enjoyed 2004 much like I enjoyed the 1998 Yankees. There were a lot of similarities between those two clubs, except the Yankees had a bit more class and a bunch more Paul O’Neill.

Easily the most important New York Yankee of the last 25 years. More than Jeter, more than Rivera, more than Bernie. Number of Yankees World Series Championships since Big Paulie hung up the spikes after the 2001 season: zero.

Sounds like Mike digs Paulie-O.

Quick sidebar: Once I was at a Yankees game with my friend Lou in 2001. A guy sitting near us would scream out "String cheeeeese!" every time O'Neill came to the plate. We didn't get it - at first. Finally, after hearing it a few times, Lou says to me "Oh, now I get it. 'String Cheese,' like in 'Polly-O String Cheese' - 'Paulie-Oh,' get it?" (Stupid the things you remember, right? Anyway, that's why this entry got the title that it did.)

Back to the present day, a few months back, a met a woman who said she was a Yankees fan. We started talking about the recent teams and I brought up O'Neill. At that moment, she added "Oh, him - the cry-baby who would throw a fit every time he didn't get his way."

Right there, I thought, even though she said she was a Yankees fan, that she knew as much about the Yankees as I do on quantum physics - which is nothing.

You see, I too am a fan of O'Neill. As I shared back in November 2005, "I've always been drawn to the Munson-Mattingly-O'Neill types. I like guys who are leaders, work hard, play with passion, not afraid, etc." in terms of having a favorite Yankee.

However, regardless of my feelings, there's always been that split on O'Neill - see Wikipedia for a good take on it:

O'Neill is fondly remembered by Yankee fans as the "heart and soul" of the team's dynasty in the 1990s. Yankee owner George Steinbrenner also labeled him as a "Warrior". Naturally, however, to non Yankee fans and especially the Red Sox Nation, his antics were seen in a more negative light which led to being labeled a [sic] 'whinger', 'spoiled brat' and 'crybaby'. In January 2007, Bill Simmons, an ESPN sportswriter and unrepentant Red Sox fan, referred to O'Neill as a "dick" in an ESPN online chat.

So, thinking about it now, I do wonder if there are more people out there like that woman I once met? Do any Yankees fans out there feel that O'Neill was a "crybaby"? Or, are most of you like me and Mike (from "Charlie Weis Ate My Baby")? Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section here. Thanks in advance!

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 11:24 AM | Comments (24)

Peaking Over The Fence To Check Out The Green Stuff

I was just reading about the Mets two best pitching prospects in Baseball America this morning - Mike Pelfrey and Philip Humber. This is what they said about each one:

Mike Pelfrey -

"There are few pitchers in the minors whose fastball can rival Pelfrey's. His two-seamer sits at 92-95 mph with fierce sink and late life and rates as a 70 on the 20-80 scouting scale."

"He should be in the Mets rotation for years to come and has the potential to be a legitimate No. 1 starter."

Philip Humber -

"Humber's curveball is one of the best in the minors. Thrown at 74-78 mph, it has tight rotation with a powerful downward action. His fastball sits at 90-94 mph. He also features a developing low-80s changeup with late sink. He throws strikes with all three pitches."

"Though his stuff is good enough to pitch in the big leagues, Humber will probably be better served with a full season in Triple-A to improve his endurance. He profiles as a No. 2 or 3 starter."

For the Yankees, some consider their two best pitching prospects to be Phil Hughes and Humberto Sanchez. Here is what Baseball America says about those two prospects:

Phil Hughes -

"Hughes has it all, with the combination of stuff, feel and command to profile as a No. 1 starter."

"Hughes sits at 91-95 mph with his four-seam fastball and touches 96. He can throw quality strikes with either his four-seamer or his upper-80s two-seamer."

Humberto Sanchez -

"Humberto Sanchez, who started the 2006 Futures Game for the World team, is one of the better pitching prospects in the upper minors. He's not as good as top Yankees prospect Philip Hughes, but Sanchez is in the next tier. If he's healthy after experiencing elbow problems late in the season, he could contribute in New York in 2007."

Mike Pelfrey versus Phil Hughes.
Philip Humber versus Humberto Sanchez.

Which pitching prospect duo is better - the Mets or the Yankees?

It's a very interesting debate. And, it may not be able to be settled until some time around October 2017.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 09:45 AM | Comments (2)

Brett Gardner News

From The Times and Democrat -

Since his graduation from Holly Hill Academy in 2001, the course of Brett Gardner's baseball career has taken a meteoric rise.

Tonight, at halftime of the HHA girls' home game against Colleton Prep, Gardner's achievements will be recognized in a ceremony in which he will become the school's first male athlete to have his jersey retired.

"It is definitely such a great honor that they think that much of me to do that," Gardner said. "When I was in school there I never imagined something like this would be happening."

Gardner has been invited to spring training with the Yankees this year. He said he is excited about the opportunity, but expects that he will begin the 2007 season back in the minors.

"The past couple of years have just kind of flown by," said Gardner. "I am really blessed to be in such a good position. I am really looking forward to going to spring training, playing in front of some important people, and showing them what I can bring to the table.

"It's also a good chance for me to be around some older guys," he added. "I am sure it is going to be a little more fast-paced, but it is a good opportunity for me, and it is a good learning experience."

Gardner will head to Tampa, the site of the Yankees' spring training complex, next weekend.

"I'm heading down there to work out for about three weeks," he said. "We get started with spring training around Feb. 18, and probably around the first week of April I am going to be assigned to whatever team I will be playing on."

If something should happen to Damon, Abreu, Matsui or Cabrera, right now, the Yankees next options in the outfield are guys like Kevin Reese, Bronson Sardinha, and Kevin Thompson. So, with a strong spring, and if he can do well in Triple-A, Gardner can put himself in a position to be the next outfielder to join the Yankees should something happen to the big four on the big league club now.

I'm willing to bet that he takes advantage of this great opportunity.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 09:15 AM | Comments (0)

Roberto Kelly - Future Stud Manager?

From the Augusta Chronicle -

The Augusta GreenJackets are expected to announce today that Roberto Kelly, who led the minor league baseball team to the South Atlantic League Championship Series last season, will return for a third season as manager.

Kelly, a former major league all-star, will return with his coaching staff from last season, including hitting coach Andy Skeels, pitching coach Ross Grimsley and trainer Dustin Luepker

"I'm very excited to have Roberto return for the upcoming season," GreenJackets general manager Nick Brown said. "He led the team to an outstanding season last year and was a wonderful asset to the community. We look forward to Roberto continuing to be successful on and off the field in 2007."

In two seasons with Augusta, Kelly has posted a 169-106 record in the regular season, including a record-breaking 92-47 mark last season. He was named the 2006 South Atlantic League Manager of the Year after winning more games (92) than any other team in minor league baseball.

Kelly has won with a "small ball" approach that emphasizes speed and contact hitting over power. He also has seen success despite not having a lot of highly- regarded prospects.

The Augusta GreenJackets are part of the San Francisco Giants chain, and owned by Cal Ripken Jr.

Roberto Kelly was a good player for the Yankees. And, as most know, on November 3, 1992, the Yankees traded Roberto Kelly to the Reds in exchange for Paul O'Neill. Therefore, Kelly has a place in Yankees history.

It's nice to hear that he's doing so well in his post-playing career.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 08:59 AM | Comments (2)

January 18, 2007

Best Six Pack Ever?

From 1996 through 2003, the Yankees reached the World Series six times. Tonight, I find myself wondering - with the three-rounds of playoff series format (in place for baseball since 1995), will we ever see another franchise reach the World Series 6 times over a period of 8 years?

Since 1995, the Yankees have reached the World Series 6 times, the Braves have reached it 3 times, and the Marlins and Cardinals have each reached it twice. No other team has reached it more than once.

The Braves did their "3" in a 5-year period. The Marlins did their "2" in a 7-year period. And, the Cardinals did their "2" in a 3-year period. Of these three, only the Cards are close to a rate of "6 in 8."

It was starters such as Andy Pettitte, David Cone, El Duque Hernandez, and Roger Clemens who did most of the heavy lifting for the 1996-2003 Yankees.

Pettitte, Cone, Duque and Clemens were teammates in 1999 and 2000 - the last two seasons that the Yankees won a World Series. It really is always about the starting pitching, isn't it?

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 11:06 PM | Comments (3)

Will Clark, Bo Jackson, and...Colter Bean?

Holy Cliff Clavin says "Who are three people who have never been in my kitchen?" Batman!

From Barons News -

American Baseball Foundation presents Will “The Thrill” Clark as the featured speaker for the 6th Annual American Baseball Foundation Lead Off Dinner. Former Birmingham Baron Bo Jackson will also be on hand to present a special award.

The annual event offers enthusiasts the opportunity to obtain autographs of current and former major leaguers. The 2007 “signers' corner” will include:

New York Yankee relief pitcher Colter Bean. A Vestavia Hills High School product who pitched for Auburn University, Colter has appeared with the Yankees in the 2005 and 2006 seasons.

Clark and Jackson will be joining the “signers' corner” for a limited period during the silent auction preceding the dinner while WJOX commentator, Matt Coulter will be the master of ceremonies.

One of these things is not like the others,
One of these things just doesn't belong,
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
By the time I finish my song?

Did you guess which thing was not like the others?
Did you guess which thing just doesn't belong?
If you guessed this one is not like the others,
Then you're absolutely...right!

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 04:34 PM | Comments (3)

If Mike Myers Should Go Down....

Maybe the Yankees could give this lefty a shot in the pen this season?

For a guy who retired 5 years ago, he appears to still be in great shape.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 01:15 PM | Comments (8)

And The Hits Just Keep On Coming!

Just now, I wondered to myself "How many hits did this blog get last year?" So, I looked. And, this is what I found:

From January 1, 2006 through December 31, 2006, WasWatching.com had 4,360,619 hits.

Wow. Four mill? Not too shabby for a little blog that I decided to start back at the end of April 2005.

Then I wondered "What kind of pace, hits-wise, is WasWatching.com on for 2007?" So, I looked. And, this is what I found:

If you take the average daily hit count from January 1, 2007 through January 17, 2007, and multiply it by 365, then WasWatching.com is on pace to get 8,201,786 hits in 2007.

