Damon not coming back to Yankees; Yanks sign Winn instead, saying Damon was "out of their price range"

Now, when the Yankees say you're out of range for their budget, it's pretty much certain you weren't ever coming back...

When it comes to the designated hitter rule, I find that most people either want to get rid of it or implement it in both leagues. Is there anyone out there like me who thinks it's kind of interesting to have a major difference like this between the two leagues? No? It's just me?

Carlos Beltran out 4 months :-/

http://twitter.com/nyp_joelsherman

Current Mood: annoyed

I actually have no idea how I ended up on the MLBPA mailing list, but somehow I did. This came in today.

STATEMENT FROM MLBPA, FLORIDA MARLINS AND MLB
REGARDING MARLINS’ COMPLIANCE WITH REVENUE SHARING PROVISIONS OF THE BASIC AGREEMENT

The following joint statement was issued today by the Major League Baseball Players Association, the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball and the Florida Marlins:

The Basic Agreement requires that each Club use its revenue sharing receipts in an effort to improve its performance on the field. This requirement is of obvious importance to all players, Clubs and fans of the game. In recent years, the Union has had concerns that certain Clubs have not lived up to this requirement, and has consulted regularly with the Commissioner’s Office about those concerns. The Florida Marlins are one of a number of Clubs that have been discussed.

After extensive discussions, the three parties are pleased to announce that they have reached an agreement regarding the Florida Marlins’ continued compliance with Article XXIV(B)(5)(a) of the Basic Agreement.

MLBPA Executive Director Michael Weiner said: “In response to our concerns that revenue sharing proceeds have not been used as required, the Marlins have assured the Union and the Commissioner’s Office that they plan to use such proceeds to increase player payroll annually as they move toward the opening of their new ballpark. Today’s agreement, which covers the period 2010 through 2012, calls for ongoing communication among the Marlins, the Commissioner’s Office and the Union as the Marlins proceed with that plan. It also permits, after consultation among all parties, adjustments in the Marlins’ plan to respond to unforeseen developments, and calls for arbitral intervention if disagreements arise. We greatly appreciate the willingness of the Commissioner’s Office and the Marlins to engage with us and ensure that all terms of the Basic Agreement are met.”

Marlins’ President David Samson said: “The Marlins have consistently made every effort to put the best product on the field and our record supports the fact that we have been successful in that regard. Throughout the discussions, the Marlins maintained that there had been no violation of the Basic Agreement at any time. While we know that the Marlins will always comply with the Basic Agreement, we were happy to work cooperatively with the Union and the Commissioner’s Office on this matter.”

MLB Executive Vice President, Labor Relations Rob Manfred added: “The Basic Agreement contains confidentiality provisions that preclude the parties from publicly discussing the specifics of the Marlins’ finances. There will, therefore, be no comment by any of these parties on any further specifics of this agreement. All three parties agree that the Basic Agreement provision on the proper use of revenue sharing dollars is an important part of our agreement. Today’s announcement is the product of a positive dialogue between the MLBPA, the Commissioner’s Office and the Club.”

Mark McGwire admits Steroid use.

More...



Edit:
McGwire's Full Statement

I got in a lengthy discussion of stadium ticket pricing with a few friends, mostly Yankee fans and a few of different teams. One friend, copied this from a blog or article, not sure, and I found it to be interesting:

THE YANKEES ARE NOT DESTROYING BASEBALL.

They spend a lot because, oh horror, their ownership is willing to put the money back into the baseball team rather than take it all as profit. The Yankees pay their luxury tax which goes into the MLB Central Fund—distributed as whomever in charge sees fit.

While the Yankees have power over their own budget they have no power over these things:

A) Team management which doesn’t put more money into their teams when revenue increases.

B) Team managers who make poor signings, trades, and drafts to bolster their farm system:

• When the Astros spend $15 million for 3 years of the service of a RELIEVER (non-superstar-closer class) it was their own decision to tie up so much money in a player who affects little of the game.
• When the Mets have a farm system filled with tumbleweed rather than talent, the blame falls on the Wilpons, Minaya, and the rest of the organization.
• When the Mets sign a big bat when what they really need is some pitching.
• When the Royals trade two pitching prospects for Yuniesky freaking Betancourt it’s indicative of a small market organization making a really foolish move for a player putting up value BELOW that of a replacement level player.
• When the Twins traded Johan Santana for a bag of balls and Carlos Gomez.

Baseball would be better if more organizations mirrored the modern Yankee—and Red Sox—management (and that of the early 90s when they drafted names such as Williams, Jeter, Posada, Pettitte, and Rivera). Owners who spend to win, a GM who manages the pocketbook wisely and recognizes the need to develop young talent in the minor leagues, and a commitment to making sure field coaches/managers share the same vision as the higher-ups for the players they handle on a daily basis. (Which is what they have now in Girardi.)*

*See: Joba Rules, which were established not because Joba Chamberlain needed special handling but because the Yankee organization didn’t want Joe Torre to destroy his young arm, for an example of the opposite.

