Carl Pavano's agent has told Ed Price at the Star Ledger that his client has been advised by the Yankees he will start Saturday night's game against the Orioles at Camden Yards.  

Girardi has not yet announced who will start the second inning.  (Just kidding Carl). 

Ponson, Rasner and Pavano - not exactly the '98 Yankees rotation.  But stranger things have happened, and usually do... 

One way or the other Saturday will be entertaining at least. 

http://www.nj.com/sports/index.ssf/2008/08/pavano_to_pitch_saturday_for_y.html

Word on the street is that Melky has been sent to Scranton, and Richie Sexson has been released.

Gardner has replaced Melky on the roster and bats 8th tonight, and Cody Ransom has been called up to replace Sexson. 

I think this is referred to as addition by subtraction. 

Gardner is fun to watch when he gets on base every other game, and at least Giambi can now play against lefties I would hope. 

http://yankees.lhblogs.com/2008/08/15/melky-optioned-sexson-released/

I got home in time to see IPK on the YES postgame show. 

I wanted the Yanks to give him the ball tonight, but there's no defending that performance, unless of course, you're Ian Kennedy. 

Yes, he gave up a few bloop hits and some ground ball singles.  But he also got ROCKED.  And of the six outs he recorded, one was a rocket that took a lucky bounce off the pitchers mound, and the other Melky caught about 5 feet from the centerfield fence. 

And he stands there in the locker room afterwards thinking he pitched pretty well, "and that's all that matters".  Um, not exactly Ian.

KIM JONES:  Were you surprised that Joe Girardi took you out of the game?

KENNEDY:  A little bit, yeah. 

Are you kidding me?  You're a rookie, you enter the game with an ERA above 7,  you give up 9 hits in 2+ innings and you have the balls to say you were surprised that your manager pulled your ass out of the game?

Gimme a break.  In his head he thinks he's Mike Mussina. Too bad he's got the arm of Mike Maddux. 

You have to see the postgame reaction of IPK to believe it.  It's getting harder and harder to want this kid to do well.

Pete Abe has a good writeup of it.  Nice Pettitte reference:

http://yankees.lhblogs.com/2008/08/09/kennedy-im-just-not-real-upset/

Both Rasner and Ponson are no good, but Ponson has been slightly better, which tells you all you need to know about Rasner.  

Rasner stinks, and IPK has been dealing for Scranton.  Make the change.

LAA is not an ideal team for IPK to face, but it would be Friday night at 10:05pm EST, which, to me anyway, seems like the perfect way to slip back into the rotation.  A lot less people will be watching.  

Besides, don't they need to have at least some idea what to expect from this kid next year?   

If he's horrible, they can turn to Hughes a few starts down the road.  If he's good, they can have Hughes replace Ponson.   

D-Ras had a couple of nice moments, but he's not a big league pitcher.  Let's try to find out if IPK is. 

 

Out of lack of a game to watch tonight and sheer boredom, I started looking at Joba's innings. 

Last year, counting the minors and the playoffs, he pitched about 115 innings. 

Help me out here if I'm wrong, but I think the general rule of thumb is not to increase that number by much more than 30 the following season, so by that logic Joba's innings cap this year is about 145 to 150 - let's say 150 for arguments sake. 

After today's game, Joba now has 84.1 innings pitched.  If 150 is the max, then he has 66 innings left to pitch. 

I counted, and if Joba pitches every fifth game between now and the end of the season, his 11th start would be in game 162, a game which obviously could mean a ton or could mean nothing.  11 starts x 6 innings per start = 66 innings.  I happen to think it's much more likely that he reaches the eighth inning in more starts than he'll get pulled in the fourth inning, so he could definitely hit 66 innings before game 162. 

The Yankees must be 1000 percent aware of this as well, and I'm curious to see how they manage this down the stretch, when they very likely will not be able to afford to skip his turn in the rotation.  And I realize this is a very nice problem to have, but the Yankees will have a gy-normous problem on their hands if they reach the playoffs.

At what point do they have to shut Joba down? 

I think the Yankees panicked and moved Joba to the rotation too early this season, and as I've said many times, as good as it looks now, they still badly botched this plan in my opinion.  They had limited options at the time they "began the process", but based on the above math there's a decent chance they screwed themselves here. 

