I was just watching SportsCenter and they showed the results of their poll which asked who has been more valuable to the Yankees in the past 15 years - Derek Jeter or Mariano Rivera? The results were 65% to 35% in favor of Derek Jeter. This got me wondering what the results would be from a purely Yankee fan perspective (assuming the vast majority or all of those reading this are Yankee fans). So without further ado, let's see what you think!

I was watching ESPN First and 10 this morning and the topic of discussion between Pate Forde and Skip Bayless was whether the Yankees are just that good or if they are living dangerously with 11 walk-off wins this season. Pat Forde said they are just that good noting the fact that the Yankees are 28 games over .500 and that the walk-offs have a trickle-down effect in the clubhouse which motivates each player to step up to the plate and come through in the clutch. Of course, Skip Bayless had to disagree and say otherwise. He started out by saying that he's been rooting agianst the Yankees all season and commented on how the Boston Red Sox swept the Tigers with two emergency starters, while the Yankees almost got swept by the Toronto Blue Jays. (Which doesn't make sense because they won game 2 in 9 innings and game 3 was the only walkoff.) Bayless said that the Yankees' walkoff wins are only indication that they are a lazy team that has a mindset that they will eventually win a game in which they're trailing in the late innings. Here are some of his recent Tweets on his Twitter page about the Yankees and Kevin Youkilis' suspension after the brawl with Rick Porcello:

Joke that Youk got 5 games. Drilled 2 straight nites after RSox did not mean to hit Cabrera. Helmet not thrown, tossed! Missed! No punch! (about 14 hours ago from web)

No way Youk should be suspended for throwing helmet. Porcello running from him after hitting HIM w/ hardball at 90+ mph. Please. (about 23 hours ago from web )

Got a kick out of Youkalis going after Porcello, who obv. drilled him. Youk threw helmet at the kid, took him down. Didn't think had in him (7:14 PM Aug 11th from web )

Other than Jeter, Pettitte, Mo, I find these Yankees hard to root for. All this laughing, pie-ing, frontrunning -- I'm not buying. (9:52 AM Aug 10th from web )

I guess he forgot about the childish antics of the 2004 Red Sox. Hmmm....

Sorry, I'm not writing off the Red Sox with 53 games to go. Bats colder than Yankees' beer right now. Will change. Wake, Dice will return. (9:44 AM Aug 10th from web)

The main point of this post is to really see if anyone can tell me why Skip Bayless hates the Yankees so much. He seems worse than any other ESPN personality out there...I've seen some Boston sports personalities give the Yankees more credit than Bayless. I read his biography online...he's from Oklahoma, not Boston. I just can't figure it out. I've never been a big fan of his anyways and I usually don't take any of his takes that seriously...just for what they're worth (next to nothing). After seeing his take on the Yankees today, I can't really see myself taking this moron any more seriously.

I know in the past few days a lot of discussion has been going on about whether or not Joba should be in the Yankees' bullpen or not. I read the post today about Francesca on May 27th going crazy on the caller and I have heard a lot of good points from both sides of the argument. As for myself, I have been on the fence with this whole issue. There have been times this season when I wanted Joba as a starter and times when I wanted him in the bullpen. Right now, I can't decide. With Wang starting to come back to form and Hughes showing some really promising performances, I just don't know what exactly to think.

What happens if/when Wang comes back to the rotation and Hughes continues to perform like he has been? Do the Yankees try a 6th man every-other-start rotation? If not, who should be removed from the rotation? My brain says Joba because he has proven to be extremely successful in late inning relief (especially considering Bruney is on the DL), but my gut says keep him in the rotation because he was brought up a starter in the system.

I'm just curious to see what you guys have to say (or think) about Jose Veras. I'm never sure with this guy. Sometimes he seems like a decent middle/late reliver and other times he seem like a joke out there. I know that if the Yankees send him down, he has options and they would lose him and that their bullpen is really hurting with injuries right now. I'm just curious to get an overall idea of what yout overall thoughs are.

I first about this story of Selena Roberts claiming that A-Rod tipped off opposing batters to pitches in her upcoming book A-Rod: The Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez on Mike Francesa's show today on YES. Personally, I think this is pretty crazy. But like Mike said today on his show, a lot more research has to be done and it's too early to start making any accusations.

What do you guys think?

Where's Joba in the rotation? Andy started in game 1 vs. Kansas City and now (according to yankees.com) CC is starting game 2. I checked on the Yankees' website and Job is still listed as active and he's on the depth chart still, so why isn't he set to be the starter tomorrow? Of course, if CC does good I wont mind him starting but a 4 man rotation seems a little odd to me.