It’s easy to point out the teams with the lowest salaries and break out a violin for them but in many cases it’s not organizations being beaten down by The Man (ie, the Yankees) but rather the stinginess of owners who would rather profit from their club than see it win. And let’s not get into the argument that the Yankees only win because of their spending. If money was all it took to win the World Series, the Cubs would have claimed one in the last century. Or the Mets in the last two decades.

Sure, there are teams who just don’t have the money to compete. The Blue Jays are middle of the pack when it comes to salary but sharing a division with the Yankees and Red Sox and newly competitive Rays makes it much harder on them relative to their direct competition. Consider the Jays’ early dominance in 2009 and how they might have fared if they were in the AL Central rather than the AL East.

It’s a much more complex issue than villainizing the Yankees or demanding a salary cap/floor. A floor would end up inflating players’ salaries so each team could meet the demanded salary amount and hurting said teams. A cap—which will never be approved by the Players’ Union—would hurt teams even more. The existence of teams like the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, Mets, Tigers, Angels, Phillies, etc. means that baseball is set to pay players the amount of money required for when they reach Free Agency, from bench players to the superstars. Salaries would remain the same so a cap would mean, for example, you’d have to take A-Rod, Sabathia, Jeter, and etc. from the Yankees and plug them in…to the Pirates/Marlins/Royals? Who could afford them how?

I don’t think anyone is suggesting that the MLB system be completely reworked in order to keep the Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, etc. from spending so much. Baseball is definitely not a perfect organization but if it could be perfected easily or made so all teams could more easily compete…well, they’d have worked on it by now.

Still, consider that since 2000:

• The NFL has 6 different winners
• The NBA has 5 since 2000
• The NHL has 7 (salary cap introduced in 05/06)
• The MLB has had 8 different winners

(Source @ http://peteprose.com/2009/11/a-salary-cap-and-baseball-dont-mix/)

MLB allows less % of teams into the postseason than other sports organization and yet the 2000s saw such a variety of success. Not too shabby there.

I was going to post this right after the World Series, after what I thought were the predictable hue and cry over the Yankees payroll essentially buying them a World Series. While I do not disagree that the signings of Tex, Burnett, and Sabathia certainly helped, throwing out the "rich team buys World Series" argument seems a tad simplistic. But that's not really what I was going to discuss. I was discussing on why I dislike the Yankees so much. I don't usually rail about their payroll, I'm usually doing the slow burn about other things.

Among the few I can think of right off the bat;

1. How being on the Yankees enables Derek Jeter to be continuously overrated as a shortstop, specifically defensively.

2. The belief (quite often verbalized at a press conference after signing some big free agent), that every major league player secretly wants to just play for the Yankees.

3. The way conforming to the Yankees "professional" image can rob a player of his unique physical look and, worse, any shred of personality. (See Damon, Giambi)

4. The habit of players to rather demonstratively play umpire. (See Jeter in 2004 playoffs, reacting to A-Rod's slap-call. Also see Mike Mussina's habit of staring down the ump that dares to not call the 5-foot-outside pitch)

5. This one's fairly recent, but their habit of slowing games to an unbearable pace, for no discernible reason. Especially in the World Series.

6. Joba. 'Nuff said.

7. God Bless America. Really, I can understand doing that for a few years after 9/11. But almost ten years after the fact. Please, give us back "Take Me Out To The Ballgame". As far as I'm concerned, patriotism is expressed during the national anthems. The rest is about baseball. And to think it took a racist singer to put a stop to it.

8. This is related to number 2, actually; the belief (often by media types and people not actually with the Yankees), that every big name free agent is headed to New York, even if more than half do not. (See Tori Hunter, Matt Holliday, Jason Bay, etc, etc-although he did go to NY, just the 'other' NY team)

I'm sure I could think of more. Did I miss anything? :)

January is the beginning of the new baseball season for me. You may be shovelling snow and defrosting windows back home in New England and points north but we're getting ready for spring training. Tickets are on sale now for Cactus League baseball.

Today my GF bought me a gift. Dodgers @ Cubs tix on my birthday.  Beer and baseball under the sun in early March. I'm organizing a bunch of coworkers to play hooky on a Friday to take in a Giants game in Scottsdale. There are few things better than playing hooky at the ballpark. I've done it so many times.

The teams start ticket sales on different dates. You have to pay attention because some teams sell out prime dates very fast. The snowbirds and baseball vacationers will be here in droves. Cubs tix went on sale today. You must act fast for weekend tickets.

