Game 86: Jesus Is Just Alright

I was away from my computer today. Did I miss anything?

No? Good.

In all seriousness, I saw the report break after I finished recapping last night's game but didn't have time to write anything about it before I left for the day. I was nowhere near a computer at any point, but kept checking on the rumors on my phone, hoping against hope that the propsed trade for Jesus Montero and (less importantly) David Adams didn't go through.

Cliff Lee is obviously an incredibly talented pitcher who would make any team in the history of the sport significantly better, but I don't like the idea of trading the best prospect in the system for him now, when the Yankees already have five capable starters and he has three months left on his contract. Yes, they could still swing a deal for Javy Vazquez, but they'll have zero leverage with whatever team might be interested in him.

There's also an element of stacking the deck at work here. The Yankees are clearly capable of winning the World Series as currently constructed. They have the best record in baseball, for fuck's sake. Do they really need to add one of the top 5 starting pitchers in the game? Does the marginal increase in their chances of winning a World Series really justify getting rid of an awesome prospect and some other potentially useful pieces? If they make the trade and don't win, the answer to that question is painfully obvious. If they pull the trigger and win a Championship, the answer could still be "no".

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I like rooting for a team that tries to develop their own players and isn't willing to mortgage their future for a slight increase of winning it for one year. Maybe Jesus Montero never pans out to be the great hitting catcher that he's projected to be but I'd rather that than the Yankees dealing him out of impatience and insecurity and watching him blossom somewhere else.

Jesus is just alright with me, Jesus is just alright, oh yeah.
Jesus is just alright with me, Jesus is just alright.

I don't care what they may know,
I don't care where they may go,
I don't care what they may know,
Jesus is just alright, oh yeah.

-Lineups-

Yankees:

Mariners:
Cliff Lee won't be on the mound tonight as originally scheduled and he won't be in either dugout, as Joel Sherman is now reporting that the M's have a deal with Texas, unless of course they back out of that one too.

Do They Really Need To Shuffle The Rotation?

As we mentioned in this morning's news and notes, the Yankees have opted to skip Javier Vazquez once again, pushing him back to start Friday night's Subway Series opener at Citi Field.

Joel Sherman does an excellent job of laying out the Yankees reasoning for all of this, and it's sound enough. But, there are a number of things I don't like about this:

• For the all the fuss the Yankees made about limiting the work loads of Sabathia, Burnett, and Pettitte in the wake of last season, and with concerns about Phil Hughes hitting an innings cap late in the year, they're completely punting on an opportunity to give all four pitchers an extra day of rest. Thanks to the doubleheader last week, Vazquez could have taken his regular turn tonight and everyone else could have had an extra day off.


• The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. If Sherman's right, the Yankees are trying to line up starters for a series that's taking place two weeks from now. Who the hell knows what will happen between now and then. Remember last week when a new Yankee was getting hurt everyday? If that happens once between now and then, or if there's another rainout, this whole plan goes to pot. Why not try to line up the post-season rotation now while we're at it?


• Furthermore, as we mentioned in the news and notes this morning, the team seems prepared to use Vazquez as a long reliever over the next few days. If they do, they jeopardize his ability to take the ball Friday, and then we have to go through this whole exercise once again of slotting Vazquez back into the rotation and transitioning Sergio Mitre back into the bullpen.
  


• This is the second time Vazquez has been shuffled around (really the third if you count him being pushed a back an extra two days in Detroit - one due to the Pettitte injury, the other due to the rainout), and both times one of the reasons cited has been getting Vazquez a start in an NL park so he can hit. I'm sorry, I'm not buying that. It's just not that important. Ditto for Sabathia. Yes these guys can hit a bit for pitchers, but where does that rank on the scale of importance as far as determining the rotation? Fifth? Tenth?


• I also think the Yankees are showing the Red Sox way too much respect at this point. I'm not writing them off, not at all. But as this stage in the season, there's no need to shuffle the rotation to play match ups against anyone, let alone a team that's had the Sox' struggles so far. I was ok with the team lining up their three best starters in Fenway late last August when it was officially pennant race time. This, however, seems a little premature.


