that was my school!

10 days till pitchers and catchers report! In case Snarf and PCG are confused I'm talking about baseball players not gay people so don't get too excited!

saw a buncha shots of the new stadium in-progress today during the nets game on YES network. looks beautiful and cool and all, but... i am still sickened by the thought of a new stadium/location.

Although from what I hear, Snarf and PCG might just be right to join the Red Sox!

Don Zimmer likes Joe Girardi and even goes as far as to say the New York Yankees’ manager is like a son to him.

But when it comes to the home-plate collision in which Tampa Bay’s Elliot Johnson ran over Francisco Cervelli, breaking the Yankees catcher’s right wrist, Zimmer thinks Girardi is wrong for complaining about the Rays’ hard play in a spring training game.

Girardi said Sunday that Cervelli, who was injured Saturday, will be sidelined eight to 10 weeks.

“I can’t believe that he went after it the way he did. That’s not Joe Girardi,” said Zimmer, a former Yankees bench coach and currently a senior adviser with the Rays. Twice in the past week Tampa Bay runners barreled into catchers blocking the plate.
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Girardi was a catcher in the big leagues and should know better, Zimmer said.

“You block the plate. If I slide into him and break a leg, nothing is said. Instead of breaking my leg I bowl him over and it’s not the right play?” Zimmer said. “Well, to me it’s the right play, spring training or no spring training. Play the game the right way. To me, our kid played it the way he thought it was right, and I think it was right.”

Girardi said the play was uncalled for in a spring game. He reiterated his disappointment before the Yankees left Tampa for Fort Myers to face the Minnesota Twins on Sunday.

“It’s just disheartening. It’s spring training, I just don’t understand,” Girardi said. “I told all my players to play hard, but when you do something like that you take your chances that you will get someone hurt.”

The Yankees’ first-year manager hadn’t talked with anyone in the Rays’ organization about the play. He doesn’t expect any carry-over when the teams play again Wednesday.

Johnson said Saturday he understood Girardi’s view, but that he would probably do the same thing again because it was his job to try to score. Tampa Bay’s Carl Crawford expressed a similar sentiment after he ran through Houston’s Humberto Quintero last Wednesday.

“I want you to play hard. I want you to hustle, but to me it’s not the time to do it,” Girardi said.

Rays manager Joe Maddon said he’s surprised at how much attention the situation is drawing.

“Just like I said (Saturday), it was a good, hard baseball play. We have to play the game one way all the time. That’s the way we do things. It’s really unfortunate that kid got hurt. … Nobody wants to hurt anyone under those circumstances,” Maddon said.

“This does not deserve any legs. It was an issue that occurred in a game. It was a hard play. The issue was based on whether he should do that in spring training or not, so it’s a philosophical difference.”

Zimmer was New York’s bench coach from 1996-2003 under Girardi’s predecessor, Joe Torre. Zimmer recalled a meeting in the Yankees’ clubhouse in which Torre once told his players to not slide into the plate with Mike Scioscia catching.

“He blocks the plate. You’ll break your legs. So the story was he didn’t want none of his players sliding. Bowl him over,” Zimmer said.

“Now it’s the other way around, and I am surprised that Girardi went after it the way he did. … The plate was blocked and our guy bowled him over. What’s that got to do with spring training? That’s the way to play the game.”

Zimmer was surprised when someone told him Girardi took exception to the play.

“I mean, I’m going to use it the other way. What happens if our guy slides in and he had the plate blocked and our guy breaks his leg? He blocked the plate in a spring training game. Should he do it? Same thing,” Zimmer said.

Maddon isn’t concerned about lingering hard feelings. The Rays face the Yankees three more times this spring and 18 times during the regular season.

“And if we have a chance to take down their catcher, we should, and if they have a chance to take down our catcher, they should,” Maddon said. “That’s the way the game is played. If it’s the appropriate play to be made, make it. Period.”

After the Yankees’ 6-4 victory over Minnesota, Girardi said he considered the matter closed.

“To me, it’s a non-issue right now. We’re beyond that,” the manager said. “Sometimes opinions are going to vary.”

What happened, though, won’t necessarily be forgotten.

“There’s going to be no evil intent to carry over, but what it does just adds a different type of fire to your gut when you play that team. You understand how they’re playing the game and what their mind-set is,” Yankees first baseman Shelley Duncan said.

So if he’s attempting to score when the teams play again, will he slide and try to avoid contact with the catcher?

“I don’t know,” Duncan said. “That will be determined in between third and home.”

AP freelance writer Mark Didtler in Tampa contributed to this report.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP)—Both benches cleared during the second inning of a spring training game between the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday, leading to the ejections of two players and two coaches.

The teams, meeting four days after Yankees manager Joe Girardi complained about Tampa Bay’s aggressive play after a home-plate collision that injured catcher Francisco Cervelli, had been warned before the game that the umpires would have little tolerance for any further problems.

The benches cleared after New York’s Shelley Duncan slid into Rays second baseman Akinori Iwamura with spikes raised after hitting a hard grounder off third baseman Evan Longoria’s glove and trying to advance to second base on the play.

Duncan, thrown out by at least 10 feet, was immediately tossed. Tampa Bay’s Jonny Gomes was ejected, too, after racing in from right field and barreling into Duncan as other players poured onto the field. No punches appeared to have been thrown as order was restored.

Yankees third base coach Bobby Meacham and hitting coach Kevin Long also were ejected by the umpiring crew, which met with Girardi and Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon before the game.

New York left-hander Heath Phillips was ejected in the first inning after one of his pitches appeared to graze Longoria’s shirt. The Rays already had two runs and three hits in the inning.

Girardi protested Phillips’ ejection and both benches were warned.

I have no problem with it. I'll get into this more tomorrow though. If it was anyone but the Yankees we wouldn't even be talking about this.

I have no problem with it. I'll get into this more tomorrow though. If it was anyone but the Yankees we wouldn't even be talking about this.

If anything let the Jap take issue with it.

I respectfully disagree. The opposite side of that coin is if it's just a spring training game and the games don't count then why do it.

exactly, why block the plate? obviously if you block the plate you think it means something, and is not a meaningless game.


even in a pickup game, if someone blocked the plate on me, they were getting run over.

But if it's a meaningless game why try to score so hard. Johnson by plowing into the catcher put himself at risk just as much as the catcher was at risk. Why risk breaking your arm if it doesn't count?

and entirely new pussy ways are ahead?

i dont know what that means!

His name is Pussy form the Sopranos.....you never saw the Sopranos? Or you busting my balls again.....you.....you......you're good you.

We'll have to agree to disagree bsams!

I think Girardi is the greatest thing since sliced bread. The Yanks desperately needed a change.

Duncan didn't spike Iwamura in retaliation for his teammate, but rather in retaliation for Pearl Harbor.

"I don't want these teams in general to forget who subsidizes a lot of them, and it's the Yankees, the Red Sox, Dodgers, Mets," he said to The New York Post. "I would prefer if teams want to target the Yankees that they at least start giving some of that revenue sharing and luxury tax money back. From an owner's point of view, that's my point."

he doesnt know economics that well does he? without those small market teams there is no MLB, and you can bet if a major sporting league would make more $ without small markets, they wouldnt be in small markets.

monster

somehow!

weak

$lightly $ub$tandard there, but do the bankee$ de$erve any better?

throw it at his face!

not well enough!

jeter and arod hit well against the sox. so then the ball gets thrown at their backs. now, no one has to worry about them hitting.

the yankees should be hitting "manram" in the face 3 to 4 times a game. the world would be balanced and at peace.

Injured Wang will be sidelined well into summer

...which... is such a terrible headline, for so many reasons

Edinson Volquez went a long way toward earning a return trip to Yankee Stadium Friday night.

Volquez went seven innings, allowing two runs on seven hits, to beat the New York Yankees 4-2 before 53,421 at Yankee Stadium to help the Reds snap a five-game losing streak.

"Edinson was outstanding," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "It was one of his best games. He threw strikes. He didn't let the crowd bother him."

It was Volquez's 10th win. He trails only Arizona's Brandon Webb in that category. Volquez leads the National League in ERA at 1.71 (1.56 better than Webb) and in strikeouts at 110.

All this points to Volquez possibly starting the All-Star Game on July 15.

"I hope so," Volquez said. "I don't know yet. If they give me the opportunity to start the game, I will."

Volquez liked the big stage.

"A lot of fans," he said. "Big city, New York."

Baker wasn't surprised Volquez handled the pressure.

"Everyone else was wondering about it," Baker said. "I wasn't. He's a very mature, poised young man. He did what he's done all year."