Let's go back to spring training, when this decision was made in the first place.  I believe Girardi saw all the question marks in the bullpen and insisted Joba start the season there.  But the Yankees would have been better off had he begun the season in the rotation and finished it in the bullpen.  His innings would be so much easier to manage had they done it in this order. 

People might bring up Wang's injury here, but that's not relevant because you have to go into the season assuming he would be healthy.  And if Wang wasn't a spaz in Houston, plus Pettitte, and Moose pitching the way he is - though we might argue vehemently otherwise - could you really see Joba getting the ball before Game 4 of the ALDS?  He might get a start ahead of Moose, but I doubt it.  Thus, wouldn't it make sense to have him in the bullpen this playoff season, where with the days off and no Joba rules he could pitch in just about every game, instead of a game (game 4) that might not even exist?  Wouldn't it be better to have him in the pen than have him capped out and not on the roster?

After seeing his work in the rotation the first part of the season (if they did it my way), there would be no argument for 2009 - he would have begun and finished the season as a starter, with an innings cap of about 180.  All of the stupid arguments about this would not have happened past spring training of this year, because the decision to move Joba from the rotation back to the pen this summer would have been a simple mathematical one, just as it was last year.  

I shouldn't be complaining about this today because this was a good day for the Yankees.  But I enjoy watching this kid pitch, and if he gets shut down right when the biggest games are about to start, or if they risk injuring him by pushing his innings cap...well, I'd rather not think about it. Except I already am and I'm not too happy. 

8 shutout innings can make an old team look young and energetic, and a young and energetic team look overmatched.  Great job by Pettitte.  Aside from the stinkbomb against Boston, Andy has been fantastic.  At this stage in his career I'm sure it doesn't matter, but he certainly looked very comfortable pitching to Molina, as does Moose. 

Glass Carl / American Idle Pavano actually threw pitches to hitters today.  Apparently his arm didn't fall off, he didn't pull an ass muscle, and he didn't wreck his car on the way home because he is scheduled to pitch again in 3 days.  Wouldn't it be funny if Pavano of all people is back before Hughes and Wang and actually contributes to this team?  As Girardi said, "you never know". 

The Red Sox came back and won against Minnesota, but no big deal since the Yanks are chasing the Twinkies as well.  More importantly, the Sox had to use Papelbon for the 3rd straight day, which is something they would never do last year.  Given his history of arm troubles, Papelbon could break down if the Sox have to become over reliant on him.  They have sent Masterson to AAA to prepare to become a reliever, but I don't think he's their 8th inning answer. 

Pavano throws pitches, Melky hits a homerun, Jeter makes a great defensive play, and tomorrow 18,000 mustaches will be handed out at Yankee Stadium.  Welcome to the bizarro world.  If the Yanks pull one out with Fat Sid on the hill tomorrow, look out American League.

 

For you pitching mechanics freaks out there, the cover story of this week's Sports Illustrated by Tom Verducci looks at The Freak himself, Tim Lincecum, and how his father helped him developed his crazy motion.  

Verducci also discusses mechanics in general, and there's some interesting stuff from Rick Petersen, who won't be out of a job for too long. 

It's a good read, check it out:

How Tiny Tim Became a Pitching Giant

 

 

Shelley got 3 games for that stupid slide, and Melky got 3 for apparently punching Longoria during the fracas.

This means the Yanks will start the season with a one-legged leftfielder, an armless centerfielder, and a guy from the end of the bench DH'ing or playing first.  

Well done boys.  

frontpaged by jscape2000

Read today Beckett's back spasms could cause him to miss Opening Day.

I remember Wang's absence and the domino effect it had on the Yanks staff the first few weeks of last year. You could say the Yanks lost the division because of it.

Further, check out Boston's March/April if you haven't seen it.  It's horrific:

http://mlb.mlb.com/schedule/index.jsp?c_id=bos&m=4&y=2008

They go to Japan to play Oakland, then to Oakland to play Oakland. Then they get Halliday and Burnett in Toronto, then Detroit, the Yankees, Cleveland, Yanks again, Texas and Anaheim.  Then they finally get to play Tampa Bay. Even with Beckett that's a rough stretch.

