According to the Yanks’ $275-million man, his negotiations with the Bombers are “in the bottom of the fifth.” I have no idea what that means. The starting pitcher is beginning to tire? The bullpen is getting ready? The game is rushing to a conclusion? The two parties are a little bit more than halfway there? Strange metaphor there, Alex.
AFL Review: Juan Miranda
Juan Miranda
Pos: 1B
Bats: Left Throws: Left
Age, DOB: 24, 4/25/1983
AFL Stats: AVG 295 OBP 423 SLG 551 with 5 HR’s and 17 RBI’s
Background:
Juan Miranda played for the Cuban National Team from 2001-04, where he put together a career batting average of .303 with 27 HR’s, 73 BB’s while striking out only 87 times. He was used as an outfielder and first baseman in Cuba but his best tool has always been his ability to hit for power while still showing great plate discipline. He defected from Cuba in 2004, after two prior attempts, and was granted his citizenship in the Dominican Republic in 2005. After defecting, he stood firm on his contract demands and was finally able to come to terms with the Yankees when they announced his signing in December of 2006. He was signed to a four-year major league contract that was reported to be worth just over $2 million. He was immediately added to the 40-man roster and assigned to the Tampa Yankees of the Florida State League (Class A Advanced).
Miranda’s first year in the minors received mixed reviews. He batted .265 with 16 HR’s and 96 RBI’s while splitting the year between Class A Tampa and AA Trenton. The biggest concern was the drop in his batting average and BB/K rate (52/106) but that should be expected from a player that was away from the game for nearly two years. There was also strong speculation that he’s actually two years older than reported, which would make him 26yrs old if his DOB is in fact 4/25/1981, as listed on Rotowire. [Read more…]
Caldera: Mo Accepts
Pete Caldera of the Bergen Record has spoken to a friend of Mo, and he’s going to accept the Yankees offer. This really doesn’t give us more than we already know, but I suppose hearing it from a friend of Mo makes it more official. Sorta. Maybe.
The friend says that he would have taken two years and an option. Way to rub it in, asshole.
Hat tip to Jason.
Hack writer: A-Rod = Bonds
Meet Tim Kawakami, writer for the San Jose Mercury News. He had nothing better to write today, so he compared A-Rod and Bonds.
It was already obvious, but last Thursday sealed the deal. Bonds and Rodriguez are fused in the sports mentality – what you love about one of them, you love about the other; what you hate about one, you hate about the other (aside from the Bonds/Balco mess).
Yeah, because the Bonds/BALCO thing is just a footnote on Bonds’s career. Not like he’s being indicted for it or anything.
The column, as you can probably figure, is an enormous waste of the newspaper’s budget.
Just in case…
The Yanks are looking at Francisco Cordero just in case Rivera doesn’t end up signing a contract. They also want to bring back Luis Vizcaino to fill out their bullpen.
“I have some unfinished business in New York.”
So says Alex Rodriguez. The line strikes me as Eastwood-eque, though I don’t think he’s ever uttered those exact words (minus the “in New York” part) on screen.
Our $275 million dollar man says he’ll reveal all…”when the time is right and I have a proper forum….It’s important for my fans, for the New York Yankee fans, to realize exactly what happened from A to Z.”
Enter $$$andman
Well after all that bitching and moaning negotiating and stalling, The New York Post is reporting that Mariano Rivera will sign that overly generous three-year, $45 million contract. The 38 year old closer was upset that the Yanks wouldn’t give him a fourth year, and he took offense when Hank Steinbrenner noted that pitchers Rivera’s age aren’t the wisest of investments. With this deal, the Yankees will have re-signed all of their own Type A free agents except for Andy Pettitte. These signings do not count against the Yanks’ limit of three Type A free agents as teams are not penalized for keeping their own players.