Reminder -- if you are interested in the Spartan Race, here is a 15% discount code for you. There is going to be a Spartan Sprint at Citi Field on April 12 (MLB-related tie-in here!) I am hoping to compete in it myself! Please check out the video below to get pumped up over it.
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Monday, February 17, 2014
"Bronx Bombers" is a solid line drive double on Broadway
Recently, Squawker Jon and I were invited to check out “Bronx Bombers” on Broadway. We did just that, and enjoyed the play (although I did more than Jon; he is still waiting for a Broadway show to celebrate the Mets, though I did point out to him that a revival of "Les Miserables" opens next month.) Here are my thoughts on "Bronx Bombers." Spoiler alert if you want to be totally surprised before seeing the show.
This was a unique experience for me, to see a play in two different iterations. That’s because last fall, Squawker Jon and I got the opportunity to check out the play “Bronx Bombers” in its off-Broadway tryout. We attended the very first night of that show.The first act was intriguing -- it features Yogi Berra trying to make peace between Reggie Jackson and Billy Martin, on the morning after their infamous 1977 dugout argument, with Thurman Munson along as a bemused observer (more on that in a bit.)
That’s even though I thought that the play should have done more to explore Jackson’s side of the story when it came to Martin, given that race had a lot to do with Martin’s animosity towards him. I wrote in notes then that “the show is too kind to Martin, and too rough to Jackson.” Despite that, the writing was mostly pretty good in this part, and the acting, particularly by Bill Dawes as Thurman Munson, was very good. We were a little confused at the beginning of the previous play, though, as the actor playing Yogi looked more like Martin than Berra, and for the first 10 minutes, we thought we were watching Martin!
But when we saw the show’s dreamlike dinner party in the off-Broadway production, we thought it was “bizarre,” as I wrote in notes I took after the first show, made no sense, and took away from the show’s fairly strong first act.
That dinner party is still in the play, with Yankee legends old and new, but fortunately, it makes a bit more sense in the retooled show, with better writing and better acting – Peter Scolari is a standout as Yogi Berra, and Tracy Shayne, his real-life wife, is excellent as his wife Carmen. There are lots of Yogi-isms throughout the play – more than I remember in the original version – and most of them draw knowing laughter from the audience.
The first act is tighter now and makes you understand and empathize with each character. Reggie, played by Francois Battiste, (who also plays Elston Howard at the dinner party), now points out the racial issues he was facing as an outspoken black man in the 1970s in the way that is illuminating without being pedantic. Billy, played by Keith Nobbs, is a well-acted mess in western wear, although Nobbs doesn’t quite look old enough to play Martin. The main four players in this Bronx Zoo drama are very entertaining to watch.
As for the second half of the play, the dinner party works better than when we saw it in previews. Dawes, who plays Munson in the first act, is outstanding as Mickey Mantle in the second act, looking, sounding and acting like Mantle. He spars with Joe DiMaggio, played by Chris Henry Coffey. Their characters are the must-watch part of the party.
Christopher Jackson plays Derek Jeter at the party, and while he doesn’t look all that much like Jeter, he does sound like him, and he inhabits the role more than he did when he saw him last fall.
There were two issues that I had with both versions of the play. The first is that if you are going to have Yogi as the central character, you have to talk about his 14-year estrangement from the Yankees. It is one of the more interesting things about him – he is one of the few people to stick it to George Steinbrenner. The second is that Steinbrenner should have been in the play. He is the kind of larger-than-life dramatic character you would want to have in the show.
After the play was over, Jon and I stuck around to see a post-play chat with Scolari, Shayne, and Fran Kirmser and Tony Ponturo, the producers of the play. They explained the reasoning behind both these issues, but I still think it would have been a stronger play with those elements in there. But that's quibbling.
When an audience member asked if they were concerned about having the actors look like the players, the producers and actors said they put more of a priority on finding bits of behavior to create the characters of the players.
If you want to walk down Yankee memory lane on Broadway, you should check out “Bronx Bombers.” While it's not a home run, it's a solid line drive double.
This was a unique experience for me, to see a play in two different iterations. That’s because last fall, Squawker Jon and I got the opportunity to check out the play “Bronx Bombers” in its off-Broadway tryout. We attended the very first night of that show.The first act was intriguing -- it features Yogi Berra trying to make peace between Reggie Jackson and Billy Martin, on the morning after their infamous 1977 dugout argument, with Thurman Munson along as a bemused observer (more on that in a bit.)
That’s even though I thought that the play should have done more to explore Jackson’s side of the story when it came to Martin, given that race had a lot to do with Martin’s animosity towards him. I wrote in notes then that “the show is too kind to Martin, and too rough to Jackson.” Despite that, the writing was mostly pretty good in this part, and the acting, particularly by Bill Dawes as Thurman Munson, was very good. We were a little confused at the beginning of the previous play, though, as the actor playing Yogi looked more like Martin than Berra, and for the first 10 minutes, we thought we were watching Martin!
But when we saw the show’s dreamlike dinner party in the off-Broadway production, we thought it was “bizarre,” as I wrote in notes I took after the first show, made no sense, and took away from the show’s fairly strong first act.
