Archive for August, 2009
The real MVP of the dynasty
Posted by: | CommentsEvery so often a debate will break out about who the real MVP of the late-90′s/early-2000′s Yankee teams was. Some will argue it’s Mariano Rivera, some Derek Jeter, some Bernie Williams, others think it’s someone else all together. Lucky, Matt Imbrogno of Bronx Baseball Daily – you know him as Matt ACTY/BBD from the comments – ran the numbers and determined that yes, Derek Jeter was the MVP of those clubs. And you know what? It’s not particularly close either. Make sure you check it out.
Yanks looking to Mulder for the stretch run?
Posted by: | CommentsMany Yanks fans were upset that Brian Cashman didn’t deal for a pitcher at the deadline, but so far that decision looks like a sound one. Things can and will change down the road, though, and for that Cash has made a few moves, including a trade for Chad Gaudin. He’s no Roy Halladay, but one hopes he can be a bit better than Jarrod Wasburn has been away from Seattle’s top notch outfield (11.1 IP, 10 ER since the trade). Keeping with the small, lightning in a bottle moves the Yanks have made in-season, they’ll have a look at Mark Mulder when he throws in the next week or so. The timing on this is a bit tough. In order to have Mulder for the postseason, he would have to be on the 25-man roster by August 31. That’s a bit tough if he’s not going to even throw for teams until the 15th or so. The most likely scenario is that he’s a reclamation project for next year who might be able to take some September innings.
Mulder, 32, has pitched just 106 innings since 2006 due to multiple stints on the DL. He has immense talent, as we saw during his Oakland years and the first in St. Louis, but it’s unlikely that he’ll recover to be anything close to his former self. It could be worth a gamble, but at this point it could be a gamble for a lefty reliever. You can never have too many of them, I suppose.
Jete’s big home irks Tampa neighbors
Posted by: | CommentsDerek’s big home has hit a road block. Last month, we looked at how Jeter is building the biggest house on the block in Tampa. His 30,000-square foot mansion will feature nine bathrooms and seven bedrooms and takes up three lots in a posh neighborhood on Davis Island.
As part of his plan for this Jeterian enclave, the Yanks’ captain has asked for permission to build a six-foot tall fence around the perimeter of his property. Zoning regulations allow for just a three-foot wall, and the neighborhood association is not too happy about this request. Noah Pransky, a reporter with Tampa’s WTSP, writes:
His request for a six-foot-tall concrete and wrought-iron fence will go before Tampa’s Variance Review Board on Tuesday, August 11.
But according to Ken Elmore, a member of the Davis Islands Civic Association, the board voted 12-6 to reject the request. While the association has no actual authority when it comes to Jeter’s request, Elmore says the group will take the results to next week’s review meeting, hoping to sway the variance board.
Elmore writes that board president Jeffrey Siewart encouraged other board members to vote against the variance “to maintain the precedence set by other front yard requests and to comply with the City Code as stated.”
According to a report from the meeting, Jeter’s representative cited “security and functionality” as the reasons for the exemption.
If I were a betting man, I’d say that Derek gets his exemption. Tampa’s Variance Review Board will probably find Yankee All Star Derek Jeter far more sympathetic than the Davis Islands Civic Association. And so it goes.
Getting to know Aroldis Chapman
Posted by: | CommentsSheesh, didn’t think the news could be slow after three straight wins over the Red Sox, but it is. Luckily Jorge Arangure Jr. of ESPN penned a piece on Cuban defectee Aroldis Chapman, who literally walked out the front door of a Netherlands hotel in July while in town for a tournament. All the attention gets paid to Chapman’s triple digit fastball, but there’s more to the man who left his family and a child behind to pursue his dream. Make sure you check it out.
To admit, to deny or to avoid
Posted by: | Comments“Careless” is an easy word to employ as a defense against a failed PED test. Just ask David Ortiz.
“I definitely was a little bit careless back in those days when I was buying supplements and vitamins over the counter,” the Red Sox DH said yesterday as he offered up a half-hearted explanation of his failed 2003 PED test. With the Players Union looking over his shoulder, Ortiz stressed his desire for “more information” concerning his failed test and claimed he wasn’t a steroid user.