That noise you may be hearing is the sound of my open jaw hitting the ground as I look at that number.

Eight million? Oh, my stars and garters!

Just in case, I checked my math to see if I made a mistake - and I did not.

Stunning. I think I need a glass of cold water now. Maybe two.

But, first, I have to say "Thanks!" to all for their interest in WasWatching.com and for checking it out as often as you do. It's great to know that folks get something from what's happening here.

+++++++++

Update: "singledd" (in the comments to this entry) asked about the stats based on unique visits as opposed to hits. Here are the totals:

Unique Visits, in total, 2006: 808,646
Unique Visits, projected, based on this month, for 2007: 1,515,029

The ratio, 2006 actual to 2007 projected, is the same: 1 to 1.88 (for hits and unique visits). Nice to see that it's still almost 100% projected growth from one year to the other, regardless of the ruler used.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 11:22 AM | Comments (5)

K-Rod In Yanks Future?

From SI.com's - Scorecard Daily

With Mariano Rivera nearing retirement in New York, the Yankees are already said to be eyeing the Angels' Francisco Rodriguez as a potential replacement. Rodriguez could command a deal in the four-year, $38-million range. -- Los Angeles Times

I hope this is just K-Rod's agent trying to scare the Angels. I find it hard to root for Francisco Rodriguez. He's such a hot-dog - out of the Ugueth Urbina mold. I would rather see the Yankees try and replace Mo, when the time comes, with someone young from the system. Maybe Humberto Sanchez, Dellin Betances, Kevin Whelan, Mark Melancon or someone like that?

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 09:55 AM | Comments (3)

Bernie Still Out There

From Michael Morrissey -

The Yankees haven't made a final decision regarding Bernie Williams, a source told The Post yesterday afternoon. But that doesn't mean Williams will be back since there is little room for him on the 2007 roster as it currently stands.

Williams' agent, Scott Boras, did not return phone calls yesterday, and GM Brian Cashman is on vacation this week. However, the source believed Cashman was still having dialogue with Boras and the Yankee GM may have even spoken with the 38-year-old Williams directly at some point this winter.

Last Wednesday, Boras told Foxsports.com that his client hadn't yet decided about the possibility of playing for another team. "When we get definition from the Yankees, Bernie will evaluate that and advise me," Boras reportedly said.

At this point, the Yankees should consider bringing Bernie to Spring Training as a non-roster invite. Let him go about his business the way that Al Leiter did last season - get your work in, have one last fun stay in sunny FLA on the Yankees tab, and have a chance to mingle (and say good-bye?) with some of the diehard fans.

Who knows? Maybe Giambi suffers a terrible injury in the Spring and then there's room for Bernie in 2007 as a righty DH? If that happens, would it not be good to be already in camp? At the worst, it also allows Bernie to showcase himself if another team is interested - and he wants to go that way. And, at the absolute worst, Bernie just goes home after spending one last March with the Yankees. It's a better send-off than no send-off.

It seems like a win-win way to handle this now, no?

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 09:43 AM | Comments (6)

January 17, 2007

Best Seasons By Yankees Second Basemen

Continuing with the WasWatching.com Yankees "ten best seasons" (ever) series, today we look at second basemen. Here is what I believe are the top ten seasons for Yankees second basemen, with stats via the Complete Baseball Encyclopedia:

Click on the list below for a larger view ~

Now, this is a list. You've got some players from back in the day, some more current players, some sluggers and some guys who were mostly table setters.

But, what's really interesting with the second basemen is when you look at the top twenty instead of just the top ten:

Click on the list below for a larger view ~

This tells us that, basically, there have only been 16 seasons where a Yankees second baseman had a really large season with the bat. Tony Lazzeri had five of those 16 seasons and Joe Gordon had three of them.

It's no wonder that somewhat ol' time Yankees fans like to wax poetic about guys like Horace Clarke and Bobby Richardson - because there were not a lot of great hitting second basemen in Yankees history to carry on about instead. In terms of good two-B sticks, it's the five guys who can be found in the top ten list. Dat's it. And, Robinson Cano, with a few more good seasons, will be nipping right on Chuck Knoblauch's heels to crack that top five.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 10:17 PM | Comments (9)

January 2007 Survey Question # 4

Phil Sheridan's feature in the Philadelphia Inquirer on the transformation of the 2006 Phillies got me wondering today about the Yankees. What type of team, as a Yankees fan, would you rather see on the field?

Update, 1/24/07: The people have spoken! This poll is now closed. Click on the image below to see the results.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 09:46 AM | Comments (11)

Life After Being In The Stein Family

From The Toledo Blade -

Fourteen more people - including ousted leaders of the St. Louis and the Montgomery County, Alabama, public school systems, and even a former general partner of the New York Yankees [Joseph Molloy] - have added their names to the applicant pool for Toledo Public Schools superintendent.

The list of candidates who want to lead the 29,400-student district now stands at 22 - which includes the first eight people who applied by the district's Nov. 30 "soft deadline."

The Toledo Board of Education meets in private tonight to discuss the applicants with its consultant.

Joseph Molloy, of Tampa, an assistant middle school principal from Florida who ran the New York Yankees ballclub in the early 1990s when owner George Steinbrenner was suspended from baseball.

Mr. Molloy left baseball after he divorced Mr. Steinbrenner's daughter. He then returned to education.

Note to Steve Swindal - stay on the good side of Big Stein. It's a big step down.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 08:56 AM | Comments (0)

January 16, 2007

Our RSN Can Beat Up Their RSN

From the Reed Business Interactive Network -

For the fourth straight year, Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network ranked as the most-watched regional sports network in the country.

Citing Nielsen Media Research data, YES officials said the RSN averaged 31,000 households in total-day delivery in 2006 (Dec. 26, 2005-Dec. 31, 2006) versus 25,000 for New England Sports Network. YES, for the first time, matched NESN in primetime, with a daily average of 80,000 households.

Moreover, with its principal fare -- telecasts of Major League Baseball’s New York Yankees -- YES averaged 316,000 viewers versus 252,000 for NESN’s coverage of MLB’s Boston Red Sox.

In the New York DMA, YES’ total-day average household delivery of 31,000 topped the 28,000 combined for market rivals Madison Square Garden Network, FSN New York and SportsNet New York, according to YES officials. In primetime, YES trailed the other three networks’ combined average total of 84,000 by 4,000 households.

I tell ya, that "Yogi and a Movie" is a winner! (And, yes, I'm kidding.)

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 03:41 PM | Comments (1)

Trust Me, We Remember It

From Mmegi Online -

False memories, memories that you believe to be true, but have in fact never happened, have been a topic of psychological research for some time. A recent special issue of the journal Memory looked at false memories and how our brains may have a detection system for filtering out memories that it feels have been distorted.

In the recent issue of Memory, they looked at such processing of memories in our brains. The issue, edited by James M. Lampinen and Timothy N. Odegard of the University of Texas in the United States, featured various studies on the processing and editing of memories including false memories.

Lampinen and Odegard themselves have done research proving that although our brain does occasionally create false memories, sometimes quite detailed and vivid false memories, our brain also has some checks and balances. It appears that our brains also filter out memories that it finds might be false. This is called recollection rejection.

In another recent study looking at false memories and distorted memories, Elizabeth Kensinger at Harvard University found that our memory is also affected by our emotions and our feelings about what we are witnessing. Two people looking at an event, but having opposite emotions about what they are witnessing will go away with two completely different sets of memories about it.

She studied 76 people who had attended a baseball game in 2004, the league playoff game between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees in which the Red Sox won. Kensinger's study focused on personal memories, for example what they ate at the game or what clothes they were wearing, and on event details, which included memories about the game.

She found that for memories about personal details, both Yankee fans and Red Sox fans remembered things equally well, but for event details including memories about the game, the losers, the Yankees fans, had better memories of the event. What this showed was that memory distortion for event-details is affected by the person's emotions and that negative emotions seemed to enhance the person's ability to have clear, non-distorted memories.

Either that, or, Yankees fans are just smarter than Red Sox fans, right?

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 11:35 AM | Comments (7)

Oh, Mr. Sheffield..........

The Sheff has decided to stir the pot a bit with a book. I'm not shocked. Heck, I sort of called it back in August.

From the Times -

In an autobiography to be published this spring, Gary Sheffield, a player famous for voicing his displeasure, describes his relationship with Barry Bonds, his link to the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative steroid distribution case and his three turbulent seasons with the Yankees that culminated with his trade to Detroit last November.

A bound proof of the autobiography, “Inside Power,” was mailed to The New York Times by Crown Publishing. It does not appear to contain any bombshells, but its candor and insight into baseball’s ongoing steroids controversy and its most recognizable franchise have again catapulted Sheffield into the headlines.

During his three seasons with the Yankees, Sheffield was regarded as combative and outspoken, known as much for his bat waggle as his chronic complaining about contracts. He developed a reputation as a superb clutch hitter and as someone who would play hurt.

The first thing that I think of when I hear this is: I wonder how Gary will discuss A-Rod in his book - and how Alex will react to that.

Time will tell.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 09:44 AM | Comments (17)

January 15, 2007

Yanks To Host 2008 All-Star Game?

From the AP -

Busch Stadium in St. Louis will host baseball's All-Star game in 2009.

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig made the announcement Monday night at the 49th annual dinner hosted by the St. Louis chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

The 2007 All-Star game is scheduled for July 10 in San Francisco and the 2008 event is likely to be played at New York's Yankee Stadium, which is slated to be in its final season.

Back in October, during the NL championship series, Selig said it was very likely that St. Louis would be granted the 2009 showcase.

Only Bud would announce the 2009 site before the 2008 one.

The "old new" Stadium is going to be a zoo in it's final season. An All-Star game will only add to the mess. I think I would rather see them wait until 2010 and then do the All-Star game in the new Bronx digs - where it can be better supported.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 10:26 PM | Comments (13)

Ron Shandler's Baseball Forecaster 2007

Last month, I reminded readers of WasWatching.com that I am a firm believer that, someday, mainstream baseball - in the collective sense of more teams, players, agents, media and fans than not - will learn to embrace the usage of such (presently cutting-edge) baseball statistics such as Win Probability Results and Batted Ball Type Results.