Jolbert Cabrera was the hitting star. He went 4-for-4 with a two-run double before leaving the game after sliding into second base when advancing on a wild pitch in the seventh inning.

He dislocated his left index finger and is headed for the disabled list. The bone came through the skin.

"It's sad to lose another shortstop," Baker said. "He made some great plays out there."

Cabrera had the key hit in the three-run fifth.

Edwin Encarnacion singled to start the inning. Corey Patterson sacrificed him to second. Paul Bako grounded out 4-3 against the drawn-in infield.

The Yankees intentionally walked Jay Bruce to get to Cabrera, who lined one into the left-field corner. Bruce scored from first base to make it 3-1.

Ken Griffey Jr. followed with a line single to right. Third base coach Mark Berry sent Cabrera. The ball beat him easily, but he was safe with a great slide and it was 4-1.

Joey Votto's 12th homer gave the Reds an early lead. Votto smoked a 1-1 pitch from Mike Mussina that landed well up in the seats in right.

"That was big to get us out to a lead," Baker said.

The Yankees tied it in the third. Melky Cabrera led off with a single. He moved to second on a groundout and to third on a Volquez balk. He scored on Johnny Damon's broken-bat grounder against the drawn-in infield.

Volquez had great stuff. His fastball was 93-97 mph. He was pitching with an extra day of rest.

"I think I had a little extra," he said. "I don't throw the four-seamer no more. I just throw the two-seam fastball."

But he pitched to contact. That allowed him to keep his pitch count down - he threw 103 - against one of the most selective teams in baseball. "I'm getting better," he said.

Volquez was really tested in the seventh. He gave up back-to-back, one-out singles to Alex Rodriguez and Hideki Matsui. But he got Jason Giambi to fly out before giving up an RBI single to Robinson Cano.

The crowd was chanting "Let's go Yankees! Let's got Yankees!" by then. But Volquez struck out Cabrera to strand the runners.

"I don't pay attention to those guys," Volquez said.

Edwin Encarnacion broke up an unlikely pitchers' duel with a two-run single in the seventh inning and the Cincinnati Reds beat the New York Yankees 6-0 on Saturday.

Encarnacion's two-out hit off Dan Giese (1-2) gave Cincinnati the lead and Corey Patterson followed with a drive to right off Jose Veras for his 100th career homer. Brandon Phillips tacked on a two-run single in the eighth.

Daryl Thompson worked five innings in his major league debut for Cincinnati, which has won the first two games in its first trip to the Bronx since it swept New York in the 1976 World Series.

Thompson and Giese locked up in the first matchup of pitchers making their first major league start at Yankee Stadium since Boston's Tony Welzer faced New York's Myles Thompson on April 22, 1926, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

The Yankees put at least one runner on in eight innings and stranded 12. They've scored just four runs in their last three games.

Bill Bray (2-0) followed Thompson with 1 1-3 innings, David Weathers got two outs and Jared Burton worked the eighth before Jeremy Affeldt finished the seven-hitter.

Giese made three relief appearances for New York and got the start Saturday when ace Chien-Ming Wang injured his right foot running the bases last Sunday in Houston.

He breezed through the Reds lineup early, getting through the first six innings in just 62 pitches. He was in good shape in the seventh, too, before his costly throwing error kick-started Cincinnati's big inning.

Ken Griffey Jr. led off the seventh with a single to center and Phillips followed with a grounder up the middle. Giese grabbed the ball and tried to retire Griffey but his throw pulled second baseman Robinson Cano off the bag.

Griffey and Phillips moved up on a groundout before Giese struck out Adam Dunn for the second out. Encarnacion then chased the right-hander and put Cincinnati ahead 2-0 with a sharp single to left.

Giese allowed four hits and three runs, all unearned. He threw 53 of his 75 pitches for strikes.

Thompson, who got lost on his way to the stadium, allowed the leadoff hitter to reach in each of the first four innings and a two-out walk in the fifth but escaped unscathed each time. He allowed four hits, walked four and struck out two.

New York loaded the bases with no outs in the second against the 22-year-old right-hander, who bounced back in a hurry. Thompson struck out Jorge Posada, got Cano to foul out to catcher Paul Bako and fanned Melky Cabrera to get out of the inning.

Thompson, who was acquired by the Reds in an eight-player trade with Washington in 2006, leaped off the mound after Cabrera swung and missed at strike three.

Derek Jeter went 2-for-4 for the Yankees, extending his season-best hitting streak to 10 games. Jason Giambi also had two hits.

Notes:@ RHPs Darrell Rasner, Joba Chamberlain and Mike Mussina are scheduled to start in New York's three-game series at Pittsburgh beginning on Tuesday night. Manager Joe Girardi said Giese would get another start in the Yankees' doubleheader against the New York Mets on Friday but he wasn't sure yet who would start the other game. ... The Reds placed INF Jolbert Cabrera on the disabled list with a dislocated left index finger to make room for Thompson.

The calls started just after Chien-Ming Wang was hurt last week in Houston - Bronson Arroyo's friends jamming his cell phone, wondering if he's going to be the Yankees' midseason rotation fix.

"Trade rumors," Arroyo said Sunday. "I know this is probably my best year in my whole career to be traded - we're not playing our best ball and my salary (nearly) triples next year. Me and (fellow starter Aaron) Harang, both.

"If we're not winning, it all depends on the owner of the club. How long do you want to ride something and see if you're going to win or do you pull out the big-dollar guys and do something?"

Arroyo, perhaps best known in New York as the Red Sox pitcher with the ball on Alex Rodriguez's infamous "slap" play in Game 6 of the 2004 ALCS, has been mentioned prominently in speculation in connection with just about any team in need of pitching. He is 4-6 with a 5.55 ERA for the Reds, who fell into last place in the NL Central with their loss to the Yankees Sunday. Arroyo is making $3.95 million this year and will earn $9.5 million in 2009 and $11 million in 2010.

While Arroyo sounds like he's on the fence about possibly coming to New York, he paid Yankees owner George Steinbrenner a compliment Sunday while noting that baseball owners are generally businessmen first.

"I don't know a lot of the other owners, but in my estimation, the only guy who didn't (care) about making money is Steinbrenner," Arroyo said. "He feels like at all costs he wants to win the World Series. When I look at John Henry and those guys in Boston, yeah, they want to win, but they're only going to push the salary so far. They want to stay under a certain line, so to me, they're businessmen first and baseball people second."

Arroyo pitched in Boston from 2003-05 and he says he's thought about the possibility of one day being a Yankee, but "it's a double-edged sword for me. When I first got traded, I hated the fact I wasn't going to play in a place that had that kind of rivalry and the expectations. I really liked that.

"But playing here for three years, you kind of settle into that and get comfortable where you live and not having stuff written in the paper about you off the field and not have so much scrutiny. I'll go wherever I go. I can make things work and be happy wherever. I get content in a place. Would I like to play for a contender? Yes. But I'm enjoying myself here."

And, Arroyo says, the Reds have the ingredients to contend. "In this division, we can't be in the cellar with the club we have," he said. "But we're (a long way) out and we have to make a move some time or people will start pulling parts off."

Hank Steinbrenner blames injuries for the New York Yankees’ slide from contention.

The Yankees are in danger of missing of the playoffs for the first time since 1993. Following four straight losses, they began Tuesday nine games back of AL East-leading Tampa Bay and five behind Boston, the wild-card leader.

“I’m not writing off this season,” the team’s co-chairman said Tuesday. “They’re trying hard to win. There’s only so much you can do. They’re not supermen.”

The Yankees are missing starting pitcher Chien-Ming Wang, who likely will miss the rest of the season because of a foot injury, and Joba Chamberlain, who hopes to return from right rotator cuff tendinitis. Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy have missed most of the season.

“I think it’s very simple, we’ve been devastated by injuries. No team I’ve ever seen in baseball has been decimated like this. It would kill any team,” Steinbrenner said. “Imagine the Red Sox without (Josh) Beckett and (Jon) Lester. Pitching is 70 percent of the game. Wang won 19 games two straight years. Chamberlain became the most dominating pitcher in baseball. You can’t lose two guys like that.”

New York also is missing catcher Jorge Posada, out for the year after shoulder surgery, and left fielder Hideki Matsui, out since June 22 because of a knee injury.

“It’s not making excuses. It’s reality. That’s part of the game. That’s clearly our problem,” Steinbrenner said.

Regardless of how this season ends, Steinbrenner thinks the 2009 Yankees will be the team to beat in the AL East.

“We’re going to win it next year,” he said. “If we need to add a top veteran pitcher, we’ll do that. We’ll do whatever we need to do. Next year we’ll be extremely dangerous.”

