Topic: Yankees Baseball

Bruce4Real wrote: The Sux on the other hand cannot sign Santana; I don't care how close he is to Pappy Ortiz.Ideally they would want Santana for a year at the going price but Santana would veto such a deal.And IF the Sux decide to trade their top prospects and REALLY sign Santana instead of just continue to play spoilers (like I’m certain the case is) then they would have to give Beckett a similar deal because Beckett has been a lights out ACE this season.How do you manage to keep Becket happy when he’s a proven ACE with an incredible presence on the mound and convince him to continue to play for peanuts?  FAT CHANCE.  There is no way in hell the Sux can be serious about paying Santana what he will demand and at the same time parting with those players Minn wants and not doing a similar deal for Beckett.  Guaranteed. Therefore the plan is NO GO from the start.  The Yankees need to remain firm in their belief that Kennedy and Hughes are definitively too much to give for Santana but they have to find a way to make Minn understand that the Sux are just teasing them as they always have done for years. They’ve reached their spending limit, now they have to pay for the not so calculated risk they took going after Matsuzaka and Drew. Yankees on the other hand are a moneymaking machine and we fans make sure that continues to be the case.  Go for the jugular (in private not in public) and let’s get it done once and for all.  Happy Holidays Hank & Co. (take good care of the Boss). We’ll keep the faith at our end.++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

You must remember, the Skanks are the team that has to play catch-up. The "Champs" are in the drivers seat. They are looking down and the Skanks are looking up. The Skanks must, and will overpay for Santana to compete with the "Champs". You put too much stock into your two young question marks, Kennedy and Hughes. They are not proven pitchers as of yet. Be happy if the Twins accept them as part of the deal. The Twins know they have have the Skanks right where they want them. Without Santana Skanks are looking at 3rd place next season. It's great watching the Skanks and their "overpaying" fans squirm!

Before my last post I had been saying that Minn was asking too much for Santana but after realizing that the entire sports world (Hal and Brian exempted) were all in favor of mortgaging the house to sign Santana I jumped on the bandwagon because as almost every tabloid sportswriter says: Santana is a rare true super talent”.

So this time I went out and took a swipe at Hal and therefore at Brian (whom with the exception of what has been done with Wang I have always backed and continue to do so today). Bill Madden brings up a good point (not something new but a fact that we have conveniently forgotten) about most pitchers not living up to their part concerning long term contracts.That was also brought up by some sportswriter from SI a fews weks ago.

A few things rang true about Santana. He has been more durable than other superstars logging a nice number of IP but there is no guaranteed he will continue to do that for the life of the new contract he wants (six to seven years).

He’ll probably be a great contributor for two to three years max and can the Yankees live with that before we start cursing the guy for being another blank (take your pick here from Pavano and Brown to Mussina).

Santana post season record is not the best losing to frigging Zito in 2006 and not doing well at Fenway during the regular season and also losing a few very recent games to the new powerhouse Cleveland. Would he then make that much of a difference at clutch time (tabloids and front runners favorite word)? There’s no guarantee that will happen either.

If such is the case then there shouldn’t be any hurry to sign him. We have demonstrated Foston doesn’t have the budget to sign him. Could we continue to produce fine players and pitchers through the draft as it has been the case (thanks to Brian) in the last two years? Those are question worth being answered soonest.

How long will Santana be effective? And when will he break down (and you know he’s going to break down)?

The fact that he wants (as is his right) a long term commitment makes it more difficult to decide one way or the other. But there is also the issue of the new stadium around the corner and there will be an all-star game played at Yankee stadium this coming season. Lots of minor and not so minor details that go into the equation.

Would signing Santana put a dent on Brian’s plans to remain competitive in the coming years with homegrown talent? That’s probably an equally important factor. Just having the most expensive position player and the most expensive pitcher on the roster should be the last reason behind this trade.

When all those questions and others are answered to satisfaction then and only then a decision should be made.

And keeping up with Foston (a major consideration on the part of the NY tabloids) should be the last of our worries since we can almost be sure Beckett won’t have the same type of year than he did last year, Schilling will be Schilling and Matsuzaka will again be exhausted by September and Oh I almost forgot we’ll be out of the starting gate way ahead of those Foston weary travelers and that’s a fact (and there is nothing they can do about it).