Why should baseball accept this enhanced view of production? It is simply because the traditional end-numbers that the presently accepted baseball stats yield are sometimes skewed - either positively or negatively - by an element of luck.

Ron Shandler is one of the first baseball analysts to look "behind and inside the numbers." Shandler specializes in analyzing and evaluating baseball players' performance in terms of their "component skills." And, he's been sharing the findings that he and his team of experts have been able to uncover via his annual "Baseball Forecaster" for the last 21 years.

Ron Shandler's Baseball Forecaster 2007 is now available. Having reviewed this year's edition, I can share that this is a book that any fan of the game of baseball will want to read - and read again and again.

Shandler notes that his book was "a well-timed collision of sabermetrics and fantasy [baseball]." And, he continues with that this book is sometimes "shunned by the two schools" as neither the sabermetric crowd or the fantasy baseball enthusiast wants to mingle with the other.

I have been a fan and follower of sabermetrics since 1982. From 1989 through 2000, I served as a commissioner (and franchise owner) in what many would consider an intense fantasy baseball league. And, while I no longer "play" fantasy baseball, I believe that I understand what makes both sides of these "schools" tick. There's a tremendous amount of enjoyment that both the saber- and roto-heads can take in reading Ron Shandler's Baseball Forecaster 2007.

Having examined Ron Shandler's Baseball Forecaster 2007, I know that anyone from either of the aforementioned two schools who elects to avoid Shandler's work is making a serious error in judgment on their part.

In the "Baseball Forecaster" you will find detail on the tools, principles, rules, axioms, doctrines, and standards behind the forecasts provided in the book. Further, you will find research abstracts from many authors. And, of course, you will find performance projections galore as well as articles on fantasy baseball gaming strategies that can be applied in various league formats. (Note, this is just the meat of the book. It is not an all-inclusive list. There are several other studies and statistic presentations to be found in the "Baseball Forecaster.")

As a Yankees fan, I found the following information from Ron Shandler's Baseball Forecaster 2007 to be very interesting:

+ There's a trend between Jason Giambi's 2003 and 2006 seasons that suggests that his 2007 season may end up like his 2004 season. (And, that would be bad news for Yankees fans.)

+ Based on his Major League Equivalency stats from last season, Gerardo Casadiego was a pretty good pick up for the Yankees last season.

+ There's evidence that suggest that Chris Britton should be more effective for the Yankees this season than Brian Bruney.

+ Why, in part, Worm Killer Wang excelled in 2006: In the majors last season, grounders were turned into out 53% of the time. In Yankees were above average at this in 2006 - as they did it 55% of the time. However, with Wang on the mound, the Yankees infield did this 56% of the time. (Although the Yankee Stadium grounds-crew may have helped with this.)

As a zealous Yankees fan, I want to know information like the above (and that Robinson Cano should hit 20 homers this year, as his "component skills" suggest).

Now, take this type of Yankees-stuff and then add it for the other 29 teams in baseball. This is what you will find in Ron Shandler's Baseball Forecaster 2007. Therefore, whether you are a member of the sabermetric and/or fantasy baseball legions, or just a fan of the game who wants to know more about his favorite players and/or teams, Ron Shandler's Baseball Forecaster 2007 is a book that you will want to read before Opening Day - and continue to reference during the 2007 season.

The fictional Emil Faber said once "Knowledge is good." While those words were never said in reality, the notion is perfect and true. Ron Shandler's Baseball Forecaster 2007 is 252 pages of knowledge at a suggested retail price of $24.95. (And, if you use the links in this review, you will see that you can get it at Amazon.com for $16.47 - at this time.) Therefore, for baseball fans, reading this book is good.

What does "good" mean? It means something has desirable or positive qualities, it is agreeable or pleasing, thorough, a commodity, something that is valuable or useful.

This is how I would summarize Ron Shandler's Baseball Forecaster 2007. It is thorough, pleasing, and a valuable commodity for all fans of baseball whether they love stats, fantasy play, or just following their team. I highly recommend it.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 08:34 AM | Comments (9)

January 14, 2007

Dick King, Former Yankees Exec, Passes

From the Montgomery Advertiser -

Dick King, who helped bring minor league baseball back to Montgomery with the Wings in 2001 and who famed baseball executive Bobby Bragan once called the "the Bill Veeck of the minor leagues," has died. He was 87.

King, born Diogenes "Dick" G. Karabatsos, died in his sleep Tuesday at his home in Gilbert, Ariz. His funeral was Friday in Gilbert, and his body was transported to his hometown of Fairbury, Neb., for burial in his family's plot.

King was a longtime professional sports executive, including years of service at all levels of professional baseball, including the majors. He held management and executive positions at the major league level with Cincinnati, Cleveland and the New York Yankees. With the Yankees, he was executive director responsible for all business operations of the club.

On the day King died, he received a phone call from Yankee owner George Steinbrenner, according to business associate Frank Evans of Montgomery.

"He was so happy to hear from him," Evans said, "He died later that afternoon."

Sounds like he had a fun life. Then again, what else would you expect from a man named...oh, never mind, it's too easy.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 10:41 PM | Comments (0)

Hip, Hip, Jorge! Sounds So Nice They Drafted Him Twice

Today, I learned something about Jorge Posada. From decaturdaily.com -

Retired Calhoun Community College baseball coach Fred Frickie and one of his former prize students, Jorge Posada, will receive a base on balls into the Alabama Community College Athletic Hall of Fame on Friday.

Drafted by the Yankees out of high school in Puerto Rico, Posada played shortstop and third base at Calhoun in 1990 and 1991. In 1990, he was voted the team’s best hitter. The following year, he was named co-captain at Calhoun and selected to the all-conference team. Also, he left Calhoun with his associate’s degree.

After his first year with Calhoun, the Yankees drafted Posada again, but Frickie said he didn’t feel the money was right for him to leave school.

According to Frickie, after Posada’s second year at Calhoun, he signed a scholarship offer with The University of Alabama, but later signed with the Yankees, who upped their offer.

Someone in the Yankees organization really saw something in Posada - so much so that he never left their radar. Looking for more on this, I found an excellent bio on Posada at JockBio. It's worth reading.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 09:18 AM | Comments (0)

Donnie In No Rush?

From Newsday -

"I've definitely thought about being a manager," Mattingly said. "If I get a chance in a few years from now, I want to be totally prepared. I want to be relaxed. This is a great move for me this year. I want to learn from Joe."

Of course, with what Torre has accomplished in 11 years with the Yankees, Mattingly knows what he could be getting into. He said, "You want to be the guy who follows the guy who replaces Joe Torre."

He said he doesn't want to be on a timetable to become a manager. "As players," he said, "we were always on a timetable because of our bodies."

So, what happens if the 2007 Yankees, on June 1st of this year, despite being healthy, are playing 10 games under .500 - if offered, would Donnie take the job then? Would it even be available?

Hopefully these are questions that will never become a reality. Still, it's an interesting situation.

And, don't forget that Girardi will be waiting in the wings as well.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 09:06 AM | Comments (3)

January 13, 2007

Best Seasons By Yankees First Basemen

Continuing with the WasWatching.com Yankees "ten best seasons" (ever) series, today we look at first basemen. Here is what I believe are the top ten seasons for Yankees first basemen, with stats via the Complete Baseball Encyclopedia:

Click on the list below for a larger view ~

This just in: That Gehrig guy was pretty good with the stick! The Iron Horse runs the table here - posting the ten best seasons ever for a Yankees first sacker. What about since the days of Gehrig? Here's how this top ten broke down after the 1938 season:

Click on the list below for a larger view ~

Interesting! Giambi and Mattingly pretty much own this one. When I see this, the first thing that comes to my mind is that the great Yankees offensive first basemen came during the days of Gehrig and the days of Mattingly and Giambi.

Didn't the Yankees win a lot of rings in the 1940's, 1950's, 1960's and 1970's? You would think that they had big hitting 1B's on those teams, no? Well, check out this slice of the Yankees first basemen ten best seasons, covering seasons from 1939 to 1980:

Click on the list below for a larger view ~

We're not exactly seeing Hall of Fame type seasons here, are we? And, this is the best of the '40's, 50's, 60's and 70's.

Maybe the Yankees can win a ring this season with Rico Bergman playing first?

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 01:09 PM | Comments (19)

Ichiro In 2008?

Ichiro Suzuki wanting to leave the Mariners is popping up in the news again - and there are opinions already starting to form on the notion.

If Ichiro truly wants to move, you would have to bet that the Yankees would come up as a possible landing spot for him.

As a Yankees fan, who would you rather have in RF in 2008 - a 34-year-old Bobby Abreu or a 34-year old Ichiro Suzuki?

The offensive skills of both players, in terms of boiled down collective relative production, are pretty close. Yes, they have different styles of offensive attack, but, in terms of bottom line production, they're not all that far apart from each other. Also, both are durable players.

If you're the Yankees, and you could trade Abreu for Ichiro, one-up, today - would you do it? It's a very interesting debate. At this moment, I'm not sure which side I would take on this one.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 09:39 AM | Comments (11)

January 12, 2007

Jeff Nelson Retires As A Yankee

Bizarre.

From the AP -

Jeff Nelson wanted to retire as a member of the New York Yankees, so he agreed Friday to a minor league contract and then said he wouldn't play anymore.

"I enjoyed a fulfilling 15-year major league career, and each season brought experiences and friends that I will cherish forever," the 40-year-old relief pitcher said in a statement released by the Yankees.

"But being able to be a part of four world championship teams with the Yankees, while playing in a place like Yankee Stadium in front of the greatest fans in the world -- that time will always hold a special place in my heart."