That dinner party is still in the play, with Yankee legends old and new, but fortunately, it makes a bit more sense in the retooled show, with better writing and better acting – Peter Scolari is a standout as Yogi Berra, and Tracy Shayne, his real-life wife, is excellent as his wife Carmen. There are lots of Yogi-isms throughout the play – more than I remember in the original version – and most of them draw knowing laughter from the audience.
The first act is tighter now and makes you understand and empathize with each character. Reggie, played by Francois Battiste, (who also plays Elston Howard at the dinner party), now points out the racial issues he was facing as an outspoken black man in the 1970s in the way that is illuminating without being pedantic. Billy, played by Keith Nobbs, is a well-acted mess in western wear, although Nobbs doesn’t quite look old enough to play Martin. The main four players in this Bronx Zoo drama are very entertaining to watch.
As for the second half of the play, the dinner party works better than when we saw it in previews. Dawes, who plays Munson in the first act, is outstanding as Mickey Mantle in the second act, looking, sounding and acting like Mantle. He spars with Joe DiMaggio, played by Chris Henry Coffey. Their characters are the must-watch part of the party.
Christopher Jackson plays Derek Jeter at the party, and while he doesn’t look all that much like Jeter, he does sound like him, and he inhabits the role more than he did when he saw him last fall.
There were two issues that I had with both versions of the play. The first is that if you are going to have Yogi as the central character, you have to talk about his 14-year estrangement from the Yankees. It is one of the more interesting things about him – he is one of the few people to stick it to George Steinbrenner. The second is that Steinbrenner should have been in the play. He is the kind of larger-than-life dramatic character you would want to have in the show.
After the play was over, Jon and I stuck around to see a post-play chat with Scolari, Shayne, and Fran Kirmser and Tony Ponturo, the producers of the play. They explained the reasoning behind both these issues, but I still think it would have been a stronger play with those elements in there. But that's quibbling.
When an audience member asked if they were concerned about having the actors look like the players, the producers and actors said they put more of a priority on finding bits of behavior to create the characters of the players.
If you want to walk down Yankee memory lane on Broadway, you should check out “Bronx Bombers.” While it's not a home run, it's a solid line drive double.
Did Robinson Cano dog it too much as a Yankee?
In today's New York Daily News, Yankee hitting coach throws Robinson Cano under the bus for a lack of hustle -- specifically not running hard enough to first on ground balls. Here are some of the choice comments from Long:
Anyhow, I had to wonder why Kevin Long was talking about Cano to such an extent anyway. What was the purpose? If Long thought this was so important for Cano to hustle, and he didn't do it, that reflects as badly on the hitting coach as it does on the second baseman. It also seems like bad form to me for him to trash Cano after he went elsewhere. If he had stayed on the Yankees, would Long be publicly flapping his gums on the flaws in Cano's game?
Maybe Long ought to pay more attention to his day job instead of being the Yankees' henchman.
“If somebody told me I was a dog," Long said here Sunday, “I’d have to fix that. When you choose not to, you leave yourself open to taking heat, and that’s your fault. For whatever reason, Robbie chose not to."Long also said about Cano:
“He overcame so much while he was here,’’ Long said. “As a young kid there were holes everywhere. There were holes in his swing, in his makeup, in his body composition. This kid grew and grew and grew. All the other stuff … he’d take plays off in the field, he’d give away at-bats in RBI situations. He made a lot of personal decisions to get over the hump in those areas. People don’t know how hard he worked, how many times he was the one asking me to do extra work in the cage.’’Sure, Long was complimentary at times about Cano when talking to John Harper, but there were an awful lot of negative comments in there about the Yankees' best player last year. And Long never acknowledges a pretty good reason for Cano not to play 100% at all times -- that he has been able to stay healthy throughout his career and play nearly every single game. Cano only missed 14 games since 2006 -- that should have been mentioned in the article.
Anyhow, I had to wonder why Kevin Long was talking about Cano to such an extent anyway. What was the purpose? If Long thought this was so important for Cano to hustle, and he didn't do it, that reflects as badly on the hitting coach as it does on the second baseman. It also seems like bad form to me for him to trash Cano after he went elsewhere. If he had stayed on the Yankees, would Long be publicly flapping his gums on the flaws in Cano's game?
Maybe Long ought to pay more attention to his day job instead of being the Yankees' henchman.
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
My night at the Baseball Assistance Team dinner
I had the honor of getting to attend Tuesday's Baseball Assistance Team (BAT) 25th annual dinner, held at the Marriott Marquis in Manhattan. Many thanks to MLB for getting me into the event. BAT helps former players and front office personnel in need.
While Tuesday's snowstorm kept some of the event's honorees, like Bud Selig and Jimmy Rollins, from being able to attend in person, there were over 75 current and retired MLB players, as well as many hundreds of other attendees, at the dinner. There was also a nice tribute to Michael Weiner, the late had of the players' union, at the event. And the Yankees, as well as the Dodgers, were honored for having the best support to the organization in 2013.
It was a cool event to go to. I showed up in the afternoon to pick up my media credentials, and then get a cup of coffee at the hotel's Starbucks, and I saw Hall of Famer Roberto Alomar getting a coffee of his own!
That is just one of many of the big names I saw at the dinner. I saw David Cone chatting with a friend at the pre-dinner reception; was going to say something but I was tongue-tied for once in my life! I also saw Tommy Lasorda, Steve Garvey, Rollie Fingers, Orlando Cepeda, Phil Linz, Dr. Bobby Brown, Dmitri Young, and many other former MLBers walking around. Adam Jones of the Baltimore Orioles was also there as one of the current MLB players at the event.