• To that end, something's rotten about skipping Vazquez here. He had a very good start in Detroit last week. Now, not only are they risking that momentum by putting him on the shelf for a week, but they're having him avoid the Sox for the second time in ten days, and they're ensuring he doesn't pitch in front of a potentially hostile Yankee Stadium crowd. This doesn't sit right with me. It sounds far too much like the things Ed Whitson said happened late in his Yankee career, and there are already far too many fans already trying to draw as many parallels as they can between Javy and Eddie Lee.

All that said, I'm going to the game tonight (Batter's Eye seats no less), and I'm very excited to watch Hughes pitch. I just hope the plans for the rest of the rotation work out over the next couple weeks.

Weekend News And Notes

Good morning Fackers. How was your weekend? Ours was pretty damn good. Nice victories on Friday night and Saturday afternoon. Word is Jay had a helluva party Saturday, complete with a wide variety of grillable meats and a now empty keg. I, on the other hand, opted for BBQ Saturday night. It was delicious, and then at long last I finally saw Pearl Jam in concert. It was one of the best shows I've ever been to.

Of course, if you were around these parts last year, you may remember that anytime I talk about Pearl Jam, disaster follows. So of course, the Yankees had a meltdown in the eighth inning yesterday. By that time I was out to dinner with the family, celebrating my youngest brother's 20th birthday, so I was only getting updates via phone. Since 2007 Joba is Back Baby!, I'm sure he had nothing to do with things falling apart. It can only be the bad karma brought on by me going to see that band. Sorry about that. On to the news and notes:

Today marks the twelfth anniversary of David Wells' Sunday afternoon perfect game against Twins. As chance would have it, the Twins were at Yankee Stadium yesterday, for a Sunday afternoon game, and Boomer was in the house doing the game for TBS. Unfortunately, things didn't work out quite so well for the home team this time. Oddly enough, the Twins also played a Sunday afternoon game in the Bronx on May 17th last year, and Wells was covering that game for TBS as well.

Speaking of starting pitchers, after Saturday's game Joe Girardi laid out the Yankees' rotation for the remainder of the week. Phil Hughes gets the ball tonight; Javier Vazquez is getting skipped again, this time pushed back to Friday night at Citi Field. We'll have a little more on this in our next post.

As we mentioned in yesterday's preview, Chan Ho Park is ready to return. It still makes no sense to me why he wasn't activated for yesterday's game, and the fact that he wasn't seems to indicate that it'll been Ivan Nova going to Scranton to make room for him, rather than Boone Logan.

That move doesn't add up to me either, as it will leave the Yankees without a longman for the rest of this week, though I suppose we could see Javy in relief tonight or tomorrow. That, in turn, could jeopardize his start for Friday, depending upon how much is needed from him. Which would mean another spot start for Sergio Mitre, who would once again be unable to return the longman role for a few days. All this just to keep Boone Logan around?

In other injury news, Nick Swisher remains day-to-day with a sore left bicep. It bothers him most when batting left-handed. On Saturday, he took a right handed at bat against a right handed pitcher, the first time he'd done that against a non-knuckleballer. He was held out of yesterday's line up against a right handed pitcher, but came on to pinch hit against lefty Brian Duensing in the eighth. When Ron Gardenhire pulled Duensing in favor of righty Matt Guerrier, Swish was immediately lifted for Juan Miranda. This will merit watching as the week unfolds.

Curtis Granderson ran at about 75 to 80 percent on Saturday and took batting practice yesterday, so he appears to be progressing well in recovering from his pulled groin.

In less pleasant injury news, Nick Johnson may need surgery on his injured wrist. If the cortisone shot he received last weekend doesn't do the trick, he'll go under the knife yet again. Best case scenario the shot works and he's back in three weeks. Worst case, we're looking at surgery and maybe an August return. Cue the indignation at signing the injury prone Johnson! Just remember, if you're going to bemoan his fragility keeping him out of the lineup now, you can't complain that he was slumping when he was healthy. Can't have it both ways.