Boston might have won the division in April last year.  The Yanks could win it in April this year.  They HAVE to get out of the gate fast.  

One thing I've noticed since all these Santana rumors started is that only one official from one of the teams is doing any talking on the record. And we all know who that one official is.  

Here are a few more gems from Hank tonight:

"I think our offer is the best offer," Steinbrenner said. "We have the best young pitchers in the game, even better than Boston."

Then...

And if the Yankees are to be a part of trade talks, "now" means by Monday, according to Steinbrenner, who said: "The Twins are aware of it, that I'm not going to wait much longer. And the truth of the matter is, they don't want to be stuck with only one team to deal with. If they're stuck with just Boston, they're going to get a lot less. I'm not going to be played. This is not a game. This is serious business. I'm not going to be played, us against the Red Sox. That's not going to happen."

Steinbrenner contradicted reports that the Yankees and Twins were haggling over the third player in the deal, that the Twins wanted either righthander Alan Horne or Ian Kennedy or centerfielder Austin Jackson along with Hughes and Cabrera.

"That's erroneous," Steinbrenner said. "I don't think that [the third player] will be the sticking point."

http://www.newsday.com/sports/ny-spyanks1203,0,399845.story

He also had lunch with Bill Madden of the Daily News recently, and the piece ran today.

A few nuggets:  

"I had a lot of good teachers whether they know it or not," Hank says now. "All those dinners on the road with Clyde and Woody and Lou - I learned a lot."

"What was the most important thing you learned?" I asked him.

"The mistake of trading young pitching," he answered quickly. "It killed me seeing all those young pitchers we traded back then - (Scott) McGregor, (Jose) Rijo, (Doug) Drabek - who went on to have great careers because we just didn't have the patience. If there's one thing that's going to be different between me and my dad it's patience."

"Maybe," I said, "but it sounds like you're about to do the same thing - trading young pitchers - for (Johan) Santana."

"There's a big difference," Hank countered. "Santana's only 28 and just coming into his prime. I remember consoling Woody when my dad insisted we trade Drabek for (Rick) Rhoden. Rhoden was 32 or 33, but back then that's the way we did things.

And...

"You've been pretty out front lately as the spokesman for the organization," I said. "I assume the old man is okay with that?"

"Like I said, I feel I have a duty to let our fans know as much as I can with their team, although sometimes I do go too far," he admitted. "In the respect of being the front guy, that's gonna slow down now. This is my last interview."

"You sound like (Richard) Nixon," I said. "Are you saying we won't have Hank to kick around anymore?"

He laughed.

"No, I guess what I'm saying is we don't want these huge media circuses that were associated with my father. I mean he wasn't Jonas Salk."

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/2007/12/02/2007-12-02_bill_madden_breaks_bread_wi th_yankees_ne.html

He needs to shut up. Cashman must be dying.

Newsday says Kevin Long is signed as the hitting coach.

Pena is expected to be the first base coach, Rob Thomson the bench coach, Eiland the pitching coach, Mike Harkey the bullpen coach....

And my personal favorite, Bobby Meacham is expected to be named 3rd base coach.  Screw O'Neill, true Yankees like Meacham are what this team needs right now.

I'll always remember Fisk tagging him and Berra out at home almost simultaneously.

http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/yankees/ny-spyanks1101,0,4055479.story

If you are like me, you have the great misfortune of knowing friends/co-workers/etc...who have been longtime Sox fans, or worse, have recently jumped aboard the Sox bandwagon.

These people, while otherwise nice, decent folks, will constantly extoll the virtues of the Boston organization while at the same time condemning the "Evil Empire" tactics of New York.  I have always found this rather annoying, and would usually tell them they were full of shit.  The Red Sox and their fans have now become what they have always claimed to hate.

And this well written story sums that up perfectly.

God I hope the Tribe knocks them on their ass.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7323070

LoHud:

All of the games the Yanks will play in the ALDS will begin at a funky times:

Game 1 at Cleveland on Thursday: 6:30 p.m.

Game 2 at Cleveland on Friday: 5 p.m.