I got the chance to talk to Harold Reynolds -- he is just as engaging and charismatic as he is on TV -- at the pre-dinner social hour. At the dinner itself, there is supposed to be a former MLB player at each table. My table had Greg Colbrunn, who played for the Arizona Diamondbacks on their 2001 team. So I was asking him questions about that series, and what it was like. Also noticed his World Series ring. Interestingly enough, Colbrunn was a coach for a number of years in the Yankee farm system, and finally got his chance to coach in the big leagues last year as -- drumroll please -- the Boston Red Sox's hitting coach! So now he will have two rings!
Tike Redman, a former MLB player who received financial assistance from BAT after his daughter was diagnosed with cancer, gave a touching speech about how the help meant to him and his family. It really brought the point home as to how valuable the organization is.
Anyhow, if you ever get the chance to attend the BAT dinner, I wholeheartedly recommend it. Great night for a great cause!
While Tuesday's snowstorm kept some of the event's honorees, like Bud Selig and Jimmy Rollins, from being able to attend in person, there were over 75 current and retired MLB players, as well as many hundreds of other attendees, at the dinner. There was also a nice tribute to Michael Weiner, the late had of the players' union, at the event. And the Yankees, as well as the Dodgers, were honored for having the best support to the organization in 2013.
It was a cool event to go to. I showed up in the afternoon to pick up my media credentials, and then get a cup of coffee at the hotel's Starbucks, and I saw Hall of Famer Roberto Alomar getting a coffee of his own!
That is just one of many of the big names I saw at the dinner. I saw David Cone chatting with a friend at the pre-dinner reception; was going to say something but I was tongue-tied for once in my life! I also saw Tommy Lasorda, Steve Garvey, Rollie Fingers, Orlando Cepeda, Phil Linz, Dr. Bobby Brown, Dmitri Young, and many other former MLBers walking around. Adam Jones of the Baltimore Orioles was also there as one of the current MLB players at the event.
I got the chance to talk to Harold Reynolds -- he is just as engaging and charismatic as he is on TV -- at the pre-dinner social hour. At the dinner itself, there is supposed to be a former MLB player at each table. My table had Greg Colbrunn, who played for the Arizona Diamondbacks on their 2001 team. So I was asking him questions about that series, and what it was like. Also noticed his World Series ring. Interestingly enough, Colbrunn was a coach for a number of years in the Yankee farm system, and finally got his chance to coach in the big leagues last year as -- drumroll please -- the Boston Red Sox's hitting coach! So now he will have two rings!
Tike Redman, a former MLB player who received financial assistance from BAT after his daughter was diagnosed with cancer, gave a touching speech about how the help meant to him and his family. It really brought the point home as to how valuable the organization is.
Anyhow, if you ever get the chance to attend the BAT dinner, I wholeheartedly recommend it. Great night for a great cause!
Monday, January 13, 2014
Here are some unanswered questions about A-Rod, Tony Bosch, and that "60 Minutes" report
If you had Alex Rodriguez in your office pool, as I did, as getting a 50-game suspension, you lost. And of course A-Rod lost, too, in not being able to play for the entire 2014 season. But gee, the Yankees should now have some money to sign Tanaka. What a weird coincidence!
I think it is in everybody's interest (except A-Rod, of course) to make him the face of PED use. Bud Selig has A-Rod's scalp, the Yankees have freed up some money, and even the players' union benefits in a way, because Alex is taking all the flak for being a juicer, instead of there being widespread outrage about multiple players using PEDs.
Anyhow, that was one of the problems I had with last night's "60 Minutes" report -- no other names were mentioned as far as last year's Biogenesis suspensions. You also would never know that Melky Cabrera and Bartolo Colon and Ryan Braun previously tested positive thanks to Biogenesis' products, something which flies in the face of Tony Bosch's assertion that doing these PEDs are nearly a "cakewalk," as he bragged last night.
Anyhow, here are the questions I would have like to have heard answered last night:
* Bosch asserts that A-Rod came to him in the summer of 2010 and asked him to do for him what Bosch did for Manny Ramirez in 2008 and 2009. Does that include failing a PED test, as Ramirez did in 2009? Either A-Rod really is dumb, or Bosch was telling a lie.
* Bosch claimed a Rodriguez "associate" threatened his life, something Rob Manfred of MLB also claimed. Was a police report filed? Did they ever go to the cops over this? What evidence do they have, other than some text message to Bosch's girlfriend? And if this allegation is credible, why wasn't it brought up months ago, and why was it only in the second half of the report?
As my friend Jesse Spector writes in the Sporting News:
* According to Bosch, A-Rod passed 12 drug tests in that time frame. But MLB only has players take two PED tests a year -- once in spring training, and once in the regular season. Why did A-Rod have to take 12 in 2 1/2 years?
* "60 Minutes" went into great detail to show a multiple home run game against Florida that Bosch claims to have helped A-Rod with. But 2010 through 2012 were also the worst years of A-Rod's career up until that point. Why not show, for example, how little Bosch's stuff helped Alex in the playoffs?
* What about the other players named? Why didn't MLB send dozens of their minions after Ryan Braun or any of the other people named?
