Taking a Winter Break

Obviously I have not been writing since November. There's not much I can add to the steriods thing or anyother "news" at this point. I will probably start back up in mid-February when pitchers and catchers return.

Legacy

I want to go back to this article that I posted in the middle of October: The Great A-Rod Debate

This is sort of my "I told you so!" moment. With A-Rod finally coming back (I won't really believe it until I see "#13" tattooed on his back), it looks like his legacy will include all the perks that great Yankees deserve.

It's arguable that no other team would bite at the $300M or $350M asking price for A-Rod. And that crawling back to the Yankees was his only option. Rumor has it that the Angels would consider $300M but...that's a steep, steep slope for even the Angels to climb. Primarily because, well, their not the Yankees. They don't have the tradition. They don't have a world wide fan base. They don't have the tremendous revenue base. They aren't the New York Yankees.

And that's the point I'm getting at. A-Rod FINALLY realized that his legacy (a lot like his paycheck) in baseball could be maximized as a Yankee. Everyone knows the greats of the game. But the greats of the greats wear the Pinstripes. The names roll off the tongue without even thinking. And, like Madonna, they only need one name or a nickname.

A-Rod has achieved part of that. Everyone knows that single acronym: A-Rod. You don't need to explain it to people who don't follow baseball. He's crossed over to be a part of the pop culture. But that, in and of itself, is not enough.

What's missing is the legacy. First, a couple of WS rings. I'm confident he will come around to have a great career in October. Second, he needs to do things that no other baseball player has ever done. And he needs to do it with one team. He needs to do it in Pinstripes. I've said it before, he could be the man to break the 1000 HR barrier. And he could do it legitimately (read that as clean.) I think that if he can hit 1000 HR's, as a Yankee, he would be synonymous with Ruth.

Get ready to witness history! Retire #13. Leave an open spot in Monument Park in the new Stadium. A-Rod is back in The House That Ruth Built!!

Alex, Welcome back!

Pettitte, A-Rod, and the Other Cabrera

I guess I was sort of wrong on Andy Pettitte. His opting out of his player option was obviously not a ploy to get more money out of the Yankees. It was simply to give himself time to evaluate his personal life and balance that with his professional life.

Let's face it. The Yankees want him back. The fans want him back. Pettitte is still in great shape to pitch. I think he'll come back for at least one more year. In any case, he'll retire as a Yankee.

There is an interesting story by Joel Sherman of the New York Post about A-Rod: HE MIGHT BE STAY-ROD

Teams have until Dec. 1 to offer arbitration to their own free agents, and players must accept or reject by Dec. 7. If the player accepts, he is deemed a signed player and would either negotiate a contract or have an arbitrator decide the outcome.

If a Type-A-rated player such as A-Rod rejects arbitration, the team losing the free agent is rewarded with the new signing team's first-round pick (as long as the signing team finished with one of the majors' 15 best records the year before) and a sandwich pick between the first and second rounds.

It is a very slim possibility that Rodriguez could accept the offer, in which case his agent would attempt to set a single-season salary record by asking for at least $30 million and possibly as much as $40 million.

I would think in the eyes of the Yankees Brass and the fans this is probably a good outcome of A-Rod's opt-out. However I disagree with Sherman's assessment that there is even a slim possibility that A-Rod would agree to arbitration. If he was going to do that, why opt-out in the first place? The only reason I could see for agreeing to arbitration is becasue Boras can't find him a job and arbitration is his last resort. And that's not a bad thing for the Yankees because it solves the third base problem, at least for 2008.

Speaking of the hot corner...there has been a lot of talk about Miguel Cabrara from the Marlins being traded for. The guy has a great bat and a mediocre glove. There is also some concern about his conditioning (that's my way of saying he has a weight problem.) I personally don't think it would be worth using Ian Kennedy to get Cabrara. We need pitching this year. And the more we have, the better. If we can get Cabrara for a lower price then go for it.