Game 3 at New York on Sunday: 6:30 p.m.

Game 4 at New York on Monday: 6 p.m.

Game 5 at Cleveland on Oct. 10: 5 p.m.

I hope it isn't sunny in Cleveland.  Don't want to be messing with shadows at 5pm for Game 2.  

Found this story by a writer who weaseled his way into Steinbrenner's home recently and spoke to him for a few minutes. The article is more about what will happen to the Yanks and to baseball when Big Stein is gone, but the writer gets a personal audience with him for a few minutes, which is impossible to do these days. Loser move to sneak into his home the way he did, but it's a well-written article nonetheless.

It's a sad meeting, because it confirms what has been speculated on for a while, that the Boss is just a shell of his former self.

Excerpt:  

Five minutes later, a solitary figure emerges out of the shadows, limping toward us. It's 2 in the afternoon, and George Steinbrenner is wearing slippers, silk pajamas, and a terry-cloth robe--all Yankee blue. A diamond-encrusted World Series ring nearly as big as a Ritz cracker obscures his wedding ring.

When he sees McEwen, a big, goofy grin spreads across his face. "Great to see ya, Tommy," he exclaims.

"Great to see you, George," McEwen says. He introduces me as a writer working on a story and asks about Steinbrenner's wife, Joan.

"Great to see ya, Tommy," Steinbrenner says.

McEwen asks about his sons, Hank and Hal.

"Great to see ya, Tommy," he says.

McEwen asks about his daughters, Jennifer and Jessica.

"Great to see ya, Tommy," he says.

McEwen asks about his health.

Steinbrenner sighs heavily and mutters, "Oh, I'm all right."

He doesn't look all right. In fact, he looks dreadful. His body is bloated; his jawline has slackened into a triple chin; his skin looks as if a dry-cleaner bag has been stretched over it. Steinbrenner's face, pale and swollen, has a curiously undefined look. His features seem frozen in a permanent rictus of careworn disbelief.

Here's the rest. It's long, but a good read if you're like me and bored to death at work today:

http://www.portfolio.com/culture-lifestyle/culture-inc/sports/2007/08/02/Baseball-and-Steinbrenner

Interesting story by Kepner in the Times today.  Phil needs to hang out in the weight room with Andy and the Rocket.  Andy added a few MPH to his heater in the late 90's by doing that and it made a world of difference.  

Here's a piece of the story:

DETROIT, Aug. 27 -- As he watched Phil Hughes pitch Sunday from his home in Connecticut, Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman noticed that Hughes was not throwing as hard as usual. His fastballs were averaging 88 to 91 miles an hour, Cashman said, when they should have been 91 to 93.

"I don't know why," Cashman said. "It's our job to continue to look and see if there's anything mechanically. He could still be just building arm strength from being down for so long.

"It's starting to improve, though. His last two outings, he's been popping a few more high-velocity fastballs. But he's got more arm strength than he's shown lately. He's not coming at hitters with his full ability yet."

Hughes has a 6.11 earned run average in five starts since coming off a three-month stay on the disabled list for hamstring and ankle injuries. He gave up four hits in six innings in Sunday's loss, but three of the hits were home runs, two on fastballs.

Here's the rest:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/28/sports/baseball/28pins.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Interesting story on TJ surgery in the Times today.

Scary that 13 and 14 year old kids are trying to get the surgery, thinking it will actually increase their velocity.

There's also a Cashman snippet of course:

"Last November, the Yankees acquired Humberto Sánchez from Detroit in a trade, knowing he might need Tommy John surgery, which he did. The Yankees' recent No. 1 draft pick, Andrew Brackman, may need the surgery. But Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman seems undaunted.

"It's a reflection of the success of the surgery; it also speaks to the lack of available pitching," Cashman said in a telephone interview. "It's a pitching-thin market. If a talented player is considered far superior compared to other choices, you might not let surgery scare you off."

Here's the rest.

Update [2007-7-20 4:45:56 by anaconda]:

I was going to post this piece myself but Haggs beat me to it. Kudos.

Lots of interesting stuff. The stat I found most astonishing is 1 in 7 current MLB pitchers have already had TJ surgery.

