Here's a scenario for you....

Let's just say you work in an office. One day a co-worker approaches you and says "Hey I got this new computer program that will let you finish your work in half the time." Obviously you would be intrigued.
"Really?" you would say, "why doesn't everyone use it?"
Your co-worker responds"Well, we're not really supposed to use it But the management doesn't mind because we get work done quicker, and the company actually secretly encourages it because they are making so much extra money."
"What happens if you get caught?"
"Nothing, they don't even really check for it."
"I got the new program, and have doubled my work in the past month, I got a promotion and a raise."


Just think about what you would do in that situation.

Nady V Swisher redux

hmmmm sounds familiar...

From fangraphs.com

Last offseason, Swisher was shipped from the A’s to the White Sox for a haul of young players: lefty Gio Gonzalez, right-hander Fautino De Los Santos and outfielder Ryan Sweeney. Despite sacrificing a good deal to acquire Swisher’s talents, the South Siders quickly soured on the Ohio State star after he posted a .219/.332/.410 line in 588 PA. In fact, Swisher was so far down the totem pole that he rode the bench down the stretch in favor of minor league vagabond Dewayne Wise. Earlier this offseason, the Bombers acquired Nick and minor league righty Kanekoa Texeira for Wilson Betemit and minor league righties Jeffrey Marquez and Jhonny Nunez.

Swisher’s 2008 line looks very disappointing. However, as Peter Bendix pointed out, very little changed in the switch-hitter’s offensive profile. Take a look at some of Swisher’s key indicators over the past three seasons…

2006: 14.9 BB%, 27.3 K%, .239 ISO, 19.3 LD%, .287 BABIP
2007: 15.6 BB%, 24.3 K%, .193 ISO, 17.5 LD%, .308 BABIP
2008: 14.2 BB%, 27.2 K%, .191 ISO, 20.9 LD%, .251 BABIP

In most every respect, Swisher’s 2008 season falls in line with his work over the 2006-2007 seasons, when he posted wOBA’s of .368 and .361, respectively. The only big difference in ‘08, when his wOBA dipped to .325, was an extremely low BABIP. Despite a healthy line drive rate, Swish posted the 4th-lowest BABIP among all qualified hitters. That number will surely bounce back, and with it, so will Swisher’s overall line.

Nady’s 2008 season was sort of the inverse of Swisher’s. Acquired from the Pirates last July, the 30 year-old posted a career-best .374 wOBA after compiling marks of .346 in 2007 and .336 in 2006. X-Man has experienced an upward trend in line drive rate and has hit the ball with a little more authority, but his overall skill set remains about the same…

2006: 6 BB%, 18.2 K%, .173 ISO, 17 LD%, .311 BABIP
2007: 5.1 BB%, 23.4 K%, .197 ISO, 21.3 LD%, .323 BABIP
2008: 6.6 BB%, 18.6 K%, .205 ISO, 24.6 LD%, .337 BABIP

The odds of Nady being able to sustain a .300 average and that high of a line-drive rate are likely slim. If he reverts back to being a .270-280-ish hitter, his modest walk rate means that his OBP will probably park in the .320-.330 range. Nady is not a bad player, mind you, but his best role would appear to come as a lefty-masher off the bench: though he has admittedly been better over the past few seasons, Nady has a career .317 OBP versus righty pitching, compared to .383 versus southpaws. Perhaps Nady has turned a corner, but it’s more likely that he remains a high-power, low on-base player best used in favorable situations.

Most projection systems seem to agree that Swisher will be the better offensive player in ‘09:

Pre Season Predictions 1: NL East

Once a week starting now I'll take a look at one division, this week is the NL East.

Major Additions:
Francisco Rodriguez
JJ Putz
Derek Lowe
Javier Vazquez
Kenshin Kawakami
Raul Ibanez
Adam Dunn
Ken Griff....oh wait

The division of the world series champs has been incredibly intriguing the past few years. The mets keep making almost to the top, then choking and missing the playoffs. The Phillies have reaped the benefits of the shaky Metropolitan bullpen, and went on the beat the Tampa Bay Rays in the World Series.