Estranged former Yankee Roger Clemens was "heartbroken" when his former team left him out of Sunday night's Stadium-farewell festivities, which included a video montage honoring the Bronx Bombers' greatest pitchers - but not him, a relative told The Post yesterday.

Clemens was sitting at home in hurricane-ravaged Texas, in front of a battery-operated television on his living room couch, when the team delivered a final crushing blow to its former star.

Clutching wife Debbie's hand on one side and mother-in-law Jan Wild's on the other, Clemens tuned in to his final team's last home game hoping for some recognition for helping win two World Series titles, Wild said.

But that Rocket never launched.

When the team played the video celebrating its greatest players at every position, the steroid-scandal-scarred Clemens was nowhere to be seen.

"Debbie and I held his hand while we watched the game, and he was heartbroken," said Wild, 70. "Not mad. He still loves baseball and the Yankees, but it was sad what they did to him."

Even Chuck Knoblauch -- who was also named in the scathing Mitchell Report on steroids -- was acknowledged on the big screen, hailed as the second baseman of the 1990s. Fellow steroid targets Andy Pettitte and Jason Giambi were at the Stadium in uniform for the Yankees.

Aside from Clemens, also noticeably absent from mention was former manager Joe Torre, who guided the Yankees to 12 straight playoffs and four World Series victories.

"A lot of great Yankees were not mentioned," the team insisted in a statement. "There was no slight intended, and perhaps both Clemens and Torre should have been mentioned as well as several others."

Clemens watched the telecast inside his mansion, which is still suffering the effects of Hurricane Ike weeks after it tore through Texas.

Clemens and his family have about 20 trees down in the yard and flooding in the den, and Sunday's broadcast didn't lift any spirits in the battered household, Wild said.

Yesterday, Clemens headed to Florida, where his son, Koby, is in an instructional league for the Houston Astros.

Wild said Roger has helped out around Houston as the city recovers from the hurricane.

She believes his claim that he never used steroids.

They wouldn't have treated Roger this way if he was a white guy.

Dusty Baker finally had enough. When players on the Astros asked him about his daughter dating Corey Patterson, he felt the need to publicly address the issue. Baker has heard the rumor for weeks. There's no truth to it. Natosha is not dating to Patterson.

"She hasn't even been to Cincinnati," Baker said. "This is so far out of line. It's hurtful to my wife and daughter. How can people stoop that low? I don't know who started it. But I've been hearing from fans, players, announcers."

Patterson has been the fans' whipping boy all season. He hasn't hit. His average was .203 going into Wednesday. Wayne Krivsky said after he was fired that CEO Bob Castellini has told him to get the Patterson deal done. The inference being that Baker was behind in the signing. Patterson played for Baker in Chicago.

But Baker asked: "Who am I to get someone a job like that?"

Baker also pointed out that Patterson's playing time is largely due to injuries and trades.

"Who else was I supposed to play the last two or three months? (Adam) Dunn and (Ken) Griffey are gone. Jerry Hairston's been hurt. Chris Dickerson was hurt."

Patterson was sent to Louisville in late May, but he was recalled June 4 when Ryan Freel went on the DL with a hamstring problem.

Patterson heard the rumor, too.

"I addressed it with him briefly," Baker said.

Joe Torre is no longer bombarded by questions about his boss, no longer caught up in the New York tumult. One constant remains for him, though: October baseball.

So here he is again, managing in the playoffs and leading the Los Angeles Dodgers against a Chicago Cubs team looking to break its 100-year championship drought.

While his old Yankees sit this one out, Torre discovered he could again have fun in the dugout.

"The last couple years in New York were not very comfortable," he said Tuesday.

And this certainly wasn't his easiest season, going into Game 1 on Wednesday.

The Dodgers (84-78) made it despite trailing Arizona by 4 1/2 games on Aug. 29. They had a losing record as recently as Sept. 3.

But they rallied to win their first NL West title in four years thanks to an 18-5 spurt, with late pickup Manny Ramirez providing the big hits and Torre the steadying hand.

"As far as the satisfaction, you never really know when you go someplace new, especially when you've been in one place for 12 years, how you're going to be received," Torre said.

"I know I've had success, but that doesn't mean that the players should believe what you're telling them because you haven't proven anything yet as far as what you can do with this new ballclub," he said.

Relaxed out West, he's loving his L.A. life. Just look at him in that TV commercial — on a surfboard, doing yoga, zooming around the freeways and pitching a screenplay.

Those days under George Steinbrenner seem like forever ago, when his job status made for daily tabloid fodder. By the end, some people made it sound as though he was a failure, rather than a guy who'd won four World Series titles.

"Joe's not the kind of guy who's going to say, 'I told you so,'" said third-base coach Larry Bowa, who spent two years on Torre's staff in New York. "I'm sure maybe deep down he's very happy that some of the negative stuff that you read about that he couldn't do, he came out here and did."

The Yankees never missed the playoffs in Torre's 12 years, but after three straight first-round exits, they offered him a one-year deal worth $5 million — a $2.5 million cut. Insulted by pay incentives for postseason performance, the Brooklyn native declined even though he still would have been the game's highest-paid manager.

"I thought it was just time for (me) to leave, and I have a feeling they felt the same way," Torre said.

Communication with Steinbrenner had eroded over those final three seasons, and the Yankees' offer seemed more like a nudge toward the door than a welcome embrace, ending one of the most successful eras in the franchise's history.

Only Joe McCarthy (1,460) had more wins for the club than Torre, who went 1,173-767.

And Torre's reign was the longest uninterrupted stint by a Yankees manager since a 12-year run by Casey Stengel, who was let go after his team lost the 1960 World Series to Pittsburgh in seven games.

Two weeks after he left New York, Torre agreed to a three-year, $13 million contract with the Dodgers and joined Stengel as the second person to manage both franchises. Players were quick to embrace their new manager.

"It's just amazing how he can reassure everybody," second baseman Blake DeWitt said. "He keeps showing confidence in everybody, not having any doubt. I think that's the reason why we're here."

Along the way, Bowa believes Torre debunked several myths, including one that he didn't handle inexperienced players well. The Dodgers made it this far even though a good chunk of the team is in its early-to-mid-20s.

"He was unbelievable with the young players," Bowa said.

Then, there was the theory that Torre should win every year given the Yankees' talent.

"They had a good team this year, and they didn't win," Bowa said.

And finally, there was the notion that Torre couldn't win in the National League.

"He adjusted to the league," Bowa said. "We did all kinds of stuff. We hit-and-ran. We squeezed. We double-switched. That myth that all he could do was manage in the American League was gone, too. I don't think he'll say, 'I told you so,' but deep down, he says, 'We did this.'"

Away from the Bronx madness, Torre seems more at ease now — even though he always had that calm and laid-back demeanor, Bowa said. In New York, it was the perfect antidote. In Southern California, it's a good blend.

"The coasts are different," hitting coach Don Mattingly said. "I'm sure he's enjoyed it. When we celebrated the other night, he seemed really happy with being able to accomplish this with this club."

Near the end of Torre's tenure in New York, there was a steady flow of questions about his future. There was even a rumor at one point that Lou Piniella, who played for and managed the Yankees, would replace him.

Of course, Piniella wound up taking the Cubs job after the 2007 season, and Torre continued to twist last year. Things got so intense that reporters even camped out at his house in his final days.

Now, he and Piniella are in opposite dugouts — the lone managers each with at least 1,700 wins and 1,700 hits meeting for the third time in the playoffs. Torre's Yankees beat Piniella's Seattle Mariners in the 2000 and 2001 ALCS.

This time, the Cubs hope to end a 100-year championship drought, while the Dodgers want to put their postseason struggles behind them. Los Angeles is 1-12 in the playoffs since winning the World Series 20 years ago.

Torre said the rumors about Piniella "never bothered" him and added he has a "good relationship" with Piniella "as far as I know."

Piniella said: "I have a tremendous amount of respect for him, obviously, as a person and a manager."

That puts him in a long line.

still bugs me to no end that donnie is on the dodgers

Since this has sorta become the baseball thread, I would just like to say one thing....

GO PHILLIES!

Shut your mouth, Joe. You Bostonians have gotten fat & sassy from all the championships foisted on your city in recent years. FOISTED, says I!

Say what you will about Red Sox or Yankees fans for being arrogant and whatnot, but at least they cheer and support their team. Phillies fans (and Philadelphia sports fans in general) are a bunch of negative scumbags who don't deserve and wouldn't know what to do with a sports title if, by some horrendous fluke, they won one. There's no such thing as a fair weather fan in Philly - for Philadelphia sports, every day is overcast.