Obviously, with an 80% success rate, the procedure is not at all a death sentence for major league pitchers. However, it does require 18-24 months of recovery (or 5-10 years in the case of one Carl Pavano) during the prime of their careers.

I would like to know the success rate of TJ recipients over 30 who come back to have success in the majors.

That Dr. James Andrews is one busy man and making a fine living.

And his name is Mike Mussina.

With Nieves catching:

3 starts, 17.1 innings pitched, 5 earned runs (no more than 2 ER in any of the starts).  

With Posada catching:

3 starts 16 innings pitched, 18 earned runs (no less than 5 ER in any of the starts)

(It's 4 starts, 18 IP and 18 ER if you count the 2 scoreless he pitched in Minnesota before busting his hammy.)

Something to this you think?  

I know Moose has successfully pitched to Jorge before, but the numbers don't lie this season.  He and Nieves have a little something going.  

I remember in Pettitte's early days, he always wanted to pitch to Leyritz, who was a worse catcher than Girardi and later Posada.

Nieves sucks, but Torre should ride this out. If the guy has to play once a week to keep Jorge from collapsing, he should catch Moose.

Yankees Fire Strength Coach

By TYLER KEPNER

ARLINGTON, Texas - A day after the Yankees' baffling run of hamstring injuries claimed another victim in Phil Hughes, the team fired its new strength coach.

Marty Miller, who was hired last winter to the newly created position of director of performance enhancement, was let go on Wednesday, according to a Yankees official who was granted anonymity because the move has not been announced.

For those seeking Cashman's head next, there is ample fodder in the last paragraph:

Miller, 34, was unpopular with some players, and several opted out of his program. Miller had not worked in baseball for 10 years before Cashman hired him last winter. His previous job was director of fitness at the Ballen Isles Country Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla

Statement from George Steinbrenner

"The season is still very young, but up to now the results are clearly not acceptable to me or to Yankee fans.  However, Brian Cashman our general manager, Joe Torre our manager and our players all believe that they will turn this around quickly.  I believe in them.  I am here to support them in any way to help them accomplish this turnaround.  It is time to put excuses and talk away.  It is time to see if people are ready to step up and accept their responsibilities.  It is time for all of them to show me and the fans what they are made of.  Let's get going.  Let's go out and win and bring a world championship back to New York.  That's what I want."  

He'll be here to face the Blue Jays on Thursday night.  

Just heard it over the WFAN airwaves.  

Another panic move or the right move?  

We shall see, but he can't be any worse than the mutts that have taken the bump lately.

Just gotta get some tickets to the game now. Hopefully he won't be up against Halliday.

Somebody's got to offset all the negativity, so here goes:

Ok, Friday night really chapped my ass, there's no getting around that.  Torre blew that game on so many levels by panicking and acting like it was Game 7 of the ALCS.  He has to start trusting the bridge to Mo in big spots, and he has to trust a guy like Andy to get thru the 7th with a 4 run lead.  C'mon Joe.  3 outs from the bridge is a lot different than 5 outs from the bridge.

BUT, I'm confident that if a fully functioning Andy, Wang and Moose pitch that series, the Yanks win 2 games.  The Sox threw everything they had at the Yanks and still had to hang on for dear life last night.  If that crap second baseman doesn't make a miracle grab in the 8th, it's a tie game (plus Nieves somehow hit a line drive, and it went right to him with a man on 3rd earlier).  And would things have been different if Matsui or Posada had been batting instead of Melky with the bases juiced and one out?  I tend to think so.  

Seeing that Okajima guy and Papelbon as often as they did can only help down the road (more the former than the latter, Paps is evil.  Giambi is gonna murder one off Okajima this weekend - you watch).

(side note: worth noting that Paps has pitched 4 of the last 5 games, with high pitch counts for one inning's work in most of them)

Saturday, there were about 200 RBI's missing (Jorge and Hideki) and 100 runs scored (Damon), and they still banged around Beckett for a while.  In the shadows no less.  