* Why does Bosch need $800,000 a year in security? How do those costs compare to celebrities' security? How is this money being funneled?
* Why didn't the report ever explain why A-Rod should get a higher penalty than other players did?
Anyhow, what unanswered questions do you have about the report? Tell us about it!
I think it is in everybody's interest (except A-Rod, of course) to make him the face of PED use. Bud Selig has A-Rod's scalp, the Yankees have freed up some money, and even the players' union benefits in a way, because Alex is taking all the flak for being a juicer, instead of there being widespread outrage about multiple players using PEDs.
Anyhow, that was one of the problems I had with last night's "60 Minutes" report -- no other names were mentioned as far as last year's Biogenesis suspensions. You also would never know that Melky Cabrera and Bartolo Colon and Ryan Braun previously tested positive thanks to Biogenesis' products, something which flies in the face of Tony Bosch's assertion that doing these PEDs are nearly a "cakewalk," as he bragged last night.
Anyhow, here are the questions I would have like to have heard answered last night:
* Bosch asserts that A-Rod came to him in the summer of 2010 and asked him to do for him what Bosch did for Manny Ramirez in 2008 and 2009. Does that include failing a PED test, as Ramirez did in 2009? Either A-Rod really is dumb, or Bosch was telling a lie.
* Bosch claimed a Rodriguez "associate" threatened his life, something Rob Manfred of MLB also claimed. Was a police report filed? Did they ever go to the cops over this? What evidence do they have, other than some text message to Bosch's girlfriend? And if this allegation is credible, why wasn't it brought up months ago, and why was it only in the second half of the report?
As my friend Jesse Spector writes in the Sporting News:
If A-Rod was behind what Manfred called a "known associate" threatening Bosch's life, that's more than impeding a baseball investigation, that's worthy of a criminal investigation. But "60 Minutes" presented no evidence of that threat other than Bosch's and Manfred's words late in the report. If there was real evidence to tie it together, the "60 Minutes" story is leading with "Disgraced baseball player threatens to kill drug dealer," not the salacious and remarkably unverifiable claim by Bosch of going into a stall with A-Rod in a public bathroom in Miami and shooting him up.
* According to Bosch, A-Rod passed 12 drug tests in that time frame. But MLB only has players take two PED tests a year -- once in spring training, and once in the regular season. Why did A-Rod have to take 12 in 2 1/2 years?
* "60 Minutes" went into great detail to show a multiple home run game against Florida that Bosch claims to have helped A-Rod with. But 2010 through 2012 were also the worst years of A-Rod's career up until that point. Why not show, for example, how little Bosch's stuff helped Alex in the playoffs?
* What about the other players named? Why didn't MLB send dozens of their minions after Ryan Braun or any of the other people named?
* Why does Bosch need $800,000 a year in security? How do those costs compare to celebrities' security? How is this money being funneled?
* Why didn't the report ever explain why A-Rod should get a higher penalty than other players did?
Anyhow, what unanswered questions do you have about the report? Tell us about it!
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Will Citi Field Hurt Curtis Granderson’s Fantasy Numbers?
The following is a guest column from FanDuel.com:
The New York Mets
have already made a decent amount of moves this offseason, with the biggest one
being the signing of Curtis Granderson. The outfielder will be moving across
the city to play, but the move could hurt his fantasy baseball 2014 numbers.
After another
disastrous season, the New York Mets have been fairly aggressive on the open
market. They locked up Granderson with a four-year, $60 million deal so that
they could have some stability in the outfield. However, his splits these last few
years show that he is a much different hitter when he is outside of Yankee
Stadium.
Every left-handed
hitter salivates when they see that short porch in right field at Yankee
Stadium. When Granderson arrived in the Bronx, he made a conscious effort to
pull the ball more to take advantage. His home run totals went up, but his
average went down. Some of those home runs will be outs in Citi Field though,
which would hurt his power and average numbers.
Another thing working
against Granderson is that he will be switching leagues. This is not as big of
a deal as it was in the past thanks to interleague play, but it is still
something that could make a little bit of a difference. The American League
East has better pitching than the National League East, but these are mostly
different arms he will be seeing.
As he ages,
Granderson is definitely going to notice the 15-25 foot difference in right
field between Yankee and Citi. The 33-year old will also be running less and
racking up extra base hits as well. Expect his fantasy baseball 2014 value to
take a hit, especially if he doesn’t make any changes to his approach at the
plate.
Sunday, December 15, 2013
When the light at the end of the tunnel is Bartolo Colon
How is it that the Mets' free-agent signings indicate they are spending again? The payroll currently projects to $83 million, which would be lower than last season. And the Mets' next offseason goals appear to be dumping Ike Davis and perhaps Daniel Murphy because they are arbitration-eligible.
The Mets need bullpen depth, especially with Bobby Parnell still recovering from herniated disk surgery, but they let LaTroy Hawkins go because they didn't want to pay a 41-year-old $2.5 million. And yet they are willing to give Bartolo Colon, who turns 41 in May, $20 million.
The signings of Curtis Granderson, Chris Young and Colon would be a lot more exciting if the Mets were actually adding pieces, but they still appear to be treading water. If trading Davis and/or Murphy can improve the club, great, but Davis has much more upside than Lucas Duda and Murphy is a career .290 hitter. The Mets hit .237 as a team in 2013 and new additions Granderson and Young both hit below that last season. Even if they both manage to hit homers in Citi Field, it will be nice to have someone on base.