Predicitons:
Division MVP: David Wright
Division Cy Young: Cole Hamels
Division Breakout player: Andrew Miller

Standings:
Phillies 95-67
Mets 93 -69(Wild Card winner)
Braves 85-77
Marlins 78-84
Nationals 69-93

More A Rod

Today in a press conference Alex Rodriguez addressed the media, fans, and teammates, getting very emotional at certain points. He said he and his cousin injected a substance that supposedly gave him an energy boost, with the street name bole. He again referred to his youth and naivety when questioned as to exactly what the hell he was thinking. He even said that he's not sure he took the substance correctly

Now a lot of people have come out to say that as a multi million dollar athlete, theres no way he didn't have a better idea of what he was taking, or that by his age he must have been mature enough to know better. Personally, I am more inclined to believe him. What does he have to gain by continuing to lie? I, for once, really sympathize for the guy. I made a post a little more than a week ago, that these guys aren't super special he-men, they're just people. To condemn them for lying or cheating is hypocritical. Many self righteous citizens who must be on the list for canonization have been pontificating on the talk radio forum, or on message boards that they can't trust A Rod, or any other PED implicated athletes. If you have been building these major league baseball players up as your heroes and idols, then shame on you in the first place. Take a step in the real world and focus that attention on a parent, or a doctor, soldier, or a teacher.

I guess my real point in this rambling jumble of words, is lay off my man A Rod. It behooves us Yankee fans to give him our support. If he's on his game, there is no one better.


(Photo from Yahoo!)

Big day

In a little more than three hours, A Rod will be thrown to the hungry wolves. Pete Abraham has some words of advice over at his blog:

"By the time you finish reading this sentence, Alex Rodriguez may have hired another paid advisor to help him handle today’s press conference. Here is my advice — and it’s free:

1. Admit everything you did in an opening statement. Get ahead of the upcoming book and marginalize it. You know better than Selena Roberts or anybody else what you actually did or didn’t do. Beat her to the punch. List the drugs, list the dates and apologize for it. What else can they do to you then? Do not use the word “culture.” You did the steroids, not the culture.

2. Thank the team for coming and apologize for being such a distraction … again.

3. Make some kind of grand gesture to get the public on your side. Say you will donate those bonus payments for the home run plateaus to charity. Or announce that every kid at every Boys and Girl Club in America can go to a game free on you if they sign a pledge not to do drugs. Whatever it is, make some sort of financial gesture.

4. Don’t sit up there for an hour, but answer a reasonable amount of questions. I find many of the questions people think he “needs” to answer to be inconsequential. But he does have to be accountable to some degree.

5. At the end say, “Out of respect for my teammates and our upcoming season, this is the last time I will talk about this subject. Only baseball from here on out.” Then stick to that.

6. Try and act like a normal person for the rest of the year. Stay off the gossip pages. Fire all those advisors and listen to your conscience. Treat people the way you’d like to be treated. Say what is on your mind, not what you think you should say.

Oh, and drive in 135 runs or so. That would really help."

http://yankees.lhblogs.com/

Hopefully Alex follows this advice, is open and honest, and gets all this talk over and done with as soon as it possibly can. I'll post more after the press conference.

Spring training pictures

Yahoo has posted some great spring training pictures. I'd definitley recommend checking them out. Here's just a few:

Astros Roy Oswalt

Either an Abercrombie ad, or Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels

Dodgers manager Joe Torre poses with a fan.

Here's a few from Yankees camp

Some first day rumblings

The Yanks signed Brett Tomko to a minor league deal today with a spring training invite. Let me tell you, if we see him pitch more than one game as a Yankee, the season will have gone terribly awry.

Andy Pettitte pitched most of the second half last year with severe shoulder soreness. That explains the miserable performance.

A Rod will address the media on Tuesday, He will spend the next four days practicing what he will say in the mirror. Jeter, Posada, Rivera and Pettitte will attend. Maybe the Yankees will be smart and Jeter has been practicing ventriloquism over the offseason, just put some peanut butter in A Rod's mouth and have Derek speak. Hey it worked for Mr. Ed.

Apparently the Yankees are lightening up on the facial hair rule, look at CC and Joba.



Yahoo has some other great photos from spring training.

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYY

It's finally here....pitchers and catchers report today. Excuse me, I am going to run through the streets naked screaming in excitement.

Some signings

Bobby Abreu agreed to a one year deal with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the Republic of California ruled by the great and powerful Schwarzenegger for a one year deal with a base salary of $5 mil that could reach over $6 with incentives. Wow Abreu coming off of a pretty good year only gets a one year deal. Tough times.

