Joe Torre: There's Nothing Bad About Anyone In The Book

For the most part, the Larry King/Joe Torre interview last night was a big fat dud. Other than the fact that Torre stood by what he wrote in the book, there was nothing earth-shattering about it. Click here to view an excerpt.

Well, wait a minute. At the very end of the show, Larry King's kids (at least, I'm assuming that's who they were) came onto the set and one of them asked Torre a question: What would happen if Bobby Abreu signed with the Dodgers? Meaning, would there be tension between him and Abreu because of the book?

The show was about to go off the air and there was barely time for an answer, thanks to how slowly the kid asked the question. But Torre managed to provide an answer that to me was very telling. He said, and I'm paraphrasing: "There's nothing bad about Abreu in the book." Then, very quickly, as if correcting himself: "There's nothing bad about anyone in the book.

Funny how he felt he had to add that last tidbit.

Bernadette

Does Andy's Return Mean Joba's A Reliever Now?

Now that Andy Pettitte has caved and accepted an incentive-laden $5.5 million one-year deal with the Yankees, he'll probably be either the 4th or 5th starter in the rotation. That leaves one open spot in the rotation. That spot could go to a number of guys: Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy, Alfredo Aceves, Phil Coke, Andrew Brackman, Dan Giese or Joba Chamberlain.

But, shouldn't Joba Chamberlain go back to the bullpen now? Well, let's take a look at this: The Yankees have a lot of great young arms down on the farm who might be able to fill that spot in the rotation. But, of the names listed above, who is the best pitcher? In my opinion, it's Joba Chamberlain. Out of all these guys, he's had the most success in the Major Leagues. The others have less, even less or none.

Let's say one or two of these other kids are given a chance in the rotation and they fail. Add to that the possibility that Andy Pettitte will not be able to earn those incentives attached to his deal. We could, conceivably have two open spots in the rotation at some point during the season. Things could get so bad that Joba Chamberlain might have to return to the rotation. Then we'll have what we had last season, having to get Joba's innings built back up again, through long relief and those ridiculous simulated games. It's easier to go back to the bullpen than it is to come out of it and go into the rotation. So, why not just put Joba in the rotation at the beginning of the season?

Bernadette

Ladies & Gentlemen, Meet "A-Fraud"

There's been a lot of talk today about Joe Torre's new book about his years as Yankee manager: Torre's claim that GM Brian Cashman didn't back him, his revelation that George Steinbrenner knew about his prostate cancer before he did, Alex Rodriguez's seemingly unhealthy obsession with Derek Jeter and Alex being called "A-Fraud" by his teammates.

I don't know how much of this is true, but we might have gotten an inkling about the "A-Fraud" part last night when Robinson Cano spoke at Bernie Williams' Hillside Food Outreach Dinner in upstate New York. When told about Alex's plans to play for the Dominican Republic in the upcoming World Baseball Classic, Cano said, "I'll trust that when I see it."

Was Cano referring to media speculation or to Alex's own comments? Hard to tell with Cano being in the Dominican, reading newspapers in another language. How was Alex's announcement reported in the DR? Did Cano actually read the reports or was he told about it by a teammate? (Or, did he just learn about it last night?) In any case, Cano doesn't do much to dispel the notion that A-Rod is an "A-Fraud."

Bernadette

Tomorrow Is Moving Day For The Yankees

Armed with 1,500 plastic crates and using four trucks, the Yankees will begin moving into the new Stadium tomorrow morning at 7AM. According to the plans they made months ago, they're right on schedule.

Frankly, I'm shocked. Regular readers of this blog know that I live very close to Yankee Stadium. I pass by the construction site often. Last week I was wondering if, in fact, they were behind schedule.

Hmm. That building doesn't look like it's near completion to me. But, then again, I don't know a thing about construction.

Bernadette

Steve Phillips Moving In With Morgan & Miller

ESPN was expected to announce today that Steve Phillips will be a member of the "Sunday Night Baseball" team starting this April. I guess the MLB Network has the World Wide Leader thinking there's a possibility that, sooner or later they might not be, at least as far as Major League Baseball is concerned.