Yes, Boston's top three starters are a lot better right now (esp. since the Yanks rotation is currently one starter deep).  But the Yanks full lineup is way better than Boston's (it's way better than anyone's for that matter).  It will take less stuff from a Yankee starter to make it to the 7th inning than it will from a Boston starter, provided said starter has more than 3 MLB starts under his belt (Ugh).  Saturday and Sunday were mortal games for Arod, and they still got to Beckett and Dice-K.  Five runs off those guys will win the game more often than not with a competent starter on the hill.

Other bright spots:

Sean Henn - he navigated his way through 3, 4, 5 unscathed Saturday and Sunday.  And Sunday was with Phelps catching.  Nice job.

Farnsworth (less bright, but still) - is getting some arm strength, which can compensate for his low IQ sometimes.  He hit 98 & 99 a few times on Saturday, which even on a fast gun is the fastest he's thrown all year.  He too got through the tough part of their order.  He's no savior but it would be nice if the occasionally reliable version of him started showing up.  

One other random thought:  How many damn guys on the Yanks have to get beaned (even if it's unintentional) by the Sox before somebody fucking does something? Not only did ARod and Jeter get plunked, the Sox hit four straight dingers, and STILL no chin music.  WTF?  

Kepner's blog talks about the last few spots.  Torre taking Phillips over Phelps (who apparently hit a BOMB this afternoon) would defy all logic and reason, but that's never stopped him before.  Game 1 of the season vs. Kazmir would be a nice time to have a hot right-handed hitter in there.

http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/03/27/position-battles-late-in-camp/

Just heard that Chien-Ming Wang "felt something" in his right hamstring while doing light running during conditioning drills this morning. He was shut down for the rest of the day.

Pfisty has just opened the window to the balcony. A Mussina stomach virus will put one of his feet on the ledge before the season even starts.

Here's the link to the story...

Stat guys, this one's for you. I'd love to see how they ranked Bernie the last year he played center full-time. I think they are overestimating the damage Manny's glove causes, but you guys would know better than me.  And I wouldn't rate Bobby Abreu as an "elite" defensive outfielder either.  Is this P.B.P. stat a valid one?

This is an excerpt from a NY Times story that ran the other day entitled "Manny Being Manny is Hurting the Sox":

"Measuring fielding with numbers has always been a difficult task. The most traditional statistic, fielding percentage, is dependent on the whims of official scorers and does not account for a player's range, while total plays made per game is a product of the number of balls hit to a fielder.

Accurate numerical evaluations of defense only became possible in 1987, when Stats Inc. began sending observers to every game to record the location and speed of every batted ball.

This play-by-play (P.B.P.) information made it possible to measure fielding ability much more precisely, by comparing the rates that players at the same position fielded various types of balls -- say soft pop-ups to right-center field or ground-ball smashes down the third-base line. By adding up a fielder's performance relative to his peers on every type of play, analysts can produce fairly reliable statistical measures of defense.

All of today's best P.B.P. systems agree that Ramírez is the worst defensive left fielder in baseball, and by a comfortable margin. This holds true even after accounting for the effect of the Green Monster wall in left field.

"Manny is at the far end of the as-bad-as-you-can-get-in-the-field spectrum," said Mitchel Lichtman, who designed one highly regarded P.B.P. defensive statistic called ultimate zone rating, and who consulted for the St. Louis Cardinals from 2004 to 2006.

But the experts differ vastly on just how much a single bad left fielder can hurt a team.

At one extreme, the most conservative estimates suggest that Ramírez's outfield play last season, when compared with an average left fielder's, cost the Red Sox 13 runs. That's not good, but not bad enough to make him meaningfully worse than elite corner outfielders like the Angels' Vladimir Guerrero, the Yankees' Bobby Abreu and the Pirates' Jason Bay.

By contrast, Lichtman's system says Ramírez was 32 runs below average last year, which would make him one of the game's most overrated and overpaid players. If he was actually that awful, he was no more valuable than the Mariners' Raúl Ibáñez, the Blue Jays' Reed Johnson or the Angels' Juan Rivera.

The truth most likely lies in the middle: the average of the P.B.P. systems' results for Ramírez is 15 to 20 runs below average. That's enough to take a significant bite out of his value. If his hitting begins to deteriorate this season (he turns 35 in May), and his base running remains poor (subtracting another two runs or so), he is likely to be worth about as much in 2007 as Oakland's up-and-coming Nick Swisher. In other words, an All-Star, but not a franchise player, and certainly not worth anywhere near his $20 million salary."

