On the Yankees' Walkoff Win, "Glee," "Dancing With the Stars," and the Mets

I was watching last night's Yankee game until 9 p.m., when I switched over to the season finale of "Glee." Hey, don't judge. I don't like to watch season finales on DVR or tape delay, because I know that even if I wait an hour to watch it, I'll come across somebody talking about the show in question on Twitter or Facebook or online, I'll get ticked off that the show was spoiled, and it will ruin my enjoyment. So I'd rather prevent the aggravation and watch it live.

Anyhow, because of that, I missed watching the end of the Yankees' exciting walkoff win live, although I did catch it later, after watching the season finale of "Dancing With the Stars." I was happy to see Hines Ward, who I have rooted for all season, take the mirror ball trophy home! I still want to see a baseball star on DWTS one day, though.

It was good to see the Yankees have an old-fashioned rally, and they looked about as happy as I've seen the team all year!

In other news, there's word that Rafael Soriano is going to visit Dr. Andrews, which is never a good thing. Brian Cashman looks vindicated on that signing, that's for sure!

* * *

As for the Mets' mess, there have been some really good articles written criticizing Fred Wilpon. In his piece "Choose the Mets," my friend Mark Healey suggests not putting any money into the Mets' coffers until Wilpon is gone. Ian O'Connor has an angry column which asks that Bud Selig take over the team. "Enough is enough is enough," O'Connor sez. "If wresting the Mets from Wilpon isn't in the best interests of baseball, what the hell is?"

And Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post wonders when the fans will get an apology from Wilpon:

When Wilpon described the Mets as, um, “sh***y,” what he did was admit what we’ve long suspected: that he plays his own fans for suckers, chumps, rubes, that he believes they drive to work on the same turnip truck he so vehemently wants us to believe he rides in on (or else how could poor Fred — a good man — have been so relentlessly duped by so many.

Wilpon may believe he is, in the words of that New Yorker piece, "snakebitten," but I think it's interesting how many times a supposedly smart and good man has been "fooled" so many times. Aside from the Madoff issue, and having Kirk Radomski as a clubhouse staffer back in the day, there's the whole Charlie Samuels scandal.

Samuels, who worked for the Mets for 30 years, and was their longtime clubhouse manager, not only was a clubhouse snitch for ownership, but he was involved with illegal gambling (the second Mets employee to be busted for such a thing). And he also was recently charged with swiping $2.3 million in stolen Mets autographed memorabilia from the clubhouse and storing them elsewhere to sell. According to a news story about the theft, the items recovered included "507 signed and unsigned jerseys, 304 hats, 828 bats, 22 batting helmets and 10 equipment bags." And nobody noticed a thing? Are you kidding me?

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Subway Series: Yankees Win First Go-Round Against Mets; Fred Wilpon Flaps His Gums

Sweet! Not only did the Yankees beat the Mets two games to one this weekend, but I woke up to the news that Mets owner Fred Wilpon has made Hank Steinbrenner look like Silent Cal Coolidge. The New York Times reports that this week's New Yorker has an interview with Frugal Freddy. In the piece, Wilpon criticizes his own players, including Jose Reyes, David Wright, and Carlos Beltran. Wilpon even does the "Beltran standing like a statue" bit I have been mocking Squawker Jon with for years.

Before I get to yakking about Sunday, I just want to point out some of the gems Wilpon unleashed on Jeffrey Toobin when they watched a game together last month. Wilpon's so-over-the-top insulting, he makes Brian Cashman's offseason quotes look subdued. A few examples:

* David Wright: "A really good kid. A very good player. Not a superstar."

* Carlos Beltran: "'We had some dummy in New York, Wilpon says, referring to himself, “who paid him based on that one series. He’s 65 to 70 percent of what he was." He later mocks the Beltran called third strike in the 2006 NLCS with a pantomine of it.

* Jose Reyes:  "He thinks he’s going to get Carl Crawford money. He’s had everything wrong with him. He won’t get it."

The Times' Tyler Kepner, who wrote the story about the New Yorker profile, thinks this piece is a good thing for Wilpon, saying:

"Such insights may bother the players, who will surely be asked about them before their next game on Tuesday in Chicago. But they humanize Wilpon, and for him, that is something. For fans, winning owners are easily the best kind. But owners who empathize with their feelings probably come in second."

Oh, please. At the risk of speaking out of turn as a Yankee fan, I think the only thing Fred Wilpon could do at this point to please Mets fans is to sell the whole team. As our blogging friend Metsradamus sez, "This is the family atmosphere that Tom Glavine once bragged about?  The Gosselins had less dysfunction." True.

I doubt any fan is going to say "Fred's one of us" after reading that story. He or she, in my view, is more likely thinking that Fred is trashing his own stars' abilities in order to have reasons to get rid of them. And it's not like these players are at the end of their careers, but demanding huge paydays from the Mets (like a certain Yankee shortstop) that he's objecting to. No, Wilpon just wants to not have to pay anybody.

* * *



As for the Yankees, that was a nice little home-run free rally Sunday, eh? Eight runs in one inning, and none of them homers! Squawker Jon did totally call it -- he was telling me that the wheels were about to come off with Mike Pelfrey, and thought that Terry Collins should have removed him earlier than he did.

One thing Joe Girardi did that made me second-guess him was batting Jorge Posada sixth. Yes, that's the perfect place for .183 hitters who haven't even hit a home run in a month. Good grief.

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Subway Series: Mets Win; Yankee Fans Grumble

Squawker Jon was doing the Snoopy Dance over last night's Mets' 2-1 victory over the Yankees. The YES Network's Jack Curry compared the win to a 15 seed knocking off a 2 seed. And to top it off, as a Red Sox fan friend pointed out, Boston now has a better record than the Yankees, so if the world ends at 6 p.m. tonight, the Sox will have one-upped New York for all eternity this year. Oh, great.

But hey, as Squawker Jon always tells me when I grumble over something, look on the bright side. Soon, Jose Reyes will be making those sparkling, game-saving plays in pinstripes, right?  Dare to dream!