According to columnist Neil Best, Phillips will join Joe Morgan and John Miller in the broadcast booth. Morgan and Miller are a Sunday night institution, PC lingo for "They're old." The MLB Network has young guys and gals like Harold Reynolds and Hazel Mae. Can a relatively young Phillips save the ESPN broadcast booth? That remains to be seen.

I like Miller and Morgan, but Phillips has his own brand of humor. When Dan Patrick still had his radio show, he had callers to the show give their height and weight, after which he'd sound a boxing ring bell. Pros and ESPN personalities didn't get this treatment. It was only for Joe Fan. One day, Phillips called in to give his expert opinion and, before he said anything, he said, "Hi, guys, 6' 2", 190." Seconds later listeners heard that familiar "ping." I was listening at work that day and my co-workers gave me strange looks when I threw back my head in laughter.

Will I be throwing my head back in laughter on Sunday nights this coming baseball season?

Bernadette

I Love Me Some Melky, But...

...not $1.2 million worth. The Yankees have avoided arbitration with centerfielder Melky Cabrera, signing him for at least that amount for 2009. The actual figure hasn't been released yet.

Melky made $461,200 in 2008 and, after batting .249 with a dreadful OBP, the Yankees apparently felt that a such a big raise was in order. Why? My guess is that there must be another outfielder out there who was worse than, or just as bad as Melky last year but who's also being over-paid. Who that is, I don' t know. One point two million dollars. Nice work if you can get it.

One other signing Xavier Nady, for $6.55 million. He made $3.35 million last year. Now, that's more like it.

Bernadette

Update, 7:14 PM The figure is in. It's $1.4 million, plus there's the possibility of an additional $100,000 in performance bonuses.

Jeter Stands Out Among Yanks On Provisional WBC Rosters

Several players from the Yankees 40-man roster have been added to provisional rosters for the upcoming World Baseball Classic:

Dominican- Melky Cabrera, Robinson Cano, Damaso Marte, Edwar Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez and Jose Veras

Mexican- Alfredo Aceves and Jorge Vazquez

Chinese- Kai Liu and Zhenwang Zhang

Panamanian- Jahdiel Santamaria

Italian- Francisco Cervelli

American- Derek Jeter

Jeter's name stands out for this reason: Last night on the MLB Network's "Hot Stove" program, a question was posed about Derek Jeter's presence on the American roster: Will is absence from Spring Training be a detriment to the Yankees? Harold Reynolds and the guys all seemed to be in agreement that his absence would hurt the Yankees. The Yankees have two new pitchers (Sabathia and Burnett) and big-ticket item Mark Teixeira now, who know nothing about how harsh the New York Media can be and, if Derek Jeter were there he'd be able to "deflect" the media and show these new guys the ropes. After all, Reynolds said, he did that for Alex Rodrigez when he first arrived in New York.

Huh?

I don't know what Yankee team HR was following in 2004, but I don't remember anything like that at all. More often than not, A-Rod was left twisting in the wind, rather than being propped up by the captain of the New York Yankees.

The Yankees, including their new arrivals, won't suffer because of Jeter's absence from Spring Training. I doubt he'll be totally absent, anyway. My guess is he'll be there at the beginning. Besides, Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada will be there the whole time. There's nothing to worry about.

Bernadette

Remembering A Yankee Fan On MLK Day

Today is Martin Luther King Day. A year ago on this day I paid my daily visit to Pete Abraham's LoHud Yankees Blog and discovered a new voice in the Yankee blogging community. Well, new to me anyway. Pete was in the midst of his January pinch hitting series, where everyday of the month he puts up a post by a different Yankee blogger. On Martin Luther King Day last year it was Todd Drew's turn.

I didn't know Todd personally, but from what I could tell, he was all about two things: The Yankees and empowering those less fortunate. I believe that was why Pete chose to showcase Todd's post on Martin Luther King Day.

Last Thursday morning, January 15th, the actual birth date of Martin Luther King, Todd Drew passed away from cancer at the age of 41. His memorial service yesterday was attended by a large crowd.