On the plus side, the signing of Colon shows that the Mets are not simply writing off 2014, but are willing to make a short-term investment to strengthen the rotation in Matt Harvey's absence. Signing Granderson does offer hope that the team will have hitting for the next two or there years, and if they are lucky, four years.
Young is a gamble. Billy Beane's front office is as smart as any in MLB, and they elected to let both Young and Colon go.
When Granderson joined the Mets, he said that people tell him that true New Yorkers are Met fans. I'm not even sure what a "true New Yorker" is. I'm a native, and I've always been a Met fan, but one could argue that the hordes of people who come to New York because that is where they want to be are equally true New Yorkers as those of us who never left.
What is less debatable is that a true New York team is willing to spend money, since New York is the biggest of the big markets. As New York fans, including Met fans, know all too well, spending money does not always translate into victories or even good teams. But Met fans also know that the last time the team ramped up its spending, they won 97 games and made it to Game 7 of the NLCS in 2006.
If the remainder of the offseason does not result in an increased payroll, let's hope it at least does not consist mostly of salary dumps.
The Mets need bullpen depth, especially with Bobby Parnell still recovering from herniated disk surgery, but they let LaTroy Hawkins go because they didn't want to pay a 41-year-old $2.5 million. And yet they are willing to give Bartolo Colon, who turns 41 in May, $20 million.
The signings of Curtis Granderson, Chris Young and Colon would be a lot more exciting if the Mets were actually adding pieces, but they still appear to be treading water. If trading Davis and/or Murphy can improve the club, great, but Davis has much more upside than Lucas Duda and Murphy is a career .290 hitter. The Mets hit .237 as a team in 2013 and new additions Granderson and Young both hit below that last season. Even if they both manage to hit homers in Citi Field, it will be nice to have someone on base.
On the plus side, the signing of Colon shows that the Mets are not simply writing off 2014, but are willing to make a short-term investment to strengthen the rotation in Matt Harvey's absence. Signing Granderson does offer hope that the team will have hitting for the next two or there years, and if they are lucky, four years.
Young is a gamble. Billy Beane's front office is as smart as any in MLB, and they elected to let both Young and Colon go.
When Granderson joined the Mets, he said that people tell him that true New Yorkers are Met fans. I'm not even sure what a "true New Yorker" is. I'm a native, and I've always been a Met fan, but one could argue that the hordes of people who come to New York because that is where they want to be are equally true New Yorkers as those of us who never left.
What is less debatable is that a true New York team is willing to spend money, since New York is the biggest of the big markets. As New York fans, including Met fans, know all too well, spending money does not always translate into victories or even good teams. But Met fans also know that the last time the team ramped up its spending, they won 97 games and made it to Game 7 of the NLCS in 2006.
If the remainder of the offseason does not result in an increased payroll, let's hope it at least does not consist mostly of salary dumps.
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Bill Madden shows the hypocrisy of MLB when it comes to steroids and the Hall of Fame
New York Daily News columnist Bill Madden is really down on steroids. After all, he called A-Rod the "Whitey Bulger of baseball" and has said when it comes to his MLB Hall of Fame vote that "I will never vote for any player known to have used steroids."
Yet it seems like his outrage on PEDs is very selective. After all, he recently exhorted the Mets -- twice -- to sign known PED users, cynically writing that "there is one other added advantage in signing Biogenesis clients" Nelson Cruz and Jhonny Peralta" -- "Both of them have demonstrated they know how to beat a drug test."
And this Sunday, Madden wrote that the Mets ought to sign 40-year-old Bartolo Colon, another Biogenesis client who tested positive for PEDs in 2012. Oh, and Madden thinks they ought to give the obese pitcher a two-year deal! Yet Madden never noted that 1) Colon is a known PED user, 2) Given how well Colon has pitched at his age and weight, he is very likely still using, 3) If he were to get suspended again for PEDs, he would face a 150-game suspension, which could cripple the Mets, and 4) Even if he weren't suspended, the only way somebody over 40 is going to be pitching the way he had is if he's using steroids. Not to mention that there was none of Madden's usual outrage over PED use. Guess he saves that for A-Rod and Barry Bonds.
Then Monday, after managers Joe Torre, Tony LaRussa, and Bobby Cox were all elected by MLB's Veterans' Committee to the Hall of Fame, Madden praised their "integrity and character" and claimed that Marvin Miller was not elected to the hall in this election because of his opposition to PED testing. Madden writes:
Not to mention that Tony LaRussa was manager of the Oakland A's when Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire helped get the whole steroid era going in the first place, or that LaRussa was McGwire's manager in 1998 when he beat Roger Maris' home run record. And that Bobby Cox managed, among others, David Justice and John Rocker, PED users.
I think its a real disconnect with baseball -- and with Madden. Why are PED users kept out of the Hall of Fame when the managers who benefited from their PED use elected unanimously on the first try? Why does Madden claim (wrongly, I believe) that Miller was excluded due to his stance on this issue and not even note that the managers he praises benefited from players' steroid usage?