Full article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/18/sports/baseball/18score.html

Real good story in today's Times about Mike Schmidt's experiences in Philly and how they relate to Alex.  Seems like Alex has finally figured out the media here.  Hopefully it will help him just relax and play ball....

How to Appeal to Baseball Fans? Advice: Don't Try

By TYLER KEPNER

TAMPA, Fla., March 10 -- With the wisdom of his 57 years, the greatest third baseman in baseball history can reflect on his career as a cautionary tale for the greatest third baseman of today.

Mike Schmidt won multiple Most Valuable Player awards, home run titles and Gold Gloves in his career, just as Alex Rodriguez has done in his. Each had an unquestioned work ethic and a spotless off-the-field reputation. Yet they struggled to win over their home fans.

"I wish I would have been less sensitive to my environment," Schmidt said last Sunday at the Philadelphia Phillies' complex in Clearwater, where he is a spring training instructor for his old team. "I wish I would have been less sensitive to trying to please everybody, less sensitive to trying to be everything to everybody. I wish, when I look back, that I would not think I can change the world and have everyone march to my drummer.

"I wish I could have been the highest-paid player in the game and at the same time still been in the inner circle of the team, to be kind of a normal guy. I've always wanted to be a normal guy. But, I don't know -- there's that class system in life where people look at certain people and put them on a pedestal and expect more from them."

It is easy to picture Rodriguez, 31, saying those exact words someday in 2033. His failure to connect with many Yankee fans is puzzling, on its face, considering his aggregate performance over three regular seasons in New York: a .299 average, with 119 homers and 357 runs batted in and an M.V.P. award.

Boos have come for many reasons, including his failure in the postseason and his perceived lack of clutch hits. Schmidt battled the same labels from similarly demanding fans. Many Yankee fans adore Rodriguez, the way many Philadelphians idolized Schmidt. But the lack of widespread appeal seems rooted mainly in personality.

Rodriguez understands that, but he cannot explain it. "I've always been a pretty decent guy," he said. "If you're a jerk, people know you're a jerk. This is a funny town. You say one thing and everyone thinks you mean another one, or you're so clever, and the media is so competitive.

"I said the same things in Seattle, I said the same things in Texas, I said the same things in New York. For some reason in New York, you've just got to kind of alter the way you talk. There's more ears, there's more fans, there's more knowledge.

"In a place like Seattle, they say you're humble and nice; in a place like New York, it's phony and disingenuous. Same guy, nothing's changed."

Rodriguez was incredulous when told that fans sometimes booed Schmidt the way they booed him.

"Booing Mike Schmidt?" he said. "That's really weird. How can they boo Mike Schmidt? O.K., here's the question that I have for you: Is it the kind of booing where we want you out of here and we want somebody better than you? Or is it, we want you, but we want you to do better? It's a fine line between those two."

Here's the rest....

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/11/sports/baseball/11yankees.html?_r=1&ref=sports&oref=slogin

Minkie:  0 for 12. Oy.

Phelps:  6 for 10.  Has hit the ball hard every time I've seen him up there.  Like his swing.

Phillips: 0 for 0

Andy has now rejoined the team after spending the past few weeks at his mother's bedside following her car accident.  Torre has already indicated Phillips has the edge because of his prior service time with the Yanks, and said he won't hold the time he has missed so far against him.

I sympathize with what the guy (Andy) is going through, but anyone with two eyes in their head can tell that Phelps is the superior hitter.  

His pop on the bench or in the field would be more useful than Andy's versatility.  They have Cairo for that.  

WWTD (What will Torre do) ?

A-Rod talkin' like Mr. Cub

With options open, Alex is still batty over 'father' Piniella

by Bob Raissman

While Alex Rodriguez has demonstrated a penchant for self-analysis, the media has provided ample evidence that this is a two-way couch.

We hang on A-Rod's every word. The season is still a month away from opening. Look what already has happened.

Rodriguez held that circus-like book signing at Barnes & Noble. Then, there he was in Tampa revising the description of his relationship with Derek Jeter.