Sounds like Nellie wants a job at the YES Network.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 09:14 PM | Comments (3)

Todd Pratt

According to Peter Abraham, the Yankees signed Todd Pratt. He'll be 40-years old this season. Last year, with the Braves, his stick was terrible. However, prior to that, he was a decent back-up catcher - in terms of offense. He's a bit of a character. See this from 2003:

Todd Pratt has dubbed his compadres who spend more time on the pine than in the playing field the Bench Dogs. Pratt has a belt that gets awarded to the bench player who does the best job that day. The belt is "fashioned after the gaudy types used by the World Wrestling Federation."

The last time the Yankees had a 40-year old catch a game for them was 1904 (Deacon McGuire). This could be interesting.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 09:03 PM | Comments (3)

January 2007 Survey Question # 3

Which young and mostly, for the moment, green gun will be the guy to come out from the Yankees prospect pack this year? Who do you think it will be?

Update, 1/18/07: This poll is now closed. Most seem to think it will be Phil Hughes. To see the results, click on the thumbnail below:

While I disagree with that, it's interesting to know what most Yankees fans think.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 12:48 PM | Comments (3)

Rasner To Be Rocket's Seat Warmer?

From Tony Massarotti -

According to one evaluator with the New York Yankees, the team traded Johnson largely because his performance was far too erratic from one start to the next. The Yankees reasoned that they could get that kind of inconsistency from a younger pitcher while simulateously allowing the youngster to develop.

By trading Johnson, the Yankees shaved $16 million from their projected 2007 payroll, bringing their current number down to the $180 million range – only about $20 million more than the projected payroll of the Red Sox. New York still could add Roger Clemens at midseason – the Red Sox and Houston Astros similarly remain opions for Clemens – and it is telling that the Yankees would rather have a half-season of Clemens than a full season of Johnson.

Reading this, along with the comments about Clemens from Pettitte and Cashman at the Pettitte press conference yesterday, make me believe that the Yankees plan for their rotation this season will be to have Darrell Rasner hold the fort on a spot (assuming they can trade Pavano or if "the Duke of the D.L." remains unable to pitch) until Clemens decides he wants to pitch again this year.

What will make this whole thing interesting is if Rasner is something like 6-2 at the end of May with an ERA near four. What does Cashman do then - considering he's always saying that the Yankees need to get younger and cheaper? If Rasner (or some other youngster) does act as a placeholder for Clemens, and he does well, when you factor in the projection for Rocket this year, I hope the Yankees really think about what it is that they want to do on this situation.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 08:57 AM | Comments (9)

Wanna Bet?

I wonder if Vegas will establish an under/over line for the amount of times this season Alex Rodriguez, when speaking to the media, will reference David Beckham's new five-year, $250 million, contract?

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 08:51 AM | Comments (8)

January 11, 2007

Best Seasons By Yankees Catchers

Continuing with the WasWatching.com Yankees "ten best seasons" (ever) series, today we look at catchers. Here is what I believe are the top ten seasons for Yankees catchers, with stats via the Complete Baseball Encyclopedia:

Click on the list below for a larger view ~

Is anyone shocked to see Dickey and Berra dominate this list?

But, just as much as we expected to see those two famous # 8's on the board, I would bet that most are surprised to see Mike Stanley '93 crack the top ten - with a season just as good as Jorge Posada's best season ever with the bat (to date).

What about since the days of Berra and Dickey - what does that list look like? Here's how this top ten broke down after the 1963 season:

Click on the list below for a larger view ~

Posada and Munson own this list as much as Dickey and Berra own the overall list.

Some may be thinking here "Shouldn't Elston Howard appear more often on these lists?" Well, Ellie had three huge seasons with the stick: 1961, 1963 and 1964. That last year made the cut for this Post-'63 group. But, 1961 and 1963 missed the cut because I used 1964 as the starting year on this second group. That was a mistake - since Yogi was really done being a catcher after 1960. To fix that error, here's how this top ten broke down after the 1960 season - tweaked to only include those who played in 100+ games in a season (sorry Johnny Blanchard '61):

Click on the list below for a larger view ~

Ah, there's Elston Howard in his glory - right up there with Posada and Munson.

This is what you would expect here, in total: Dickey and Berra being # 1 (A) and # 1 (B) in terms of the best Yankees catchers ever - with Posada, Munson and Howard rounding out the top five.

When he's said and done, Jorge Posada should have locked up the # 3 all-time slot (behind Dickey and Berra) for Yankees great catchers. Not bad for a guy who didn't start playing full-time until he was 28-years old.

Here's something to noodle: If Posada puts up three more seasons like he had in 2006, does that give him enough of a resume for Cooperstown consideration? Or, does that just make him this generation's Ted Simmons? It probably makes sense to wait and see if Jorge can post those additional numbers before banging our heads on the wall trying to figure this one out.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 09:52 PM | Comments (8)

2004 ALCS Game 7 Comments

I was just having a conversation with someone about the 2004 ALCS which gave me an idea for a little retro-entry today. WasWatching.com was not around in 2004. But, had it been, you probably would have found something like this posted here on October 21, 2004:

Just about 5 minutes before Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS, I got an idea. In order to try and keep myself calm during the game, and not wake up my 6 month old and my 28 month old with moaning and hollering, I decided that I was going to keep score of this game, for fun, while watching it on TV. And, while I was keeping score, at the end of each half-inning, I made comments on the back of the scorecard. Here is what those comments ended up being:

Top 1st - Boston 2 New York 0. Again this series, Boston gets the needed hit with 2 outs.

Bottom 1st - Boston 2 New York 0. FOX graphic says it all - Sheffield had only 1 hit in Games 4, 5 & 6 (combined) in this ALCS.

Top 2nd - Boston 6 New York 0. Sox got 4 runs on only 2 hits in this frame.

Bottom 2nd - Boston 6 New York 0. Through 2 innings, Boston has 13 plate appearances and New York only has seven.

Top 3rd - Boston 6 New York 0. FOX had a dugout shot of Boston's Pokey Reese. He makes Willie McGee look pretty.

Bottom 3rd - Boston 6 New York 1. When was the last time A-Rod hit the ball out of the infield?

Top 4th - Boston 8 New York 1. Against Vazquez, Johnny Damon is Babe Ruth.

Bottom 4th - Boston 8 New York 1. Three up, three down. 15 outs left to New York's season.

Top 5th - Boston 8 New York 1. Wasn't New York just three outs away from winning this LCS back in Game 4?

Bottom 5th - Boston 8 New York 1. Through 5 innings, Boston has 30 plate appearances and New York only has 18.

Top 6th - Boston 8 New York 1. Loaiza has been the best pitcher of the night so far for NY. Imagine that?

Bottom 6th - Boston 8 New York 1. Through six, Lowe has allowed just one hit to NY and just 3 outs made it to the outfield.

Top 7th - Boston 8 New York 1. Is Pedro really coming into this game?

Bottom 7th - Boston 8 New York 3. The mini-rally here was probably the Yankees best and last shot to get back into this game.

Top 8th - Boston 9 New York 3. Tom Gordon is a post-season Ed Whitson.

Bottom 8th - Boston 9 New York 3. Three times in 8 innings played tonight, Jeter/A-Rod/Sheffield went 3 up, 3 down, in an inning.

Top 9th - Boston 10 New York 3. I think the only fans left in Yankee Stadium are members of the Red Sox Nation.

Bottom 9th - Boston 10 New York 3. Boy, am I glad that I sold my two tickets to this game. Sorry Dave (to whom I sold the tickets).

Now, three other comments flashed into my mind at various points during the game that did not make the official "back of the scorecard" scrawl, Nonetheless, here they are:

1. Can anyone attend a baseball game these days and not use their cell phone while watching the game? I don't think that I saw one shot of the fans in the stands where someone was not on the phone.

2. Think we'll hear any more from the Sox management team about the unfair advantage that New York has because of their high payroll?

3. Since 2001, the team that knocked the Yankees out of the playoffs has gone on to win the World Series. Will Boston become the 4th team in a row to do this?

Lastly, here, in closing, of course, congrats to the 2004 Boston Red Sox, and all of their fans. Yes, they were the favorite to win the ALCS according to Vegas and others (coming into the series); but, to win it after being down 3-0 is incredible. Enjoy this win tonight. But, just as important, remember Game 4. Every series has a turning point and Game 4 was that point for this ALCS. Always remember that stolen base by Dave Roberts in the 9th inning. That one play just may have been the biggest play in the history of the Sox (if they go on to win the World Series).

And some say that steals are overrated.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 02:35 PM | Comments (13)

Stepping Up On The PED Soapbox For A Moment

The latest news on Barry Bonds – that he failed an amphetamine test last season – got me thinking about Jason Giambi. I can’t help but make this connection every time I hear about Bonds in the news. Giambi and Bonds will always be connected in my mind because of the BALCO situation.

As a Yankees fan, I do sometimes lean towards finding it bothersome that a player on the team has a “Performance Enhancing Drug” (PED) history as strong as Jason Giambi. I’m all for stealing signs and doctoring your playing field to get an edge in baseball – since teams have been doing that forever and there are no real penalties associated to those practices. (When you get caught stealing signs or messing with your field, baseball just tells you to stop it - and that’s the end of it.) There’s just something that seems unnatural and artificial about using PEDS that rubs me the wrong way.

However, Giambi (and Bonds) are at a disadvantage here because of the BALCO spotlight. And, at times like now, I like to remind myself of that – and that there are many other players who may have been using PEDs who never get the attention of Giambi (or some others).

As an example, what about Trot Nixon? In terms of his “power” production, he was about a league average performer until 2001. Then, his power numbers jump up and he’s performing at a different level from 2001 through 2004. Then, once baseball comes up with a PED testing policy with teeth – where the names will be named – Nixon shows up to Spring Training (in 2005) weighing 14 pounds lighter. In addition, right around 2004, his body starts to break down with injuries even though he is in his early 30’s.

Now, I am not saying that Trot Nixon used PEDs – as a matter of fact. What I am saying is that he fits the profile of anyone who should be suspected of using PEDs – meaning a sudden jump in production, coupled with weight gain, followed by weight loss when real testing comes into play, and then having physical breakdowns at an age where it is uncommon. Yet, despite the fact that Nixon’s production and health timeline suggest that something unnatural and artificial may be a factor, very few point to his case and say “Part of the reason why the Red Sox were so good from 2002 to 2004 was because their right-fielder was juiced.”