Todd left his mark on everyone he met and even on those he never met, including me. Shortly after I read his post last year, I contacted him and asked to exchange links with him, to which he gladly agreed. A short time later I contacted him and asked him to be one of the first bloggers I spotlighted on my new site. He was on board with the idea until I provided him with more details of what the spotlight entailed. Todd wiggled his way out of the spotlight and I, being the self-centered lady that I am, took it personally. I was angry with him for "blowing me off." I was even angrier when I learned that he'd agreed to contribute to another Yankee blog several months later.

But it was Todd who should have been angry. Angry with me for not seeing what he was all about. Todd Drew wasn't about putting himself in the spotlight. He didn't want the attention on himself. He wanted the spotlight on the people he wrote about on his blog and on the people he helped through his work at the ACLU. I was too self-absorbed to see this until he passed away last week.

Somehow, I think it's fitting that I "met" Todd on MLK Day last year and that, in the days following his passing (MLK's birth date to MLK Day) I finally got to know him. Rest in peace, Todd Drew and, I'm glad I knew you.

Bernadette

For Your Sunday Viewing Pleasure: The Weekly Dish, Pilot Episode

Congratulations to the YES Network, who appears to be loosening it's corporate tie. They've got a gossip show in the works, slated to run on YesNetwork.com. I've never been much for gossip shows, but they can't hurt sometimes, especially when their vehicles are trying to convey a more laid-back image. Have a look.

New Stadium Controversy: Another View

Yesterday I posted exerpts from a New York Post editorial slamming Assemblyman Richard Brodsky and defending the financing deal for the new Yankee Stadium. I hadn't realized that The New York Times weighed in as well. They have a different take. A few exerpts:

"Yankee officials like to say that they are the ones paying to build this stadium, not the city’s taxpayers. That is only partly true. The public has subsidized the project in many ways — providing generous tax-exempt financing and a variety of other assistance like rent abatements.

Meanwhile, the total $362 million price tag to the city has almost doubled since the project was announced in 2006. And, according to the Independent Budget Office, the price dwarfs the $138 million the city will provide for the Mets’ new stadium across town.

Some city contribution to costs for these stadiums makes sense. But the real question is how much New York gets in return on this very hearty investment.

The Yankees promise over 6,000 construction jobs. But once their new house is built, there could be as few as 22 full-time, year-round positions.

What makes this latest request feel like “icing on the cake,” as Assemblyman Richard Brodsky puts it, is that the rest of the city is staring at such hard times and a looming $1.5 billion budget deficit."

Plus, one more:

"If the Yankees can sign megamillion-dollar contracts (C. C. Sabathia just landed one for $161 million over seven years), they should be flush enough to contribute more toward their new stadium and to the parks for people living nearby."

So the real question here appears to be the taxes resulting from the deal and how many permanent jobs will result from the construction project. I don't understand enough about this thing to comment about the job issue. But the taxes are another story. Who's paying them? The Yankees aren't. Supporters of the deal vehemently insist that New Yorkers are not going to pay the taxes. Opponents of the deal scream and cry that the Yankees won't be paying the taxes, but as far as I can tell, they haven't actually stated that New Yorkers will be paying these taxes.

As for the parks mentioned in the last exerpt above, from what I've seen, the people living nearby won't have much to worry about.

Bernadette

Yankees' Levine Appears At Committee Hearing

Yesterday, New York State Assemblyman Richard Brodsky (D-Westchester County) (pictured, left) convened his much-talked-about hearing about funding the new Yankee Stadium. There was a lot of arguing and name-calling, but in the end, nothing really got resolved. Brodsky still insists that taxpayers are paying for the new Stadium and Randy Levine still insists they're not.

After my previous post, I thought about this some more and, I still don't understand it completely. However, I am pretty much convinced that the Yankees did nothing wrong here. To my complete surprise, neither does The New York Post. My general opinion of this paper is that it's nothing more than a filthy rag. But in an editorial they ran yesterday, they explained this whole thing better than I ever could. Read these major points from the editorial:

* Why does Brodsky insist on lying - outright - about the cost of the stadium? He says it's $4 billion (up from his nonsensical claim of $2 billion, issued just last week). In fact, the actual total tab will be just $1.3 billion.

