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:

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.

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.

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.)

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!

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!

Brian "Shut the bleep up, A-Rod" Cashman gives lecture on civility. Yes, really.

So Brian Cashman is doing his annual "look at me" winter tour (for one thing, the guy who broke his leg skydiving will will be rappelling down a 22-story building this weekend again with Bobby Valentine). Even more odd than that, Bri recently gave a lecture as part of a "Civility in America" series, according to the New York Daily News. He spoke on "Civility in Baseball." Yes, really.

You would think that somebody whose most memorable utterance this year was telling Alex Rodriguez to "shut the (bleep) up" would be the last person to lecture anybody on civility. Not to mention all the times Cashman has threatened reporters who dare to write the truth about him, like when Cashman read Wally Matthews the riot act for writing that Cashman opposed the Alfonso Soriano trade, after Soriano was a smashing success in pinstripes.

It would be like Kathleen Sebelius, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, head of the federal agency responsible for the Obamacare website debacle, lecturing us on how to run a successful website. If that is too esoteric an analogy for you, it would be like Chris Brown lecturing on how to control your temper!

Yet, for some reason, Cashman -- hardly the person who comes to mind when thinking about civility in America, baseball, or in any context -- spoke on the subject. And guess what, kids, he gave steroid use as an example of lack of civility in sport, according to the New York Post, which begs the question as to why he himself has signed or traded for so many known or suspected steroid users. (And don't forget him reportedly screaming at a TV screen to tell Jason Giambi to get back on the juice!)

In the lecture, Cashman also talked about bullying and hazing in baseball, saying in reference to the Richie Incognito debacle in Miami: "It all goes on, unfortunately, in our world. Every aspect they're experiencing, we've experienced. I can't sit there and represent that that's not occurring in our sport." Cashman also talked about how Orlando Hernandez did not want to dress up as part of the rookie hazing. From the Daily News:

"He's coming from Cuba and a whole different culture and life experience that no one could even comprehend. The rookies all get dressed up. It's a rookie-hazing situation and it's kind of an indoctrination, whether it's right or wrong. I went back (to talk to Hernandez) and said, 'This is what they do. Even though you're older, you're still a rookie. It's just kind of a welcome to the team. They dress them up in funny outfits, different themes each year.'

Cashman said that El Duque responded, "'I was a clown for (Fidel) Castro for 31 years; I'm not going to be a clown for anyone else, ever again.' He was very upset. So it happens." The News wrote that "Cashman said he did not recall whether Hernandez dressed up or not." And the rookie hazing tradition still goes on today.

First of all, I find it hard to believe that Cashman could not recall whether El Duque participated in this. Isn't that kind of the point of the story -- that way back in 1998, a proud Yankee did not want to do the rookie hazing?

Second, Cashman has been GM of the Yankees since that year. And he learned in his very first season how the rookie hazing could not sit well with some people. Yet the tradition  still continues today. Wow, he's a really slow learner. Perfect speaker to talk on civility, eh? Not a single example of how he has lifted a finger to make baseball a better place. Good grief.

Yankee ticket deals available for holiday season

The New York Yankees are the premier franchise in all of professional sports having won an unprecedented 27 World Series Championships throughout their storied history. As such they have rarely offered discounted ticket specials. However for 2014 season they have decided to reward their loyal fan base by offering some fantastic deals for the upcoming season. Beginning at 12 pm EST on Black Friday (November 29) and lasting until December 24th, the Yankees, in conjunction with MasterCard, will offer three different promotions for fans to purchase tickets.

MasterCard Preferred Pricing

• $15 off select seats when purchasing tickets with your MasterCard. 
  
• Available for every home game through June.
  
• New for the 2014 season! 

MasterCard Holiday Buy 2, Get 2

• Save 50% on select seats (Terrace Level, Grandstand Level or Bleachers) for the following games:
  
• Must be purchased with a MasterCard between 12 pm EST on Black Friday (11/29) through Cyber Monday (12/2). 
• Entering the promo code “MCB2G2” at check out. 
  

Offer available for these games:

• 4/8 vs Baltimore Orioles 
• 4/9 vs Baltimore Orioles 
• 4/15 vs Chicago Cubs
• 4/16 vs Chicago Cubs
  
• 4/29 vs Seattle Mariners
• 4/30 vs Seattle Mariners
• 5/1 vs Seattle Mariners

MasterCard $5 1/2 Priced Games

• Tickets available in select areas of the Stadium in the Terrace Level, Grandstand Level or Bleachers
  
• Tickets must be purchased with a MasterCard.
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Offer available for these games: 

• 4/9 vs Baltimore Orioles
• 4/29 vs Seattle Mariners
• 4/30 vs Seattle Mariners
• 5/1 vs Seattle Mariners
• 6/3 vs Oakland Athletics
• 6/17 vs Toronto Blue Jays

To take advantage of these great deals on 2014 New York Yankees tickets, click here. 