I contend that the only way to get PEDs out of sports is for teams and managers to suffer the consequences, not just the individual players. Yet we're supposed to believe that three of the smartest managers in the game had no idea what their players were doing. Child, please.
Yet it seems like his outrage on PEDs is very selective. After all, he recently exhorted the Mets -- twice -- to sign known PED users, cynically writing that "there is one other added advantage in signing Biogenesis clients" Nelson Cruz and Jhonny Peralta" -- "Both of them have demonstrated they know how to beat a drug test."
And this Sunday, Madden wrote that the Mets ought to sign 40-year-old Bartolo Colon, another Biogenesis client who tested positive for PEDs in 2012. Oh, and Madden thinks they ought to give the obese pitcher a two-year deal! Yet Madden never noted that 1) Colon is a known PED user, 2) Given how well Colon has pitched at his age and weight, he is very likely still using, 3) If he were to get suspended again for PEDs, he would face a 150-game suspension, which could cripple the Mets, and 4) Even if he weren't suspended, the only way somebody over 40 is going to be pitching the way he had is if he's using steroids. Not to mention that there was none of Madden's usual outrage over PED use. Guess he saves that for A-Rod and Barry Bonds.
Then Monday, after managers Joe Torre, Tony LaRussa, and Bobby Cox were all elected by MLB's Veterans' Committee to the Hall of Fame, Madden praised their "integrity and character" and claimed that Marvin Miller was not elected to the hall in this election because of his opposition to PED testing. Madden writes:
You want to know why Miller, who missed by only one vote in the last Expansion Era election three years ago, didn’t come close this time? You probably need to look no further than his repeated statements prior to his death in November 2012, decrying the players union’s agreeing to drug testing.Let's review. Madden doesn't even note that Torre, LaRussa and Cox were the top three managers of the Steroid Era, all of whom immensely benefited from PED users on their team. Lest we forget that Roger Clemens will not be elected to the Hall of Fame anytime soon because of PED use, but Joe Torre, who he played under for two of Torre's four rings, gets elected unanimously. (Torre also had nine of his 2000 WS Champion Yankees named in the Mitchell Report.)
Almost to a man, the Hall of Fame players have condemned the alleged steroids cheats — Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Roger Clemens et al, who have obliterated their records or passed many of them on the all-time lists — and Miller’s adamant stance against taking measures to clean up the game has diminished him despite all his accomplishments on their behalf.
Not to mention that Tony LaRussa was manager of the Oakland A's when Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire helped get the whole steroid era going in the first place, or that LaRussa was McGwire's manager in 1998 when he beat Roger Maris' home run record. And that Bobby Cox managed, among others, David Justice and John Rocker, PED users.
I think its a real disconnect with baseball -- and with Madden. Why are PED users kept out of the Hall of Fame when the managers who benefited from their PED use elected unanimously on the first try? Why does Madden claim (wrongly, I believe) that Miller was excluded due to his stance on this issue and not even note that the managers he praises benefited from players' steroid usage?
I contend that the only way to get PEDs out of sports is for teams and managers to suffer the consequences, not just the individual players. Yet we're supposed to believe that three of the smartest managers in the game had no idea what their players were doing. Child, please.
Why Robinson Cano did the right thing in going to Seattle (and the Yankees have no plan and no clue)
Earth to Yankee fans: our fanbase never has the right to complain about a player going for the money, least of all Robinson Cano, who actually was paid below market value as a Yankee (he never made more than $15 million a year). As if all the free agents over the years who got big salaries in the Bronx only did it for a chance to play in pinstripes, and money wasn't a consideration.
One blogger even wrote a list of the many reasons that Cano wasn't a "true Yankee," and listed No. 1 as him going for the money! (Oh, and please, stop with the crazy notion that Carlos Beltran took a pay cut to be a Yankee -- he got a three-year deal worth $45 million, after the Yanks initially insisted he wouldn't get more than two years, which means we will have him stumbling around the outfield when he is almost 40. That's the "financial flexibility" not signing Cano got the Yankees -- the ability to give Beltran a third year!)
Newsflash: this "love of the game" and "love of the pinstripes" stuff is a fantasy. And don't give the Core Four argument, as one deluded Yankee fan did with me this weekend. (She blocked me on Facebook when I pointed out that contrary to her assertion that the Core Four never left the team for more money, Andy Pettitte actually did just that!) And the other three members of the Core Four all were the highest-paid at the time at their positions. Besides, last time I checked, Derek Jeter got a new $12 million deal for 2014 after having all of 12 hits in 2013, when his contract option only entitled him to make $9.5 million. Does that make him not a "true Yankee"?
Unlike the sizeable contingent of ungrateful Yankee fans out there, who are now acting like Robinson Cano is some bum who wasn't even as good as Chuck Knoblauch (yes, I actually heard a Yankee fan say that the other day!) I realize what a talent Cano is, and I will miss him very much. But it is best for him that he went to Seattle, especially with the way some Yankee fans are falling over themselves to make him baseball's greatest monster now.
Let's face it -- if Cano had stayed in pinstripes, he would have become the designated Yankee scapegoat once this team tanks -- as it inevitably will. Especially given that A-Rod may not be playing next year. Cano, despite being homegrown, will never be as beloved as Jeter.
As for his skills, is Cano Miguel Cabrera or Mike Trout? No. But who is? Cano is a top-five player, though.
