Gammons: Yankees tried to tamper with Andrew Miller

June 17, 2011 by Mike Axisa 42 Comments

Update (6:12pm): Via Marc Carig, Brian Cashman responded to the accusation by saying it was simply “not true.”

Original Post (5:30pm): Via Peter Gammons, the Yankees and other teams tried to convince lefty Andrew Miller to use his June 15th opt-out clause presumably so they could sign him, which would be considered tampering. The Red Sox agreed to call Miller up and put him in the rotation, so the opt-out never came into play anyway. Still, accusing teams of tampering is a pretty serious accusation even though it probably happens all the time. I’m sure a bunch of Gammons-Red Sox cracks will follow, but this is something MLB will probably look into.

Brian

“The Yankees and other teams.” Peter Gammons is a douchebag.
- aRX
  
  +10000. “I’m accusing multiple teams of tampering without presenting any proof, but why name them all? I’ll just throw the Yankees out there.”
  
  Honestly, I should’ve stopped reading right after ‘Gammons’.
http://twitter.com/TylerWilkinson T-Dubs

Brian Cashman apparently answered the accusation with a simple 2 word text message: “Not true.”
- http://twitter.com/TylerWilkinson T-Dubs
  
  Sorry, didn’t have source at first. Came from Carig. http://twitter.com/#!/Ledger_Yankees/status/81814129278590976
  - http://twitter.com/SteveH_MandAura Steve H
    
    Maybe Gammons is having a flashback to the 70’s and he’s talking about Rick Miller?
http://twitter.com/SteveH_MandAura Steve H

Why not mention the other teams?
http://twitter.com/SteveH_MandAura Steve H

Gammons also mentions that Daniel Bard might become a starter. Has he lost his marbles?
- Dan
  
  Doddering old fool lost his fastball about 15 years ago
- http://www.twitter.com/mattpat11 Mattpat11
  
  Is that a rhetorical question?
TheZack

“He’s either going to be a really good reliever or a fascinating starter”

Those are, apparently, the only two possible courses for Miller now that he joins the other Aces on the staff.
- http://twitter.com/SteveH_MandAura Steve H
  
  He was recently called (by Scott Lauber IIRC) both “prize left-hander” and “touted left-hander.” Straight up Ace.
Zack D

Yankees tampered and Theo put a clause in his contract where his 3mis guaranteed if anyone claims him on waivers. So yeah, don’t care.
- Zack D
  
  3m is*
Andrew

I’m so sick and tired of Peter Gammons and the entire ESPN/BBTN world destroying the Yankees on a daily basis and praising the Red Sox as Lords. Give it a rest already.
- Rookie
  
  I, too, am so sick and tired of Peter Gammons and the entire ESPN/BBTN world destroying the Yankees on a daily basis and praising the Red Sox as Lords — and I’ve come to expect it understanding that it’s coming from Yankee haters like Gammons. But what I’m sick of is no Yankee broadcaster or supposed fan or even Yankee standing up and pointing it out.*
  
  The journalists/broadcasters either don’t have the brains to see it or the spine to do it. And while it would be much better if they were the ones to point it out, I think the same could probably be said of the Yankees themselves, too.
  
  By the way, if anyone can point out a single instance in his career as captain that Jeter has ever pointed out an injustice against the Yankees by umpires, MLB execs, journalists, or anyone else, it will be first one I’ve ever seen.
  
  *The one exception I can think of when a Yankee and some broadcasters stood up was this past offseason when Cashman and some journalists called the Jeter camp on the absurdity of them basically accusing the team of insulting Jeter with their offer when it was obviously higher than anyone else would ever even consider offering him. (I gather that it was Levine and the Steinbrenners who didn’t have the brains or the spine there and rewarded the bad behavior from Jeter’s camp and again bid against themselves a la the ARod deal. But kudos to Cashman for calling a spade a spade. If only we saw that more often — especially from the Yankee broadcasters and supposed fans like the bloated one.
  - Rookie
    
    I meant broadcaster claiming to be a Yankee fan, not regular fans like us, in the last line of my first paragraph above. I know lots of Yankee fans see Gammons’ bias and hypocrisy for what it is.
- Rookie
  
  What particularly irritated me was when Torre would criticize George, ARod, and the Yankees or otherwise give them red meat quotes that would disadvantage the team and thereby curry favor with the Yankee hating media while his fair haired golden boy would watch his back.
Pat D

I remember when I used to like Peter Gammons. Those were good years.