Maybe I'm missing something, but maybe someone can enlighten me. Thanks!

I was just watching Baseball Tonight on ESPN and they were talking about the state of the Seattle Mariniers this upcoming season. Buster Olney believes that the Mariners will trade third baseman (one of the best in the MLB according to Olney) because of his expensive $13 million salary. As many of you would probably guess and not be surprised, Olney believes that the team to go after Beltre will be the Yankees because of A-Rod.

What do you guys think about Adrian Beltre and the possibility of the Yankees going after him in a trade?

Who would the Yankees trade for him if they were to go after Beltre?

                                                             2008 STATS

BA: .266     HR: 25     RBI: 77     OBP: .327     SLG: .457

A story appeared on Yahoo! Sports today about a starting pitcher on San Diego State University's baseball team named Stephen Strasburg who consistently throws at speeds around 101 mph. It's really a great story about this kid and what he has accomplished. Going from a freshman closer at SDSU to a starter with Team USA in Beijing in only a span of 3 years...the only collegiate athelete on the Olympic roster.

It keeps showing up, 101 again and again, and as scouts peek at the number, they ask aloud what everyone else in the baseball world wonders: Will Stephen Strasburg someday throw a baseball harder than anyone has before?

I'm interested to hear your guys' thoughts on this kid and what MLB team has the best shot at getting him. Of course I would love to see the Yankees somehow get him, but if he enters the draft anytime soon...it looks like it will be up to the Nationals, Mariners, Marlins, Royals, etc. to grab him.

The day after a recent outing – he had 15 strikeouts in seven scoreless innings against BYU on Friday – Strasburg leaned back in the dugout and marveled at the rapidity of his rise. How he went from an immature, overweight high school senior ignored by every major league team to the most coveted amateur player ever in three short years. How in another three months he’ll have super-agent Scott Boras negotiating on his behalf the largest contract ever given to a ballplayer out of the draft.

Executives believe the asking price for the Washington Nationals, who hold the first overall pick, will start at $15 million. It’s even been suggested that Boras could pull a fast one and attempt to destroy the draft slotting system by shooting for a deal that essentially would treat Strasburg as a front-of-the-rotation starter before he’s thrown a professional pitch.

Here's a video of Stephen in action.

Here's a very interesting article...especially for Italian-American fans of baseball like myself. Written by a Red Sox fan, but that's alright...the article is great! If you think about it, baseball has seen a lot of great Italian-American players in its history. Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Phil Rizzuto to name a few. And there are even notable players today in Rocco Baldelli, Mark Defelice, David Delucci, and more.

Here's the article at the Bleacher Report.

So this Tuesday I will be at the Yankees - Reds game and I was wondering if anyone here had any tips who would be easiet to get some autographs. I figure that since both Jeter and A-Rod will not be there because of the World Baseball Classic and the cyst that CC, AJ, and Teixeria will be swamped with fans. I was hoping to take advantage of this and use it as an opportunity to possibly get autographs from guys like Posada, Pettite, Joba, Cano, Damon, etc. They will probably be swamped too but I don't think as much as CC, AJ, and Teixeria. (However, if I could I would get them too.)

The last time I got a Yankee autograph was from Giambi during his first season with the Yankees in Spring Training...I need a current Yankee!!

(I got George Steinbrenner's autograph too, but that's different. lol)

Any ideas...?

In recent years, it seems as if the Yankees have somewhat abandoned the "home-grown" player development approach and have gone after mainly free agents. I don't mind them doing that as long as it brings wins, however the thing is the Yankees haven't won a championship since 2000. Does anyone think that the Yankees' player development program will get better or if they will be looking to develop more talent in the future?

The Yankees really haven't had a whole lot of success in that department since the days of bringin up Jeter, Posada, Rivera, etc. I definitely think guys like Brett Gardner, Phil Hughes, and Ian Kennedy have potential but the latter two really didn't show up last season. If you look at some other MLB examples of home-grown success, look at the Rays--David Price and Evan Longoria are good and we all know it from last season. The Red Sox too brought up guys like Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury in the past few years and we (unfortunately) have seen the results of that in 2004 and 2007.

I think that if the Yankees can find a good balance between signing big names and growing real good players, they will bring back the dynasty we hold so near and dear to our hearts. I also think it is essential that they do so in order to keep up with the other player development programs in the AL East--those of the Rays and Red Sox.