Therefore, it is probably unfair for someone to point to the Yankees and say “Part of the reason why the Yankees were so good from 2002 to 2006 was because Giambi was juiced” since we’re not looking at every team and trying to determine if they had a player (or players) who also fit the profile of someone who may have been using PEDs. Any fan who wants to throw stones at the Yankees (for Giambi) should first look for the sinners on their own team first.

These are my thoughts on the whole thing - for the moment - triggered by the latest Bonds news. Maybe I'll feel different another day? It's possible.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 09:52 AM | Comments (27)

January 10, 2007

The Sad News On Bobby Murcer Today

Murcer's tumor was malignant. Everything I wrote two weeks ago still applies.

Together, we need to marshal up our good thoughts and hopes and sent them towards Bobby's way today, and in the days that follow.

Godspeed Lemon.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 03:21 PM | Comments (5)

The Pride and the Pressure

This new book, due to come out next April, looks interesting.

The Pride and the Pressure: A Season Inside the New York Yankee Fishbowl by Michael Morrissey.

I wonder if there's anything disclosed in it that will create a distraction for this season?

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 03:09 PM | Comments (1)

January 2007 Survey Question # 2

Read any good Yankees books lately? What's your favorite one?

Update, 1/16/07: This poll is now closed. "The Last Night Of The Yankees Dynasty" gets the nod. To see the results, click on the thumbnail below:

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 03:05 PM | Comments (7)

From FT 1B...to...FT DH...to PT DH?

Here are Jason Giambi's career splits based on the opposing pitcher's handedness:

Career:

vs RHP .300/.424/.571
vs LHP .272/.387/.470

In 2005, this is how Giambi's splits looked:

2005:

vs RHP .276/.451/.570
vs LHP .261/.418/.464

The drop in OBP and SLG % in 2005, based on the pitcher's handedness, was right in line with his career - around 30 points in OBP and 100 points in SLG %.

Here's Giambi's splits from last season:

2006:

vs RHP .270/.434/.592
vs LHP .213/.356/.472

We're now seeing a drop of around 75 points in OBP and 120 points in SLG % when a left-hander faces Giambi as opposed to a right-hander. And, you have to wonder if lefties will start to look at that .213 batting average and decide that it makes sense to throw more strikes at Jason - which may bring that OBP number even lower in 2007.

This all said, should the Yankees start to consider benching Giambi against LHP? Or, do you have to keep running him out there because of his salary?

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 09:26 AM | Comments (18)

January 09, 2007

Good Rights & Sweet Dreams

John Sickels' revised Yankees prospect list was posted at MinorLeagueBall.com today.

There are 23 prospects on the list - 17 of which are pitchers. In fact, 13 of the top 14 are pitchers.

Sounds like this class of Yankees pitching prospects needs a handle.

How about "Good Rights & Sweet Dreams" since 16 of the 17 pitchers are righties?

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 10:40 PM | Comments (0)

Best Seasons By Yankees Closers

Continuing with the WasWatching.com Yankees "ten best seasons" (ever) series, today we look at closers. Here is what I believe are the top ten seasons for Yankees closers, with stats via the Complete Baseball Encyclopedia:

Click on the list below for a larger view ~

Is it any shock to see Rivera '96 at the top of the chart here, or, to see Mariano have five of the top ten slots? Further, is Rivera '03-'06 the best ever 4-year run for a closer? Probably. Mo is simply amazing.

But, how did/would this list look before the days of Rivera? (I want to call it "B.M." for "Before Mo" but, well, you know.) Here's how this top ten broke down after the 1994 season:

Click on the list below for a larger view ~

There are some names here that diehard and/or old-time Yankees fans would expect to see: Johnny Murphy, Joe Page, Luis Arroyo, Sparky Lyle, Goose Gossage and Rags Righetti. And, maybe even Lindy McDaniel '70 earning a place here would not shock some Yankees fans.

But, how many Yankees fans expected to see Lee Guetterman '89 and Brian Fisher '85 make the top ten? I have to confess - I never would have guessed it. Fun stuff, indeed.

Here's some more fun. What if we allowed someone who also started some games - as long as he closed more often than started? Here's that result:

Click on the list below for a larger view ~

That was some rookie season in 1927 for (then) 30-year old Wilcy Moore.

Wilcy was a sidearming sinkerballer. Along with 12 starts, Moore pitched in 38 games as a relief pitcher - finishing 30 games. In total, he threw 213 IP that year. Without looking, I would bet that at least 105 of those 213 IP came out of the bullpen. So, Moore probably averaged around 3 IP per relief appearance that season - or probably a tad higher. Joe Torre would have loved him.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 07:51 PM | Comments (5)

Hey, Randy Johnson....

...you're going to get $71 million (plus interest) over the next six years and be able to work just down the street from your house!

How do you feel about that?

Click here to see his answer.

Some guys, huh?

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 04:49 PM | Comments (9)

460 Days Ago From Today

Was the last time the Boston Red Sox appeared in the post-season.

I share this with the hope that the person in the silver Lexus with Massachusetts plates, who tried to cut me off last night on Route 287 in New Jersey, after being stuck in bumper-to-bumper, two MPH, traffic between Exit 17 and Exit 5 for three and a half hours - yes, three and a half hours - sees it.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 12:05 PM | Comments (9)

Johan Santana To Yankees?

Only if he wants it - and if he hears cha-ching. From the St. Paul Pioneer Press -

Much has been made of the Twins' seemingly bleak chances, for financial reasons, of retaining Johan Santana when he becomes eligible for free agency following the 2008 season. By winning his second Cy Young Award last season, it turns out the left-hander's market value may have increased even more than initially anticipated.

Santana's contract, it has been learned, includes a clause that could hinder the Twins from trading him this year if the club believes it won't be able to re-sign him for 2009.

Being among the top three vote getters for the 2006 Cy Young Award triggered a no-trade provision for Santana for 2007. Had he not been among the top three, Santana had the right, by contract, to choose 12 teams to which he could be traded.

Now, Santana cannot be traded to any team in 2007 without his approval. His price tag could reach $20 million a year on the open market after the 2008 season.

The Twins probably wouldn't want to wait until 2008 to trade him, though, if they determined they wouldn't be able to afford him after that season. By waiting, Santana's trade value could diminish.

With the no-trade clause this year, Santana has leverage to reject any deal unless a team is willing to provide him with a huge contract extension. That could limit the Twins' ability to get market value for him in a trade.

Yes, he's the best pitcher in the game. And, yes, he's only 28-years old. But, would you sign him to a $100 million contract for 5 years? What was it that Brian Cashman said the other day? Oh, yeah it was:

"Our thought process for the past two years has been to stockpile as many young pitchers as we can, so you don't have to go into the free agent market and do desperate things," Cashman said. "It's been proven again and again you can be slaughtered there, where all the pitchers are over-priced. Plus, our payroll simply couldn't go any higher than it was."

There's a lot of risk, even with Santana's great talent, in giving a pitcher $100 million (or more) for 5 years (or more). It's going to be an interesting situation - if the Yankees have a chance to acquire him.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 09:59 AM | Comments (18)

January 08, 2007

Best Seasons By Yankees Pitchers

Inspired by Matt Welch and powered by the Complete Baseball Encyclopedia, I decided to look at the ten best seasons (ever) by Yankees pitchers and came up with this all-time list:

Click on the list below for a larger view ~

One would expect to see Guidry '78 and Chesbro '04 on this list. But, note Gomez and Ruffing. Lefty Gomez has the number one slot here - and three seasons (in total) in the top ten. Red Ruffing has two slots in the top ten. So, between Gomez and Ruffing, they own half of the ten best seasons by a Yankees pitcher.

What's also cool here is that Gomez and Ruffing were teammates from 1930 through 1942. And, as the chart shows, in 1937 they were an incredible one-two punch for the Yankees rotation.

But, what about after 1942? How would this all-time top ten seasons list appear if we only took seasons from 1942 forward? For the answer, see below:

Click on the list below for a larger view ~

Now, this is some good stuff. Whitey Ford's '61 and '63 seasons did not make the cut. (Quick, someone tell Michael Kay that it's not all about wins.) Nonetheless, Ford does take three of the top seven slots here.

Note the placement of Andy Pettitte '97 and Mariano Rivera '96. What's interesting here is that 1997 was the year after Pettitte got hosed in the Cy Young Award voting and 1996 was the year before Rivera became the Yankees closer. In any event, I wonder how many Yankees fans today realize that Andy Pettitte, in 1997, had the 7th best season ever by a Yankees pitcher since 1942.

It was nice to see Catfish Hunter '75 make the Post-'42 list. And, of course, how about Melido Perez '92 grabbing the final slot in the Post-'42 top ten? Then again, if you were reading WasWatching.com back in November 2005, seeing how good Perez was in 1992 should not be news.

I'll do some more of these "Top Ten Season" lists for other positions between now and the start of next season.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 10:53 PM | Comments (7)

Ben Badler On Rico Bergman

Ben Badler offers an interesting look on the value of the Yankees new first baseman against RH-pitchers. As Ben writes:

The Yankees already have a potent offense that scored a league-leading 930 runs last year, and they didn’t lose anyone who played significantly last season. Considering all of that, Cashman made a shrewd move signing Doug. The Yankees don’t need any more run scoring to be successful; what they need is run prevention. Hitting and pitching are the most valuable commodities in baseball, but defense is highly undervalued in the current market. Hitting and pitching are more important than defense, but there is a significant market inefficiency in terms of the dollars being paid for defense, partly because defense is so difficult to accurately quantify. Rather than spend another $6.5 million for an 800 OPS first baseman (Hillenbrand’s projected 2007 using regression calculations), Cashman saved the Yankees $5 million by signing a 740 OPS first baseman who can play significantly better defense, has a comparable on-base percentage and brings the compound-interest virtue of taking more pitches per plate appearance.

I hope that he is right.