So we know we can compete with Foston regardless of what the haters might say (who listen to them anyway?) with what we have plus a few more signings thank you.

So I stand corrected, Hal is just doing his due diligence. Hank said “have patience” and the true fans will be willing to wait, I’m sure (I know I’m speaking for myself) so let’s do this thing the right way there is no rush. Foston is not going anywhere; like some other posters have stated they didn’t do great after winning their WS Title in 2004 and there is no guarantee they will behave differently next season. They have a few key young players and they may respond the same way again next season but then again THEY MAY NOT.

Goose you seem to be a shoo-in this time. No need to trash your fellow Yankee closers and relievers any more. Your point is well taken.

You did it the right way, on pot and the occasional jumbo super charged espresso hold the cream and lo zucchero.

Tabloids’ sportswriters and real journalists are in the feeding frenzy stage. They’re split right about 97/2 percent in their guess as to who the bigger liar is. The remaining 1 percent is laughing to death.

Some have become overnight experts in body language. Others have exhausted and burned their wireless availability with known Psychiatrists and Psychologists (let’s not forget those wonderful always ready to serve trial attorneys) trying to anticipate Clemens, McNamee or Pettitte next move.

Some say McNamee called “his former friend out of concern for his friend and his own son’s health” others add that Clemens was so low he took advantage of McNamee state of mine to drill his friend by taping the conversation”. Not one, not even the lady sportswriters who usually show more decency and balls than their male counterparts have shown any vestige of humanity and cover the real tragedy in this tale. An innocent child is being affected by this circus like drama and his father is reduced to almost nothing feeling sorry (not for himself or Clemens but for his son) that it ever happened.

Why am I not surprised about this sad fact?

It’s surely not because journalists are known to go to any length to lie about a story in order to steal a Pulitzer Prize from a deserving colleague. Right? 

I still think the Rocket is innocent until proven guilty regardless of what Goose (such a great citizen now) says. But just like the legions of Clemens detractors headed by Lupica and the other six I don’t think that tape was such a great idea and I’m beginning to think that Clemens is as stubborn as they come. It’s time to listen to Mrs. Clemens and it’s time for Mrs. Clemens to set this guy straight: You are on dangerous grounds if you think all these clowns you’ll meet next week are joking. They are such a trip themselves BUT they have the law on their side, they happen to be members of Congress; you don’t want to screw around with them.

Get yourself a fine lawyer but getting a great lawyer is only half the job. The most important part is LISTENNING TO THE ADVICE GIVEN BY YOUR LAWYER. Forget about McNamee. He had to do what he did; he had no choice (on top of being a former cop). Now look out for yourself and again listen to your lawyer.

Your friends may be loyal and love you dearly BUT THEY DON’T KNOW THE LAW. You don’t care about the HOF? Fine screw that BUT no more playing around. LISTEN TO YOUR LAWYER and stop paying attention to McNamee’s lawyers, that’s their job and you’ve done nothing but help their case (in the public arena that is). You don’t come cheap and neither do great lawyers but it’s time to spend some real money and protect yourself this time around in front of this House Committee. You don’t have to smile but leave your game face at home and be humble; this is the time to be a truly civilized citizen. They are probably tickled to meet you in the flesh, don’t give them any reason to feel otherwise.

I was reading that piece about McNamee doing an interview with SI. The part that caught my eye was the fact that McNamee merely nodded to every question by Mitchell. But the other interesting part was that those nods got him a HUG from Mitchell. A hug for telling the truth? Or a hug for allegedly nailing Clemens? This coming from that unbiased patrician would be Supreme Court Justice? I guess working on that Northern Ireland Peace Treaty and dealing with the tough IRA was too much to bear that he needed an emotional rescue provided by McNamee’s mute confession.

Lupica think this for a moment: We all know Pappy fits the profile. I dare you to go to the Dominican Republic and find another guy that looks like Pappy. Nobody is accusing Pappy and neither am I, I’m sure he never touched the stuff but what if McNamee had the goods on Pappy and Mitchell had no choice but to interview McNamee. Do you think Mitchell would have connected with Brian and given him such a warm HUG? Think again.