You've clearly never been to a gay bar in Philly during an Eagles game. Nothing but anal and reach arounds.

I fuck men and I'm proud of it. Who has a problem with that?

You've clearly never been to a sports bar in Philly during an Eagles game. Nothing but green and white.

Oh, wow, someone's abusing mod powers and editing posts again, possibly Kampy himself. Clever. x 100

Oh, wow, someone's abusing mod powers and editing posts again, possibly Kampy himself. Clever. x 100

Shameful, PJP. And to think I thanked God for you and a full head of hair.

I am cheering for a chicago chicago world series. I put money on the white sox to win at the beginning of the year.

I'm sure they'll still get booed by their own fans eventually.

Yanks declined options on Giambi and Pavano today; this coming a week after Abreu had filed for free agency. All in all, the Yankees have temporarily lost $89 million in base-salary from their 2008 roster. Moose, Pettitte and Abreu may all return(for less, if the Yankees are smart), but, as anticipated, this does give them some spending room. My guess would be that at least one of the set of Sabathia-Burnett-Lowe-Sheets-Dempster will be in pinstripes next year, and that how much they have left from the trip down "Free Agent Pitcher Lane" will determine how much they put on Manny and/or Teixeira's table.

wouldn't that money have been better spent on any combination of Lowe, Burnett

Also, this doesn't address their other need, namely a first baseman

it really does seem like a "ny" type decision, of "oh shit, we need this teh mostest!!1!"

he's the best pitcher available on the market, but not the best pitcher of all time, so a deal like this is a bit weird. then again, the yankees really are desperate for starters. rookies and injuries aside, it's like they mathematically don't have enough of them, and a guy like CC offers a ton.

he's young (comparatively), healthy (comparatively) and very reliable. really good, solid stats. but can he pitch in the big city? and more importantly, in october? we'll see.

this deal is getting a lot of notice, especially because they yankees passed on the santana opportunity last year. even with hindsight, i like this deal better, as the yankees aren't giving up anything but cash. granted, its a ridiculous amount, but... i also like that its a long-term deal, which although could obviously hurt more, i think has more benefit-potential for the yankees in producing a veteran machine

He's 28, so he's in or near is prime

With the Brewers he agreed to go on 3 days rest down the stretch which in a free agent year taking on this additional risk for the good of the team is something in this day and age.

let's sign all the other big names out there too! Burnett, Lowe, Sheets and Texeira!

sure, we've had years of steroids to alter the stats, but... it just seems like pitchers are able to last much longer than they used to. many of the game's big names are deep into their 30s



i admire that level of work ethic in a regular year, but knowing how much more prone to exhaustion or injury that'd make you in a free agent year is really something.

...er... something good.

It's 80s Steinbrenner all over again!!!

So much for Cashman's plan to develop talent to keep the team competitive, like the Red Sox, Ray, Brewers, and other teams.

The funny thing? If they'd been willing to trade Melky last offseason, they'd have gotten Johan Santana.

So much for Cashman's plan to develop talent to keep the team competitive, like the Red Sox, Ray, Brewers, and other teams. It's 80s Steinbrenner all over again!!!

The funny thing? If they'd been willing to trade Melky last offseason, they'd have gotten Johan Santana.

I think we are doing soemthing right if we are pissing Red Sox fans off this early! Go Obama!

Boston is nothing without Manny. They should be calling him and begging him back.

I would love Manny on the Yanks.

The New York Post's George A. King III reports that if the Yankees can't get Mark Teixeira, they're "right there on" Manny Ramirez.

"If they pass on Teixeira, the Yankees will try and bolster a sagging lineup with Ramirez... And to clear some money, they might entertain offers for outfielder Xavier Nady, who made $3.35 million last year, is arbitration eligible and a free agent after the 2009 season."

The article mentions a 3 year deal despite Scott Boras seeking five.

King suggests Jermaine Dye is another option; however, Dye has the Yankees listed as one of six teams he would veto a trade to.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2008/12/yankees-pursuin.html



I would like to see the Yanks sign Manny and give Xavier Nady to the Reds and some cash as a signal of good will.

Joey is at first!

Say hello to the New York Yankees, still the third-best team in the American League East.

That’s the hard truth of Brian Cashman’s spending spree. Sure, he got plenty of headlines and created lots of buzz, but what he hasn’t done is make his team better than the Boston Red Sox or Tampa Bay Rays.

Want to debate this point?

OK, here goes.

The Yankees are going to run out a rotation of CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Chien-Ming Wang, Joba Chamberlain and perhaps either Andy Pettitte or Ben Sheets.

Nice, huh?

Even with the questions—Burnett’s injury history, Chamberlain’s tough adjustment from reliever to starter and the assorted concerns around both Pettitte and Sheets—the Yankees have closed some ground on the Rays and Red Sox.

Just not enough. The Rays are still better. James Shields, Scott Kazmir, Matt Garza, David Price and Andy Sonnanstine still comprise baseball’s deepest rotation.

They’ve been on the big stage, too. No one will wonder any longer how they’ll handle pennant-race pressure. They did just fine.

There’s depth, too. Three youngsters—Jason Hammel, Jeff Niemann and Mitch Talbot—appear just about ready for the big leagues. Free agency can’t buy that kind of depth.

The Red Sox? How do you like a rotation of Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Justin Masterson and Tim Wakefield?

Don’t write that group in stone yet. Boston may spring for a starter in free agency, possibly Derek Lowe.

The Red Sox and Rays both have deep, talented bullpens. They don’t have Mariano Rivera, but Jonathan Papelbon is in the discussion about baseball’s best closer.

Rays manager Joe Maddon did a terrific job mixing and matching his relievers late in games. Troy Percival will be back in the role of closer, but playing two months without him allowed Maddon to discover just how many options he has.

In other words, don’t feel sorry for the Rays. Don’t fret that last year’s amazing run was lightning in a bottle.

The Rays are built for the long haul. There’s no artistry to overwhelming a free agent with dollars.

There’s plenty of artistry in attempting to keep the A.L. champions at the top of the heap with a limited payroll.

“We demonstrated last year that payroll doesn’t necessarily decide the standings,” Rays GM Andrew Freidman wrote in an email.

The Rays got better, too, when Friedman last week traded one of his starters, Edwin Jackson, to the Tigers for 24-year-old right fielder Matt Joyce.

“He’s above average defensively,” Friedman said. “We like what he brings to our club. … We feel like he can help us for many years to come.”

Tampa Bay’s outfield of Carl Crawford, B.J. Upton and Joyce might just be the best in baseball.

The Yankees? How does an outfield of Xavier Nady, Brett Gardner and Johnny Damon ring your chime?

Not impressed? Didn’t think so. Boston’s is also better: Jason Bay, Jacoby Ellsbury, J.D. Drew.

But Yankees aren’t done yet. Mark Teixeira and Manny Ramirez are on their radar screen.

Yet we’ve learned the last few years that chemistry and grit are as important as pure talent.

The Yankees left spring training a couple of years ago with 18 former all-stars on their roster. That team didn’t get out of the first round of the playoffs.

The Rays and Red Sox have a clubhouse chemistry that is impossible to overestimate. They’ve got managers—Maddon and Terry Francona—brilliant at making the pieces fit and keeping the club headed in the right direction.

Talent, of course, is important, too, but in this era of parity, it’s tougher and tougher to buy a championship.

The Yankees have spent more on payroll than any other team for several years. They haven’t gotten out of the first round of the playoffs since 2004, haven’t been to the World Series since 2003, haven’t won a championship since 2000.

They tried buying a championship with Jason Giambi, Jaret Wright, Carl Pavano, etc. Never mind that chemistry and toughness were a huge part of how they won four World Series under Joe Torre.

Cashman has attempted to steer the Yankees back toward becoming a scouting-and-development organization, but after missing the playoffs in 2008, he felt he had no choice but look for a quick-fix through free agency.

Meanwhile, in Tampa, the Rays are keeping an eye on the Yankees while taking care of their own business. Friedman did a brilliant job building a pennant winner last year with under-the-radar signings like Eric Hinske, Gabe Gross and Cliff Floyd.

As long as Friedman and Maddon are in charge, the Rays will be competitive. How do they feel watching the Yankees build a roster with the checkbook?

“It wasn’t unexpected,” Friedman wrote. “We knew going into this off season that they would basically be immune from the economic downturn. We can’t get too caught up in what the Yankees and Red Sox do. We’re confident that if we are able to accomplish our goals for this off season that we’ll be in good position to defend our American League Championship.”