Adam Dunn agreed on a one year deal with the Nationals worth $20 million. This could cause Nick Johnson to be moved. I've always liked Johnson, he's a good player but gets hurt entirely too much. If he could put together a few healthy seasons he could be productive for somebody.

Braden Looper agreed to a one year deal worth $4.75 million with a mutual '10 option with the Brewers.

And this song is dedicated to Roberto Alomar

A Rod

Obviously a lot about Alex Rodriguez has been said over the past few days. Fans, owners, coaches, commentators, and writers have all had their say on the the latest A Rod scandal. Something about this is bothering me though. It is perfectly fair to condemn the use of steroids, to believe that an asterisk should be placed next to the stats of those found guilty of using PEDs, or even to keep these guys out of the Hall of Fame. However, to come down on Rodriguez, or ANY of those implicated in this scandal on a personal level is disgusting as well as hypocritical. Yes, these guys did something wrong, some of them even lied about it, and continue to lie about it, but in the grand scheme of the world , it really isn't a big deal. These guys cheated in a game, get over it. I've heard people on the television and radio this weekend condemn A Rod as a filthy, no good liar, a scoundral, and a criminal. There is not one of us... NOT... ONE... who hasn't cheated or lied in their life. Just because these men are multi millionares and professional atheletes, does not make them exempt form the same defeciencies and faults that any person has. They are still humans, just with more money than I could ever fathom. So it is my request that all you self righteous radio call in "experts" step off of your pedestal, put down the qurater pounder and join me in the real world.

A- Roid? Seriously?

He did it. In a sit down interview with Peter Gammons, Alex Rodriguez admitted that he was in fact guilty of using performance enhancing drugs during his time with the Texas Rangers from 2001- 2003. All I can say is ...thank god. As a Yankee fan, the last thing I wanted was for this dark cloud to be hanging over the head of A-Rod all season. The overwhelming media circus that would have ensued if he denied ever using them, or refused to comment about his alleged positive test would have made the past 5 years of media scrutiny seem like informal water cooler chat.

This was the best thing Alex could have done. For once he made the smart choice. He came clean, said he was sorry, and now wants to move on. You know what, it will. Not soon, but eventually the media firestorm will pass and Alex will be back to talking about if Derek and he still stay up late playing mystery date and eating rice krispie treats at sleep overs.

Aside from this being the smartest thing for Alex to do regarding the media, it also will make headway with the fans and Hall of Fame voters. This will go along way towards gaining the forgiveness of Yankee fans. Look at Giambi, he was able to win the fans even after admitting taking steroids. All Alex has to do is hit a couple game winning homers and he'll be fine.

The bottom line is that this won't change much. If you hated A Rod before, you'll use this as another reason to hate him. If you were a fan of A Rod before this...you still will be. As far as his Hall of Fame consideration goes, I wrote my opinion on that subject last week regarding Bonds and co. A Rod is a first ballot Hall of Famer. Since 2003, Rodriguez has been subject to rigorous drug testing and has not failed a test, unless he's still being warned by Gene Orza. He had the best year of his career, as well as one of the best seasons of any major leaguer ever in 2007, while being regularly tested.

Maybe I'm naive and he's simply moved on to a new substance to avoid detection, but I am inclined believe he has been clean since then. All in all I'm sick of all this. The book, the steroids, the talk of nicknames, and team payrolls. I am ready for some baseball...some real live actual baseball...who else is with me?

Ah Crap

According to SI.com A Rod tested positive for two anabolic steroids in 2003. He was also apparently tipped off the an impending test by Gene Orza of the MLBPA.


Exactly what the Yankees need going into the season MORE A Rod controversy. I'll write more as facts come out.

Around the league

Ben Sheets needs elbow surgery....huge shocker

Cliff Floyd agreed to terms with the Padres

Yanks made a minor trading sending Chase Wright (who was DFA'd following the Pettitte signing) to somewhere for someone.... (Brewers for Eric Fryer).

I've really been wanting to write about the infamous Torre/ Verducci book more, but wanted to wait until after I read it. Well much to my chagrin I can't get a copy of the book anywhere. So I will eventually read it and post my thoughts on what was actually said.