Helpful hint to Brian Cashman: If you had really wanted to sign Cano, you would have 1) not offered him only 10 to 15% more than you did Jacoby Ellsbury, who had exactly one elite season, and 2) not told the media last month about how Cano "loves the money." (And you don't, Bri?)
But Cano is supposed to leave $65 million on the table for the love of the pinstripes. Why? So the very fans decrying him now could boo him next year when the team stinks?
We never hear Cashman challenge the Ichiros or the Beltrans of the world that if they really want to be Yankees, they can forgot about those extra contract years. No, only Cano is supposed to do that.
Look, I actually would think that not signing Cano would make perfect sense, if the Yankees 1) had new, competent leadership at the helm, and had gotten rid of Brian Cashman, Randy Levine, Damon Oppenheimer, and Mark Newman, 2) were willing to be mediocre to bad for the next few years while they replenished their farm system and rebuilt the team slowly, and 3) stopped signing old and injury-ridden players.
But instead, we have the worst of all worlds. Not including A-Rod's salary, which could be off the books in 2014, the Yanks are already very close to that $189 million Hal mandate. And they are still missing at least one starter, a second baseman, and maybe a third baseman.
Plus, in burning the furniture by signing Jacoby Ellsbury and Carlos Beltran (I am fine with the McCann deal, although they probably did overpay), the Yanks are losing draft picks for the future.
And , you know, other teams fill holes by bringing up guys from the minors. The Yankees don't really have any major-league players to bring up. And things are likely to get even worse, the way they are going.
Of course, you could say that the Yankees are going to ignore that $189 million cap and just spend, spend, spend. Well, if that is the case, then why not sign Cano as well? Why have all these machinations to get rid of A-Rod?
Run, Robinson, run! You made the right move leaving the Bronx. Good luck in Seattle!
One blogger even wrote a list of the many reasons that Cano wasn't a "true Yankee," and listed No. 1 as him going for the money! (Oh, and please, stop with the crazy notion that Carlos Beltran took a pay cut to be a Yankee -- he got a three-year deal worth $45 million, after the Yanks initially insisted he wouldn't get more than two years, which means we will have him stumbling around the outfield when he is almost 40. That's the "financial flexibility" not signing Cano got the Yankees -- the ability to give Beltran a third year!)
Newsflash: this "love of the game" and "love of the pinstripes" stuff is a fantasy. And don't give the Core Four argument, as one deluded Yankee fan did with me this weekend. (She blocked me on Facebook when I pointed out that contrary to her assertion that the Core Four never left the team for more money, Andy Pettitte actually did just that!) And the other three members of the Core Four all were the highest-paid at the time at their positions. Besides, last time I checked, Derek Jeter got a new $12 million deal for 2014 after having all of 12 hits in 2013, when his contract option only entitled him to make $9.5 million. Does that make him not a "true Yankee"?
Unlike the sizeable contingent of ungrateful Yankee fans out there, who are now acting like Robinson Cano is some bum who wasn't even as good as Chuck Knoblauch (yes, I actually heard a Yankee fan say that the other day!) I realize what a talent Cano is, and I will miss him very much. But it is best for him that he went to Seattle, especially with the way some Yankee fans are falling over themselves to make him baseball's greatest monster now.
Let's face it -- if Cano had stayed in pinstripes, he would have become the designated Yankee scapegoat once this team tanks -- as it inevitably will. Especially given that A-Rod may not be playing next year. Cano, despite being homegrown, will never be as beloved as Jeter.
As for his skills, is Cano Miguel Cabrera or Mike Trout? No. But who is? Cano is a top-five player, though.
Helpful hint to Brian Cashman: If you had really wanted to sign Cano, you would have 1) not offered him only 10 to 15% more than you did Jacoby Ellsbury, who had exactly one elite season, and 2) not told the media last month about how Cano "loves the money." (And you don't, Bri?)
But Cano is supposed to leave $65 million on the table for the love of the pinstripes. Why? So the very fans decrying him now could boo him next year when the team stinks?
We never hear Cashman challenge the Ichiros or the Beltrans of the world that if they really want to be Yankees, they can forgot about those extra contract years. No, only Cano is supposed to do that.
Look, I actually would think that not signing Cano would make perfect sense, if the Yankees 1) had new, competent leadership at the helm, and had gotten rid of Brian Cashman, Randy Levine, Damon Oppenheimer, and Mark Newman, 2) were willing to be mediocre to bad for the next few years while they replenished their farm system and rebuilt the team slowly, and 3) stopped signing old and injury-ridden players.
But instead, we have the worst of all worlds. Not including A-Rod's salary, which could be off the books in 2014, the Yanks are already very close to that $189 million Hal mandate. And they are still missing at least one starter, a second baseman, and maybe a third baseman.
Plus, in burning the furniture by signing Jacoby Ellsbury and Carlos Beltran (I am fine with the McCann deal, although they probably did overpay), the Yanks are losing draft picks for the future.
And , you know, other teams fill holes by bringing up guys from the minors. The Yankees don't really have any major-league players to bring up. And things are likely to get even worse, the way they are going.
Of course, you could say that the Yankees are going to ignore that $189 million cap and just spend, spend, spend. Well, if that is the case, then why not sign Cano as well? Why have all these machinations to get rid of A-Rod?