So I was wondering how many of you guys are planning on going to any of the Yankees' Spring Training games down in Florida this year? I already got my tickets for the only game I can make - March 10th vs. Cincinnati. I'm really excited to go...I haven't been in FL for Spring Training in years. The last time I went was Giambi's first year with the team and I remeber getting his autograph (and George Steinbrenner's too) and the Yanks crushing the Pirates 11-4. I'm really excited to see all the new guys too!

Over the past 2 days, I have been catching a lot of slack from a friend of mine (a Brewer's fan none the less) over this whole A-Rod thing just because I'm a Yankee fan. First of all, I can't seem to get it through his head that A-Rod's usage DOES NOT invalidate the Yankees' wins. (A-Rod hasn't even won a World Series in New York anyways). I keep telling him A-Rod did them in Texas, not in New York. Does anyone agree with me on this? I voted in one of the polls and selected the "Let him play" option. I think that if he is clean now and has always been clean as a Yankee, then the Yankees should let him play. If in fact A-Rod did stop using back in 2003, then his time with the Yankees is legitimate.

The same goes for Giambi. He was cited in the Mitchell Report for using steroids back during his time with the Oakland Athletics and there was no news (to my knowledge) of his use during his time in New York. So his usage doesn't invalidate anything even though the Yanks didn't win a World Series with Giambi.

That covers A-Rod and Giambi. Now what about the possible implications of Roger Clemens's and Andy Pettitte's usage? Does anyone think that their usage during their time in New York somehow makes the Yankees' World Series performances questionable or are they irrelevant since the other Yankees were not users? Obviously the World Series title can't be taken away, but will there always be a metaphorical asterisk now when people think of the 3-peat years? I don't think so, but then again, I'm a Yankee fan.

One more note about A-Rod: As Yankee fans, I think we can almost all agree that if or when A-Rod hits that walk-off home run in a clutch situtation, our memory of this incident will start to fade. I heard a similar sentiment expressed by a legal analyst on FOXNews yesterday who self-proclaimed himself as a lifelong Yankee fan. I think he has something there.

Maybe it's just me (but I highly doubt it), but every time I go to the MLB page on ESPN.com, I feel like I have just logged onto the Red Sox homepage. I don't know there have probably been discussions about this issue before (I couldn't find any, but I wouldn't be surprised if there is), but I can't stand how much ESPN caters to the Red Sox. I don't care if their in Bristol, CT. And don't even get me started on Steve Phillips...

What are your guys thoughts of the Rays' signing of Pat Burrell to a 2-year/$16 million deal today? I think, despite his age, if he plays like he did last year for Philadelphia, he will definitely makes the Rays a better team. It might make the AL East a battle between New York and Tampa and put Boston third. The competition has definitely gotten better in the AL East and I think this division will continue to be the hardest one in baseball. Your thoughts?

I was doing some research and correct me if I'm wrong, but it appears that Vladimir Guerrero's contract with the Angels is up after next season. Anyone have any thoughts on the possibilities of where Vlad will go after the 2009 season? Will he stay in Los Angeles or could you see teams like the Yankees or Red Sox going after him?

I realize he's on the older side, but I wonder if he would be any help for the Yankees? What do you guys think?

I have been a die-hard Yankee fan my whole life. I came home from the hospital after I was born in a Yankee outfit. Ever since I can remember, I would always watch Yankee baseball with my dad, and the best years were right when I first really got into baseball: 1996, 1998, 1999, and 2000. I was only 6 years old when I first watched the Yankees win it all and I always liked watching that "old guy" sitting on the bench and seeing Jeter rub his head for good luck.

Now, after an 8 year World Series victory drought and a 5 year World Series appearance drought, I have come to notice an astonishing trend. Don Zimmer joined the Yankees as their bench coach in 1996. What happened that year? They won their first World Series since 1978. Then in 1998, 1999, and 2000? World Series. All with Zim on the bench. 2003? They made it to the World Series with Zim there. (I think a bit of luck fell out when Pedro threw him down in Boston). Now Don Zimmer is with the Rays, and we all know where they went last season.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying those Yankee teams from 1996,1998,1999,2000,etc. didn't have good players. Those guys were amazing beyond a shadow of doubt. Jeter, Knoblach, Wiliams, Brosious, Wells, Clemens, Rivera, O'Neill, Strawberry, Posada, Girardi, El Duque, etc were/are awesome and some of the greatest players of the game. Personally, I would rank the 1998 Yankees up there with the 1927 team as one of the best all-time. I just think it couldn't hurt if the Yankees were to add a guy like Don Zimmer to bring some more luck to the excellence of the current Yankees along with the newcomers like CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Mark Teixeria. Pride, Power, Pinstripes. Go Yankees. Bring home number 27 in '09.