A-Rod provides great radio/TV watching on WFAN's Mike Francesa

I was home sick from work yesterday when I heard about Alex Rodriguez storming out of the MLB hearing on his case, throwing a hissy fit over Bud Selig not having to testify. I then heard about his appearance on Mike's On, Mike Francesa's WFAN sports radio show with the dated theme song. (Mike, it's 2013, not 1986!)

Anyhow, I ended up getting to watch the replay on the YES Network of A-Rod's appearance. (Here's a link to watch the video of it, and here's a link to text with the highlights.) It was pretty compelling radio listening and TV watching, even though I think A-Rod is not telling the truth in a lot of it. (For one thing, I don't believe that he just used Tony Bosch to get weight loss supplements and nutrition!) But here is what I agree with him on:

A-Rod said: "[Selig] hates my guts ... 100 percent this is personal. I think this is about his legacy and it's about my legacy. He's trying to destroy me....He's retiring in 2014 and to put me on his big mantle on the way out, that's a hell of a trophy."

My thoughts: True! And Bud Selig *should* be compelled to testify. Bud is the one who made this personal, getting a second investigative team after Rodriguez, and paying $$$ to get the Biogenesis records. And he was the one who has been badmouthing A-Rod for months. It was, of course, also Selig who decided to give A-Rod a suspension 161 games bigger than anybody else. If they have all their ducks in a row, then why not have Selig talk?

A-Rod said: "If I had one more year at $12 million, would someone throw 211 games at me? Or would someone be this severe at me? I don't think so." 

I agree! And I can't help but be a little cynical on this issue, when I see the Bill Maddens of the world suggest that the Mets sign Jhonny Peralta and Nelson Cruz, saying things like "there is one other added advantage in signing Cruz or Peralta. Both of them have demonstrated they know how to beat a drug test." Not to mention Cruz and Peralta (and Marlon Byrd, another PED user) getting such big interest in the free agent market. If steroids are bad, then why aren't teams shunning all of them?

A-Rod also said he was "angry" at the Yankees -- would have loved to have heard more about that, specifically about what Randy Levine said to him in emails about taking PEDs.

Anyhow, if you haven't checked out the interview, please do so. It's great theater!

2013 BBA awards ballot - American League

The following are Squawker Lisa's AL picks:
 
Connie Mack Award - Top Manager: John Farrell, Boston Red Sox

Willie Mays Award - Top Rookie: Wil Myers, Tampa Bay Rays

Goose Gossage Award - Top Reliever: Mariano Rivera, New York Yankees

Walter Johnson Award - Top Pitcher: Max Scherzer, Detroit Tigers

Stan Musial Award - Top Player: Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers

2013 BBA awards ballot - National League

Before getting to my awards picks, congratulations to our Red Sox fan readers on Boston winning the pennant! (All Squawker Lisa has to say about it is to ask me why I don't have a playoff beard.) And congratulations to Carlos Beltran, so underrated as a Met, finally getting to the World Series. But  though I'm pulling for the Red Sox, I'd just as soon see someone else besides Shane Victorino be the hero.

2013 Baseball Bloggers Awards Ballot - National League

Connie Mack Award - Top Manager: Clint Hurdle, Pittsburgh Pirates

Willie Mays Award - Top Rookie: Jose Fernandez, Miami Marlins

Goose Gossage Award - Top Reliever: Craig Kimbrel, Atlanta Braves

Walter Johnson Award - Top Pitcher: Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers

Stan Musial Award - Top Player: Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh Pirates

What's up with Hal Steinbrenner's magical mystery tour?

So I see that Hal Steinbrenner made the media rounds yesterday, telling reporters and sports yakkers gems like "I think Brian [Cashman] did a great job" as general manager. (What high standards, eh? If Cashman did a great job this year, then I would hate to think what Hal considers a bad job?) I wonder what took Hal so long to finally speak out about the season. After all, it ended 10 days ago. (And it ended pretty much exactly like I predicted in March -- I said the team would not finish higher than third place, or win more than 86 games, and that is virtually what happened.)

 After all, Mariano Rivera tributes aside, this season was a debacle. And Hal, while giving lip service to the team's goals about a championship, sounded pretty blase about the whole thing. He seems to think that if you clap your hands and believe in fairies, that is enough. He told Joel Sherman this about the quotes about his father posted around Yankeeland:

“My favorite is Churchill who said: A pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity and an optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty,” Hal said, leaning forward for the kind of emphasis that would make his old man proud. “My job is to be an optimist.”