Update, 1/8/07 4:27 pm ET -

I was just looking at David Pinto's Probabilistic Model of Range for First Basemen in 2006. It says that Rico Bergman turned 6 more balls into outs than expected last year. That's the same as Andy Phillips in 2006. Then again, Rico Bergman did have a bad back, no? And, in any event, while the numbers suggest Rico was not all that great last year, Bergman is still light-years better than Giambi in the field.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 01:36 PM | Comments (8)

Shea It Ain't So, Bernie. Shea It Ain't So.

BrooklynMetFan.com wonders about the chance that Bernie Williams may join the Mets. As they write:

Anyone catch the Bernie Williams to the Mets scuttlebutt? It’s mostly internet conjecture but it makes for an interesting debate. Would you take Bernie on the Mets in lieu of a Michael Tucker? In some weird way BMF wouldn’t be opposed to it.

No one hates the yankees more than me and wishes everything evil upon them but Bernie is one guy I never hated. He’s close with Willie and Rick Down and the yankees have basically severed ties with him after the signing of Doug Mientkiewicz. (Boooo!)

I know Bernie is old and slow but at 38 he’d be only the 5th oldest on our team!

It is an interesting question. Would Omar Minaya go after Bernie? If offered a contract, would Bernie join the Mets? If Bernie joined the Mets, what would be the reaction of Yankees fans?

I think the answers here are: Possibly, maybe, and mixed.

How's that for sitting on the fence?

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 11:22 AM | Comments (19)

Happy 31st Birthday, Carl Pavano!

I would like to say that you're now over the hill; but, I can't even remember the last time you were on the hill.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 11:04 AM | Comments (5)

January 07, 2007

Did Pavano Take Cash To School?

The day after I questioned Brian Cashman's track record in acquiring big league pitching, Bill Madden has this interesting quote from Cashman is his column today:

"Our thought process for the past two years has been to stockpile as many young pitchers as we can, so you don't have to go into the free agent market and do desperate things," Cashman said. "It's been proven again and again you can be slaughtered there, where all the pitchers are over-priced. Plus, our payroll simply couldn't go any higher than it was."

If it's been "proven again and again," then just what was Cashman doing on the day of December 4th, 2004 - performing the full-court press on Carl Pavano with dinner and a Broadway show? Then again, that was two years ago, almost exactly - and Cashman is saying in this quote that it's been his "thought process for the past two years."

Sounds like Carl Pavano has left a lasting impression on Brian's "thought process." And, that might just be the biggest benefit for the Yankees from the Pavano signing, at the end of the day.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 02:39 PM | Comments (9)

A New Name For Mister Mxyzptlk

Since Doug Mientkiewicz is on the Yankees roster, I need to come up with a plan.

As a blogger, spelling his last name (correctly) each time that I write about him is going to be a pain. I suppose that I could learn to spell it correctly, in time - but, that makes little sense to me because I don't think he will have a very long life in Yankeeland.

Therefore, I've decided that I'm not going to refer to him as "Doug Mientkiewicz" - instead, I'm just going to call him "Rico Bergman."

"Rico Bergman" is easier to spell correctly. It works for me.

And, as it is a mix of Rico Brogna and Dave Bergman, it seems like a fitting handle for Doug Mientkiewicz.

Welcome to the Yankees, Rico Bergman, just remember that the balls are team property and should not be used for personal gain.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 10:12 AM | Comments (3)

January 06, 2007

Should The Buck Stop At Cash?

Phil Rogers on Brian Cashman -

Over the last four years, Cashman has signed off on deals that cost the Yankees $146.4 million for Jose Contreras, Esteban Loaiza, Kevin Brown, Javier Vazquez, Carl Pavano, Jaret Wright and Johnson. Those guys have given the Yankees 96 victories, 224 starts and a combined 4.94 earned-run average.

George Steinbrenner had to pay a part of departing players' future salaries to send Contreras to the White Sox in 2004, Vazquez to the Diamondbacks in '05 and Wright to the Orioles earlier this winter. The Yankees will be on the hook for $9 million in deferred payments and $2 million in salary when the pending Johnson deal is finalized. And none of this factors in luxury taxes.

What, no mention of Jeff Weaver?

Actually, Rogers' comments struck a nerve for me because this is something that I've been wondering about for the last few days, in private, since word first came out that Johnson was going to be traded.

Cashman became Yankees G.M. on February 28, 1998. The Yankees won the World Series in 1998, 1999, and 2000 - because of their pitching. The good pitchers on those 1998-2000 teams were Mariano Rivera, Orlando Hernandez, Roger Clemens, Ramiro Mendoza, Jeff Nelson, David Wells, Andy Pettitte, Graeme Lloyd and David Cone.

Of that strong pitching group, Cashman inherited most of them - I think his only moves were to pick up Clemens and El Duque.

What does this all say about Brian Cashman's track record in terms of being able to build a very good pitching staff?

I know that many will be quick to say things here like "It seemed like the right move, at the time, to get Vazquez" and "The whole world was chasing Pavano - and he took less money to come here" and "Who could have predicted that Johnson would get old so fast?" and "The Red Sox wanted Contreras just as bad," etc.

But, isn't it Brian Cashman's job to be smarter than the average bear when it comes to acquiring talent? Or, is it just O.K. for him to follow the path of conventional wisdom when it comes to acquiring pitching and then if it doesn't work out it's just a matter of shrugging your shoulders at the results and saying "It seemed like a good idea at the time"?

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 10:55 PM | Comments (14)

Cairo Está En La Casa

The Yankees signed Miguel Cairo to a one-year, $750,000, contract.

The last two seasons Miggy hit the way you can expect him to perform. The year he had in 2004 was a fluke. Here's an interesting compare of Cairo's lifetime statistics to that of another player:

That pretty much sums up Cairo's stick - a tad better than Luis Sojo, barely. But, Cairo can steal you a bag if you need it. That's a plus. Here's the leaders, in terms of SB success rate, for guys with 30+ SB over the last three seasons:

As you can see, when it comes to being a good base-stealer, Cairo is top ten material. And, sometimes, something as simple as a stolen base at the right time can really help a team.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 07:39 PM | Comments (5)

Chris from West Nyack, I Hear You

Fire Joe Morgan recounts an interesting Michael Kay rant (on a caller) the other day. It's worth reading. (Hat tip to BaseballThinkFactory.org)

I was listening live when Kay went off on this caller, Chris from West Nyack.

It was amazing to hear Kay say things like:

"I believe by watching baseball my whole life and being involved with it for 25 years is that there is nothing harder to do in sports than to win a game by a pitcher."

"All these Sabermatricians get locked up with all of these stats and I don't. You know what stat I care about? Did he win the game?"

Michael is obviously lost on the concept of run-support. The Yankees scored 7.51 runs per 9 innings in Johnson's games last year. That was the highest run-support for any qualified starter in the majors - by almost a full run. Neutral Wins is a projection of how many wins a pitcher would have if he was given average run support, considering the amount of decisions (W+L) he had in a season. Last season, Randy Johnson had 12 Neutral Wins. (In 2005, he had 14.)

Here's a comparison for you: Last season, Kris Benson had 11 Neutral Wins - just one less than Johnson. Therefore, if Kris Benson had pitched for the Yankees last year, and got the run support that Johnson had, he probably would have won around 17 games too.

Replacing the "2006 version" of Randy Johnson in the Yankees rotation is not really going to be a big deal for New York. The caller to Kay's show, Chris from West Nyack, gets it. Kay is clueless on this one.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 09:23 AM | Comments (13)

January 05, 2007

Not Exactly A Good Veteran Presence

From Peter Abraham today -

Bernie [Williams] told us in November that he still enjoyed playing. But I know from being around the team last season that he was usually the last one to arrive at the clubhouse before the game and the first one to leave after. That doesn't necessarily mean anything but he strikes me like a guy who could walk away without looking back.

You ever work with anyone who came into work every morning at 9:20 am and left everyday at 5:05 pm? Usually, that's a person who no longer cares about working there.

If the numbers were not enough, this information clinches it. Bernie Williams should not be on this team in 2007.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 04:50 PM | Comments (7)

Plan B After Rocket?

Let us assume that the Randy Johnson trade is completed. Then, suppose that Roger Clemens does not join the Yankees for 2007. If you're Brian Cashman, do you then go with Carl Pavano for your 5th starter this season? Say that you don't want to rely on Pavano - which makes sense - do you go into the season with Darrell Rasner or Jeff Karstens as the last man in your rotation? Or, do you commit the folly of trying to convert Scott Proctor to the rotation?

Whether it's Pavano, the kids, or a converted Proctor, there's some risk in any choice here (assuming that Clemens signs with Houston or Boston). However, there is another avenue out there that has some merit.

The Phillies have Freddy Garica, Brett Myers, Jon Lieber, Adam Eaton, Jamie Moyer and Cole Hamels on their roster now. That's one starter too many. It's been reported that they want to trade Lieber from this group. Phillies assistant general manager Mike Arbuckle has been quoted in the media as saying that his team needs to acquire help for their bullpen.

Doesn't this sound like a love connection for the Yankees and Phils?

Given Lieber's age and contract status, an offer of Luis Vizcaino and T.J. Beam should be enough to make them consider dealing Lieber to New York.

Jon Lieber has been a capable starter in his last five seasons and someone who will not fold under pressure. That sounds like the perfect fit for the last spot in the Yankees rotation this season. And, when he leaves as a Free Agent after the season, that Hughes kid can step into his spot in 2008 (assuming he is ready).

If Clemens does not join the Yankees, Lieber should be their number one target after Rocket.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 04:06 PM | Comments (8)

Danny Tartabull's Yankees Legacy

Richard Barbieri has a feature up today at the Hardball Times on the Yankees acquistion of Danny Tartabull. In which, he writes:

Despite flaws both real and perceived, Tartabull was a major positive step for the Yankees, their first marquee free agent in some time and a sign that the Mel Halls of the world would no longer be acceptable as off-season acquisitions. In fact, Tartabull arguably was more important to the Yankees as a symbol than as an actual player. The 1992 offseason saw the team add Wade Boggs and Jimmy Key, and by 1994 the Yankees had baseball’s best record at the time of the strike.

Whenever I think of Danny Tartabull, I think of Sam Militello's first game (ever) for the Yankees. The date was August 9, 1992. I was at that game with my friends, Lou and Mike. Tartabull did not play that day because he had a "bad back." His condition was announced before the game. (We probably heard it on the radio on the way to the park.)