Wait, that’s when I was in high school. I take it back, those were not good years.
- JohnnyC
  
  The “good” Gammons dates from all those years the Red Sox sucked and were a bad joke. Once 2004 happened, Gammons became emboldened to just be a shill — which is always what he wanted to be anyway. Even in the lean years, he over-hyped Red Sox prospects like Casey Fossum (he actually wrote that Fossum was a hard thrower). Later on, when questioned about that, he qualified it by saying Fossum threw hard for a 150 lb soaking wet left-hander.,
  - Dan
    
    He became a redsox shill once he was voted into the HOF. After that was assurred he became nothing more or less than an open and avid sox fan, a fact that he kept somewhat under wraps for years.He is really worthless now. He cannot write about anyone without a sox reference and he doesn’t get any scoops anymore. I think that all his old time sources are either dead or retired.
Bronx Byte

Leave to the quintessential Boston homer, Old Yellowtooth Gammons to put a Red Sux spin on things when he’s supposed to be neutral working for the MLB Network.
Marcus

Not to mention all of his Beckett ballwashing. I love how that Fangraphs article is out there today showing how, actually, no, Beckett isn’t pitching all that much better this year. Wasn’t that bad last year, isn’t that good this year.

I wonder if Gammons can do some follow up reporting on how much of “joke” the new Yankee ~~homer happy bandbox~~ stadium, since everyone in baseball thought that last year.
- Red Sox Reality Potion
  
  Beckett isn’t better than last year?!?!?!!?! I don’t need to read the Fangraphs article to know that it’s a joke. How many times has he absolutely smoked the Yankees this year after having a 10+ era against them last year? What a joke site this is with idiot posters like Marcus making assinine statements like Beckett is pitching much better this year.
kenthadley

Somebody needs to smack Gammons on the side of the head. Right on the “B” he has tatooed there.
JohnnyC

I miss the remotes from his summer house in Cape Cod. Even Lupica doesn’t get to do remotes from his mansion in New Canaan. Or Steve Berthiaume from whatever hovel that he lives in with his lovely wife, Cindy Brunson.
Big Lou

Peter gammons is a yankee hater and a douchebag. who are these other “teams”??? Of course he leavesthem out. Coward. go yanks BUCK FOSTON.
CMP

Gammons has some brain damage from that aneurysm that almost killed him in 2006.
CP

If this guy is back to where he was five years ago — by far the best college pitcher in the sport — then they really have something.

You mean back when Lincecum was by far the best pitcher in college?
Zack D

Can’t wait til they blame Cashman for ruining miller’s confidence when he can’t throw a strike
a very angry man

gammons should just die already
- Rookie
  
  No, no, no. There’s no place for that kind of hating on this board.
  - JohnnyC
    
    Really? New to the blog perhaps?
Whatever

Gammons had a ruptured brain aneurysm in 2006. Don’t hate him, pity him– he’s senile. Instead, hate the media outlets who still give him play out of nostalgia or sympathy.
- Rookie
  
  I can’t notice a difference before and after. Seriously. It’s not clear to me that he didn’t make a full recovery.
  
  And no matter what I might think of him as a biased journalist, I’m very glad he did.
JohnnyC

He was insuffewrable before the aneurysm.
nathan

I think we need a Gammons free zone on this site. He rehashes most of it anyway.

Are we to presume they run a model franchise over there, please.
Rookie

The only reason not to make any Yankee website a Gammons-free zone is to call on Yankee broadcasters and other journalists to show some integrity and some spine and call Gammons on his bias (for once).
Rookie

The only reason not to make any Yankee website a Gammons-free zone is to call on Yankee broadcasters and other journalists to show some integrity and some guts and call Gammons on his bias (for once).
- Rich
  
  Be fair. Sterling complains about anything anti Yankeees whether it’s real or imagined all the fricken time. Kay tries to appear impartial but his words are often coated with the views of a Yankee fan. Pete Abe, when he worked for LoHud even showed a bias for NY DESPITE being a Mass native and a Sox fan. Every team has reporters and writers who have their favorite teams and teams they don’t like. You also have to cater to your audience. Any broadcaster or writer “calling out” Gammons would be attacking his credibility and therefor be inviting others to do the same to him.
  
  We can deal with it, despite the fact he’s a homer. We know and that’s enough. Remember, this is the Yankees, everyone wants to try and knock the big dog down a peg.
A-Rod’s Wingman

Who gives a shit? Here’s what probably happened: the Red Sox knew that the Yankees and several other teams would be more than willing to give Miller a shot as a lefty in the pen so they manipulated the media to put pressure on them, and Miller not to sign him/opt out. They’re great at manipulating the media when it’s ton their advantage, just look at how they treated every star that eventually signed elsewhere.

Who cares? If this stops the Yankees from signing Miller as an upgrade over Boone Logan then, yeah I’ll be pissed. Otherwise fuck it, Gammons is a hack that got extremely lucky and lived an awesome life that we’d all kill for. Fuck it, so have tons of other dudes…hell, Orlando Bloom got to have a kid with Miranda Kerr.
Wil Nieves Number 1 Fan

Peter Gammons — that’s the punchline.
Mike

Smart move on Cashman’s part. Any chance you get on depleting the Red Sox of pitching help you do it. With Colon’s injury any pitching is useful.