The Red Sox and Rays both plan to get better by opening day. Tampa may make offers to Milton Bradley and Jason Giambi. The Red Sox likely will be in the Teixeira sweepstakes until the end and might trade a pitcher (Clay Buchholz) for one of the Texas catchers.

Regardless, there’s a confidence around the Red Sox. They’re not going to react to the Yankees. “We’re optimistic about where we are as an organization and our foundation,” Epstein said.

He's 28, so he's in or near is prime, and he's definitely got ace stuff, so that takes some pressure off Wang and Joba. He's got great stats, but not in the postseason. What would concern me, if I was a Yankees fan, is that he's heavy (hell, he weighs more than I do!), and there's a lot of wear on that arm - a criticism voiced when the Tigers traded for Dontrelle Willis, and we all saw last season what happened there. Also, Sabathia voiced a lack of desire to play in New York (always a bad sign). I see this deal working out for the Yankees in the first three years before really starting to bite them in the arse in year four. Also, since they're also giving up their first-round draft pick, I guess Cashman's plan to develop players in-house is temporarily on hold...

.From what I read, Sabathia wasn't unenthusiastic about New York, just interested in playing in California, his home state. Personally, I think the "homeward bound" assumption about free agents has always been sort of a sports journalist kneejerk comment(just to create hot stove league banter), or in the case of the current Teixeira-Baltimore negotiations, a bargaining ploy used by agents to get the big market teams to offer that extra chunk of cash.

I think the NAts were overpaying as well(i know overpaying is relative), I just think on his behalf he bacame a free agent at a lucky time, when there really wasnt any premiere position players available, any other year and he wouldnt have got that.

that being said, the Yankees will likely have a lower overall payroll than they did last year and he is a upgrade from an aging Giambi.

I'm not a Yankees fan and I can't envision a scenario in which I'd root for the team.

However, the strongest advocates of a salary cap, the ones ranting about salaries in light of the economy, are full of hot air. And something else, but the site nanny won't let me say it.

MLB's revenues have been exploding since 2003 and player salaries have simply not matched this increase in revenues. In 2003, players in baseball made 63% of league revenues. In 2008, that number appears to be 52% of league revenues, or less than any of the other major professional leagues in the US, which all have salary caps.

For decades, wonks, wags, and wigs have told us that player salaries drive upward ticket prices and that arguments about supply and demand are theoretical constructs for an imaginary world. But in the real world, during a time in which the player's slice of the pie has dropped tremendously (a $400 million loss of the pie in 2008 alone, relative to 2003), ticket prices have continued to gone up unabated. Just as expected, savings from limiting the salaries of those mean old players have been filtered directly into the pockets of owners. Owners who cry poverty and get welfare stadiums. Republicans talked about welfare queens 15 years ago, but it would take thousands of so-called queens driving around in taxpayer Cadillacs to match some of the true members of that category. Take Jeff Loria, who pockets revenue-sharing money and then turns around and gets an additional honeypot in the form an apparently imminent fancy-new stadium. If MLB owners were in charge of the TARP funds, the $700 billion would already be completely gone and the sycophantic media, ever-hungry for prestige, quotes, and free pastrami on rye, would blame it on pay raises for local janitorial staff.

Now, to the Yankees. I've been stalling on saying nice things about the team, but I guess I've got to bite the bullet and get it over with. The Yankees have a mindset that is good for baseball and the US would be better off if more companies possessed the Yankee mindset.

The Yankees do spend more money than other teams in MLB, but the differences would be less drastic if the payrolls of many teams had been rising up to the waves of new cash that have entered baseball in recent years. Going by the NFL formula, very generous considering the MLBPA is far more powerful an entity than any other union in sports, the payroll floor for 2009 would almost certainly be in the $100 million range. 58% of league revenue, as the players in NFL get, would be, in baseball, an average team payroll of a hair under $120 million. It's pretty clear that while the Yankees are outspending everyone comfortably, the rest of baseball has just as much to do with the payroll disparity as the Yankees do.

Now, what about the Yankee mindset? The Steinbrenners aren't anywhere near as rich or as liquid as some other owners in baseball such as Carl Pohlad of the Twins. The difference is that the Steinbrenners have always invested in their team, always striven to put the best product possible out on the field. The Yankees have certainly made some terrible trades, especially when King George was hands-on the most, but they were done with the motive of making the team better. Yes, the Yankees got a huge, undeserved payday from the locals for their stadium, like most teams in baseball did, but it's a mitigating factor that they're actually plowing those funds back into the on-field product. And the team never threatened to not compete until they got their sweet check. Perhaps a small difference, but I see it as a good bit more ethical than Kevin McClatchy demanding taxpayer moneys to help the Pirates compete and then turn around and use all the money to fund his failing media empire.

Now, what about Mark Teixeira? The benefits of Teixeira are pretty obvious, he's a fine defensive 1B who hits very well and should be a relatively safe bet for the Yankees over the course of his contract. He's not A-Rod or peak Manny, but Teixeira's a very good player and while he may only be a bit above-average by his mid-30s, $22.5 million likely won't be exorbitant for an average player on the FA market in 2016.

Arte Moreno may get to have the personal satisfaction of feeling like the injured party, but this is what Tex was going to make when the Angels acquired him and if they weren't going to play serious ball, the Angels should never have done the Kotchman trade. Perhaps they'll change the rules of baseball during the season and allow moral victories to win games, minimizing the damage that the team offense, 10th in the AL in runs with a huge couple of months of Teixeira thrown in, can do.

And for the obligatory JLA complaint, the Transaction Oracle weighs in on the contract and echos my general feelings about the Yankees and their place in sports finance

Yes, the Yankees got a huge, undeserved payday from the locals for their stadium

Possible Yankees starting rotation

• 1. CC Sabathia, LHP
  2. A.J. Burnett, RHP
  3. Chien-Ming Wang, RHP
  4. Joba Chamberlain, RHP
  5. Phil Hughes, RHP

Lest anyone forget, the Tampa Bay Rays are the reigning AL East champions and they were vying to win the World Series in October.

So, forgive manager Joe Maddon if he isn't quaking in his cleats over the New York Yankees reaching a $180 million, eight-year agreement with slugging first baseman Mark Teixeira. Maddon still loves the makeup of his team, and he hinted that New York's deal with Teixeira won't alter the small-market Rays' fiscal philosophy either.

"I know we're supposed to be devastated by this, but we're not; for us to lament it does no good," Maddon told the Los Angeles Times in Wednesday's editions. "Of course, Teixeira is a wonderful player -- the Yankees always go after the biggest and the best, and they've done themselves well this winter.

"But we're going to do it our way. It comes down to if you pitch well, you're going to stop good hitters. A lot of what we did last year was based on pitching and good defense. If we continue to do those things well, we'll be right there."

The Yankees swooped in at the 11th hour Tuesday to nab Teixeira, who was also courted by the Boston Red Sox, Washington Nationals, Los Angeles Angels and Baltimore Orioles.

His agreement, the completion of which is subject to a physical, includes a signing bonus of about $5 million paid out in the first three years of the contract; no opt-out clause; and a complete no-trade provision, sources told ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney.

The contract will pay Teixeira -- who made it clear he wanted to make a decision by Christmas on where to play next season and beyond -- an average of $22.5 million per season. Boston's offer to Teixeira was for $168 million over eight years, an average of $21 million a year.

"Man, that's crazy," Angels center fielder Torii Hunter told the Times. "Those damn Yankees! They don't play around. When they're trying to win, they're trying to win. It's crazy. They just paid $27 million in luxury tax. That's like 27 dollars to them. They don't even care."

The Yankees shed $88.5 million from their books; included in that are the contracts of $23.4 million on Jason Giambi, $16 million on Bobby Abreu, and $11 million to both Mike Mussina and Carl Pavano. New York has committed $423.5 million in salary in the past month, with $161 million going to left-handed pitcher CC Sabathia ($23 million per year for seven years) and $82.5 million to right-hander A.J. Burnett ($16.5 million per year for five years).

"At the rate the Yankees are going, I'm not sure anyone can compete with them," Milwaukee Brewers owner Mark Attanasio told Bloomberg News via e-mail. "Frankly, the sport might need a salary cap."

Teixeira's salary gives the Yankees, who are preparing to move into a $1.3 billion new ballpark in April, the four highest-paid players in Major League Baseball: Teixeira, Sabathia, third baseman Alex Rodriguez (10 years, $275 million) and shortstop Derek Jeter (10 years, $189 million).

