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Joe Girardi press conference

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Girardi and Media Relations guru Jason Zillo

Pictures by Mike, commentary by Joe

As with most managerial interviews, we didn’t learn a whole ton by listening to Girardi. He did seem loose, though, and took the time to elaborate on all answers. Judging from just this interview, I have a hard time believing he’s not good with the media. Joe’s a friendly guy by all appearances, and I hope he takes this into the season with him. Perhaps the media will be a bit easier on him this time around.

Here are some tidbits we picked up:

  • He was very impressed with Ben Sheets after meeting him yesterday. I suppose he’d have to be, considering the Yankees plan to offer him between $26 and $30 million.
  • On CC, he says that the lefty is still trying to figure out the whole situation. Girardi then went on to talk about his own transition to New York after the 1995 season, noting that while he wasn’t getting nearly the money or years offered to Sabathia, he could understand what the free agent is going through.
  • On Andy Pettitte, he said that both parties are interested in bringing him back. But: “There’s a process that has to take place.” Emphasis mine. It seems that line is bandied about frequently regarding Pettitte. Now that we know the team’s offer is $10 million, it seems that “process” means “convincing him to take a paycut.”
  • On the coaching staff: They won’t take long to mesh. He noted that Mick Kelleher has been around Spring Training for a few years, and everyone’s familiar with him. Other than that, the staff remains basically the same, save for a few minor moves.
  • On Hideki Matsui: Girardi sees him as a fourth outfielder as well as DH. I wonder if that changes as they get further into workouts. Clearly, Hideki is more valuable as a full-time DH if that means he can stay healthy. It’s a huge risk if they play him in the outfield with any regularity.

Update by Mike (5:00pm): Forgot to mention this, but Girardi said that Posada’s rehab was going fine. He’s throwing from 60 feet and is on schedule.

Update: Davidoff not out at Newsday

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Since we made something of a mistake on an earlier post, I just wanted to bring a correction to everyone’s attention. Contrary to what the New York Post reported recently, Ken Davidoff will not be losing his job at Newsday. Joe corrected my earlier post, and I’d just like to reiterate that this is good news indeed. Knowing that Davidoff will still be around reporting and blogging for Newsday is comforting indeed. This also goes to show what happens when we break our anti-New York Post pledge. Trust me; that won’t happen again. My apologies to the Newsday crew and our readers for the bad info.

Despite Post report, Davidoff still in at Newsday

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Update by Joe (1:05 p.m. EST): I just talked to someone familiar with Davidoff’s situation (hah! I actually got to type that for once). He is not losing his job. Repeat: Not losing his job. Apparently, his title changed recently, which may have led to the speculation. It’s good to know that Davidoff’s job is safe, though. I was thinking about it this morning, and after considering everyone in the NYC sports media, I’m going to say he’s the best columnist out there. I’m glad he’ll continue to have an outlet for his writing.

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As free agent rumors swirled on Monday, two pillars of the traditional media took a big hit.

The Tribune Company, published of the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune as well as the owners of the Chicago Cubs, filed for bankruptcy protection while The New York Times Co. took out a $225 million home equity loan against its new building. Without that loan, The Times Co., publishers of The New York Times and part-owners of the Red Sox, would be facing a major cash-flow problem.

According to the major players, the Cubs and Red Sox are shielded from the economic downturn, and these moves shouldn’t impact the impending sale of the Cubs to someone who isn’t going to be Mark Cuban. But within the media, these developments were another sign of both economic unrest and deep-rooted problems with the business.

On a more local level, Newsday, a former Tribune holding sold to Cablevision in May, is facing its share of problems too, and this one will have an impact on how we receive some information. According to The Post, the Long Island-based daily will be slashing 100 jobs soon, and among those jobs lost may be Ken Davidoff’s.

With papers looking to save costs, columnists — even the good ones — that focus on national issues and not local teams often get the axe. The Post reports that Davidoff may be offered a lower-paid editorial position with the paper.

Davidoff has long been a well-respected reporter on the New York scene. He writes well; he’s engaging; and he does a great job with his Baseball Insider blog. But that’s why the media world works these days. The best reporters and columnists are the ones that are the highest paid, and they are often the first ones to go. Hopefully, Davidoff will stick around the city. His voice would be missed.

Setting up at the Winter Meetings

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So we’re here, we’re registered, and we’ve feasted on the Bellagio buffet (couldn’t have asked for much more; we had a hard time walking back to our hotel). So while we digest, here are some pictures from the early goings.

Yep, that’s us. For some reason, I had this nagging fear that something would have gotten screwed up and we wouldn’t have gotten these.

The press room. We’re 90 percent certain Jerry Crasnick of ESPN was in there. On our way out, we 100 percent saw Gene Monahan, who was there for the trainers conference.

NERDS!!!!! Seriously, this is one comprehensive stat package. No wOBA, though.

This is the TOC of the cool binder they gave us. Disappointingly, the Rule 5 worksheet lists all teams, not just team which have picks.

This is probably all we’ve got for tonight. Everyone’s getting here and getting settled in, and even then a lot of people are flying in tomorrow morning. Mike and I will have a drink for each of you.

The Greg Maddux press conference is at 11:30 tomorrow, so we’ll be there for that, as will most everyone there I assume. Girardi’s availability is on Tuesday, and we’ll probably pop in for Torre’s on Wednesday.

‘Till then…

Where’s CC?

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You know how yesterday morning I mentioned how it was perfectly normal that we hadn’t heard anything about CC’s response to the Yankees offer? Turns out, we didn’t hear back because the dude was booked solid. And we probably didn’t hear back today because he was freakin’ exhausted.

First, let’s start with Jon Heyman’s guy, who says that Sabathia was “in Las Vegas over the weekend participating in a [golf] and poker tournament for sports stars.” Hey, the guy’s got money to burn. Unfortunately, I was not able to find the results of this tournament. According to this dude, Sabathia is no good at poker.

CC must have been flying this weekend, because Peter Gammons has word that he was in Houston attending a high school football game. Fellow free agents Adam Dunn and Orlando Hudson were also supposedly present, along with “other friends.” I’m guessing these friends who won’t be signing multimillion-dollar contracts this winter.

Kat O’Brien spoke to “someone close to the lefty” and found out that he was at a wedding. I wonder if this wedding was in Houston or Las Vegas. Ken Davidoff says that Sabathia “took the weekend off to chill out with friends and family,” but how mich chillin’ can you do if you’ve always got a flight to catch?

The annual George Steinbrenner watch

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With the off-season upon us, it’s time for the New York media to start their annual George Steinbrenner Health Watch. Ken Davidoff kicks things off with a column about George’s recent appearance with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. King George, says Davidoff, ain’t lookin’ so hot these days. While his family simply says that George is “fine,” the 78-year-old is clearly not in the best of health.