Militello was awesome that day, in his big league debut, holding the Red Sox to one hit over 7 innings. Still, it was a close game until the 8th inning, so, most of the fans there that day stayed until the end of the game.

After the game, traffic around the Stadium was mess. Mike, Lou and I were stuck on some street (I forget which one) just stopped dead in traffic. There was a side-street to our right that the police had closed with those blue wooden horses that that use to block off traffic - and two cops were standing guard in front of it.

As we're sitting there, not moving an inch, all of a sudden a very large SUV (or was it a Jeep?) breaks from the traffic line that we were in and heads into that side-street towards the police barricade.

Mike, Lou and I looked at each other and one of us said "Where does he think he's going?"

Just then, the SUV stops in front of the cops and the driver's door flies open - and the driver jumps into the street (which was like a two-foot drop because the SUV was so high off the ground).

When the driver got out of the car, we realized who it was - it was Danny Tartabull.

Tartabull said something to the policemen and they nodded their heads. Then, the cops moved away from the wooden horses and allowed Danny Tartabull to walk towards the barricades.

Tartabull grabbed of the wooden horses and carried it off to the curb - then he jumped back into his SUV, and went speeding down the street that was completely open, and avoided being stuck in traffic (for any longer).

Sitting there, in Mike's car, watching this whole thing unfold, all I could think of was "Gee, that's some bad back."

And, to this Yankees fan, this event will be Danny Tartabull's Yankees legacy. I know that sabermetric measures will tell you that he was a productive batter - but, he was just one of those players who would never be part of a winning team because he had a terrible attitude towards how the game should be played.

Getting rid of players like Tartabull was a "major positive step for the Yankees," in my opinion. Getting players who give an honest effort was when the Yankees started to win again.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 11:01 AM | Comments (7)

Unit's Return To The Bronx?

The Arizona Diamondbacks come into Yankee Stadium for a 3-game series this year on June 12th-14th. Let us assume that Randy Johnson pitches one of those games for the D'backs.

What do you think the crowd reaction will be towards him before and after the game?

I think he gets booed at the start of the game and then:

1. Booed when he leaves the game if he pitches well, or
2. Cheered when he leaves the game if the Yankees bat him around.

If you were at the game, what would you do in terms of a fan reaction?

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 09:09 AM | Comments (10)

January 04, 2007

Comments On The Tentative Johnson Trade

It's now reported that it's Randy Johnson and $2 million for Luis Vizcaino, Ross Ohlendorf, Steven Jackson and Alberto Gonzalez.

Luis Vizcaino is a David Weathers or Braden Looper type of pen-man. He won't kill you, but, he's not going to be one of your "A" or "B" guys in the pen either. He's fine for filling in the gaps for games with big leads without having to tap on a Proctor or Farnsworth.

Ross Ohlendorf, a fourth-round pick in 2004, throws a power sinker. He raised his prospect status last season. He's a smart kid - he went to Princeton. Since his secondary pitches do not match the quality of his sinker, I could see him landing in the bullpen if he makes it to the majors. Think "Bob Wickman."

Here's a recent Baseball America report on Steven Jackson:

A big presence on the mound, Steven Jackson took a bigger step forward in the Diamondbacks system this season, reaffirming his prospect status.

The 6-foot-5, 215-pound righthander had a strong showing for Double-A Tennessee, posting a marked improvement in every category except record after making a simple adjustment late in 2005 by lengthening his stride.

Jackson, who won the low Class A Midwest League championship game with his new delivery for South Bend in 2005, was 8-11, 2.65 for the Smokies this season, finishing second in the Southern League in ERA while limiting opponents to a .239 average. He cut his ERA in half and lowered his opponent average by 82 percentage points.

"Everything stayed consistent," said Jackson, a 10th-round draft pick out of Clemson in 2004. "I was able to keep my pitches down consistently. Maybe it was more concentration, maybe just learning how to pitch a little bit."

Jackson, 24, had control of all four of his pitches and found a rhythm with his sinker, split-finger fastball and changeup that kept hitters off balance. He often used his changeup early in the count to set up a two-strike splitter that helped him pile up 125 strikeouts in 150 innings.

"The biggest thing this year was he commanded all four pitches and he was consistent day in and day out. He didn't beat himself," Tennessee pitching coach Dan Carlson said. "He didn't get behind in the count. When he got beat, it was because they just hit good pitches, and that's going to happen to anyone."

Jackson's fastball regularly reached 90-91 mph and topped out at 94. He averaged 2.7 walks per nine innings.

Jackson was struggling in the Arizona Fall League, where he was 0-1, 12.38 for Scottsdale.

John Sickels recently listed the Top 20 current propsects for the D'backs and this is what he said about Ohlendorf (at 20) and Jackson (at 19):

Steven Jackson, RHP, C+ (excellent season in Double-A following mechanical rebuild)

Ross Ohlendorf, RHP, C+ (sleeper who throws strikes)

Alberto Gonzalez, a 23-year-old Venezuelan, reportedly, makes some spectacular plays at SS with plus range to either side. In 2005, managers in the Midwest League named him the best defensive shortstop in that league. He also makes good contact at the plate. But, he needs to prove that he can handle Triple-A pitching before we get too excited about him as a prospect.

All things considered - including Johnson's age and health - I think the Yankees did OK in this trade (if this how it will go down).

They got a decent arm for the pen this year, two "High C" pitching prospects with sleeper potential, and, at the worst, a good infield glove man for the bench in 2008-ish.

Just don't ask me if I would have traded Nick Johnson, Juan Rivera, Brad Halsey, Dioner Navarro and $11 million dollars for these four players plus one good year from Randy Johnson and one bad year from Randy Johnson - because, when you look at it that way, it starts to sting, just a tad.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 08:24 PM | Comments (9)

Agreement On Unit Deal?

From mlb.com -

The D-backs and Yankees have agreed on the structure of a deal that would send Randy Johnson back to Arizona, a source with knowledge of the negotiations said.

The D-backs are likely to be granted a 72-hour window at some point Thursday to begin negotiations with Johnson on an extension that would keep the 43-year-old in Arizona through the 2008 season.

The D-backs will send veteran reliever Luis Vizcaino and a pitching prospect in exchange for Johnson. It's believed that the Yankees will include some money in the deal to help Arizona defray the cost of Johnson's $16 million salary for 2007.

The pitching prospect will likely come from a group of Ross Ohlendorf, Micah Owings or Dustin Nippert. It's unknown whether the D-backs will include another lower-level Minor Leaguer in the deal.

So, it will be Unit & money for Vizcaino and a prospect. Once we know for sure on the actual names, I will have more opinion to share on this trade.

Vizcaino has been a good RP the last three seasons. Would the Yankees keep him?

Rivera, Farnsworth, Proctor, Myers, Bruney, Britton and Vizcaino in the pen for 2007? I would have liked to have seen two lefties out there this year, but, that group (here) is not so bad - assuming the Yankees want to go with 12 pitchers.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 04:01 PM | Comments (11)

Bronx Liaison

There's a relatively new Yankees blog on the scene: Bronx Liaison.

If you stop by, tell them that WasWatching.com sent ya!

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 03:56 PM | Comments (2)

Mientkiewicz Coming?

From the Post -

While no agreement was reached regarding Randy Johnson yesterday, the Yankees did make one move. They reached a tentative deal with first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz, and he will be undergoing a physical today.

Mientkiewicz, a former Met who recorded the last out of Boston's 2004 World Series victory, should bolster the team's defense at first, allowing Jason Giambi to DH more often. The 32-year-old left-handed hitter batted .283 with four homers and 43 RBIs in 314 at-bats for the Royals last season. He must pass his physical, of course, before his short-term deal becomes official.

Last month, I shared that I was not impressed with Mientkiewicz. This move reminds me of when the Yankees signed Henry Rodriguez in the winter of 2001. And, it would not shock me to see Mientkiewicz not on the Yankees active roster come August of 2007.

It's a shame that Giambi has such an albatross around his neck when he's in the field that it causes the Yankees to tie-up roster spots with so many additional first basemen to cover for him there. It's really not in the best interests of the team to have three "first baseman" types on the roster at the same time.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 10:04 AM | Comments (13)

Some Administrative News

As you may or may not be aware, for the last 17 hours someone has decided that it would be fun to SPAM the comments sections of this blog with slander about me, my family, and some others that comment here. This is not a problem. I can close accounts and delete posts just as fast as this individual creates them.

Please ignore any of these slanderous attacks if you should see them in between the time they are posted and the time it takes to remove them. You should not waste any time from your day being concerned with this individual’s attempt at pleasing themselves.

Related, it will now be required to disclose your e-mail address to the administrators of this blog, via your TypeKey account, in order to be able to make comments here. If you’re having any problems making comments as of today, you may need to access your TypeKey account and choose to “reveal your email address to the weblog author” under your profile there.

Thanks in advance for your assistance with both these matters.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 09:55 AM | Comments (0)

January 03, 2007

It Always Comes Down To Pitching

Neutrals Wins [NW] is a projection for how many wins a team would win had their pitchers had average run support. Using the Complete Baseball Encyclopedia, I was able to match up the Yankees Neutral Wins for each season against their actual win totals.

The results confirmed something that I've always suspected. The 2002 through 2006 Yankees basically had the pitching to be a team to win about 85 games a season - but it was their hitting that turned them into a 95-to-100 win team.

The 1996 through 2001 Yankees were teams where their pitching, even with just average offense, for the most part, meant they were teams that should win at least 90 games a season.

By the time the 2007 season begins, the Yankees should have turned over about 40% of their pitching staff (from 2006). Hopefully those subtractions and additions mean a return to the 1996-2001 type staffs as opposed to those from 2002-2006.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 11:10 PM | Comments (8)

"Vinegar" Bill Essick

A good story on a man many Yankees fans probably don't know about...from the Register-Mail.com -

New York Yankees general manager Ed Barrow hired Essick to be a scout in the Yankees organization. Bill Weiss and Marshall Wright wrote that in 1920, "Essick had recommended Vernon outfielder Bob Meusel to the Yankees. New York purchased Meusel, who became one of their best players for many years." Barrow had not forgotten that recommendation and as a result, one of his first moves in rebuilding a Yankees team that finished seventh the previous year was to hire Essick. "Vinegar Bill" spent the next 25 years as the West Coast baseball scout for the New York Yankees.