My Thoughts on Andy Pettitte

This is going to be short. Most of the reading I've done at the blogs and news sites show that it's pretty unanimous for the fans that we want Andy Pettitte back. He has said that it's the Yankees or retirement. And he's stated that he's wanted to retire for a few years now. But with him coming off a 15 win season, that could have easily been 19 or 20 wins if not for the teams (read that as shotty relief pitching) poor start. Undoubtedly he still has the stuff for the Bigs.

One point that has been overlooked, as far as I'm concerned is this: Pettitte has a $16M PLAYER option. Basically there is $16M sitting on the table for him to grab. All he has to say is "I'm in." Would anyone in their right mind say, "I've got so much money already that I don't need that $16 MILLION!!" I don't think so. Andy will be back.

Alternate Yankees Reality

I was all set to step up and make a post about what I thought Cashman needed to do to make 2008 a success. My thoughts, at the time, were to hire Mattingly as the manager and definitely re-sign the money grubbing, selfish, arrogant, in then end I only care about myself - A-Rod. But that part of my thinking is long (about 48 hours old) out the window.

So now I feel like I've been tranported into some knind of strange alternate Yankees reality:

1) Boston Red Sox win 2nd World Series in 3 years. This organization could not win one in the prior 86 years and all of a sudden they have 2. Somebody shoot me...please.

2) Joe Torre is no longer manager and Donnie baseball gets passed over. Better yet they both land a nice job in LA with the Dodger...at least we'll have a national league team to root for.

3) A-Rod opts out. The homeless hall of famer can kiss his monument good-bye. Not that he really wanted it anyway. All he wants is to have more money than God. But answer me this...Who is going to give him more than $30M a year?

4) Mike Lowell (World Series MVP) could end up as a Yankee. Wouldn't it be ironic if Mike Lowell comes back to the Yankees to play 3rd base and A-Rod ends up in Boston? I say we give Lowell 4 years/$60M (or $15M/year), about half of what A-Rod would have gotten. We'd be getting a guy that came off a year with .314/21/120. (not a huge production loss) Yes he was playing above his head but I'll take that at half the price. And let's face it...The guy can play in October!!!

5) Mo and Po could still leave. Cashman needs to back up a dumptruck full of money to both these guys' houses and dump them on their lawns. Personally I think we need to make these guys Yankees for Life.

A Lot of Work to do

I've been a bit lax in keeping up with my blog. It was a busy weekend. A lot has already been said about Torre, A-Rod, Posada, Mariano and the manager position.

First off, Mr. Torre. The front office screwed him. They are acting like a bunch of politicians that think the fans and the public are not sophisticated enough to know what they did. Their smarter than thou attitude may just cost this team and the fans more than if they lost A-Rod. I say that because we all know how the players feel about Mr. Torre and that goes a long way in improving moral and leading the troops. And if the players' moral is up they play better.

I've already stated that I was a backer of Mr. Torre. Since that fell through the next logical choice is Mattingly. I think he's the guy that will have the best relationship with the players. He also gives us the best chance at getting Pettitte, Mo, Po and A-Rod back. I happen to think Girardi would be an excellent manager but I'm not sure he can be the catalyst that would help get the players back.

Some other business that needs to be done. Get rid of Giambi and Farnsworth. Giambi hasn't helped the club in 3 years. Giam-gimpy can't hit, run or field. He's worthless. Give the money to Abreu. I can't say enough bad things about Farnsworth. He might do well in a smaller market but he is not a good fit in NY. Other guys that can go...most of the bullpen. I would keep Vizcaino. He showed a lot of promise in the middle to late part of the season. I also like Ramirez and Ohlendorf. They are young arms that can grow into their roles. And with tutelage from the likes of Mo and Pettitte they will grow.

I would even agree with some that Damon is expendable. Unfortunately, his limited trade clause can only send him to teams that can't afford him.

In my next post I'm going to talk about Cashman and what I think he needs to do to make 2008 a success.

Torre in Tampa

I was going to try not to put "headlines" or breaking news in my blog but how could I not follow up on this...

>Torre Lands in Tampa

Thanks to the NY Post for this.

Could a deal be in the works?