Like I noted yesterday, if the Mets somehow sweep this series, they will have a better record than the Yankees this season. Squawker Jon will be putting on his dancing shoes again if that happens!

* * * 

Joe Girardi was asked this by the New York Post's Kevin Kernan after last night's loss:

When Girardi was asked if he had any thoughts about shaking up his lineup, he offered this with a smile: "The last time I did something, everyone was in an uproar."

 Well, one guy was. That was the move that sent Posada to the nine-spot.

That's wonderful. Joe finally does what needed to be done, in moving the .165 hitter to the nine spot, and now he's so gun-shy by Posada's hissy fit, he's keeping back at seventh, due to worries that Posada will have another sit-down strike. Meanwhile, Brett Gardner, who is hitting .345 in May, is also hitting ninth. How does that work?

Not to mention that reports of Derek Jeter getting out of his year-long funk were greatly exaggerated. He has the worst OPS on the team, and the second-worst on-base percentage, which is kind of not what you want your leadoff hitter to do.

Yes, yes, I know the Yankees hit the Orioles pretty good last night. But they are 6-0 against that team this year, and pretty much destroy them year after year. On the other hand, the Yanks are 1-5 against Boston, 3-4 against Detroit, 2-2 against the White Sox, and 1-2 against Kansas City. The Bombers need to start stepping it up, and soon.

* * *

I watched some of the SNY broadcast to see how the other half lives. They noted that Freddy Garcia, who pitched very well last night, has the nickname "The Chief," due to his resemblance to the character in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." I see him as more of The Rock, but that's me.

Then, I polled Facebook friends as to who which celebrity Russell Martin looks like. People came up with Rick Shroeder, Jon Favreau, and David Denman (Roy from "The Office")!

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Subway Series: Mets' Pitcher Pedro Beato Sez "I Hate the Yankees"

I was on the phone today with Squawker Jon, when I asked him if he had heard the news about Pedro Beato. "What, is he injured again?" Jon groaned. Then Jon corrected me on the pronunciation of the Mets' pitcher's name (I was saying it as Beat-o!)

Anyhow, I told Jon the news: Beato is causing a hubbub today over him telling Bergen Record writer Steve Popper that he hates the Yankees. Here's the direct quote:

"I hate the Yankees," said reliever Pedro Beato, speaking as a native New Yorker, not out of any actual animosity for the crosstown rivals. "My family – I can tell there are no Yankees fans.

"I think I know more than those guys, not the older guys obviously because they’ve been in this situation. I’ve been to games. I know how crazy the fans can be. As a player you shouldn’t let that get to you. I know it doesn’t get to me. I’d rather play in these situations than play in a game where there’s not that many fans. That’s the whole excitement of the game, how the fans get into the game, how they cheer their team, the loudness and craziness of the crowd."

I just looked to see if Beato took this back, saying how much he respects the Yankees, blah blah blah, and that he was quoted out of context, but it looks like he's sticking with what he said. And even though I don't agree with the sentiment, good for him. It gives people something to talk -- or squawk -- about besides griping about how the Subway Series doesn't mean as much as it used to. And he kind of had a backhanded slap at Mets fans, talking about playing in games where there aren't many fans. You know, kind of like what happens at Citi Field every night!

But guess what? The Mets are not quite as pathetic this year as we Yankee fans seem to think they are. The Yankees' record is 23-19, and they are one game out of first place. The Mets are 21-22, and five games out of first. If the Mets swept the Yankees this weekend, they would actually have better record than the Bombers. Imagine that!

But I don't think that will happen --  I say the Yankees will win two out of three. I am not sure who will win which game, though! Don't want to jinx any of the games!

Jon and I were talking about which members of the other team we like. Jon says his favorite Yankees are Mariano Rivera and Pedro Feliciano (I'm appreciative of the first one, and snickereing about the second one!) As for myself, I like Ike (Davis), R.A. Dickey, and Carlos Beltran -- I think Beltran gets a bum rap, the way A-Rod did. But it's a little bittersweet this year, with me having to cope with the loss of Luis Castillo, who had the best play ever in a Subway Series! Fortunately, Mike Vaccaro wrote a great article today recapping the Castillo game. Check it out!

Who is your favorite or least favorite Met or Yankee? Tell us about it!

Listen to Me on the Radio This Morning

I am going to be on the radio at 10:30 a.m. today, squawking about the Yankees. You can hear me talking to host Mike Lindsley on Syracuse's The Score 1260 AM. You can click here to listen live online. Mike is now a weekday host from 12-2 p.m. on the station. Congrats, Mike!

What do you think? Tell us about it!

On Philip Humber, Phil Hughes, Breaking Up No-Hitters, and Booing After a Missed Pop-Up

Last night, when Chicago White Sox pitcher Phil Humber was in the seventh inning of a no-hit game against the Yankees, I tried to jinx him on Facebook by talking about it. And within 20 seconds (I am not kidding!), Alex Rodriguez got a hit to break up the no-hitter. It was the highlight of the evening for me! (Oh, and by the way, a friend pointed out that if Humber had succeeded in throwing a no-hitter, he would have been the seventh ex-Met to do so, with the Mets still never having a no-hitter of their own. I loved telling Squawker Jon that!)

Now, the not-so-fun stuff. After a setback Monday, Phil Hughes has a date with an MRI tube today. I don't understand why the Yankees have been so reticent about having Hughes checked out earlier. I wrote on April 9, after his second start, that he should get a medical exam. It's now April 26, and he's finally going to be checked out, weeks after being put on the disabled list. What was the holdup? Did the Yankees had to get a referral from their HMO or something?

I felt terrible for A.J. Burnett -- we had the Great A.J. last night, but the Yankees couldn't get any runs to help him.