No one was really buying it. Even with PA General Counsel Michael Weiner force-feeding everyone ready-made excuses — Ortiz can’t get the information he needs to defend himself — the attempts to deflect guilt sounded empty.
Across the park, in a manner of speaking, was another star who found himself outed for a failed 2003 PED test. Alex Rodriguez says he slept through David Ortiz’s press conference. A-Rod also says he feels unencumbered by steroid use after his Spring Training admission of guilt. “I took a lot of things off my chest and, to me, since that press conference, I felt like a new man,” Rodriguez said to Jack Curry yesterday. “I feel like I’ve been embraced by not only the city of New York, but my teammates, my coaches and my manager. I just feel liberated by just the way I came out and did things.”
Ortiz, meanwhile, will try to move on. Since The Times outed him on July 31, he is just 4 for 35 with a home run and a double. Against the Yanks this weekend, he is 1 for 14 with 1 walk. Distracted, slumping, or finished. Pick one. Or more.
Ortiz’s faux-admission press conference, coming just under 12 hours after Alex Rodriguez delivered a dramatic win for the Yanks on Friday night, provides a juxtaposition for the steroid era. A-Rod joined Andy Pettitte and Jason Giambi as players willing to admit to illicit drug use. David Ortiz joined Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and, to a degree, Roger Clemens as players never willing to admit to any wrong-doing.
The players who dance around the issue curry no favor with anyone while the players who fess up to something of the truth earn a modicum of respect. In the end, that’s how it should work. But though years have elapsed since Game of Shadows, the Steroid Era won’t end. Names drip out. Players don’t know how to respond. One day, it will all be over, and with each name, it inches closer to the end. Yet, Ortiz’s PED dance yesterday showed just far away that day is.
This weekend, the Yankees are beating the Red Sox on the field when they need to the most. They’re also beating them off the field and in front of the PED-tainted microphones. I don’t like seeing the game’s faces taken down, but at least our guys have been mostly honest when it came time to face the music.
Staten Island’s bullpen shuts out Oneonta
Posted by: | CommentsThe Advocate and WBRZ News 2 Louisiana is reporting that the Yankees and first round pick Slade Heathcott are close to a deal. The signing deadline is just nine days away.
Triple-A Scranton (4-3 loss to Lehigh Valley)
Kevin Russo: 0 for 4, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
Reegie Corona: 0 for 3, 1 RBI, 1 BB
Austin Jackson: 3 for 5, 1 3B – picked off first … first three hit game since July 11th
Shelley Duncan: 2 for 5, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 K – threw a runner out at the plate from RF
Juan Miranda & Yurendell DeCaster: both 1 for 5 – Miranda doubled, drove in a run & K’ed twice … DeCaster scored a run & K’ed
John Rodriguez: 1 for 3, 1 BB, 1 K
Colin Curtis: 2 for 4, 1 R, 1 K
Chris Stewart: 2 for 3, 1 BB
The Ghost of Kei Igawa: 6 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 6-10 GB/FB – 62 of 94 pitches were strikes (66%) … allowed a pair of homers, running his season total up to 19 in 121 IP (1.41 HR/9)
Edwar Ramirez: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 5-0 GB/FB – 16 of 22 pitches were strikes (72.7%)
Open Thread: Going for the sweep tomorrow edition
Posted by: | CommentsWell, that was a satisfying win, wouldn’t you say? How about CC Sabathia, I hear he can’t pitch in big games.
Anyway, here’s an open thread for everyone to chill out and relax in on a Saturday evening. The Cubs and Rockies are on MLB Network at 8pm, and the Mets will try to avoid another K-Rod blown save in San Diego starting at 10pm tonight. Talk about whatever your heart desires here, just be nice.
Update (9:00pm): The Josh Tower Experience will last all of one day. He’s going to be DFA’d tomorrow to make room for Chad Gaudin.
Just 21 days 'til pitchers and catchers report.