Speaking of shots, Alfredo Aceves had one as well. The reliever with a bulging disc in his back was given an epidural over the weekend. Both mother and baby are said to be doing well.

Brian Cashman traveled to Scranton Friday to watch Chan Ho Park's rehab appearance. He held court with the media there, and sounded surprisingly callous in talking about releasing the oft injured Christian Garcia. I mean, I don't disagree with you Cash, but jeez, have a heart. The guy's had a rough few years.

In the same session, Cashman described Shane Lindsay, the pitcher who took Garcia's spot, as "a lesser version of Brian Bruney" Yeesh. Color me inspired. Hey, accept no imitations. The real deal is available.

Lastly, Cashman also said the Kevin Russo is going to get the Jerry Hairston Jr treatment, and will be playing all over the diamond in an effort to turn him into a super utility player. This is something I advocated for last summer, so I'm happy about it. Beyond tooting my own horn though, there's value in this. Russo profiles as a useful bench bat. He's not about to usurp any of the Yankee infielders, so making him a capable infielder and outfielder is only going to increase his value. With Ramiro Pena struggling, it could even position him to take the Big League utlity infielder job. There would be concerns about Russo's ability to play short though. Either way, if he's capable of playing all over the diamond, Russo would be a very useful bench piece, with or without Pena on the roster.

Meanwhile, down in Trenton, starter Ryan Pope has been shifted into the depleted bullpen. To take his place in the rotation Hector Noesi has been recalled from Tampa. Noesi was a darkhorse addition to the 40 man roster last offseason, and he's been dominating the Florida State League this year to the tune of a 2.72 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, and a 53:6 K:BB over 43 IP.

Tampa can easily absorb the loss of Noesi, since they added starter Graham Stoneburner from Charleston last week. Stoneburner has a 2.08 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, and 44:10 K:BB in 39 IP in the Sallie League prior to his promotion. He made his Tampa debut last Thursday, retired the first 15 batters he faced and allowed two runs, three baserunners and fanned seven over six innings.

Back with more in a bit.

Much Ado About Jesus

It's been a rough week for Jesus Montero. Last Friday night, he was pulled from Scranton's game. Initial speculation was that he might have injured his leg, but it was later revealed that he removed for failing to run out a ground ball. He was held out of the lineup for the next two days as punishment, despite the fact the Yankees daily injuries forced them to dip into the Scranton roster on nearly a daily basis.

That should have been the end of it. But this is New York, and Montero is one of the top prospects in baseball. We have to have a controversy here.

First up is ESPN.com's Jayson Stark with his weekly Rumbling & Grumblings column. File this one under grumblings:

Battle of the catching phenoms: It isn't every year that the International League has two catching prospects as hyped as Jesus Montero (Yankees) and Carlos Santana (Indians). But a scout covering that league says there's "no comparison" between those two. Santana "fits exactly what I want in a catcher," the scout said. "He's 6 feet tall, compact, much more athletic and quicker. He can swing the bat … and he's got the best arm back there I've seen in a long, long time." Montero, on the other hand, "just got benched for laziness, basically [i.e., not running out a ground ball]. And from what I've seen, the [Austin] Romine kid in Double-A is going to pass right by him, and Montero is going to end up as pretty much a right-hand-hitting DH. He's got talent. But his swing is really long, and he has no discipline. So the Yankees are going to have two frontline catchers. But they're Romine and [Francisco] Cervelli."

No one is predicting that Jesus Montero is going to be a Gold Glove catcher. In fact, very few are certain that he'll even remain at catcher long term. That his size (6'4", 225) creates some issues for his throwing mechanics is well-documented. But let's not go writing him off just yet. Montero can mash, and a bat like that is going to get every opportunity to play, be it behind the plate or elsewhere.