We have the Angels, Cubs. Athletics and Giants on the east side of town. I have been to all those ballparks multiple times. On the west side of town nine teams share 5 facilities. Last year we saw Mannywood at the new Camelback Ranch training facilty in Glendale. It's very impressive. The indians also have a brand new park in Goodyear. There are two teams in Tucson but not for long. They have a new stadium going up in North Scottsdale on native lands, with casinos and bad houses with junk cars and washing machines in the yard.

This week I've been looking over the Cactus schedule looking for a game. I have two games picked of the four I will attend, one per week.

There's a battle going on between Florida and Arizona for MLB spring training. When I moved here in 02 there were 12 teams in AZ. The Grapefruit League had 18 teams. Now the score is 15-15 with three teams moving west in the last two seasons. LA and CLE fans now call AZ their spring baseball home. Cincy joins the Cactus League this year.

Cities and counties in two states are negotiating to build facilities to attract teams unhappy with their old arrangements. The Cubs may leave Mesa, AZ for Naples, FL in the near future. Mesa has an offer on the table as does an indian tribe in Chandler, AZ. The Chicago Cubs are a big prize on the market. They have new owners looking for ways to start getting back some of their investment. The have a dumpy facility but in Mesa but Hohokam is an awesome old ballpark.

I couldn't figure out why Cleveland couldn't strike a deal with a tribe. It just seemed natural to me.


Another old ballpark will die soon when the Colorado Rockies leave High Corbet Field in Tucson. Maybe I should check out a game there before the Rox move north. It's a baseball decision. I have friends in Tucson. I should call them.

As I was holding my Dodgers - Cubs tickets in my hand this evening, January felt like spring. I see hot dogs and beer in my near future.

Pitchers and catchers report in six weeks.

Gutierrez, Seattle on verge of extension

Randy Johnson retires today, after 22 years in the major leagues.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100105&content_id=7877888&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb (I know this link says he is expected to, but it is official, unless he pulls a Brett Favre)

You were one of the best, if not the best, pitcher that I have seen pitch(on TV). I will remember seeing you pitch in the All- Star game and making John Kruk crap his pants batting left handed. If only you had felt better in the last few years of your career. Happy retirement, Randy.

ESPN is reporting Bay is signing multi-year deal with Mets

Well, that's not such a surprise, I guess. The fact that Jason Bay was probably not coming back to Boston was more or less sealed when Mike Cameron came to town. And for some reason, this bugs me less than, say the Yankees, signing him.

Which leaves Matt Holliday the big fish still out there. Any bets on where he ends up?

Does it or does it not have WordUpThome written all over it?!.

Billy Wags; I have such high hopes for you.

Big day today.

5 year/$85MM.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/baseball/mlb/12/14/heyman.lackey.redsox/index.html

Does this give Boston the best rotation in the AL East? I think it does. It'll be interesting to see what the Yankees do to counter this.

Report: Halladay to Phillies, Lee to Mariners in 3 way trade.

The yankees, dback, and tigers have apparently agreed to a three way deal.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AgbiKk8Oqs5GbqfcUKyR2yARvLYF?slug=ap-yankees-tigers-diamondbackstrade&prov=ap&type=lgns

The tigers aquire Phil coke, Austin jackson from yankees, and max Scherzer,Daniel Schlereth from the diamondbacks

The diamondbacks will get ian kennedy from the yankees,and Edwin Jackson from the tigers.

The yankees, get curtis granderson from the tigers.

In the long run, I feel the tigers will get the most out of this, they got a bunch of potential young guys but the yankees win in the short term. They actually have a much better deffensive outfield, if they stick cabrera in left and not damon. Granderson's hitting will improve in yankee stadium. I feel jackson had potential, but grandeeson is more or less a similar player but much more developed. It also makes it interesting to see if they go after halladay now, which would mean probably trading montero, Hughes or joba and melky/cano.

In other news, it looks as if peter gammons is leaving espn.It's a shame, as I feel he's probably one of the better baseball guys there. He says he going to continue working, but at a less demanding schedule, so I'm not sure what that means just yet.
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=Ar1kbf0MDCetumlPcb55q44RvLYF?slug=ap-espn-gammons&prov=ap&type=lgns

Chip Caray and TBS split

All I can say is: Thank God!

Albert Pujols has won his third MVP.

He is #4 on the all-time list for MVP votes behind Bonds, Musial, and Williams. This year was a unanimous selection, the first time in the NL since Bonds' 2002 win.

Mauer handily catches AL MVP Award | MLB.com: News

All that chanting finally paid off. :-)

Congrats to a guy who seems like a class act and an absolutely amazing baseball player.

Current Mood: happy

A photographer put together a time-lapse of images taken at the last game of the World Series. Lens effects, though in color, add an old-timey feel and the music makes it feel like it's from the nostalgic old days of baseball.

Lincecum repeats! I'm stunned - I was sure Wainwright or Carpenter would get it. I was leaning slightly towards Carpenter myself but ultimately felt that I would be more than happy with him or Lincecum winning it. Congrats on the feat, Tim!