Hal, here are a few other Winston Churchill quotes you ought to pay attention to:

“It is no use saying, ‘We are doing our best.’ You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary.”

"To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often."

"It's time for Brian Cashman, Randy Levine, and Lonn Trost to go." (Okay, Churchill didn't really say that, but I bet he would have if he were still alive!)

Anyhow, the whole reason, it seems to me, for Steinbrenner's magical mystery tour yesterday is to put pressure on Joe Girardi to re-up as manager ASAP. I think Joe has less than a 50-50 chance of returning, though -- that's what I said on Facebook on the final game of the year.

The Yanks want him to re-sign without hearing what other teams have to say, though -- they have refused to give him permission to talk to other teams. I have to agree with Wally Matthews of ESPN in wondering what the Yanks are afraid of here. Matthews writes:

If it's fair for them to ask Girardi to make up his mind before the end of the month, then it is fair to grant him permission to talk to whoever else might be interested in him. That is what constitutes a good-faith negotiation. And you would think that the New York Yankees, who drink from the richest font of sports revenue in the world, would have nothing to fear from going up against smaller-market clubs like the Cubs and Nationals. 

Run, Joe, run! Away from this team. The Yanks are going nowhere next year.

If Brian Cashman is really taking full responsibility for the Yankees, then why does he still have a job?

So New York Yankees GM Brian Cashman had a press conference Tuesday in which he claimed to take full responsibility for the Yankees' failure to make the postseason this year. Of course, to my knowledge, none of the lapdogs in the New York media bothered to ask him this followup question -- why aren't you quitting or being fired if it is your responsibility?!

Look at this, from the presser:

Q. "Who do you put the ultimate responsibility on for the team not being good enough?"
A. "Me."
Q. "Nobody else?"
A. "It’s my responsibility."
Q. "Were you given all the resources necessary in the winter to build a winner?"
A. "Yes."

Well, in the words of Michael Kay, shouldn't Cash be saying "See ya!" and jumping out of an airplane and out of his job or something? He failed at his job despite being given $230 million, and he ought to be fired, or at least show some dignity (ha!) and quit.

But of course that isn't going to happen. Cashman has to pay over $1 million next year in alimony to his ex-wife, so he's not going to walk away. And the Yankees aren't going to fire him, either. After all, they still owe him $3 million for the 2014 season.

(An aside: is there any organization more penny wise and pound foolish than the Yankees? They did the same thing when it came to keeping Joe Torre for another season, choosing to keep him long past his sell-by date because otherwise they'd have to pay him $8 million. They never consider the money they lose and do not make by essentially giving up on the season to save a few bucks.)

The thing is, there is no logical argument for keeping Cashman in. I predicted in March that the Yankees would not win more than 86 games, and would not finish higher than third place, and I was right on both counts. With the poor way this team was constructed, that record was not a surprise to anybody who paid attention. Not to mention that woeful farm system. Cashman demanded complete control of that in 2005. What does he have to show for it? The Yanks had 56 players on the field in 2013, and there was not one future star -- or even just future everyday player -- in any of the prospects. The problems with this team rest at Cashman's feet.

Yet Hal Steinbrenner is apparently so afraid of being seen like his dear old dad, that he won't ever actually hold anybody accountable. So Cashman is coming back, as are Randy Levine, Lonn Trost, and all of the other dunderheads in Yankeeland.

Almost nobody even argues anymore that Cashman is a great GM -- all they can say is that his replacement could be worse. Well, that's the excuse for staying in a bad relationship -- your boyfriend or girlfriend may treat you badly, but your next boyfriend or girlfriend could be worse. People who talk that way have a failure of imagination and a fear of change. It never occurs to them that the replacement could be better!

And who couldn't be better than Brian Cashman? He has a stated mandate to win the World Series of that year. In 12 of the last 13 seasons, he has failed at that goal, and this year, his team didn't even make the playoffs, despite having its highest payroll in history.

But the no-talent clown still gets to keep his job, and tell lies like this, like what he said yesterday when asked about A-Rod's PED appeal hearing (emphasis added):

“I operate on the assumption that I have him until they tell me otherwise. I’m not really in a position to talk about the Alex stuff. We’re not a party to it. I know from the media reports it was supposed to start yesterday and for a while there, until I looked on Twitter and saw certain things about people coming and going I wasn’t even sure if it had started or not. Because that’s how out of the loop I am on it. There’s not much to say on it. At this stage I’m not a participant in any way.”

Really, Bri? You're really claiming this nonsense? If you really didn't know, then you ought to lose your job just for that -- being an ignoramus!