Cervelli is unquestionably a better defensive catcher, and Romine might prove to be the most complete player amongst the three. But Cervelli is just 24 and has all of 164 Major League plate apperances to his credit, Romine is 21 and has played just 26 games above A-ball, and Montero is 20 and has yet to play a full season at any level other than low-A. Let's not go jumping to conclusions just yet about who is going to outperform whom.

Speaking of jumping to conclusions, Joel Sherman decided to get it on the anti-Montero fun:

Jesus Montero messed up a great opportunity.

(snip)

The true sin is that he was removed from a recent game and benched for not hustling and sulking. This came at a time when the Yankees had a couple of injuries that have begun to negatively impact their offense, including to DH Nick Johnson.

(snip)

However, the Yanks are not going to call up a young player acting like a baby, and so Montero might have hurt himself now and into the near future.

In spring training, I sat in an office at the Yankees’ minor league complex and spoke with Montero. During that interview, Montero told me that Jorge Posada is “my daddy.’ That was his way of saying that while he was in major league spring training he followed Posada around like a puppy dog and hoped to emulate him.

If that were the case, then he learned very little. You could criticize Posada for being a bad baserunner or a stone-handed catcher. But his sincerity of effort has never been in question for one second of his Yankee career. Posada cares about being a professional and being a Yankee, and so he plays with passion.

And if Montero needs to see how far fervor can go then just look at what Francisco Cervelli is doing with the Yankees. He is creating a career with expected defense, unexpected offense and boundless enthusiasm. Cervelli is honoring the legacy of Posada. Not Montero.

Aah, weaving in the concept of sin in a post about a guy named Jesus. Brilliance Sherman! That's Pulitzer Prize material right there. And not only did Montero have the gall to dishonor the legacy of Jorge Posada, but he did it within days of Yogi Berra's birthday!

I'm not excusing Montero's failure to hustle last week. It's not the right way to play the game. But at the same time, he's been disciplined. In fact, he's been disciplined somewhat heavy-handedly, essentially a two and half game suspension for one groundball. I think the message has been delivered. No need to go making mountains out of mole hills.

I respect Posada's approach to the game as much as the next guy. But let's not go deifying him here. There have been occasions in his career where Posada has failed to run out a grounder. The same holds true for Derek Jeter and everyone else who has played the game "the right way". It happens. Let's not get too worked up about who's disrespecting who's leagacy, especially when declaring that the infectiously enthusiastic Cervelli is honoring the legacy of the notoriously red-assed Posada.

Once again, Jesus Montero is 20 years old. He's in just his third season full season of stateside professional baseball. He's spent just a half season at both the high A and AA levels. He's just one rung below the Major Leagues, and he's encountering some difficulty (.233/.295/.359) for the first time in his career. Let's cut him a little slack.

It's easy to look at the unexpected success Cervelli has had, and read all the glowing scouting reports about Montero's bat, and say that Nick Johnson is on the DL yet again and never to return, and want to see Montero come riding in on a white horse to save the season. But that's just not the way it's going to work.

The Yankees are committed to giving Montero every chance to succeed behind the plate. They've already fast tracked his development, bringing him to AAA without completing a full season at high A or AA. Bringing him up to play any sort of meaningful role this season was never in the cards. Making him a DH for part of this year would railroad his development as a catcher. Promoting him when he's slumping for the first extended stretch in his career would be a disservice to his development as a hitter. Making him a Major Leaguer without him completing a full season at any of the top three levels of the system would be extremely short-sighted. Just calm down, relax, and let him spend the year at AAA. We'll reap the benefits in the years to come.

On the bright side, at least Montero's trip to Bradenia last night went better than A-Rod's.

Tuesday Afternoon Link-A-Roo

It's slow going on the Fack Youk factory floor today, as I prepare to be banished to Atlanta for the remainder of the week.

Here are a few links to hold you over until preview time:

Quick - if someone told you that a former Yankee pitcher would issue the first walkoff walk of 2010, who would your guess be? Yeah, mine too.