This was followed by analysis of the "friendship." Media Freuds said the process of baring his soul was good for Mr. Rodriguez. They described it as a "cleansing."

Measuring A-Rod's words and actions has taken on added importance in determining his future. This is apparent even to those who speak before they think. The door to hyperinterpretation has been left wide open by Rodriguez and his agent Scott Boras.

For the purpose of financial flexibility, and maybe peace of mind too, Rodriguez has not taken the option of opting out of his Yankees contract (worth $25 mil per) off the table. As long as the option to opt out at the end of this season is available, there will be buzz over whether A-Rod already has another destination in mind.

Speculation will mount Monday night (10 p.m.) when Rodriguez appears on HBO's "Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel." If you come away sensing the Yankees third baseman has the Windy City on his mind you will have plenty of company.

The rest, which includes comments by ARod to refute this notion, is here:

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/story/502010p-423343c.html

Forgive me for sounding like the New York Post here for a second, but is anyone else getting the impression that Torre and Cashman aren't exactly seeing eye to eye lately?

Cashman could not have been pleased to learn that Torre has made several calls to Bernie and practically begged him to come to Tampa.  It looked like Cashman was finally out of this mess, but now Joe might have dragged everyone right back into it. Like it or not (and I know no one does), but if Bernie shows up in Florida you can bet Torre is going to find a way to put him on the team.  

Here's quotes from all the AP stories today:

---

But Torre said he could envision Mientkiewicz as his everyday first baseman, perhaps sharing time there with Giambi.  "If we see Jason as a first baseman, that all of a sudden opens up a spot," Torre said.

Torre said that if Williams does come to spring training, he would have a real chance of earning a spot on the 25-man roster

"It doesn't mean you have to hit .400," Torre said. "I think it's what you see more so than what the numbers are."

---

To me this a subtle hint from Torre that he's not exactly thrilled to have two first basemen plus Giambi on his 25 man team. He's also already trying to figure out ways to clear a spot for Bernie.  

This puts Cashman in a bad spot because (and I could be wrong here) Phillips and Phelps have to either make the team or go home - there's no minor league options for them.  

"I'm ready to sign, and I would do my job anyway with the Cubs this year," Zambrano said. "Whatever happens, I don't want to know [anything] about a contract during the season. I want to sign with the Cubs before the season starts. If they don't sign me, sorry, but I must go. That's what Carlos Zambrano thinks."
... "[Cubs general manager] Jim [Hendry] spent a lot of money. I hope he has more for 'Big Z.'"

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6469574

I guess it would be just like the Cubs to overspend on inferior talent and not have enough dough left over for Zambrano.  

Personally, I think a starter who throws 98 and refers to himself either in the 3rd person or as "The Big Z" is exactly what the '08 Yanks are looking for.   To paraphrase Cashman, this dude can blow.  

I could totally see Minaya breaking the bank for him, despite the Mets' track record with Zambranos.  It's never been the Yanks style to set the market for anyone, but this might be a good time to start.  

ONE MORE TIME
By GEORGE KING

February 9, 2007 -- While Bernie Williams, Brian Cashman and Scott Boras haven't confirmed Williams will be in the Yankees' camp, speculation was thick in the Tampa air yesterday that the Yankee icon would accept a minor league deal and battle for a roster spot.

King continues:

Now, for the scenarios in which Williams could muscle his way onto the roster for his 17th big league season.

A spring training injury to Hideki Matsui, Johnny Damon, Bobby Abreu or Cabrera would be the most direct, but, of course, nobody is rooting that way.

The Yankees could decide there won't be enough at-bats to keep Cabrera sharp and send him to Scranton (Triple-A) to start the season.

Noting the four dark dates in April and the chance of opening-month rainouts, the Yankees could delete a starter and make room for another player.

Or they could use Cairo at first against lefties, and thus not need either Phelps or Phillips.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/02092007/sports/yankees/one_more_time_yankees_george_king.htm

As you all know I like Bernie as much or more than anyone here, but this is lunacy.  Putting him on the team the way it's built (barring an injury to someone) is a terrible move, and making Torre cut him is almost as terrible.  How could the Yanks let it go this far?