"They're scary," Hunter told the Times. "Their rotation is one of the best, if not the best, in the game, and now look at their lineup. They have A-Rod, Jeter, Teixeira, Hideki Matsui, Xavier Nady, Robinson Cano, Jorge Posada is coming back [from injury], Nick Swisher ... golly, that's a nice lineup."

Teixeira's agreement also came just one day after the Yankees received a $26.9 million luxury tax bill (their 2008 payroll was a record $222.5 million, according to The Associated Press), though the Yankees anticipate their payroll is going to fall below $200 million because of expiring contracts. Their streak of 13 consecutive playoff appearances ended with Tampa Bay winning the division and Boston taking the wild card, but with the revenue stream from their new stadium, where some tickets are priced at up to $2,500 per game, the Yankees' appetite for free agents wasn't diminished.

"From the moment we arrived in Boston in late 2001, we sought to reduce the financial gap and succeeded to a degree," Red Sox owner John Henry said in an e-mail to The Associated Press, in reference to competing with the Yankees. "Now with a new stadium filled with revenue opportunities, they have leaped away from us again. So we have to be even more careful in deploying our resources."

The Yankees last reached the World Series in 2003 and won their last title in 2000. In addition to signing much-needed starting pitchers Sabathia and Burnett, Teixeira's power, on-base percentage and Gold Glove-caliber defense are expected to help end the team's championship drought.

"They've had the best lineup I've seen for seven years in a row and they haven't won it all," Hunter told the Times. "They can still be beat. It will take dedication, hard work, and you've got to have heart. When you have that, you have a chance."

Also the numbers in Animalman's report list total baseball revenues but doesn't mention the fact that most of the increase is concentrated in a few teams(most notably the Yankees), so it isn't exactly fair to criticize other clubs who haven't spent as much, it's not as if every cubs revenue has increased by the overall percentage of MLB.

TOWER GROVE — Five years ago the St. Louis Cardinals and the finest hitter of his generation were steaming toward what could have been a dicey and milestone arbitration hearing when, in the 11th hour, Albert Pujols agreed to the largest contract in franchise history. The deal, still active today, made Pujols the ninth $100-million man in baseball history and, at 24, the youngest ever to reach the salary threshold.

As the MVP enters the penultimate year of his guaranteed contract, one thing is clear.

He’s been a bargain.

What is Albert Pujols worth?

News of the New York Yankees inking first baseman Mark Teixeira to an eight-year, $180-million deal rippled through baseball yesterday, and there were probably two interested parties who had little direct interest in where Teixeira signed. The Cardinals and Pujols’ reps cared about what Teixeira signed for. The switch-hitting, Gold Glove-caliber Teixeira finalized a deal with the spree-spending Yankees that averages $22.5 million a year, according to reports. More than Jason Giambi’s contract a few years ago with these same Yankees, Teixeira is a clear and tangible benchmark to help set the market for … well, what Pujols could command as a free agent. Does Teixeira’s new deal hint at Pujols’ next deal?

Both will be 29 during this coming season. Both hit in the middle of the order. Both play first.

Beyond that …

Pujols won his second National League MVP this winter. Teixeira has finished only as high as seventh in the voting, and that was back in 2005. Teixeira, while a switch hitter, is a .290 career hitter with a .541 career slugging percentage. Pujols is a career .334 hitter with a .624 slugging percentage. Some statistical shakedowns:

CAREER … BA/OBP/SLG … 162-gm AVG (ba/obp/slg, hr, rbi)

Teixeira … .290/.378/.541 … .290/.378/.541, 36, 121

Pujols … .334/.425/.624 … .334/.425/.624, 42, 128

3-YEAR … BA/OBP/SLG … HR … RBI

Teixeira … .298/.393/,541 … 96 … 336

Pujols … .338/.440/.629 … 118 … 356

One number that deserves its popularity because of its authority and its ability to compare players against each other and the era in which they play is OPS+. It basically is on-base-percentage plus slugging percentage compared against the league average. It’s a number set at 100 — so <100 is below average and >100 is above average. Teixeira’s career OPS is a sturdy 134. Pujols’ is 170.

Using additional advanced-placement metrics that we have at our fingertips these days, Pujols pulls even further ahead. Value Over Replacement Player (VORP) is simply the number of runs one player contributes to the team over what a replacement at the same position would do with the same number of plate appearances. This past season Pujols led the majors with a 98.6 VORP, according to Baseball Prospectus. It is the second time in three seasons that Pujols has been No. 1.

Teixeira hasn’t cracked the top 50 in that same span.

VORP (according to Baseball Prospectus)

2008 — Teixeira: 35.2 (53rd), right around Troy Glaus, Evan Longoria and two other high-priced ballplayers, Derek Jeter and Magglio Ordonez. … Pujols: 98.6 (1st).

2007 — Teixeira: 27.1 (91st). … Pujols: 72.1 (9th).

2006 — Teixeira: 37.4 (54th), sandwiched between Edgar Renteria and Scott Rolen, and we all know what was going on then with him. … Pujols: 85.4 (1st).

Pujols, it should be noted, does not switch-hit like Teixeira. Of course, he doesn’t need to.

Gold-standard: Pujols in the field

But what about defense? The measures of defense are constantly evolving and improving. One of the best out there right now is the plus/minus used by The Fielding Bible. This is the same publication that has awarded Pujols its equivalent of the Gold Glove every year that is has given out the award. Pujols won this year despite not leading his position in plus/minus for the first time in three seasons. Who did? Teixeira. It only takes a few games of watching Teixeira to know that he’s an above-average defensive player. Athletic. Agile. Etc. The numbers don’t necessarily support the eyes, but it’s safe to say Pujols and Teixeira are, ahem, in the same ballpark when it comes to playing first base.

Their plus/minus scores for the past three seasons (rank at the position in parentheses).

PLAYER, POS … 2006 … 2007 … 2008

TEIXEIRA, 1B … +2 (15) … -4 (22) … +24 (1)

PUJOLS, 1B … +25 (1) … +37 (1) … +20 (2)

All of that is prelude to the original question: What does Teixeira’s new deal tell us about Pujols’ next deal?

It’s a mind-boggling to consider. Is Pujols twice the player, twice the salary? Is Pujols 1 1/2-times the player? Pujols is signed on a guaranteed deal through 2010, and there is a $16-million option for the 2011 season. According to the USA Today salary database (see blogroll), Pujols’ salary didn’t crack the top 25 this past season, but at $16 million for 2009 he’ll likely be in the top 10. Teixeira, at about $20 million in 2009, could be in the top five.

The Cardinals, led then by Walt Jocketty, scored a coup by buying Pujols out of his arbitration years entirely, and they do have rights to him until just a few months before he turns 32. That could reduce the years Pujols will command — especially compared to 29-year-old Teixeira — but not the salary.

I’ve found a few places that have attempted to answer the question what Pujols would make as a free agent in today’s markets. Some present it merely as an academic discussion and don’t arrive at any answer. Others break into mathematical gymnastics far beyond this blog’s ability to translate. At The Baseball Economists’ blog, J.C. Bradbury frames his MVP argument in 2007 around revenue generated by a players’ performance. Pujols ranks well. At Fangraphs there was an announcement today that they are translating some of their sharpest stats into dollar figures and will have leaderboards up shortly. Over at The Book, a blog spawned from a book about The Book, the author wrestled with the Pujols Question, and came to some outrageous conclusions: $300 million. As his guide he used a fascinating scale based on Wins Above Replacement (WAR), similar to the above Value.

The author’s chart is available here, and it illustrates how a player with a 7.0 wins above a replacement player is deserving of a 10-year, $305.9 million contract. (Yowza.)

Using those aforementioned Fangraph numbers, Pujols’ WAR in 2008 was … 9.0.

Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols after a home run.

Clearly, there is no way to calculate Pujols’ worth using other players’ salaries. He defies the market. Teixeira’s new contract only underscores what was already apparent: Pujols is due a raise. A hefty one. If five years ago, he was the youngest $100-million man, then two years from now is he the first $30-million year man? The way his contract with the Cardinals is structured they will be paying him deferred salary long after he retires, until 2029. Might as well minimize the paperwork and keep the paychecks coming from the same source.

To determine the value of that paycheck, however, you can’t rely on comparables. Or, maybe not current comparables. Baseball-Reference.com has a unique feature that compares a player at his current age against all players at the same age. For a majority of his career, Pujols has compared favorably to Joe DiMaggio. There was a break this season. Here are Teixeira’s and Pujols’ comparables, via Baseball-Reference.com’s formula:

TEIXEIRA

1. Carlos Delgado
2. Kent Hrbek
3. Fred McGriff

PUJOLS

1. Jimmie Foxx
2. Hank Aaron
3. Frank Robinson

Maybe that’s the key to understanding how the Cardinals can approach Pujols’ new contract. It’s Teixeira or even Alex Rodriguez that they should consider. Neither compares. The question is: What would Hank Aaron make today?