There was something very weird that happened in the ninth inning, when Rafael Soriano was on the mound, that I thought would be a pretty big story. But I only saw it mentioned in a Wally Matthews ESPN blog entry, and at the end of a Star-Ledger game article. Alexi Ramirez hit a popup in the ninth inning. Soriano pointed and motioned, as if to say that he couldn't get it. Derek Jeter came charging in, but he wasn't quick enough catch the ball, which dropped to the ground.

And then the crowd booed. Yes, Yankee fans were booing! Now, it was unclear whether the fans were booing Jeter, or Soriano, or both, but Twitter and Facebook were all a-flutter last night over the incident. (Unless I missed it, the YES Network, of course, didn't get into discussing the booing, and didn't show the clip again in the postgame wrapup.) At any rate, I thought this would be a much bigger controversy, but it's downplayed in today's papers. Very strange.

What do you think? Tell us about it!

John Mara sez the Giants aren't the Yankees

Between the holidays, the snow, and the lack of much of happening in Yankeeland this days, I haven't had much to squawk about as of late. Until now, that is. (Actually, I did have plenty to squawk about in general, like how Mayor Bloomberg treats the outer boroughs like something stuck at the bottom of his shoe, and how most Staten Island streets were completely impassable at the same time he's telling people to go see Broadway shows. But I digress. It's not really sports-related!)

Anyhow, Squawker Jon's Jets are in the playoffs (although Rex Ryan's wife foot fetish video creeped me out), but the Giants aren't. Despite that, Big Blue co-owner John Mara inexplicably decided to keep coach Tom Coughlin after yet another late-season collapse. And in doing so, Mara kind of dissed the New York Yankees. He told the media this, after the Giants didn't make the playoffs:

"In this society everybody wants to fire the coach all the time," Mara said. "The Yankees get knocked off in the playoffs, everybody wants to fire the manager. We don't do that here. He's going to be our coach."

Puh-lease. The managerial revolving door in Yankeeland ended a long time ago. The Yankees have had all of three managers in 20 years, one of whom wasn't quite the right fit for getting the team the ring, one who got them that ring (and three more) but stayed on three years too long, and another got them a ring, but who should lose his job next year if the Yankees have another disappointing playoff round.

At any rate, in the case of Joe Torre, the Yanks made the mistake of keeping him on too long for precisely the same reason Coughlin gets to keep his job -- because he got the team a championship (four, in Torre's case, as opposed to Coughlin's one.) That's not a good thing.

Wally Matthews had an interesting take on this for ESPN New York, saying that the Giants should be like the Yankees in demanding excellence: 

The Giants are not the Yankees? Well, why not? And since when was being like the Yankees such a bad thing, anyway?


The Giants should be more like the Yankees. So should the Mets, Jets, Knicks and Rangers. Winning should be the focus for all of them, and the pressure to perform should be on everyone on all their payrolls, all the time.

But Tom Coughlin is coming back. As a lifelong Giants fan, I am outraged. And I think you should be, too.

I agree with that in general, although I don't think the Yanks kept to that in Torre's case, until three years of first-round playoff exits forced their hand.

Anyhow, Matthews continued the argument, saying:

But if you took the entire Giants 2010 season from beginning to end, from its shaky 1-2 start to its high point, the 41-7 win over the Seahawks on Nov. 7 that had a lot of people believing the Giants were among the best teams in football, to their shameful collapse over the final month of the season, and changed the name "Giants" to "Yankees," and the name "Coughlin" to "Girardi," how do you think the story would have ended?

That part is true. But I would argue that if you change Girardi's name to Torre's there, the media would still say he deserved to keep his job. That Giants loss to the Eagles a few weeks ago, was as big a regular-season collapse (letting Philadelphia score 28 unanswered points in the final eight minutes of the game) as the 2004 ALCS defeat was in the playoffs. And it wasn't the first time the Giants choked, or looked sloppy, or lost a game they should have won. It begs the question, how long does the coach get a pass because of the ring?

Joe Torre was never able to win a single playoff series after the 2004 collapse. All keeping him on did was prolong the inevitable. As I think keeping Coughlin will. And now there's talk of a contract extension? Good grief. What, Jeff Fisher (another overrated coach) wasn't available?

I mostly agree with Matthews' general take on Coughlin, although I give the coach more credit for the Super Bowl victory than Matthews does. The columnist slammed him the hardest for the way Coughlin screamed at rookie punter Matt Dodge after the Eagles debacle:

Aside from being utterly unprofessional, it was the ultimate CYA move, a gesture designed solely to let everyone in the place know that it wasn't Tom Coughlin's fault, it was the kid punter's.


Can you imagine Joe Girardi doing that on the field to a player who missed a sign or made an error that cost the Yankees a game?

No, but I can imagine a certain untouchable Yankee manager scapegoating his superstar by batting him eighth!

At any rate, the lesson Mara ought to learn is that sometimes -- like in doing what's best for your team -- it's good to be like the Yankees. But make that the Yankees after the 1995 and 2007 seasons, not the Yankees after the 2004 season! Sometimes, stability for the sake of stability will continue to bring you futility.

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Merry Christmas, but I don't want to see Manny Ramirez under the Yankee tree

Squawker Jon and I would like wish all our Subway Squawkers readers a very merry Christmas, or whatever holiday you're celebrating this year.

This is our fifth season of writing this blog, and we're happy that we've had this opportunity to squawk about our teams -- and about each other. We also really appreciate that we've gotten to know our readers a little better, via Facebook, Twitter, and real-life meetings. Thanks for reading us!

Anyhow, I went to church for Christmas Eve, and they had a Las Posadas ceremony as part of the service. But there was no mention of Jorge!

Now, I did get the Bruce Springsteen box set The Promise: The Darkness On The Edge Of Town Story under my Christmas tree. But I don't want to see Manny Ramirez under the Yankee tree!

There have been rumors flying about that the Yankees are targeting him and Johnny Damon. I wanted Manny as a Yankee after the phenomenal end to his 2008 season, and I of course wanted Damon back last season. This year, not so much.

Sure, Ramirez might be the all-time Yankee killer with the bat, and Damon is one of my favorite Yankee players, but neither of them really fit on this team right now, in no small part due to Jorge Posada being paid $13 million for 2011 to be the DH.