Steroids have been making some more news lately. Apparently Clemens DNA can be linked to hypodermic needles. This evidence really isn't going to get anyone where. How can hypo's that Brian MacNamee has been holding onto for years (how weird is that? Is this guy trying to clone the Rocket and make little angry pitchers with icyhot on their man berries?) be used as legitimate evidence. Also new evidence against big Barry Bonds has come out. Apparently there is a positive urine sample from a 2003 PED test. However, Judge Susan Illston is leaning towards throwing this evidence out unless there is "direct testimony tying it to Bonds." So although we've been hearing new stuff on the steroid front, it really amounts to a whole lot of nothing.
This all being the case, I think that despite the rampant cheating going on, you need to let these guys in the Hall of Fame. There really is no way to know, as a 100% absolute certainty, that these guys are in fact guilty. So you have to treat this as simply another era in baseball history. The 1960's was characterized as the Dead Ball era with guys like Bob Gibson being so relentlessly, disgusting, filthy, that baseball had to take action and change it's rules. The era of 1988-2006 can be called the Shrunken Balls era. Just look at these guys for what they did compared to other players of the period. 500 homers is no longer a lock for the hall. Bonds, McGwire, and even Sosa demolished mammoth home run after mammoth home run. They did more than other guys who were on steroids, and hit many home runs off of pitchers who were on steroids (Clemens, Pettitte, etc). What I personally take away from this period is how great the guys who apparently stayed clean really were. Boggs, Ripken, Griffey, Jeter, Gwynn, Frank Thomas, these are the guys who I will remember as the true stars of the time.

The Super Bowl

Wow, what a game that just was. Even though he didn't pull it out in the end, you have to give credit to Kurt Warner and the Cardinals. They put up a hell of a fight. Larry Fitzgerald really emerged in the spotlight on the biggest stage of them all as well. Congrats to Big Ben and the Steelers.

Now that the Super Bowl is done with and the football season is over (considering nobody watches the Pro Bowl) that means baseball is quickly approaching. As I write this there are only 11 days 10 hours and 54 minutes until pitchers and catchers report for spring training.

Few Things

The Yankees and Brian Bruney avoided arbitration by signing a $1.25 million deal. I like Bruney he has potential to be a top set up man if he can stay healthy and throw strikes. Those are some big if's. I remember being at the stadium for Brian's first Yankee appearance. The Yanks were getting beaten pretty good by the O's in 2006. To start an inning, Bob Shepard announces "Now pitching for the Yankees numbah thirty three, Brian Bruney, numbah thirty three." I turned to me buddy and said "Who the hell is this guy?" Next thing I know I look up at the gun reading in CF and it says " FASTBALL 97." I quickly grew to like the formerly big bald man.

Also its been found out that the captainmanaged to grab the Joe D "thank the good lord..." sign from the stadium. Leave it to DJ to nab the most pimp ass thing he possibly could have. Maybe now he'll tap it for good luck every time he has relations with a supermodel.

Around the league

Scott Boras believes that Manny will be signed by Spring Training.

Jon Garland agreed to a one year deal (with option) with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Aaron Heilman is headed back to the NL after a short stay with Seattle. The Mariners received SS Ronny Cedeno and Garret Olson and Heilman goes to the Cubs.

And Dustin Pedroia's older brother Brett was charged with child molestation. Gross.


I know the posts haven't been much lately, but once pitchers and catchers report there should be some more to write about. I will also have a division by division breakdown of all major league teams. Including predictions on playoff spots as well as awards.

Stuff..... and things

It has been widely reported that In the new Joe Torre/Tom Verducci book. Mr. Torre takes some shots at A Rod, referring to how some teammates referred to him as A Fraud. Well in amazing stroke of luck I have found an excerpt from the book detailing a conversation between Alex and Joe before a playoff game.

"Joe: Alex, you've really been pressing lately so to alleviate some of the pressure, I am going to drop you to 7th in the order.

A Rod: God that Madonna is real put together...you know for an older lady.

Joe: Alex, are you even listening....I'm dropping you to 7th in the order....for a playoff game.

A Rod: I mean she's still in really good shape, she doesn't have any loose, hangy skin or anything.

Joe: Alex....I don't think your head is in the game.

A Rod: ...and she's real spiritual too.....that Kaballah seams like something I could really get into.

Joe: Are you f'ing kidding me right now?

A Rod: ...cause we are livvving in a material world....and I am a material girl....

Joe: God damn it.