Also the numbers in Animalman's report list total baseball revenues but doesn't mention the fact that most of the increase is concentrated in a few teams(most notably the Yankees), so it isn't exactly fair to criticize other clubs who haven't spent as much, it's not as if every cubs revenue has increased by the overall percentage of MLB.

I guess you don't really understand the revenue sharing. Even with the revenue sharing the teams aren't anywhere near equal, the Yankeess still pull in millions upon millions more than many teams. But don;t get me wrong I don't believe spending=winning. The Yankees above all else are great examples on the other end is Tampa Bay who spend little and went farther, I was just pointing out the holes on the story you posted.

as even the notoriously stingy(but savvy) A's have started to do.

VORP (according to Baseball Prospectus)

2008 — Teixeira: 35.2 (53rd), right around Troy Glaus, Evan Longoria and two other high-priced ballplayers, Derek Jeter and Magglio Ordonez. … Pujols: 98.6 (1st).

2007 — Teixeira: 27.1 (91st). … Pujols: 72.1 (9th).

2006 — Teixeira: 37.4 (54th), sandwiched between Edgar Renteria and Scott Rolen, and we all know what was going on then with him. … Pujols: 85.4 (1st).

With revenue sharing every team can afford at least an 80 million dollar payroll.

I think it's silly for people to complain about the Yankees spending as this will bite them in a few years when they are saddled with multiyear deals and aging players or injured players. Where some teams will be able to adapt due to not being overwhelmed with Payroll they wont be able to. So it all evens out, its why the Yanks are up and down like everyone else including most small market teams. The Brewers made a heck of a run with a fairly small budget in comparison, you dont hear people complaining its not fair they have smarter scouts and GM. You use whatever resources you have.

http://www.murraychass.com/?p=391

As the owner of the Milwaukee Brewers for only four years, Mark Attanasio is a mere babe in baseball. Like many players, he might not know what came before him. Baseball life, to Attanasio, began in 2005.

He could be excused, then, for not realizing the storm he might be creating when he invoked the inflammatory words “salary cap.”

Attanasio raised the incendiary issue in an e-mail interview with Bloomberg News when he was asked his reaction to the Yankees’ signing of three free agents for $423.5 million.

“At the rate the Yankees are going, I’m not sure anyone can compete with them,” Attanasio replied. “Frankly, the sport might need a salary cap.”

No one in the sport has uttered that provocative phrase in more than 10 years. It caused the most disastrous work stoppage in sports history, and no one who was around in 1994-5-6 wants to experience that terrible time again.

Before going further with this matter, let’s clarify the terminology. Everyone, including the three major professional sports that have one, calls it a salary cap. It is not a salary cap because it does not place a cap on individual salaries.

Under the rules in the National Football League, the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League and what was proposed in Major League Baseball, teams may pay an individual player anything they negotiate. The team, though, cannot exceed the amount of money allowed under that season’s rules for its entire team.

In other words, there is a cap on payrolls so we should be talking about a payroll cap, not a salary cap.

When Attansaio commented on the Yankees’ signings, he was talking about a payroll cap. He wasn’t suggesting that a team be restricted in what it could pay any single player but what it could pay its entire roster of players.

Actually, I can’t be certain what Attanasio was proposing. I wanted to talk to him to find out more about what he meant, but he was not available. His spokesman said he was traveling with his family and wouldn’t be available until the new year.

I wanted to ask Attanasio if he was aware of baseball’s history with the idea of a payroll cap, how the owners kept proposing it in labor negotiations, the players kept rejecting the idea and a work stoppage usually resulting.

It was interesting that it was Attanasio who raised the issue and not one of his more senior colleagues. They know better than to bring up subjects that are better left dormant.

Major League officials chose not to comment. A spokesman for Commissioner Bud Selig said he felt it would be inappropriate for him to comment on comments made by an owner.

One skeptic on the union side suggested that maybe Selig put Attanasio up to raising the cap issue, but Selig took too severe a beating in the last strike to look for more. It may be more likely that Selig called Attanasio, the steward of Selig’s former team, and asked him to forget the cap idea and leave sleeping dogs lie.

Rob Manfred, the owners’ chief labor executive, also declined to say anything. “I’m not going to comment about what an owner said,” Manfred said.

Donald Fehr, the leader of the union, who has led the players in their repeated rejection of a payroll cap, did comment. Refering to the Yankees’ perennially high expenditures and their inability to win a World Series championship since 2000, he said, “Other major league clubs seem not to have had any problems competing with the Yankees the last seven, eight years.”

Attanasio was most likely upset because the Yankees lured Sabathia away from the Brewers by offering $61 million more, then signed two more expensive free agents. But the Yankees didn’t overwhelm A.J, Burnett and Mark Teixeira the way they did Sabathia. The Atlanta Braves were close on Burnett, and a few teams, including the Boston Red Sox, were close on Teixeira.

If the players had their reasons for choosing the Yankees, such as the Yankees giving them the best chance to go to the World Series, that’s not going to change as long as the Yankees remain competitive.

Critics of the Yankees, on the other hand, argue that most, if not all other teams, would have been forced to stop at Sabathia. They would not have been financially able to sign Burnett and Teixeira, too. But the Yankees have the money and will have more from revenue generated by their new park.

Should they voluntarily limit themselves in what they spend? If so, where should they stop? Should they decide themselves or should someone else? If someone else, who? Bud Selig? Mark Attanasio?

That would be the role of a payroll cap, Attanasio might say. All right, where would Attanasio draw the line to create the cap?

The Yankees’ 2008 40-man payroll was $222 million, $76 million more than second-place Boston paid its players and $79 million more than the Mets’ payroll. Attanasio’s Brewers were right in the middle, 15th, with an $88 million payroll.

Should the Yankees have to come down to the Brewers’ level? If a payroll cap were set above the Brewers’ level, would they have to increase their payroll to reach the cap?

But for me to go on about a payroll cap is irrelevant because baseball will never have a payroll cap. What baseball will have, however, is unpredictability in which a team with a $222 million payroll doesn’t even make the post-season.

In addition, with the payroll cap issue out of the picture, the owners and the players have negotiated a record two consecutive labor agreements without a strike or a lockout. The existing agreement runs through Dec. 11, 2011. That’s at least three more years of labor peace.

Owners stopped pushing for a payroll cap because baseball’s revenues took off. They reached $6.5 billion this year, providing enough money for owners and players both, not to mention the commissioner, whose salary one club official said he was told exceeded $20 million.

Information Bank Redux?

In 1987 and 88, the owners ran a bank that took deposits from all of the teams. The teams, though, didn’t deposit money. They reported offers they made to free agents, and the information was shared with other clubs. The union discovered the existence of the information bank in 1988 during a hearing on its grievance against the clubs charging collusion against free agents.

I personally thought the information bank was a great idea. It was the easiest time I ever had getting information on offers made to free agents. The only problem was the bank violated the labor agreement.

Faced with an arbitrator’s ruling against them, the owners closed the bank. Now, however, some agents suspect that clubs are sharing information again, letting everyone know what they offer free agents.

“There are a lot of rumblings that all the teams know exactly what everyone is doing with free agents,” one prominent agent said.

But a union lawyer said the union didn’t have any evidence of information sharing, and Rob Manfred, the owners’ chief labor executive, denied the existence of any sharing operation.

“I don’t know how an agent would have any information about that,” Manfred said. “There is no formal notification about information. Given all the information that’s out there publicly, it would be difficult not to know what teams have offered.”

Whether or not the clubs are sharing offers, there’s no question that the market is moving slower than usual and except for some of the big contracts, free agents are signing for or being offered less than in past years.

But agents acknowledge that the clubs have a ready-made excuse, or cover, for not acting as they have in previous years: the economy.

“There’s continuing pressure for teams to cut their budgets,” an agent said. “Teams that intended to be aggressive had to cut back because budgets have been lowered.”

Commissioner Bud Selig has warned clubs about watching what they spend because of the depressed state of the economy. Most teams seem to be heeding the warning. The Yankees aren’t in that group.

Capping off a Record

If Chris Capuano can make it back next season from his second Tommy John surgery (elbow ligament transplant), he will have a chance to end the 16-start losing streak with which he finished the 2007 season. On the other hand, he could break the record Walt Dickson set with the Boston Braves in 1912 when the Braves lost 18 successive Dickson starts.