I can't see Damon being happy to be a part-time player. And Manny hasn't been the same hitter ever since The Man took away his right to take fertility drugs! Besides, I think the Yanks have enough superstars on the decline right now. They don't need another one.
Anyhow, I told Jon that Posada ought to send a big Christmas card to Omar Minaya -- their meal at the Four Seasons when the catcher was a free agent got Posada a fourth year!

Anyhow, thanks again for reading us. If you got any cool Yankees- or Mets-related loot under the tree, let us know!

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Looking back at Brian Cashman's offseason moves

It's December 18. Exactly two years ago today, CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett spoke at a press conference introducing them as Yankees. A few days later, word leaked out that Brian Cashman had swooped in and snatched Mark Teixeira from under the Red Sox's Christmas tree. That offseason, combined with the Yanks trading for Nick Swisher, turned out to be Brian Cashman's finest hour. He spent around $425 million that winter, but that spending was well worth it. It helped get the Yankees their 27th title.

At the time, I was excited about CC and Tex, but I thought Cashman spending $82+ million on A.J. Burnett was outrageous. However, I was wrong about Burnett, at least for 2009 -- he was a critical part of the World Series Championship team. 2010, not so much, though!

Last season was mostly a disaster for Cashman. The Javier Vazquez and Nick Johnson moves were baffling at the time (I griped loudly against both of the moves.) They made even less sense as the year went on. Vazquez made $11.5 million, and had a negative WAR value in 2010 (-0.2 according to Fangraphs, 0.0 according to Baseball-Reference.) Not exactly good bang for your buck. About the only positive thing that can be said about that trade was that Boone Logan, who was part of the Vazquez deal, turned out to be fairly decent as a reliever.

And remember how Cash said that if Nick Johnson were healthy, he'd be a $15 million a year player? Well, Johnson had all of 98 plate appearances last year, and made $5.5 million. That works out to around $56,122 a plate appearance.

To put those numbers in perspective, Alex Rodriguez made $33,000,000 last year, and had 595 plate appearances. That works out to $55,462 a plate appearance. So, yes, Nick Johnson actually made more per plate appearance than any of the team's regulars, including the guy with the biggest contract in baseball history! For A-Rod's salary, he still hit 30 home runs and came in second in the league in RBIs, even though he missed 25 games. Johnson, as DH, had all of 12 hits, 8 RBI, and 24 walks.


Curtis Granderson turned out to be a very good player in the last two months of the year, and was one of the few players to hit in the playoffs, but Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski, as usual, got way too much out of Cashman for him.

As for this year, I can't say I'm very impressed with Cashman's moves so far this winter, other than that I think he was completely in the right on the Derek Jeter issue, and that it was time for Jorge Posada to be a full-time DH. But the Yanks need to do more than to re-sign their veterans (and, for that matter, Andy Pettitte is still not back in the fold) in order to win the division.

The Red Sox won 89 games last season, during a bridge year, with a slew of critical injuries. Now they've reloaded the team with Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford, and even added another bullpen arm with Bobby Jenks. Given that, the Yanks can't afford to stand pat and say, "Hey, we won 95 games last year."

The minor moves Cashman has made so far --  Russell Martin, Mark Prior, and Pedro Feliciano  -- don't exactly compete with that. Prior is a project. The fact that Martin, who had hip issues, just needed to get his meniscus repaired, is a little disconcerting. And Feliciano was very good with the Mets, but Jerry Manuel overworked Perpetual Pedro a lot over the years.

Cashman's Plan A -- signing Cliff Lee -- didn't work out. Maybe he has some great Plan B in the works that's going to knock everybody's socks off. I hope that's the case. But so far, Cashman's offseason this year is not exactly going swimmingly, the way it was two years ago at this time.


What do you think? Tell us about it!

Yankees on Cliff Lee rejection: There must be a pony in here somewhere!

There is no way to spin Cliff Lee rejecting the Yankees to sign with the Phillies for less money as anything short of a debacle. But some sources in the Yankees' front office are trying to find a pony in here somewhere.

In an attempt to spinning this rejection as no big deal, here's what two anonymous sources in Yankeeland told ESPN's Wally Matthews:

But it was clear in talking to Yankees insiders that the organization was neither surprised nor particularly disturbed by Lee's choice. In fact, there was a sense of relief that Lee was out of the American League and, with the Yankees and Phillies not scheduled to play during the regular season, could not torment them again until the World Series.


"Maybe this is all for the better," one of the sources said. "Do you really want to give a seven-year deal to a guy who doesn't want to be here?".... 

Whoop-de-do. Is that all you got? Puh-lease.

First of all, if I could figure out in October that the Yankees' chances of signing Lee were slim, then why couldn't the brainiacs in their front office?  Contrary to them claiming now they weren't surprised by this, the fact remains that they put all their eggs in the Cliff Lee basket, now the eggs look like a steamroller ran the basket over, and they're acting like it just gives them more material for omelets? Leggo my eggo!

Second, what is the Plan B here? It could have been signing Carl Crawford and trading a current outfielder for a pitcher, but that ship has sailed. Who's going to be starting for the Yankees -- Sergio Mitre? Carl Pavano?

And both used the same word -- "celebrate" -- to describe the rarity of an athlete opting for less money in favor of playing for a particular team.


"Obviously he wasn't all about the money, which is refreshing," said one of the sources. "He left a lot of it on the table."


"I think we should celebrate the fact that a guy took less money to go to a place he loves," the other said. "I honestly don't think he or his wife were afraid of New York, just that they enjoyed their experience in Philadelphia to such an extent that they would rather go there for a lot less money."

There must be a pony in here somewhere! Hey, let's "celebrate" Cliff Lee taking less money to go to the Phillies. Break out the champagne! Wheeeeeee!!

Are you kidding me? This attempt at damage control is pathetic.