* Why does Brodsky want taxpayers to think they'll be picking up the costs? In fact, the Yanks will cover every last cent of that $1.3 billion, plus the costs of ongoing maintenance - even though the city will wind up owning the ballpark.

* Why has Brodsky voted repeatedly to back stadium-related legislation, while voting also to promote gambling interests, including "ayes" for tax incentives for Monticello Raceway and a $140 million cash bailout for the scandal-wracked New York Racing Association?

And, these:

Nobody is asking taxpayers to hand the Yankees $400 mill.

Nor even to lend them that much.

Yes, the extra tax-exempt bonds will cost the city and state - a whole $18 million in foregone tax revenue over the decades-long life of the bonds.

Again, not $400 million.

And certainly not "$4 billion.

Yes, New Yorkers will also pony up for a new Metro-North station.

But government routinely provides infrastructure improvements to promote development. And tax breaks, too.

It's true that the team is to pay for construction in lieu of paying property taxes. But the city winds up owning the stadium - plus some first-rate neighborhood parks, sports facilities and community amenities paid for by the Yankees.

My compliments to the Post for providing the Cliff Notes. I doubt it will help though. The average New Yorker is neither a Yankee fan or even a baseball fan, so the Yankees will continue to be thought of as receiving a handout while hardworking taxpayers do without.

Bernadette

Yankees President Subpoenaed

Yankees president Randy Levine has been subpoenaed by a New York State Assembly committee, chaired by Assemblyman Richard Brodsky (D-Westchester County). Brodsky wants him to appear at a hearing tomorrow as part of a probe into the funding of the new Yankee Stadium.

When I think about this issue, my eyes glaze over. I'm not sure I understand it at all, but this is what I think is going on:

The prevailing opinion going around New York City these days is that the Yankees are being given a handout while hardworking citizens of the Five Boroughs are being told to do without. According to Levine, who made the rounds on local sportstalk radio today, this isn't true. The City is not paying for the new Stadium. The Yankees are not being subsidized. The Yankees have borrowed the money they are using to build the stadium using bonds from private citizens. They will have to pay this money back.

This is the exact same thing that the Mets are doing with their new stadium, too, yet they're not being criticized for it. It is something The New York Times did when they built their new printing plant, yet they didn't get criticized for it. It's something a lot of business do all the time, yet they don't get criticized for it. The Yankees get criticized for it for one reason and one reason only: They're the Yankees.

Brodsky has also been making the rounds on local sportstalk radio today and, his argument is that the Yankees aren't paying the taxes associated with the bonds. He says the Yankees made a deal (as did the Mets) that would get them out of paying the taxes. Why aren't the Mets being singled out as well? Brodsky told Michael Kay that the amount of money involved for the Mets was smaller and also, his committee didn't have the resources to investigate both teams. He also mentioned that Yankees weren't forthcoming when they were asked to provide information to the commitee, so they were subpoenaed.

I think that's what's going on. But, you know something? I'm really not sure.

Bernadette

Nady, Swisher, Etc: Ring Around The Outfield

Ring around the outfield,

look at Swisher, Nady,

Damon, Melky, Matsui, aw, damn!

I'll admit I'm not much of a poet or lyricist, but this whole Outfield Carousel is just making me dizzy.

As most fans know, the Mark Teixeira signing displaced Nick Swisher and set those carousel wheels in motion. Everyone and his brother has been giving their opinions as to which outfielder the Yankees should trade. I don't want to be left out so, here's my take:

Nick Swisher: A career .244 hitter who's a virtual utility guy. Coming off a down year. Signed a $26.75 million deal in 2007 which will run through 2011 with an option for 2012. Bad year plus big contract equals untradable (or, hard to trade).