Over at RAB, Mike Axisa takes a further look at what I touched upon this morning: the under-utilization of David Robertson.

Staying in the bullpen, Mike also examines a minor tweak made by Boone Logan this year that may allow him to be more successful than he's been in the past.

Over at Fangraphs, RAB's Joe Pawlikowski extends upon what Steve Goldman and Rob Neyer have already commented upon: the unsustainability of Austin Jackson's early season success. If you thought AJax's BABIP was off the charts at Scranton last year, take a look at his 2010 numbers so far.

Neyer's ESPN colleague and former Major Leaguer Doug Glanville is transitioning nicely to his role in the media. Glanville reflects back upon his time with the Texas Rangers, and remembers when Mark Teixeira was an emerging third baseman.

So, Jason Bay isn't terrible defensively after all?

Via Bronx Banter, here's a nice look at Bob Sheppard.

In both the New York Post and his Hardball blog, Joel Sherman takes a look at the continued acrimony between Joe Torre and the Yankees' organization. I really, really hope they all bury the hatchet at some point in the not-too-distant future.

Via BBTF, comes a very worthwhile read from Faith and Fear in Flushing. If I am ever so unfortunate as to meet an untimely end, someone is going to have a lot of old baseball cards to sort through.

Late last week, the NCAA officially approved The New Era Pinstripe Bowl, issuing it a four year license rather than the customary three years.

Unfortunately, the existence of the Pinstripe Bowl comes at the expense of another potential bowl game, one dedicated to a cause far more worthy than wringing more money out of Yankee Stadium and printing more cash for the NCAA.

Meanwhile, as we mentioned last year, the existence of the Pinstripe Bowl all but assures that the inevitable New York-based NHL Winter Classic will not take place at Yankee Stadium.

Back with the preview in a bit.

[UPDATE 4:00 PM: Friend of the blog Matt on Earth weighs in with his thoughts on Curt Schilling's comments on Javy Vazquez.]

Maddux, Glavine, And Smoltz Would Have Tanked In NY Too

Oh, Joel Sherman, what are we going to do with you? In his 3UP blog post this morning, Sherman says that the Yankees "cannot be overly encouraged" by Vazquez' start last night. And to an extent, Sherman's right. It wasn't a great start, but it was a helluva lot better than his first two. And he's still just three starts into the season.

But going off on another pro-Javy screed isn't what I intend to do today. Instead, let's take a look at Sherman's parting shot:

However, keep in mind that Vazquez is the fifth high-profile pitcher to move directly from the Braves to the Yankees since the turn of the century. The first four were all free agents and all pretty much disasters as Yankees: Steve Karsay, Chris Hammond, Kyle Farnsworth and Jaret Wright. Denny Neagle and Mark Wohlers were one-team removed from the Braves, when they also came with some fanfare in trades to the Yankees, and then tanked in New York.

So maybe there is a trend here that the Yankees need to beware of ex-Brave pitchers.

Wow. Just wow. So that's why Boone Logan pitched himself into that bases loaded jam in the seventh. It's the curse of the Braves!

I don't know where to begin with this one. How about Sherman's generously broad definition of "high-profile"? Chris Hammond, really? He's high-profile? The guy was out of baseball for two full years, and out of the Majors for four, before parlaying a single comeback season in Atlanta into a deal with the Yankees. And by the way, though I was no fan of his, he posted a 2.86 ERA over his one season in pisntripes. Some disaster.

How about Steve Karsay? Karsay was very effective in 2002, his first year with the Yankees. In fact, he was so effective that Joe Torre rode him like a rented mule and essentially ended his career, missing all of 2003 and tossing only 37.2 IP over the remainder of his career.

And since when were set-up men and back-of-the-rotation starters high-profile? Who could possibly have framed these middle-of-the-road type players, who alredy had checkered histories upon arriving in the Bronx, as high-profile acquisitions? I know; the New York tabloid media, of which Sherman is a part, could.