And nobody said that Cliff and Kristen Lee "were afraid of New York;" instead, they were reportedly ticked off at the unruly fans. Big difference.

Besides, what is "refreshing" from the Yankee perspective about Lee taking less money to play elsewhere? That he hates the Yankees so much, not even the lure of filthy lucre couldn't convince him to come to the Bronx? And they're acting like this is a good thing?

Squawker Jon says that Yankees "refreshing" comment is one of the most hypocritical things he has ever heard. I can't disagree.

The reality is that unless Brian Cashman has some secret rabbit he's going to pull out of  his elf hat, the Yankees have completely wasted the offseason so far on the Lee pursuit. And no matter how much the Yanks try to spin, spin, spin, there is no pony in here anywhere!

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Cliff Lee takes his talents to South Street, rejects Yankees and Rangers

It was a good day yesterday. Brett Favre's streak was over, which put joy in my heart. And I was sound asleep last night, dreaming peacefully, when Squawker Jon called me and woke me out of my slumber to deliver the big news -- that Cliff Lee had signed with the Phillies. I went all, "Whaaaattttt!!!!"

I'm not shocked in the least that Cliff Lee is not a Yanks. I've been skeptical all along that he would sign with the Bombers, thanks in no small part due to his wife. And while pretty much everybody in the media assumed for most of the winter that the Yankees would win the race due to money, I didn't buy that, either. Squawker Jon and I spent a lot of time arguing about this, as I wrote this weekend:

As I have written before, I have been very skeptical that the Yankees would sign Cliff Lee. Squawker Jon and I have been arguing about this offline for the last two months. He figures the Yankees always get what they want. I contend that if anybody might turn down the Yankees' money, it's Lee.

What does shock me is that Lee is taking his talents to South Street, instead of staying in Texas. But hey, look on the bright side, Yankee fans: As one of my brothers reminded me this morning, at least we'll have Derek Jeter at the top of the lineup and at shortstop again for the next four years!

I heard the talk yesterday of the Phillies being the mystery team, but I decided not to put much stock into those rumors after somebody on Twitter named IncarceratedBob said wrongly on Saturday that Lee signed with the Rangers (I was going to wait for what Red from Shawshank had to say!)

The biggest loser here has to be Brian Cashman. Squawker Jon says all Cash is capable of doing as a GM is writing a check, but he wasn't even able to do that effectively this time around, given that Lee is taking less money and years from the Phillies.

Aside from the fact that the Yanks had to spend a month kissing Derek Jeter's tuchis instead of negotiated with Lee, I found nothing cute or charming about Cashman spending the weekend before the winter meetings dressed like an elf, and rappelling down a building.

George Steinbrenner's name gets used a lot these days -- What Would George Do? seems to be a big mantra in the fan base. And I'm not going to claim that if The Boss were alive that Lee would be a Yankee; after all, John Smoltz turned down Steinbrenner and the Yankees after the 1996 World Series. That being said, as I wrote earlier in the month, Steinbrenner would never have allowed Cashman to have spent critical hot stove time dressed as an elf.

It showed exactly how much esteem Lee had for the Yankees when he personally called Jon Daniels, the Rangers GM, to say he was signing with Philly, while Cashman only got a call from Lee's agent.

I hope Cashman came up with a Plan B when he was hanging off the side of that building, but I'm doubtful. And I certainly hope that his offseason plans don't again involve giving failed Yankees a second chance, like the No. 2 free agent pitcher out there, Carl Pavano!

There has been a lot of talk since last night about how Cashman failed in not including either Eduardo Nunez and Ivan Nova in that possible trade for Lee. Could the Yankees have gotten to the World Series with Lee? Yes, but given that it turns out that CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte were both injured, I don't know if they would have been able to beat the Giants. At any rate, Lee might very well have stiffed the Yankees again this winter, leaving them without Jesus Montero as well as the other prospects in the deal.

One other thing -- I've admired the Philadelphia Phillies for being the NL's version of the Yankees, but now they've gone too far. Break up the Phillies!

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Shocker: Filip Bondy responds to my screed about his column

I wrote Saturday about New York Daily News columnist Filip Bondy's inexplicable and, yes, clueless, omission of Zack Greinke's battles with Social Anxiety Disorder in his article exhorting the Yankees to trade for the Kansas City pitcher. I couldn't understand why he would leave that issue out, so I wondered, "Guess Filip was too busy watching soccer or figure skating to pay attention to baseball."

Whenever I write a column criticizing anybody, I always figure in the back of my mind that there's always the chance that the person I criticized might actually write back. It hasn't happened often (although I was hoping in the back of my mind that Derek Jeter would go off on me in his presser last week and make me famous!). But it did in the columnist's case! Bondy wrote me a response in the comments section of Subway Squawkers:
 
Here's the comment:

filipbondy said...


Well, here's the thing, Lisa. I wish I could cover more figure skating, but the fact is I'm lucky if I get to write more than two columns on the subject per year.


Who do you like at the U.S. championships, BTW? Rachael Flatt didn't do so hot in Beijing, as you know.


As for Greinke... You get the side out in order at the All-Star Game, strike out two, I think that's handling pressure.


Cheers, filip

I have to tip my cap to Bondy for writing pretty much a letter-perfect response. It's got humor, self-deprecation, and even a point behind it. While I still stand by my own points -- that Bondy should have mentioned Greinke's battles with depression when talking about trading for him, and that Greinke's personal issues are a concern when it comes to trading for him -- I do appreciate that he took the time to respond to me. I was speechless (a rare thing, I know!) when I read his response.

I can't say I'm paying much attention to figure skating, though. This is Subway Squawkers, not Subway Skaters!

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Five reasons why Cliff Lee will not be a Yankee

As I have written before, I have been very skeptical that the Yankees would sign Cliff Lee. Squawker Jon and I have been arguing about this offline for the last two months. He figures the Yankees always get what they want. I contend that if anybody might turn down the Yankees' money, it's Lee.

