From WCCO-TV:

Sources tell WCCO-TV's Mark Rosen that American League MVP Joe Mauer has come to a preliminary agreement with the Minnesota Twins for a 10-year contract extension.

Mauer, 26, and the Twins had been pretty quiet about contract negotiations, while fans were eager to find out if their hometown hero would be staying put at last weekend's annual fan festival.

This is Mauer's final year of his current contract and manager Ron Gardenhire said Friday he was confident that both sides would come together and strike a deal. 

Mauer's current salary this season is $12.5 million. Contract details about his new salary were not immediately released. 

 

Good for Mauer, and good for the Twins.

Also, I'm here to collect my $200 bottle of scotch for being right about it:
http://www.pinstripealley.com/2009/12/15/1201611/for-the-emotional-yankee-fan#27200095

So the Jets had their surprising and adorable little playoff run ended by the Colts on Sunday, and you have to admire them for how they hung in there against Peyton Manning and a superior team for most of the game. 

Good for you, Jets. 

Of course, Rex Ryan had to come along and open his big fat mouth, because winning two playoff games against two of the most poorly-coached teams in the league apparently means the Jets own New York now.

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I guess all you jackass Yankee fans who spent the day before Game 5 saying asinine things like, "gee I really want the Yankees to win it at home" are happy, because you get a chance to get your moronic wish.

There's just no reasoning with people like that, who apparently think winning the fourth game of a series is a foregone conclusion that can be planned into their vision of a perfect celebration.

Here's my list of wishes for the 2009 season:

1) Win World Series

As I said yesterday, I don't care where that is accomplished as long as it is done as quickly and with as little drama as possible. Real Yankee fans understand this, which is why I get texts that say things like, "How awesome would it be to rub it in their faces and win on their turf?"

This is an example of a person who gets it.

Read my blog, it won't kill you.  New York Sports Jerk

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This would not be good.  According to PFT:

A league source that the New York Giants are planning for the possibility that safety Kenny Phillips will be lost for the balance of the season.

Per a separate source, no final decisions have been made as to whether Phillips will undergo a procedure aimed at correcting a cartilage problem in the knee.  If the surgery occurs, Phillips is expected to be placed on injured reserve.

Not good news, if true.  

So the Giants beat the Redskins to start the 2009 season.

Big surprise.

During last week, I heard from Redskins fans about how Albert Haynesworth would help shut down the Giants offense. I heard about how Jason Campbell would pick apart an injury-riddled Giants secondary.

Of course, neither happened.

In all honesty, it's impossible to take Redskins fans seriously, because they enter every season with the same delusional optimism about their beloved "Burgandy and Gold." And naturally it's terribly amusing on Monday when it is once again apparent that their team is 4th best in the NFC East with no legitimate hopes of contending.

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Has there ever been a pitcher more coddled and babied by a manager and front office than Joba Chamberlain?

When he first came up, the initial "Joba Rules" were developed, mostly to protect Joba from Joe Torre, who made a habit of overusing relief pitchers. That version of the rules prevented Torre from using Joba until his arm fell off, as he had done previously with Scott Proctor, Paul Quantrill, Tom Gordon, Tanyon Sturtze and others who didn't have nearly the talent Joba had.

Those rules made sense, because Torre was, and is, an idiot when it comes to managing a bullpen.

Version 2.0 of the Joba Rules began last season in the form of an overall innings limit. When arm trouble prevented him from reaching their innings goal, 2.0 carried into the 2009 season.

Continue reading at New York Sports Jerk Blog.  

Plaxico Burress was the most physically gifted offensive player the Giants have had in my lifetime.
I've been a Giants fan since I was six years old in 1985, and at no point during that time has any Giants offensive player possessed the skills Burress did. Tall (6'5"), fast, agile, shifty, with phenomenal hands and the ability to catch the ball in traffic. Certainly no Giants receiver of the last 25 years comes close from a physical standpoint.

http://newyorksportsjerk.blogspot.com/2009/08/talent-wasted.html

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He was just on with Chris Russo on Sirius XM, and said their plan is to have Joba start into the playoffs and that they are flexible with his innings limit. 

Given the fact that they don't have any other options, I'm glad to hear him say as much. 

He wasn't specific with their plan for him, but was pretty clear that he'll be starting in the playoffs if they get there. 