A Rod: MATERIAALLLLLLL"


Really interesting stuff there...I can see where the controversy comes from.



Also the Yankees signed Andy Pettitte to a one year deal with a guranteed base salary of $5.5 million but could be worth up to $12 with all the incentives. I love this signing. The Yankees are getting Andy on the cheap, and if he has a good year he gets his money.
*Standing ovation for Cashmoney*

Garcia to the Mets

from MLBtraderumors.com
Freddy Garcia has a agreed to a minor league with the Mets which apparently could be worth up to $8 or $9 millions if all incentives are reached. Also interesting in this is that Garcia apparently cited concern about the Yankees re-signing Andy Pettitte as to why he did not sign with the Bombers.

I'll say it again I think the Yankees rotation would really be something to be reckoned with if Pettitte is brought back. If he comes back at a reasonable price, he will likely give the Yankees 200 innings of at least league average pitching with a possibilty of him having a bounceback year.

Ahhh brotherly love

According to deadspin.com the McGwire family reunion will be a bit awkward this year.

Jay, Mark's suddenly in the spotlight sibling, has announced that he will be writing a book detailing his brothers use of steroids. In the book, entitled, The McGwire Family Secret: The Truth about Steroids, a Slugger, and Ultimate Redemption, the younger McGwire will describe how he got Mark into steroids and was the first person to actually inject him. Here is a quote from Jay McGwire from Deadspin:

"Mark is a man I think most would like to forgive because his reason wasn’t nefarious—it was for survival. My bringing the truth to surface about Mark is out of love. I want Mark to live in truth to see the light, to come to repentance so he can live in freedom—which is the only way to live. "

It's obvious that this book is written purely out of love. Love of undeserved attention, and the big fat check he's going to get from the obscene amount of copies this literary goldmine is going to sell.

Talk about being a lowlife, selling out your brother to make a buck. I understand Big Mac most likely is a cheater, but so are dozens others from this generation. the dude is just trying to get on with his life. Let him be.

Freddy Garcia

From: MLBtraderumors.com

FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal was told by a major league source that the Mets and Yankees are the leading contenders for free agent right-hander Freddy Garcia.

Garcia has, according to the source, "pretty much narrowed it down" to the New York teams. The 33-year-old is 118-77 lifetime with a 4.07 ERA, but has pitched just 73 innings over the past two seasons. He is thought to be looking for a major league contract.

Freddy Garcia could be a nice low-risk pickup for either team. He'd be slightly lower risk for the Yankees as they have a deeper rotation and a multitude of other options in the minors (Hughes, Kennedy, Aceves, Coke). While the Mets still really need a #3 starter Garcia could be that, if he stays healthy.

Around some other blogs

I haven't posted in a couple of days because unfortunately there's not a whole heck of a lot going on. I don't really feel like repeating my posts on Pettitte and Nady/Swisher and that's still the only happenings in Yankee land lately.

Peter Abraham and also the guys over at River Ave Blues discuss the possible lack of rotation depth if Pettitte doesn't resign.

http://riveraveblues.com/2009/01/a-matter-of-depth-on-the-mound-6937/

http://yankees.lhblogs.com/2009/01/14/at-what-point-is-rotation-depth-a-concern/

In my opinion it would behoove both the Yankees and Andy Pettitte to agree to a deal. Andy needs to realize his market is not quite what he thought and the Yankees need to realize that after the amount of money the spent this off season to go in with 2 starts who are injury risks (Joba and Burnett) and another who could get shelled (Hughes, Aceves, etc) would be dumb. Pettitte would be a perfect cog in the wheel in the back end of this rotation, but he is NOT worth the $16 millions he earned last year.

Braves sign Lowe

The Atlanta Braves signed Derek Lowe today to a four year $60 million contract. This makes the NL East a little more interesting. The Braves are in a nice position to make some noise, their rotation doesn't have the bonafide ace that the Phillies have with Hamels or the Mets have with Santana, but they have great depth especially if Tim Hudson can have a decent , healthy year. The Braves add Lowe to earlier acquisitions Javy Vazquez, japanese import Kenshin Kawakami, young hurler Jair Jurrjens, and Hudson.

Congrats to Rickey and Jim Rice

The HOF announced this years inductees, today former A's/Yankees/A's/Blue Jays/A's/Padres/Angels/A's/Mets/Mariners/Padres/Red Sox/Dodger's great Rickey Henderson (dude's been around).