I should take this opportunity to thank Mitchell for doing such a great job (in Northern Ireland that is) and for not becoming a Supreme Court Justice that fact alone made this great country a better place to live in.

Whatever happened to Girlie Curt? He definitively went silent. He knows he opens his mouth again and he gets a trip to face that House committee again. Thinking about Curt brings to mind the fact that Girlie Curt knew that Clemens was going to be mentioned on that report and he jumped to give the sux fans some advice as to how to handle the results of the report mentioning some big Yankee names, he couldn’t help himself.

That alone wouldn’t have meant anything but then you have this NY tabloid sportswriter talking at length about certain player who came from Foston to the Yankees who was about to be mentioned and “he should start feeling nervous and queasy” about it. If the patrician was so unbiased and professional how in the world did Girlie Curt and the Dwarf got a hold of what was on that report?

Mitchell said he agonized about naming names. Let’s say it again: He agonized about naming names? Does anybody really believe that? And he advised Bud not to take any action against those players. Yet with the exception of one or two NY Times sportswriters nobody dare question that thought process and the way Mitchell went about investigating MLB roids use and abuse at the tune of $20 million (pocket change for a former public servant).

Again, the only winners were the Sux and Theo . . . . Oh and the dwarf.

I'm as big a Yankee fan as any of you guys...two things are certain...if they don't get Santanna they don't make playoffs next year...I WOULD NOT trade for him though..too much to give up...I'm little concerned though that Yanks are content to be 2nd to Sox and thats what they are now...any Yank fan who thinks Bosox aren't better then Yanks on 1/11/08 is crazy

 And anyone who thinks Clemons is not lying is also not paying attention...like Bonds you DO NOT become better as you approach your late 30's and 40's...just as we all believe Bonds cheated...Clemons has to be included in that category...hope he doesn't lie to Congress....he could regret that

Preview of things to come.

MLB wasted $20 to $30 million on that would be investigation of Baseball use of steroids and other substances and yet they have only committed meager $3 million for actual research. Yeah we’re serious about fighting banned and illegal substances in all sports trust us.

With that awesome sum of money we should have Blood, Urine and Saliva tests for HGH and other (designer) drugs by next week.

If I were on that House Committee and I had Bud Selig in front of me I’d just ask a simple question (while striking the table with one of my pedestrian $300 Allen Edmon shoe a-la- Khrushchev):

It’s nice of you guys to have penciled $3 Million for drug research.

IS THIS A FRIGGING JOKE?

Memo to our young guns:

Stuff happens and this won’t be the last delicate situation you’ll encounter in your career (although you’re following this one from afar sort of) so be ready to focus on the game of baseball ONLY and adopt amnesia as one of your best friends. The team comes first and your contributions too. ST is almost upon us and we need to get ready. Most of you guys are locals but we have players from distant time zones like Wang, Matsui and Igawa that will travel many hours just to get here and try to help build another team this year united in the common goal and willingness to give it all for the uniform.

Just make sure you know how to pick out your future friends and acquaintances inside and outside the sport. Look at the Clemens situation as something that could happen to anybody just foolproof yourselves by applying common sense because in most instances common sense will help you direct your steps better than intelligence per se. Trust me on that one.

Enjoy what’s left of the post season and don’t put any extra pressure on yourselves. Life is but a learning process just be true to yourselves and the sport.

Congratulations again to the Goose. A well deserved honor. A closer for the ages. Kudos to you and your free spirit.

Listen to this and tell me your intelligence doesn’t tell you this is a naked insult to all of us:

The committee released data from baseball showing a huge increase last year in the number of players who received powerful, legal stimulant drugs after saying they had attention deficit disorders.

Last year, 103 players received “therapeutic use exemptions” to use drugs like Adderall and Ritalin, compared with 27 players in 2006. The drugs are banned by baseball without a prescription. The players were not identified.

If you have attention deficit disorder you have no business taking someone else’s place in professional baseball. Professionally the sport is not apt for people with such disorder. So who do you think you’re fooling? Why not a step further and try the special Olympic games (with all due respect to the SO participants) Oh the money is not there!!  Silly me I’m just another uneducated fan.