Xavier Nady: A true outfielder with a career .280 average. He had a great 2008 season, batting .305 and showing power with 25 HR. He's currently arbitration-eligible. Easy to deal, nice return possible.

Johnny Damon: Old. Going into the last year of his deal with the Yankees. Can't throw but speed is still adequate. Excellent lead-off hitter whom the Yankees would be lost without. Impossible to trade.

Hideki Matsui: Old. Going into the last year of his deal with the Yankees. Coming off a second knee surgery. A below-average outfielder but a professional hitter. Impossible to trade.

Melky Cabrera: Coming off a down year. Above-average defender with no plate discipline. Tearing it up right now in the Dominican Winter League, which is, essentially, a Double-A league. Arbitration-eligible. Has no trade value.

Brett Gardner: Made his ML debut in 2008. Fastest guy on the team. Would make an excellent lead-off guy, if he learns how to hit. Decent defender. To soon to think about trading him.

So what's the deal? What will happen in the outfield for 2009? With Swisher's contract and the problems of Damon, Matsui, Cabrera and Gardner, the most obvious choice to go in a trade would be Nady. That would leave Damon in centerfield, Swisher coming off the bench, Matsui as DH, and either Cabrera or Gardner in rightfield. With Austin Jackson waiting in the wings (and expected to play in triple A in 2009) this very well could be a scenario the Yankees are considering.

So, in 2010, we could conceivably be looking at an outfield of Jackson, Gardner and Cabrera. An entire outfield of homegrown Yankees. Would that be asking too much?

Yeah, probably.

Bernadette

Monday Is Rickey Henderson Day (Finally)

Rickey Henderson has finally stayed away from the game long enough to be on the Hall Of Fame Ballot. You may remember that he kept coming out of retirement, pushing his Hall Of Fame election back in the process. On Monday he'll get voted into Cooperstown and, like so many others, I simply cannot wait to hear his induction speech.

I remember when Rickey was a Yankee back in the 80s. There was one game in particular that will never fail to stand out for me. The Yankees were playing the Baltimore Orioles at The Stadium. I don't recall who was pitching but Rick Dempsey was behind the plate for Baltimore. Rickey came up to bat and got on base. I started watching Dempsey very closely. You could tell he was very agitated and preoccupied with Rickey being on base. After a few pitches, Rickey took off and stole second base easily. Dempsey became even more agitated and preoccupied.

Suddenly, Dempsey didn't look the same. I couldn't put my finger on it, but there was something different about him. What was it? Then Bill White, one of the Yankee announcers clued me in when he said, in an incredulous voice, that Dempsey had taken his catcher's mask off! Dempsey was so hell-bent on throwing Rickey out at third that he'd torn his mask off. I couldn't believe it!

If I remember correctly, Rickey stole third anyway. At the time I was shocked, but now, every time I think about it I can't help laughing. Like I said, I'll never forget it. That's my Rickey Henderson memory. What's yours?

Bernadette

Teixeira Says Hello, Pettitte Says Goodbye

Tyler Kepner is reporting that Andy Pettitte has turned down the Yankees' one-year $10 million deal. This comes on the same day that Mark Teixeira met the New York Media for the first time since signing his 8-year deal with the team.

The Yankees have thrown the bank at Teixeira, CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett this off-season while offering Pettitte nothing more than a pay-cut. Sounds to me like they never wanted Pettitte back in the first place. So, why not tell him, rather than low-balling him like that? Probably because they wanted to keep him as an alternative in case they couldn't sign CC or AJ.

I never wanted Pettitte back. I think he's past his prime. I will say this however: He's a true Yankee. Today at his press conference, Mark Teixeira put on his new Yankee jersey (#25), posed for pictures, answered questions, and as soon as the formal part of the press conference was over, off came the jersey. He put his suit jacket back on, folded his hands in front of him and, like a good Scott Boras client, conducted himself in a very business-like manner. Can you see Andy Pettitte doing something like that? I can't.

Bernadette

Happy New Year

It's a new year and I'm trying my best to catch up to it. Sorry for the lack of posts, but I'll definitely give you all something to read next week!

Bernadette