Here's why I think Lee will stay with the Texas Rangers:

* Just as good a chance to win there as with the Yankees: Heresy, I know. I've heard a lot of Yankee fans say that Lee would have a better chance of winning with the Yanks as opposed to the Rangers. Never mind that those Rangers beat the Yankees like a rented mule in the ALCS. Sure, Texas faltered in the World Series, but that won't be their last time at the rodeo.

Because of this, Squawker Jon points out that Lee can't even use the standard line most free agents give when coming to the Yankees -- that they've got a better chance to win in the Bronx. It's not really true in Lee's case. Not only did he help get the Rangers to the World Series, but he helped the Phillies get to the World Series as well the year before. He does bring his own star, like Reggie Jackson once did.

* The Rangers don't have to pay as much as the Yankees:  No, Texas doesn't have to go higher than the Yankees' reported seven-year, gazillion dollar offer. They just have to be in the ballpark (no pun intended.) Remember, there is no state income tax in Texas, and no city tax, either. The cost of living, especially housing, is a lot lower there, too. Former Ranger Kenny Rogers offer made the mistake of signing with the Yankees for more money, without figuring that the offer the Rangers gave him was actually better when you factored in taxes and cost of living. The Rangers could offer Lee 20-25% less more money, and still be able to be competitive.

* Lee's a deer hunter: Hear me out on this: Myjah, a Minnesota Twins fan reader, told me last year that Joe Mauer would never be a Yankee because he liked to hunt deer. Myjah's point was that a guy who spent his fall in a deer stand would prefer to stay out of the big city. Myjah wrote, "The Twins will offer him the biggest contract in Twins history. With their new stadium, they can afford Joe. He'll stay in Minnesota by his grandparents (who come to every Twins game) and his deer stand. That's just the type of guy he is."

I pooh-poohed this comment, but Myjah turned out to be correct, when Mauer signed a 10-year extension with the Twins instead of taking his rightful place as the new Yankee catcher!

So what's Lee been doing in his offseason? Deer hunting! Bad omen.

* Kristen Lee: Remember the whole controversy over her saying how terrible the Yankee fans were to her at the ALCS? I don't know what happened during the playoffs, but I do know this -- she will be under a spotlight most new Yankee wives have never had to face if she comes to New York. There will be reporters and paparazzi following her around everywhere to see how she reacts. Is she really going to want to go through that?

Besides, in that same USA Today article where she complained about spitting and spilled beer, she also said that it was great to only be a 40-minute flight away from their Arkansas home. By all accounts, Mrs. Lee is an important factor in Cliff's decision. I would be surprised if she opts for the big city.

* His teammates: Lee has been on four teams in two years. Does he really want to make it five, when he seems to be well-liked in Texas? His teammates, like Ian Kinsler, have been encouraging him to stay. And fellow pitcher C.J. Wilson directed this comment in the Dallas Morning News to Lee: "I'll be your sidekick." If he had only said "I'm your huckleberry," I'll bet Lee would have signed with the Rangers already!


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Filip Bondy cluelessly touts Zack Greinke over Cliff Lee for the Yankees

Daily News columnist Filip Bondy has finally done it. He's written something even more out there than his column claiming that the Yankees would beat the Texas Rangers in the ALCS simply by "throwing their pinstriped uniforms onto the field and reading from a few pages of The Baseball Encyclopedia." (Still waiting for Bondy's mea culpa on that ridiculous article, by the way!)

Today's column shows Bondy's general cluelessness about baseball when it comes to doing anything more strenuous than writing his usual snarky whines. His great idea for the Yankees is that they should forget about Cliff Lee and go after Kansas City hurler Zack Greinke. But Bondy apparently doesn't know -- or chose not to mention -- the fact that the Kansas City pitcher has battled social anxiety disorder.

Bondy writes:

When you look at this thing calmly, without the Sox dangling above, it may turn out that the best thing for the Yanks would be Lee returning to Texas and its friendly tax code. Then the Zack Greinke stakes can begin in earnest, and Cashman can finally try to complete a big deal.

Cashman hasn't really done a lot of trading, just patchwork bartering. He didn't trade for Johan Santana, patiently and constructively waiting instead to sign CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett. That worked out fine. Eventually, though, Cashman did dump prospects Austin Jackson and Ian Kennedy in the deal for Curtis Granderson. That trade doesn't look all that great right now, but you know what, that's how it works. Once in a while, a GM must take the sort of chance that can backfire, or make him look like a genius.

Cashman would need to throw some real talent out there in order to get Greinke from the Royals. If he succeeds, however, he would be getting a top pitcher in his prime. Greinke is 27, and has two years left on a reasonable contract at $13.5 million per season. The Yanks would be able to renegotiate and extend it easily enough.....

Two things wrong with this idea:

* It just astonishes me that Bondy would completely leave out Greinke's issues with social anxiety disorder, and whether a pitcher with a history of anxiety and depression could handle the Bronx.

True, there was a recent Yahoo sports report saying that a source close to Greinke claimed the pitcher might waive his limited no-trade clause -- which includes the Yankees -- to play for a winner. And Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal said he's heard that Greinke is ready "to go anywhere." But Bondy doesn't mention any of those things.

Look, I think Greinke winning a Cy Young Award after dealing with social anxiety disorder is really admirable. (Read this Sports Illustrated article to see how far he once fell.) I'm rooting hard for him to succeed in his career and in his life.

But I also know what the media is like in this town, and what some Yankee fans are like (and Bondy should know, too, given how much he's written about the Bleacher Creatures.) Being able to handle New York pressure is kind of important -- look what happened with Ed Whitson and Chuck Knoblauch, just to name two examples.

I remember how Javier Vazquez got booed by Yankee fans this year in the early innings of the very first home game he pitched this year. I know that a certain segment of the fan base considers it a badge of honor to scapegoat their own players, and boo them like it's nobody's business. Would Greinke be able to handle that? I dunno, but it's a serious thing worth discussing before the Yankees try to trade for him. Yet Bondy apparently isn't even aware that it's an issue!