Over his career he scored 2295 runs, tops all time, and he stole 1406 bases, also tops all time. He finished his career with 3055 hits. I can only imagine how awesome his speech is going to be. I need to come up with a drinking game for how many times he will refer to himself in the third person.

Also announced is former Red Sox great Jim Rice. The former 8 time all star and 1978 AL MVP finished his career with 382 home runs and a lifetime average of .298.


Don Mattingly gained 64 votes good for 11.9%, enough to stay on the ballot but far from the requisite 75% needed for election

David Cone appeared on the ballot for the first time garnering 21 votes for 3.9%, falling short of the 5% necessary to stay on the ballot.

Another Slow Day

Not much again today, more rumors swirling regarding Nady,Swisher, Lowe, and Manny, but nothing substantial. The Red Sox signed Takashi Saito to a one year deal, another move that could pay off for the Sox.

Since baseball is slow I'll talk a little football:
As I write this the Cardinals are beating the Panthers 17-7, and earlier the Ravens beat the Titans. I will be watching the Giants tomorrow with a nice stiff drink. I am confident that my G-men can beat the Eagles, but I'm still worried. I figure if they beat Philly tomorrow, they will defeat either Arizona or Carolina and make the Super Bowl.

My Super Bowl Prediction is
Giants v Steelers.


EDIT : 8:49 PM

did i say Giants v Steelers.....I meant Eagles v Steelers

Not a whole lot going on today

Kind of a slow news day, Mets are about to sign Tim Redding, then add either Lowe or Perez.

I'll write a little more about the Red Sox acquisitions. What the Red Sox have done over the past two days is as different from the Yankees offseason as possible. The Bombers made big splashes adding top notch players, and really changing the look of the team. The Red Sox didn't really have to make major moves like the Yankees, even with sub par years from Ortiz and Lowell they made the ALCS. What the Red Sox have done is give themselves incredible depth. They have a bench featuring Kotsay and Baldelli. If Drew or Bay were to go down for a while, they have way more than adequate replacements. Adding Smoltz to the rotation (even though word is he may not be ready to pitch at the beginning of the year), gives them a veteran presence at the back end of the rotation that allows Clay Bucholtz more time in AAA, and considering Brad Penny's injury history, guys like Smoltz can move up to fill in the #2 or #3 successfully, or at least better than adding a guy like Sidney Ponson off the scrap heap.

Bill James 2009 Handbook

I just picked up the Bill James 09 handbook earlier today. It's pretty interesting to look through. I'm not saying I live or die by it, but it's intriguing to look at his perspective. For instance:

According to his +/- scale Robinson Cano had a score of -16 at 2nd base last year. This scale is strictly defensive, so his putrid offensive year had no effect on the score. That -16 earned Robby a dead last ranking out of all MLB 2nd Basemen in 08.

Mark Teixeira earned a score of +24, ranking him first, four points ahead of Albert Pujols.

Derek Jeter's score of -12 proved all of the experts wrong, it was NOT the worst in the majors. Five other shortstops had the privilege of scoring worse that DJ (although he dead ranked dead last when combing the three year numbers from 06-08).

The book is full of all kinds of interesting stats and analysis, again I wouldn't swear by it, or say it is the be all, end all of baseball knowledge, but it's fun to look through and I plan on placing directly next to my toilet (where I do most of my heavy reading).

In other literature news I recently picked up a copy of Buster Olney's The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty. I know I'm a bit behind as this book came out several years ago, but this copy has an extended version discussing the 2004-2007 seasons, focusing a lot on Alex Rodriguez. It really gives you the feeling of being right in the Yankee clubhouse. It details the Torre, Martinez, O'Neill dynasty of 1996-2001, interweaving anecdotes of player relationships, details of working for the Big Stein, and the makeup of those Yankees that I grew to know and love. It is filled with such detail that I almost feel David Wells hangover, Paul O'Neill's obsession with success, or Roger Clemens unmatched intensity (hopefully I don't get the same side effects from the HGH, I can't afford to have my boys shrink). Overall a great read.

Red Sox close to Baldelli and Smoltz

These could be some decent moves for the Sox. If Baldelli can get his often changing diagnosis under control, he is a nice athletic OF with some pop. He seems like a nice addition to the Sox bench.