For Sherman to even refer to this foursome as Braves pitchers is tenuous as well. Karsay spent half of one season in Atlanta, throwing 44.2 innings. Hammond was there for a year, tossing 76 frames. Farnsworth was in Atlanta for just a half season, throwing all of 27.1 innings. Jaret Wright is the most-tenured member of the group, spending a whopping 13 months in Hot Lanta and pitching 195.1 innings.

All four had brief stays in Atlanta, just as Vazquez and Logan did. Maybe that's the problem. Maybe the Yankees shouldn't acquire pitchers who spend less than two full seasons in Atlanta. Or maybe the Yankees just played a late game last night, Sherman was tired, and decided to throw some garbage at the wall to see what sticks. Or maybe Sherman was being facetious, and I'm just too dumb to figure it out.

Just to be on the safe side though, if Frank Wren calls Brian Cashman offering Tommy Hansen, Cash should just hang up. It's probably a trap.

Thursday Afternoon Linkaround

Over at the NYT Bats Blog, Benjamin Hoffman talks about the other numbers Jackie Robinson wore playing football at UCLA, in the Negro Leagues and at the Dodger's AAA team, then located in Montreal.

This article from Mental Floss talks about Robinson's MiLB debut and is the source of the picture to the left.

On a day when most are descussing Robinson's legacy, Joe Posnanski talks about the way he played the game.

Curtis Granderson is looking forward to honoring Robinson in the city where Jackie played his home games.

Ross from NYYSI notes that yesterday was the second lowest attendance that the New Stadium has played host to and explains why we might be in for some more low turnouts in the near future. He also created a comprehensive list of the changes that have been made to the Stadium since last year, most of which have to do with the concessions.

Mike from River Ave. Blues has an excellent post about waiting for Mark Teixeira to start hitting and suggests that the Yanks might want to drop him down in the lineup until he finds his swing(s). Couldn't hurt at this point.

Not to keeping harping on the Vazquez thing, but this morning Joel Sherman said:

But this idea that the media is feeding this beast is silly. Does anyone really think Vazquez would not incur boos if no one wrote or talked about 2004?

Really? The media doesn't influence fan perception? Not when another tabloid is saying that Vazquez "can't handle wearing those pinstripes" after two fucking starts? So why does The Post bother writing about the Yankees so much? Obviously because a lot of people read and have their opinions shaped by it.

Booing is contagious and there might be a some people who would do it of their own volition but the stoking of the fire by the Post and Daily News in particular most definitely had contributed to the scope of the boos. I'm not saying they shouldn't write the things they do, but it's ridiculous to pretend that what they put into print has no affect on people whatsoever.

Amidst all the negativity, there were some good deeds going on at the Stadium yesterday as well. An Iraq war veteran saved a rabbi's wife from choking during the game.

Even though they are staunchly anti-Vazquez, props to IIH,IIF,IIc for capturing this gem from Sarah Silverman.

For those of you who have always wanted the option of burning the Yankee logo into your toast, here you go.

Lar from Wezen-Ball searches for the best name in baseball. Unfortunately for Cannonball Titcomb, Jack Glasscock and Buzz McWeeny, it's not that kind of search.

David Pinto notes that if David Ortiz keeps striking out at the rate he's going right now, it's going to be incredibly difficult for him to be productive at the plate. Speaking of Papi, he's riding the pine tonight.

Diane Firstman at Bronx Banter looks back at some notable Yankee strikeout streaks.

Over a Baseball Analysts, Jeremy Greenhouse used batted ball data to create some visuals explaining where guys tend to hit the ball in the outfield. The one to the right compares Jeter and Jesus Flores and there is plenty of other interesting stuff if you click through.

I'm not sure how many of you listen to FanGraphs audio with contributor/occasional destroyer Carson Cistulli, but I highly recommend it, nof only for the "white hot analysis" but for the sly humor that Carson kicks in. Here is the latest version wherein they discuss the current state of PitchFX and here is an episode with an appearance by our friend Joe from RAB.