* As we've seen over and over, Cashman is rarely able to make good trades (Nick Swisher for Wilson Betemit was the best one in recent years. but it was also a White Sox salary dump/player dump.) Invariably, the other team's GM holds up Cash for more than the player is worth, just because they're the Yankees. Remember how much Minnesota wanted from the Yankees for Johan Santana, and how little the Mets got him for? Remember how Cashman thought he had a deal for Cliff Lee this summer, only to have the Seattle Mariners turn around and demand more at the last minute? That's why the Yankees end up doing so much on the free agent market; because other teams' asking price is always higher for the Bombers than for anybody else.

Anyhow, I don't think the Yankees will get Cliff Lee (something I will elaborate on further in a column later this morning) but I also don't think getting Zack Greinke is the slam-dunk solution, either, the way Bondy does. Guess Filip was too busy watching soccer or figure skating to pay attention to baseball.

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With Jorge Posada, do the Yankees have a brewing catcher controversy?

I was on Albany's Sound Off With Sinkoff radio show yesterday, and one of the things I told host Brian Sinkoff that I'm worried about regarding the Yankees these days is Jorge Posada's apparent inability to throw out baserunners anymore.

Remember, not only did the Red Sox steal four bases off him in the ninth inning in the last Yankees-Red Sox series at the Stadium, but they also had two double steals off him in the season finale, including the Sox's first steal of home since Jacoby Ellsbury did it against Posada and the Yankees last year.

Anyhow, New York Post columnist Joel Sherman had some interesting stats about Posada today:

The Red Sox failed to make the playoffs, but they do get this concession prize: Their going-away gift for the 2010 campaign was showing the rest of the postseason field how to bedevil their most hated rival:

Run on Jorge Posada and then run some more.

Boston went 18-for-18 stealing bases against Posada this year and 44 out of 61 against every other opponent. The Red Sox all but handed their scouting report to playoff teams late in the year, going 16-for-16 against Posada over five games from Aug. 9 until the final game of the season. In that span, Boston had games of four, five and six steals. Only one other time in the last two years had the Red Sox successfully stolen even four bases against any other team.


Were you watching Minnesota? Did you see how the Red Sox grew more brazen and Posada’s throws even more scattered and unappealing?

An aside -- this is why I find Joel Sherman such a frustrating columnist. He'll do all sorts of whiny, overwrought analysis, then he'll do a great fact-based, original column like this to make you think. These stats are really illuminating, as is the fact that Posada had 72 bases stolen against him this year in 83 games, and only caught 15% of baserunners. That caught-stealing rate is the worst of his career.


Anyhow, it gets worse. Here are some quotes Sherman got yesterday (emphasis added):

But pitching coach Dave Eiland said the flaw was not Posada’s alone, insisting the staff “had a lack of concentration (on the running game) down the stretch. We haven’t paid attention the way we should.” 

Posada went further in assessing blame, saying, “They ran on the pitching. There was not an opportunity to get any of those guys.”

I don't know what's worse -- Eiland blaming this problem on the pitchers not having their head in the game, or Posada throwing his batterymates under the bus like he did, and failing to take any responsibility. Good grief.

Unless Posada was pretending to not throw the Sox out, to make it look like his arm was shot (remember Brian Cashman saying that the Yanks were holding back their big plays), this is really bad news for the Yankees. And Francisco Cervelli hasn't been any great shakes behind the dish this year, either -- he has 13 errors and has only thrown out 14% of baserunners.

It's possible that it is indeed partly the pitchers' fault, which makes one wonder why they don't have their head in the game. But for Posada to refuse to take one bit of blame is a bit much. When the Sox double-steal on you twice in one game, you just might have a little something to do with it.


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Are the 2010 Yankees the new 2006 Tigers?

I've been asked a lot over the past few weeks about who I wanted the Yankees to face in the playoffs -- the Texas Rangers or the Minnesota Twins. My standard answer was that I stopped making such wishes after I wanted the Yanks to face the Detroit Tigers in the 2006 playoffs, and the Bombers got humiliated by the team, especially the hated Kenny Rogers. The series culminated, if you can call it that, with Joe Torre batting A-Rod eighth in Game 4, and Jaret Wright starting, and failing, for the Yanks.

Anyhow, it occurred to me this morning, though, that this year's Yankee team could be the next 2006 tigers. And that might not be such a terrible thing, given the postseason. Look at the stats:

* Both finished 95-67.
* Both were in first place for much of the year, including until the Saturday before the end of the season
* Both should have won the division, but stumbled down the stretch. Both the 2006 Tigers and 2010 Yankees went 12-15 in September. In October, the Tigers went 0-1, while the Yankees went 1-2.
* In the first half of the season, the 2006 Tigers went 59-29, while the Yanks went 56-32. In the second half, the Tigers went 36-38, while the Yankees went 39-35.
 * Curtis Granderson is on both teams.

Yet despite their awful finish, the Tigers still managed to make it to the World Series.The Minnesota Twins, the team that beat out the Tigers for the AL Central title that year, got swept by the Oakland Athletics. And the Tigers, after beating the Yanks, ended up beating Oakland in the ALCS. Granted, the Tigers did lose the World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals, a team that should never have been there in the first place, but beat the Mets in 7 games in the NLCS. (Incidentally, I'm still bitter about Mets players chanting that whole "party in Queens, entierro in the Bronx" thing in 2006, after the Yankees lost. The shoe's on the the other foot this year, guys!)

Anyhow, after this disappointing finish, let's hope that the Yankees treat the 2010 Twins like the 2006 Tigers mauled the Yankees back then.



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The Yankees spent $213 million, and all I got was this lousy AL Wild Card t-shirt

Shortly after the Yankees lost today, I got an email from Yankees.com with the subject line, "2010 AL Wild Card Winners. Get the gear," and pictures of the various merchandise for sale. A Wild Card t-shirt? You gotta be kidding me.As Chris Rock might say, "With a $213 million payroll, you're supposed to make the playoffs! What do you want, a cookie?"