Smoltz, who turns 42 in May, figures to be Boston's 4th starter. If he can stay healthy, he is a veteran who is a big game pitcher, and knows how to win. He won't put up the type of numbers that he has in previous years, now in the brutal AL East, but could be a solid contributor to the Red Sox. He could be a dangerous part of that team in the playoffs, given his closing experience.

Other news around baseball:

Hoffman agreed to a deal with Milwaukee.

The Mets have made an offer to Tim Redding.

Andy Pettitte may now be open to going back to Houston.

The Yankees wil most likely trade Xavier Nady, but Nick Swisher is possible also.


And in the "I'm sure someone....somewhere cares" category:

Nationals pitcher John Patterson retired yesterday.

Fun Red Sox fact.

In his spare time in the offseason, Red Sox ace Josh Beckett enjoys dressing in women's clothes and performing in nightclubs under the name Sally Sugarrack.

The Yanks are better off with Swisher rather than Nady

So far Cash has done a nice job getting all the pieces the Yankees need (by giving them hundreds of millions of someone else's dollars), but there is one thing irking me, barring a trade, the Yanks plan on starting Xavier Nady over Nick Swisher. While both players are relatively similar, Swisher is two years younger, switch hits, is more versatile and athletic, and plays better defense (Swish's best position is first, but still plays above average in the corners).

These are the 162 game averages for each player:

Nady
BA .280 OBP .335 SLG .458 HRs 21 RBI 78 R 69 H 150

Swisher
BA .244 OBP .354 SLG .451 HRs 28 RBI 86 R 94 H 137

They both have very similar career numbers, but Swisher has more potential to be a masher, while Nady is merely a nice 5th or 6th hitter.

Is Andy Pettitte on Meth?

How could Andy possibly justify rejecting a 1 year $10 million offer. Let's just forget all that "I want to be a Yankee, money's not an issue" talk for a second.

Last year Andy had a 4.54 ERA, pitched 204 innings, went 14-14, with a BAA of .290, and a WHIP of 1.41 and an ERA+ of 98. This would make him a number 3 or 4 starter, , while making $16 million a year.

Let's compare him to some other pitchers last year.

Paul Byrd- ERA 4.60, 180 innings , 11-12, BAA .287, WHIP 1.32, ERA+ 98. Salary $7.5 million.
Tim Wakefield- ERA 4.13, 181 innings, 10-11, BAA .228, WHIP 1.18, ERA+112. Salary $4 million.
Brett Myers- ERA 4.55, 190 innings, 10-13, BAA, .267, WHIP 1.38, ERA+ 96. Salary $8.5 million.

The Yankees came out and said they believed Andy was about an $8 million pitcher, but offered him $10 mil because they loved Andy and wanted him back. That seems right about what he's worth.

The Inaugural Post

So I decided to join the billions of other a-holes online and start a baseball blog. This is nothing earth shattering, but I'd thought I'd start one of these babies up and maybe somewhere along the line someone will read one of my opinions.

A little about me:
I'm a fresh college graduate in the teaching field.
I love me some Yankees
I still manage to be fairly un-biased, despite the bad name a lot of us Yankees fans have.
I am deeply and hopelessly obsessed with the game of baseball.

Here's a couple quick thoughts for the night

MLB Network- pretty legit. The Don Larsen game was great, getting to hear Mel Allen and Vin Scully's combined voices for 9 innings was amazing. If there were strippers, beer, and pie...I would've been convinced that I had gone to heaven. The rest of the programming is solid, if a bit repetative.

Yankees Payroll- will be lower than last year...stop f'ing bitching about it.

Manny- Will find a home somewhere in CA and dominate the NL West, until he decides he doesn't want to, and will then sit in the clubhouse eating Easy Mac, nursing a "knee injury", and attempting to find Waldo in a sea of inexplicably similarly dressed people.

Pat Burell to the Rays- a solid pickup for a young team. Burell's veteran prescence and power bat will do a lot for the AL Champs, as long as he stays a DH.

Milton Bradley to the Cubs- Big Risk for the Cubbies. Bradley played out of this world last year, but remains an injury risk. I also think his character issues are blown out of proportion.

Holliday and Giambi to the A's- Nice addition's to the middle of the lineup for the A's. With the Angels losing their closer, and Teixeira, Oaktown could make a run.


Ok thats it for now.