As a scout, Essick looked for a good throwing arm, baseball savvy, and most importantly, speed.

"A kid who isn't fast is a dead loss because you can't teach speed to a guy," Essick told Collier's Weekly.

Essick found all those elements and more when he saw an 18-year-old center fielder named Joe DiMaggio play his rookie season with the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League in 1933.

Needless to say, the major league scouts were drooling over DiMaggio's potential. A bidding war began for DiMaggio's services, and Seals owner Charley Graham was asking nearly $100,000, a massive sum during the Great Depression. But one spring evening in May 1934, a freak accident brought the screams from bidders down to less than a dull roar.

Sportswriter Red Smith recounted the event in his Nov. 9, 1981 article in the New York Times.

"Joe had a dinner date at his sister's house and he was late. When his taxi pulled up he started to jump out, and his left knee popped like a pistol. He had to be helped into the house and on to a hospital, where he stayed for several weeks."

DiMaggio had suffered torn cartilage in his knee. New York Times writer Dave Anderson wrote that "the original diagnosis was strained tendons," so DiMaggio continued to play for the next two days, making the injury worse. DiMaggio was then fitted for an aluminum splint, which he was forced to wear for three weeks. When he got out of the hospital, only one scout was waiting for him - Bill Essick of the New York Yankees.

DiMaggio had fallen so far out of good standing with major league scouts that his minor league team couldn't even give him away. The Chicago Cubs turned down a no-risk tryout. Essick kept track of DiMaggio during the 1934 season and was convinced that he had returned to his 1933 form. DiMaggio hit .341 in 1934 but missed several games after he slipped in the dugout and his leg collapsed again.

Essick's efforts were tireless.

Red Smith wrote that Essick placed a call to George Weiss, director of the Yankees' new farm system.

"Don't give up on DiMaggio," Essick said. "Everybody out here thinks I'm crazy but I think he's all right. Let me watch him a couple of weeks more." Weiss responded by saying, "If it had been anybody else but Essick, I would have called him off but I had complete faith in Bill."

Imagine the numbers Joe D. would have put up playing half his games at Wrigley.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 01:25 PM | Comments (2)

Darrell Rasner Headlines Meet and Greet

From the Nevada Appeal -

Darrell Rasner of the New York Yankees and his cousin Jake Rasner of the Chicago White Sox organization, both from Carson City will be among those featured on Saturday at a Skills and Drills clinic fund-raiser for the Boys and Girls Club of Western Nevada.

Others featured will include Galena High's Steve Lerud of the Pittsburgh Pirates organization.

Up to 200 youths ages 8 to 17 are invited. The clinic will be at the Stadium Sports & Fitness Club, 9393 Gateway Drive in Reno. Cost is $75 per youth.

A "Meet and Greet," also to benefit the club, is set for 6 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 7 at the Plaza Hotel, 801 S. Carson St.

George Foster, former outfielder for the Cincinnati Reds and winner of the 1977 Most Valuable Player Award will speak. There will be auctions and a photographer to take pictures of fans posing with the players - Darrell Rasner, of the Yankees, Mike Costanzo, or the Phillies, and Matt Capps of the Pirates. Cost is $50.

"Ranser & Rasner" does not carry the same excitement as "Bonds & A-Rod," but, it sure is a heckuva lot cheaper ticket, for sure.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 11:01 AM | Comments (0)

Why Certain Yankees Make My Hit List

There was a comment made by a WasWatching.com reader yesterday that I felt required some follow-up by me. The comment, about me, was:

Steve seems to hate every Yankee player that the Yankee organization has spent money on, whether it be through huge free agent contract like Moose or Giambi or acquisition through trade like Arod or Randy Johnson.

If this were true, then it’s odd that I campaigned so hard for A-Rod to win the MVP in 2005 and that I’ve been singing the praises of Johnny Damon since he joined the team. And, I’m pretty sure that I’ve said nice things about Bobby Abreu since he joined the Yankees. And, I’ve always loved Matsui.

Were not these aforementioned players ones that came from outside the organization where the Yankees spent “huge” money to acquire them? Is it not a fact (see the links) that I have written glowing things about them? Like I said, that claim against me is very odd. In any event, I do have a beef with certain players who have joined the Yankees over the last six seasons – and that’s the reason for this post. While I did touch upon this matter back in May of 2005, it seems like I need to set the record straight now with respect to why I tend to criticize a certain type of Yankees player.

After the Yankees won four rings in five years (from 1996 to 2000), free agent players (or players with the ability to demand a trade) who had great resumes started lining up to come play in New York – because they wanted the money and they wanted a ring. However, many of these players came here (as I wrote back in May 2005) with the expectation that it was "some sort of birthright that you would win the World Series once you were on the Yankees. And, 'just showing up' was all they had to do.”

Basically, these players jumped on the bus looking for a free ride to a ring instead of being someone who was going to drive the bus for the team. On the whole, these are the types of players who have joined the Yankees, made almost unfathomable amounts of money in the process, and who had chances to carry the team to a ring (at one time or another) and failed miserably. These are the types of players with which I take umbrage – the guys who are content with putting up stats (or not) during the season but who are not willing to rise to the really big occasion when it is presented.

Of course, it makes sense to ask, when reading this, “How many rings have Damon, Matsui, and Abreu won for the Yankees?” And, we know the answer there is “zero.” However, you can tell by the way they go about their business – especially with Damon and Matsui – that these players want to be the one in the spotlight when the game is on the line and they will give you an honest effort with some level of success.

In the summary, that’s what I want to see from high-priced players that the Yankees acquire – when the stakes are high, do they give you an honest effort and do they give you something to hang your hat on? We haven’t seen that from the Kevin Browns, Randy Johnsons, and Carl Pavanos – for sure. And, it’s open for debate as to whether or not we’ve seen that from the Mike Mussina, Jason Giambi, and Alex Rodriguez crowd. The good news is that Moose, Jason and Alex will have a chance in 2007 to drive the bus again. It’s up to them to grab the keys and go for it.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 10:09 AM | Comments (57)

Happy Yankee Day!

Sean McNally over at Count the Rings™ reminds us of something that I realized (for the first time) last year - and since forgot. Thanks for the reminder Sean!

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 09:02 AM | Comments (3)

January 02, 2007

If You're Bored & Looking For Something To Do

Why not nominate this blog for a bloggie?

Hat tip to Pete Abe.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 05:04 PM | Comments (1)

Jason's Strange Bedfellows

From, gulp, Star Magazine -

Nick [Lachey] hosted a pre-New Year's Eve party in Las Vegas at Pure Nightclub, while Vanessa stayed behind in New York. Before kicking off his duties as party host, Nick and his ten-person entourage (including his younger brother Drew) had dinner at Social House restaurant, where Nick ate mini kobe burgers and sushi. After dinner, the group headed to Pure, and Nick made a beeline to the stage, grabbing a glass of Dom Perignon first. He then grabbed went on stage, grabbed a microphone, and shouted, "What's up Vegas? It's New Year's Eve Eve and we're going to party like it is New Year's Eve!"

While at Pure, Nick's partying posse, seated in the VIP area, grew to include former 98 Degrees member Justin Jeffre, as well as lovebirds Lisa Rinna and Harry Hamlin. On a VIP bed to the left of Nick, was Dave Navarro, Nikki Six and New York Yankees star Jason Giambi. On the VIP bed to Lachey's right were Pauly Shore and Shannon Elizabeth.

Dave Navarro and Nikki Six?

I guess Giambi still likes the motto "Rake like an All-Star, party like a rock star, hammer like a......"

I just wish he raked now as hard as he still parties.

Updated, 1/2/07, 3:59 PM EST: From The Dirty Laundry - Celebrity Gossip Blog:

Meanwhile, Kid Rock was in Vegas on Friday [12/1] wearing a T-shirt with the words "Bro's Before Ho's" as he partied with Kenny Chesney and Jason Giambi at the Hard Rock.

Looks like Giambino started and ended December with a bang.

Kid Rock?

There's an old expression: "If you hang out at the barber shop long enough eventually you'll get a haircut."

I hope this is all good "clean" fun and not the makings of a future Ken Caminiti-type case.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 09:23 AM | Comments (36)

January 01, 2007

January 2007 Survey Question

Derek Jeter signed a 10-year contract with the Yankees on February 9, 2001. The last year of that deal will be the 2010 season - which is four seasons from now (including 2007). Will Derek be the Yankees shortstop through the life of that contract? Should he? What about after this deal? Hence, the poll for this month.

Update, 1/5/07: This poll is now closed. About a third of Yankees fans think Jeter should never be moved off short. But, 1 out of every 5.3 fans think that it should happen now - or should have happened already. The remaining half thinks it should happen sometime between 2008 and 2011. A mixed bag, indeed. To see the results, click on the thumbnail below:

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 03:48 PM | Comments (14)

The 2007 Toronto Blue Jays

Some facts about the 2006 Blue Jays:

1. They finished second in the A.L. East - better than the Red Sox did in the final standings.

2. Their offense in 2006 had 31 RCAA as a team - which was 4th best in the league and better than the Red Sox.

3. Their team pitching in 2006 had 54 RSAA - which was 3rd best in the league and much, much, better than the Red Sox and the Yankees. (And, this was with A.J. Burnett and Gustavo Chacin missing about 10 starts each.)

4. According to the plus/minus system developed by Baseball Information Systems, in 2006, the Jays had the best overall fielding team in the American League - and the 2nd best team in all of baseball.

So, the Blue Jays can hit, pitch, and field better than the Red Sox (at least last year) and they can pitch and field better than the Yankees (again, at least in 2006).

Therefore, should the Toronto Blue Jays be the team that the Yankees fear the most in 2007?

Posted by Steve Lombardi at 12:56 PM | Comments (12)