Capuano, a 30-year-old left-hander, underwent elbow surgery last May 15 and missed all of the 2008 season. The Brewers didn’t tender him a contract this month, making him a free agent, but signed him to a minor league contract. They would welcome his return considering that they have lost CC Sabathia and could also lose Ben Sheets.

The Brewers lost Capuano’s last 16 starts in 2007, giving him the third longest such streak behind Dickson and Jack Nabors, whose team, the Philadelphia Athletics, lost 17 of his starts in a row in 1916. But Capuano added an extra twist to his streak.

After the Brewers removed him from the starting rotation and put him in the bullpen, Capuano was the losing pitcher in his first two relief appearances, giving the Brewers losses in 18 consecutive games in which Capuano pitched.

Big Contracts Don’t Produce Rings

Before anyone sizes the fingers of CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira for World Series rings, pause and think about Mike Mussina, Jason Giambi and Alex Rodriguez. Mussina and Giambi signed with the Yankees thinking they offered the best chance to get a World Series ring. Rodriguez greeted his trade to the Yankees with the same thought.

But Mussina played eight years with the Yankees without winning a ring and has now retired. Giambi played seven years without getting a ring and has left as a free agent. Rodriguez is still with the Yankees but has already played five years without a ring.

In other words, glamorous, high-paid players don’t guarantee a World Series championship.

But spending doesn;t equal wins, it only makes teams that do not have a grasp on what makes a winning team able to compete more easily. A lot of GM's are stat freaks like Animalman and they don;t understand that winning baseball is way more than OPS and other silly stats. But if you throw enough money at those guys and accumulate enough it makes you more competitive. Prime example is the Yankees last year, higest payroll in the majors and not in the playoffs.

The Yankees received their $26.9 million 2008 luxury tax bill only last week, and they have already qualified for the 2009 tax, exceeding the tax threshold when they have signed less than half of their 40-man roster.

The Yankees have 14 players under contract for 2009, and the annual average values of their contracts total $186.35 million. The threshold over which tax must be paid will be $162 million next season. At 40 percent, the Yankees’ personal tax rate (for multiple excesses), they already owe $9.74 million.

Although it applies only to next year, the Yankees’ current payroll total also exceeds the thresholds for 2010 ($170 million) and 2011 ($178 million).

The Yankees insist that their 2009 payroll will be lower than the 2008 payroll, but I am skeptical, not that I care what their payroll is. I don’t have to pay it.

The problem with computing payrolls is there are so many different ways of doing it. The original, old-fashioned way bases payroll on 25-man rosters and disabled lists as of Aug. 31. On that basis, the Yankees’ payroll this year was $218 million.

(The figure most widely used by reporters for the Yankees’ payroll is $209 million because that was the opening-day figure computed by Ron Blum of the Associated Press, who quickly and accurately reports contract figures as soon as clubs report them to the commissioner’s office. Once Blum has done their work for them in calculating all opening-day payrolls, baseball reporters for the most part are too lazy to update them for the teams they cover, adding each arrival and subtracting each departure, so they are now nine months behind.)

Until the past couple of seasons, the commissioner’s office used the old-fashioned method to determine payrolls. Now it bases payrolls on 40-man rosters. On that basis, the Yankees’ payroll this year was $222 million.

It was also, coincidentally, $222 million in payrolls calculated for luxury tax purposes. In that method, players’ contracts are averaged, and the average annual values are added to determine which teams are above the threshold as stated in the collective bargaining agreement. In the other methods, the salary for that particular season is used, and a pro-rated share of a signing bonus, if any, is added to the salary.

No matter which payroll the Yankees want to lower, they will have to do some tricky calculations. Their luxury tax payroll was $222 million; it’s now $186.35. The Aug. 31-based payroll was $218 million. It’s now $192.85 million.

On the other hand, with virtually every starting position player and nearly every significant pitcher signed, the Yankees apparently have only one player left to sign for a double-digit salary. That’s Andy Pettitte, who has not responded to the Yankees’ $10 million offer.

He hasn’t responded because he doesn’t want to take a $6 million cut in pay, but there’s no suggestion out there that says someone else is willing to give him more. Pettitte actually is a pivotal figure in a puzzling claim the Yankees have made. The claim has been bought and repeated by so many people, reporters and fans alike, that they recite it like a mantra: 88.5, 88.5, 88.5. Baseball writers use the number so automatically it must be a key on their computer keyboards: 88.5, 88.5, 88.5.

What is it? Put a dollar sign in front and million after it, and it becomes $88.5 million, the amount of money that has supposedly come off the Yankees’ payroll since last season and supports the tale the Yankees tell routinely, that their 2009 payroll will be lower than their 2008 payroll.

But the Yankees base their projection on that 88.5 figure, and it doesn’t exist, at least not that my mathematical gymnastics can find. Let me attempt to get to that total.

First some ground rules. For players who will not be back with the Yankees next season, I have used their base 2008 salaries and pro-rated shares of signing bonuses because that’s the traditional method of calculation used by the commissioner’s office and the Players Association. For players who were traded to or from the Yankees during the season, I have allotted to the Yankees only the portions of their salaries they earned while they were with the Yankees.

Let’s begin by taking the obvious departed players:
Jason Giambi

$23,428,571
Bobby Abreu

$16,000,000
Mike Mussina

$11,500,000
Carl Pavano

$11,000,000

Those salaries add to a rounded off $62 million. Now add Pettitte’s $16 million salary, although he may yet re-sign with the Yankees.

Wilson Betemit is gone with his $1,165,000 salary, and so is Ivan Rodriguez, whose salary last season was $13 million but only about a third of it with the Yankees, who paid him $4,262,294.

The Yankees didn’t exercise Damaso Marte’s $6 million option for next season, but they bought it out for $250,000 and they signed him to a new three-year, $12 million contract with a first-year salary of $3.75 million. The Yankees paid the relief pitcher $751,912 for the two months he played for them last season, but next season they will pay him five times the amount that was taken off the payroll.

Two other pitchers won’t be back with the Yankees, but the Yankees won’t be saving a load of money as a result of their departures: Darrell Rasner’s $409,000 and the $200,328 they paid Sidney Ponson as a pro-rated share of the minimum salary ($390,000) contract they gave him after Texas released him from a guaranteed contract.

The Yankees would put Kyle Farnsworth and Latroy Hawkins in the departed column, but both pitchers were traded last July, just before the non-waiver trading deadline and don’t figure in the payrolls based on Aug. 31 rosters and disabled lists. In other words, Farnsworth was traded for Rodriguez, and you can’t count both of their salaries.

So let’s see what we have. With the initial $62 million and assuming Pettitte won’t be back, the total off the payroll is $78 million. Throw in Rodriguez, Betemit, Rasner and Ponson but not Marte, Hawkins and Farnsworth, and the total off the 2008 payroll becomes $84 million and change.

That’s close to 88.5, but it’s not 88.5. And if Pettitte should sign, it becomes $74 million. There are other deductions to make from the off-the-payroll total. Like Marte, teammates Pavano and Giambi had options that the Yankees opted not to pick up. Their buyouts were more expensive — $1.95 million for Pavano, $5 million for Giambi, making a total of $7.2 million in buyouts, which reduces the off-the-payroll savings to $76.8 million.

Now let’s see what the Yankees will spend next season that they didn’t spend this season. Right off the bat they have $23 million for CC Sabathia, $22.5 million for Mark Teixeira and $16.5 million for A.J. Burnett.

Alex Rodriguez’s salary will rise by $5 million, Robinson Cano’s by $3 million, Chien-Ming Wang’s by $1 million. Add $5.4 million for newcomer Nick Swisher and a net of $2.7 million for Marte. Those eight players will be paid $79 million that wasn’t on the payroll this year.

Add $79 million to the $7.2 million in buyouts, and we almost wipe out the $88.5 million the Yankee claim. If Pettitte signs for $10 million, the new money will exceed the departed money, even if it is $88.5 million.

But it’s all the Yankees’ money, and as far as I’m concerned, they can spend it any way they want.

The average annual value of 14 Yankees’ contracts already signed (in millions):
Rodriguez

$27.50
Sabathia

23.00
Teixeira

22.50
Jeter

18.90
Burnett

16.50
Rivera

15.00
Posada

13.10
Damon

13.00
Matsui

13.00
Cano

7.50
Swisher

5.35
Chien-Ming Wang

5.00
Marte

4.00
Molina

2.00



Total

186.35
2009 Tax Threshold

162.00

You've clearly never been to a sports bar in Philly during an Eagles game. Nothing but green and white.

I doubt you have either, asshole...