Run, Robinson, run! You made the right move leaving the Bronx. Good luck in Seattle!
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Yankees signing Jacoby Ellsbury is the baseball equivalent of a payday loan
Squawker Jon called me last night to tell me that the Yankees signed Jacoby Ellsbury and he was positively gleeful when he told me that Ellsbury's contract was even more than Carl Crawford's -- $153 million over seven years!
He was the only one happy in the Subway Squawkers partnership about the signing. I, on the other hand, was more than annoyed that Brian Cashman made yet another of his dopey deals. And it is a quintessential Cashman deal, isn't it? Too many years, and too much money, for a good but injury-ridden player who was a Boston Red Sox and a Scott Boras client. Good grief. Maybe Cashman hopes to be the new "elf" in Boston fan site Surviving Grady's Ellsbury and Elf feature! (And Ellsbury is being called Obi-Wan Jacoby by Boston Dirt Dogs!)
You know, I just want to bang my head against the wall every time Brian (Fredo) Cashman and the idiot Yankee ownership decides to make a big splash like this. The thing is, none of them have ever learned a thing from past mistakes. It never occurs to any of them that the thing to do to ensure future success would be to 1) rebuild and grow their own new core of young stars, and 2) raid the Red Sox or the Cardinals or the Rays for their front office experts -- those teams seem to know what they are doing when it comes to picking young players. Instead, everybody in Yankeeland gets to keep their jobs, while deciding to mortgage the future -- again -- on a player who has arguably already peaked.
Not to mention that much of Ellsbury's value is due to his speed -- there is a reason he is a top pick in fantasy baseball. How fast do you think Jacoby will be at 35, 36, and 37, when he's still making $22 million a year? Did the Yankees not learn from A-Rod, Mark Teixeira, etc. as to what is is like when a player is on the down side of thirty, but still making big coin? Stupid question -- they NEVER learn.
At least Teixeira and A-Rod, though, had some very healthy productive years before getting old (and Tex is still only 33; he just seems really old!) Ellsbury, on the other hand, has a history of injury -- in his last four seasons, he played in 18, 158, 74, and 134 games. Yes, even in his contract year, he still missed close to 30 games due to injury. What do you think he's going to be like in three years?
I said in the headline that the Ellsbury situation is the baseball equivalent of a payday loan. Let me explain. Much like a person with a lot of credit card debt, the Yankees have a lot of money on the books in which they are paying for past purchases. But instead of taking the steps to clear out that debt, and not make any more ridiculous expenses, they are the MLB equivalent of somebody who finances a 2010 Dodge Charger with a payday loan (with interest rates through the roof) when they already have 50K in credit card debt. And when that car inevitably breaks down, they will still need to pay for it. All because they thought they would look "cool" tooling around in it.
Listen, Yankee fans -- there is a reason much of Red Sox Nation is chortling over this deal. It's not a good one!
He was the only one happy in the Subway Squawkers partnership about the signing. I, on the other hand, was more than annoyed that Brian Cashman made yet another of his dopey deals. And it is a quintessential Cashman deal, isn't it? Too many years, and too much money, for a good but injury-ridden player who was a Boston Red Sox and a Scott Boras client. Good grief. Maybe Cashman hopes to be the new "elf" in Boston fan site Surviving Grady's Ellsbury and Elf feature! (And Ellsbury is being called Obi-Wan Jacoby by Boston Dirt Dogs!)
You know, I just want to bang my head against the wall every time Brian (Fredo) Cashman and the idiot Yankee ownership decides to make a big splash like this. The thing is, none of them have ever learned a thing from past mistakes. It never occurs to any of them that the thing to do to ensure future success would be to 1) rebuild and grow their own new core of young stars, and 2) raid the Red Sox or the Cardinals or the Rays for their front office experts -- those teams seem to know what they are doing when it comes to picking young players. Instead, everybody in Yankeeland gets to keep their jobs, while deciding to mortgage the future -- again -- on a player who has arguably already peaked.
Not to mention that much of Ellsbury's value is due to his speed -- there is a reason he is a top pick in fantasy baseball. How fast do you think Jacoby will be at 35, 36, and 37, when he's still making $22 million a year? Did the Yankees not learn from A-Rod, Mark Teixeira, etc. as to what is is like when a player is on the down side of thirty, but still making big coin? Stupid question -- they NEVER learn.
At least Teixeira and A-Rod, though, had some very healthy productive years before getting old (and Tex is still only 33; he just seems really old!) Ellsbury, on the other hand, has a history of injury -- in his last four seasons, he played in 18, 158, 74, and 134 games. Yes, even in his contract year, he still missed close to 30 games due to injury. What do you think he's going to be like in three years?
I said in the headline that the Ellsbury situation is the baseball equivalent of a payday loan. Let me explain. Much like a person with a lot of credit card debt, the Yankees have a lot of money on the books in which they are paying for past purchases. But instead of taking the steps to clear out that debt, and not make any more ridiculous expenses, they are the MLB equivalent of somebody who finances a 2010 Dodge Charger with a payday loan (with interest rates through the roof) when they already have 50K in credit card debt. And when that car inevitably breaks down, they will still need to pay for it. All because they thought they would look "cool" tooling around in it.
Listen, Yankee fans -- there is a reason much of Red Sox Nation is chortling over this deal. It's not a good one!
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