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy the Yankees are playing meaningful games in October. But they should have won the division. And the fact that they didn't, and had to settle for the Wild Card, is disappointing. The Yankees spent $213+ million on payroll this year, and they didn't even win the AL East? In my writing for Heater Magazine, I did correctly pick that the Yankees would win 95 games. But I thought they would win a tight race for the AL East against the Red Sox. So much for that.

Then again, things could be worse than seeing the Red Sox win two out of three against the Yankees, and watching the Yanks miss getting the Wild Card at the hands of their rivals. I could have been a Mets fan, sitting through 14 innings at Citi Field for my team's finale, only to see the game -- and the season -- end this way (Report from CBSSports.com):

"Oliver Perez hit Adam Kennedy with a pitch before walking three batters in a row in the 14th inning, and the Washington Nationals beat the New York Mets 2-1 Sunday to avoid a three-game sweep."

Let's hope Brian Cashman isn't scouting Ollie as Javier Vazquez's replacement next year!

Anyhow, I had a busy weekend, with Yankees-Red Sox watching being just part of what was happening in my life. I went to see Malcolm Gladwell interview Bill Simmons as part of the New Yorker Festival (more on that in a future post.) I also walked my first-ever 5K race today. (I was very excited to walk 3.1 miles in under 44 minutes, until I saw that a runner on crutches did the same race in 28+ minutes!)

But as busy as I 've been, one thing I won't be doing is buying Wild Card gear. Sheesh.

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Yankees win exciting game, and so do Jets, while Tennessee gets best of Giants

Busy sports day in this Squawker household. First up, I watched my man Vince Young beat the Giants. Yes, I rooted for the Tennessee Titans over the home team. VY is the greatest Texas Longhorn of them all, and my favorite current NFL player, so I chose rooting for his team over Giants. Sorry, Big Blue fans.

There was one point during the game, when the Titans got their last touchdown to make the score 29-10, when Eli Manning had a really pathetic look on his face. It was the Manning Face, as Bill Simmons would say.

After that game, Squawker Jon and I yakked on the phone while we watched the Mets spoil the Phillies chance of clinching at home. We saw when Jimmy Rollins pinch-hit; the ovation for the crowd was so loud, you would have thought Mike Schmidt or something had come back in to play!

Anyhow, on to the Yankees. I'm glad Joe Girardi had Phil Hughes pitch; it was the right thing to do. Enough with this resting everybody for October, when they haven't clinched anything yet. But the first six innings were frustrating, with the Yankees making Dice-K look like unhittable. Fortunately, A-Rod came through in the seventh, hitting his 29th homer of the year, to put the Yankees ahead, 2-1. I like how happy Alex was; his homer felt like it came in a playoff game.

But I am soooooo sick of every time A-Rod comes up big against the Red Sox, some idiot fan acts as if it's the first time it's ever happened. I saw some fan's tweet listed on the YES Network postgame which said something about A-Rod finally getting a clutch hit off the Red Sox. Child, please, as Chad Ochocinco sez. How many times are we going to hear this nonsense? Six of A-Rod's 29 homers this season have come against Boston. He's hit 29 homers against the Sox since becoming a Yankee. They weren't all meaningless stat-padding dingers, you know.

Back to the game. I had a bad feeling that something might happen with Mariano Rivera's second inning. But I certainly wasn't thinking of 2004, like some in the media were. However, I wasn't that worried, even though Mo blew the save, (with a huge assist from Jorge Posada's throwing miscues), because I knew the Yankees had a secret weapon -- Jonathan Papelbon! Is there any Sox fan who had faith he would hold the lead? I haven't met anybody. We were debating on Facebook with Boston fans about who would get the big hit against Paps to win the game. Would it be A-Rod? Or Teixeira?

I also knew the Yanks would get to Papelbon because I called Squawker Jon to tell him to watch A-Rod's at-bat, and he hung up on me!

As it turns out, Papelbon technically didn't get the loss -- Hideki Okajima did. But it was effectively over as soon as Cinco Dopo came into the game. Juan Miranda's walkoff walk made it "Juan in a Million"!

In the meantime, I was flipping back and forth between the Yankees and the Jets games. (Yes, I rooted for the Jets, even thought the Dolphins have Texas Heisman Trophy winner Ricky Williams on their team. Ricky is no VY, though, not after he quit on his team a few years ago to, um, smoke!)

So I missed seeing if Juan Miranda got a pie in the face. Did it happen?


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Squawker Jon brings Yankees luck in Toronto

Squawker Jon is mostly incommunicado these days. He's on a road trip, and his current phone plan has so few minutes that we have to communicate via telepathic beeps and squeaks, the way they did in one of the "Planet of the Apes" sequels. But Jon did manage to get me a message that he was at the Yankees-Blue Jays game last night, as he's in Toronto right now.

Jon got to the game just in time to see the Yankees' three-homer barrage in the fourth inning. Needless to say, he wasn't too pleased to witness this.

And no, Jon did not dress as a fake umpire, as some Toronto fans have been known to do!

Anyhow, I was happy that the Yankees' offense did so much last night. I was also happy to hear that Johnny Damon will not be going to Boston after all. But the best part of last night was knowing that Jon had to sit through watching the Yankees beat up Toronto! Tee-hee!

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Squawker Media Alert: Listen to me in two interviews

Earlier this week, I was interviewed by two different blogs. First up, you can listen to me squawk about the Yankees - and about K-Rod - with Frankie “The Sports Guy” Maniscalco. This interview is at the NYB Blogs site. Frank is a Mets fan, and I gave him a little grief about his team -- and vice versa! 

I also spoke with Joe and Paulie of the Yankee Roll Call site (they've got an awesome "Enemies List" on their site, including the knucklehead who buried David Ortiz's jersey in Yankee Stadium!) We talked about Johnny Damon's return, and assorted other Yankee issues. Go here to listen to or download the interview!

Anyhow, I had a lot of fun squawking with Frankie, Joe, and Paulie about the Yankees. Please check out what we yakked about!