You really have to admire Brian Cashman for having the guts to pull off a trade that all but guarantees the 27th championship in the glorious history of the New York Yankees.

Sure, he could have acquired some much-needed pitching help like Jarrod Washburn, but Cashman recognized that what the 2009 Yankees were missing was a 33-year-old utility player with a .259 career average.

http://newyorksportsjerk.blogspot.com/2009/07/canyon-of-heroes-here-we-come.html

http://newyorksportsjerk.blogspot.com/2009/07/break-out-asterisks-red-sox-nation.html

Tremendous news today, courtesy of the New York Times, that David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez are on baseball's infamous list of players who tested positive for steroids in 2003.

Some of baseball’s most cherished storylines of the past decade have been tainted by performance-enhancing drugs, including the accomplishments of record-setting home run hitters and dominating pitchers. Now, players with Boston’s championship teams of 2004 and 2007 have also been linked to doping.

 

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How wonderful this is. 

Unlike Ramirez, who recently served a 50-game suspension for violating baseball’s drug policy, Ortiz had not previously been linked to performance-enhancing substances.

Scott Boras, the agent for Ramirez, did not respond to telephone and e-mail messages seeking comment.

Asked about the 2003 drug test on Thursday in Boston, Ortiz shrugged. "I’m not talking about that anymore," he said. "I have no comment."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/31/sports/baseball/31doping.html?_r=1&hp

The Yankees spent what I like to call a "metric assload" of cash this offseason to add CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett to the front of their starting rotation, with the expectation that Sabathia would be the team's ace, and Burnett would slide into the #2 spot until his annual trip to the disabled list.

Four months into the season, it's safe to say that Burnett is pitching beyond expectations, while Sabathia has to be considered a big fat disappointment to everyone except New York-area restaurateurs.

http://newyorksportsjerk.blogspot.com/2009/07/will-yankees-ace-please-step-forward.html

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If you're like me, there's nothing you enjoy more on a late-April Saturday afternoon than getting together with a few friends and several dozen beers to watch the NFL draft.

Booze is a necessity to make ESPN's draft coverage tolerable, because when it comes right down to it, the entire thing is just a guy in a suit reading names at 10-minute intervals, followed by other guys making snap judgements and predictions with no real basis in reality.

http://newyorksportsjerk.blogspot.com/2009/07/what-stupid-idea.html

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On June 8, the Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays to take a one game lead over Boston in the American League East.

Three days later, they were two games behind after being humiliated by the Red Sox in a three-game sweep at Fenway Park.

With that in mind, forgive me if I'm not terribly excited about the Yankees once again moving into solo first thanks to a fifth straight win, and four losses in a row by the Sox.

http://newyorksportsjerk.blogspot.com/2009/07/wooo-first-place-again.html

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Two weeks ago, after the Yankees completed a sweep of the Mets, I said that if they went 8-5 over the last 13 games before the All Star break, I'd be satisfied.

I lied.

Yes, the Yankees did finish exactly 8-5 in those games, but when you consider the fact that they went to Anaheim with an 8-2 record in the previous 10, leaving there 8-5 feels empty, especially when they held leads in all three games.

http://newyorksportsjerk.blogspot.com/2009/07/another-hellish-weekend-in-anaheim.html

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With the return of Jose Molina from the DL today, the Yankees have said goodbye to Francisco Cervelli, sending him back to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in favor of the older, fatter, slower Molina.

You couldn't have asked for more out of Cervelli, who stepped in when Molina and Jorge Posada were injured and handled the pitching staff brilliantly while showing that he can also hit major league pitching, although I'd admit he has a long way to go before he could do that well enough to be an everyday catcher for the big club.



http://newyorksportsjerk.blogspot.com/2009/07/arrivederci-caro-amico.html

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Everything you need to know about why Joba Chamberlain is struggling as a starting pitcher was on display after just one batter yesterday afternoon.

Facing Blue Jays' leadoff hitter Marco Scutaro (44 career HRs), Joba threw strike one, nibbled with a low 90s fastball until the count was full, and then threw a slider that Scutaro casually took for ball four.

That at bat was typical of what Joba has become since the Yankees began their misguided quest to turn a once-dominant reliever into an ordinary starter.

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