Where have you gone, Chuck Knoblauch?
By · CommentsOf all the names in the Mitchell Report, two of the bigger stars named have remained fairly silent. Until today, no one had heard neither hide nor hair from Paul LoDuca or Chuck Knoblauch. But that changed when Knoblauch spokes to a Times reporter at his home in Houston.
The interview and Knoblauch’s words are more interesting for what he has to say about baseball than the Mitchell Report. To get the steroids stuff out of the way, Knoblauch, as Thayer Evans relates, called the report “interesting” and “crazy.” That about sums up this whole farce. “I have nothing to defend,” Knoblauch said. “I have nothing to hide at the same time.”
So that’s that. Believe what you want about Knoblauch.
More compelling are the indications that baseball still haunts. Chuck Knoblauch’s story in baseball had a sad ending. An offensive lynch pin on the Yankees for two seasons, he was seemingly destined for 3000 hits when in 2000, his third year in the Bronx but his second with throwing problems, he simply lost it. Suffering a meltdown that Rick Ankiel would imitate in 2001, Knoblauch simply could not throw the ball from second base to first base.
The Yankees tried to keep him around. He tried left field for a bit in 2001 and still managed to rack up 600 plate appearances. But his offensive production that season was abysmal. A 1-for-18 showing in the 2001 World Series punched his ticket out of New York. He would try to latch on with the Royals in 2002 and was out of baseball the following year. A promising career had been derailed by mental demons.
“I’ve got nothing to do with any of that, I mean, any baseball. And I don’t want anything to do with baseball,” he said to Evans.
Knoblauch doesn’t want a job in baseball; he doesn’t want a spot in the Hall of Fame; and as he asked the reporter not to tell anyone where he lives, he doesn’t want to be bothered. It’s sad really to see someone who was among the tops at his position fall so hard and so far so quickly.
BySteve notes that Kevin Kennedy said that a colleague of his told Kennedy that he saw a member of the 2004 Red Sox shooting up with a needle full of performance-enhancing drugs. While that’s a lot of “he saids,” it’s also rather damning. Clearly, the Mitchell Report missed one, two or five hundred players. · (14) ·
What If: Re-imagining the Yankee Dynasty
By · CommentsBefore I begin this exercise in What If? baseball history, let’s just remember that hindsight is always 20/20. When we look back in time and try to evaluate trades that weren’t made, it’s easy to do it sitting here in 2008. The trick is to put our selves in the shoes of those involved in the decision. In this case, that means hoping in a time machine and journeying to July 31, 1998.
It is July 31, 1998, and the Yankees are on a once-in-a-lifetime roll. The Yankees are 76-27 with a 15-game lead over the Red Sox. Since a 1-3 start, the team was a blistering 75-24. That just doesn’t happen.
But despite being prohibitive World Series favorites, the Yankees were always searching for ways to get better, and leading the charge was a rookie. General Manager Brian Cashman was in his first year as Yankee GM, and a series of moves and non-moves, beginning on that fateful night in July — the trade deadline — would impact the Yankees Dynasty up through the present day.
As site commenter Phil reminded us today, the Yankees were in the hunt for Randy Johnson. I had completely forgotten about these behind-the-scenes moves. But as RAB favorite and one-time Yankee beatwriter Buster Olney relates, the Yankees didn’t pull the trigger:
ByThe Yankees signed Jason Lane to a Minor League contract. He’ll probably be invited to Spring Training, and I will probably continue to write cheesy headlines with that play off of his last name. · (7) ·
RoboKen: Yanks in on the Cameron sweepstakes
By · CommentsMike Cameron is 35. He has a career offensive line of .251/.341/.445. He’s currently facing a 25-game suspension for a failed test due to a banned stimulant. And now Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the Yankees may be interested in Cameron.
More from the tireless Rosenthal:
The Yankees are showing serious interest in Cameron, major-league sources say, figuring that they could trade center fielder Melky Cabrera even if they do not send him to the Twins for left-hander Johan Santana.
Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez is a supporter of Cameron’s; the two were teammates with the Mariners in 2000. Cameron also has recent experience playing in New York; he was with the Mets in ’04 and ’05…The Yankees likely would seek prospects for Cabrera, replace him with Cameron in center and keep Johnny Damon in left.
Rosenthal speculates that Damon would play center until Cameron’s suspension. He also feels that the Yanks would sign Cameron to a two-year deal while Austin Jackson matures.
So there’s a lot going on here. First, the Yankees clearly do not view Melky Cabrera as the long-term solution to centerfield. That mantle appears to be Austin Jackson’s. Meanwhile, the Yanks also seem willing to deal Cabrera if the right package comes along.
While we at RAB aren’t the biggest fans of Melky, this is one situation I can’t explain. Cameron at 35 is not an ideal center fielder, and his offensive production is decidedly mediocre and trending downward. Plus, at 35, he isn’t getting younger or better. If the Yanks were intent on trading Melky, they probably should have moved him after 2006 when his stock was higher. Unless he’s part of a package, Cabrera should stay in New York this year.
This is, of course, just a rumor from some “Major League sources,” and we’ll see how it develops. But I don’t like it right now.
Update 1:21 a.m.: After reading over the comments and thinking about this some more, I’m coming around on the idea of getting Cameron if the price is right. He is definitely a bigger offensive threat than Melky and would slot in quite well at the bottom of the Yankee lineup. Also, if the Yanks feel they can spin Melky off to the Pirates for Damaso Marte, I’d probably be down with that. Marte would give the Yankees a great lefty arm out of the pen. Whether the Pirates have any use for Melky, though, is another question all together.
Winter Ball Update
By · CommentsSorry I’ve been MIA, I started a new job this week and couldn’t spend all my time at work searching the far ends of the interweb for minor league goodies. It appears most of the players have gone home to finally get some rest, so this will be the last Winter Ball update of the offseason.
Bobby Abreu: 1 G, 0-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 0 SB, 0 CS
Jon Albaladejo: 27 G (0 GS), 26 IP, 23 H, 10 R, 7 ER, 8 BB, 20 K, 1.80 GB/FB
Wilson Betemit: 12 G, 10 for 35 (.286), 6 R, 0 2B, 0 3B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 7 BB, 14 K, 0 SB, 0 CS
Robbie Cano: 10 G, 14 for 40 (.350), 4 R, 3 2B, 0 2B, 0 HR, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 0 SB, 1 K
Frankie Cervelli: 16 G, 7 for 33 (.212), 2 R, 2 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 10 BB, 11 K, 0 SB, 1 CS
Alberto Gonzalez: 34 G, 43 for 126 (.341), 24 R, 7 2B, 2 3B, 4 HR, 16 RBI, 9 BB, 9 K, 1 SB, 2 CS – small sample size yes, but that’s something very positive he can focus on heading into Spring Training
Edwar Gonzalez: 31 G, 18 for 69 (.261), 5 R, 4 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 1 BB, 17 K, 2 SB, 2 CS
Jesus Montero: 23 G, 29 for 81 (.358), 18 R, 4 2B, 6 HR, 17 RBI, 14 BB, 14 K, 2 SB – Jesus!
Ivan Nova: 1 G (0 GS), 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 0.33 GB/FB
Scott Patterson: 20 G (0 GS), 23.1 IP, 19 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 20 K, 0.59 GB/FB – 100.2 IP, 1.16 ERA, 59 H, 18 BB, 112 K this season
Heath Phillips: 5 G (5 GS), 25.2 IP, 30 H, 15 R, 14 ER, 11 BB, 25 K, 1.83 GB/FB – new kid on the block
Edwar Ramirez: 3 G (0 GS), 2.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 2.00 GB/FB
Edgar Soto: 5 G (0 GS), 3.1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 1 K, 10.00 GB/FB
Marcos Vechionacci: 41 G, 30 for 105 (.286), 13 R, 5 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 14 RBI, 5 BB, 15 K, 1 SB, 0 CS – next year’s put up or shut time for Vech
Jose Veras: 9 G (0 GS), 8.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 13 K, 3.33 GB/FB
Guillermo Villalona-Bryan: 3 G (0 GS), 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 1.00 GB/FB
ByThe article about the Mets I briefly mentioned at the end of this post contains a little tidbit about Melky Cabrera worth examining. The Twins are not impressed with Melky Cabrera and think he would struggle out of the Yankee lineup. As Joe wrote in September and November, we at RAB are not that enthusiastic about Melky’s future either. It took the Twins long enough to make their thoughts on Melky public. · (32) ·
ByFor some reason, the Yanks seem to be interested in Jason Lane as a potential first base solution. Lane, 31, is a career NLer with an offensive line of .241/.314/.457 and one good season under his belt. He’s also played a grand total of four career games at first base. Why bother? · (25) ·
More curses per minute than Goodfellas
By · Comments
ByMore from Hank this morning via The Daily News:
“What it comes down to right now is giving up a lot (in a trade) and then having to do the big contract, as well. If (Santana) was just a free agent, we could just go ahead and do it. There’s a big difference this way. We have to sign him as if he’s a free agent, plus you have to give up major talent. That’s a tall order.”
Sounds like the Yanks are starting to shy away from the Santana trade, and their line of reasoning is exactly the same one we’ve been employing since, oh, November. Maybe Hank wants to buy a t-shirt. also. · (18) ·