Giants manager Bruce Bochy says that chewing tobacco makes his in-game decision making sharper. That's called an addiction, folks. (h/t Sam Miller)

And finally, appropos of nothing, here is some badass acoustic guitaring via Boing Boing.

Humpday Roundup

It's noon on Wednesday, the apex of the hump. It's all downhill from here. You know, in a good way...

According to Joel Sherman, although the Yanks haven't announced it yet, they have decided to put Curtis Granderson in centerfield. I was initially in favor of Granderson playing left field due to Brett Gardner's superior range, but this post in particular from Rob Neyer convinced me that there are some pretty good reasons for Granderson to play center. And of course, that alignment can change during the season if it isn't working out.

Sherman also says that Phil Hughes is likely going to be the 5th starter when the season begins. Not much of a surprise there. Now they just need to send Joba Chamberlain to AAA (not that I'm holding my breath for it).

Via Jennings, the Yanks have released 9 players from minor league camp. Not to many recognizable names, save for Seth Fortenberry and Chirs Malec.

Cliff Corcoran from Bronx Banter took a detailed look at what the Yankees see in Sergio Mitre. He talks about what happened this spring but goes well beyond the typical stats and takes more of a scouting perspective. I'm important to keep that sort of stuff in mind since was only a year removed from Tommy John surgery when he made his debut for them last season. Now he is closer to 20 months and is supposedly feeling much better.

Remember Jason Giambi's motto: Rake like an All-Star, party like a rockstar and hammer like a porno star. Well he wasn't kidding about at least one of those. (via the B-Ref blog)

Craig asks whether this year will be the one that age finally catches up to the Yanks.

This is a couple of days old, but still pretty hilarious.

Steve Sommer from FanGraphs directs us to a spreadsheet courtesy of Cot's detailing how much "dead money" each team is responsible for this season. They Yankees are paying $4.5M, which is pretty low compared to the Blue Jays, Dodgers and Angels, all of whom are close to $16M but high compared to the Cardinals, Mets and White Sox, who are about $8-9M in the black.

For those in the NYC area, 12 Angry Mascots (the folks behind the hilarious Fernando Perez video) doing a show with former Yankee Jeff Nelson this Saturday, March 28th at Comix (14th St & 9th Ave). You can check out some of their stuff on YouTube and buy tickets here.

From around the league and beyond:

Surviving Grady has a video of Youk discussing the options for his facial hair contest with some of his fellow Sawx in the locker room. Judging by Terry Francona's reaction to "clean shaven", (the current leader in the clubhouse) I think we made the right choice with our donation. However, with John Lackey throwing his weight and newfound financial might behind the mustache, the race is far from over.

Do wOBA and linear weights in general undervalue Ichiro by treating all outs the same? Tango, referencing RE24, says yes. In-depth stats not your thing? I think we all can enjoy this awesome catch Ichiro made yesterday.

Elijah Dukes' wife defends her husband on New York Baseball Digest.

David Pinto's Baseball Musings turns 8 years old today. That's like 150 in blog years.

Our friend Josh Levitt, formerly of Jorge Says No!, has moved to the new MLBFreeAgency.com. He joins It's About The Money, Stupid, Wezen-Ball, Pending Pinstripes, NYY Stadium Insider and many others on the Bloguin Network.

Similarly, for hockey fans, Rob from Bronx Baseball Daily has started up Broadway Hockey Daily.

Bad news for Doc Gooden and anyone else who might have been on the road in Franklin Lakes, N.J. last night.

Matt Sussman runs down some farcical ideas that baseball could adopt to prevent marathon extra innings contests.

In that same vein, Josh Zerkle from KSK collects some of the options that the NFL rejected for its new overtime rules. Noticably absent are the sudden death coin flip; one time through the card game War; rock, paper scissors; a punt, pass and kick competition; and a four on four mixed martial arts match in an octagon in the middle of the field.

The Most Undah-rated Linkaround Evah!

Here are a few things to check out before you really begin hoarding your company's bandwidth and submarining its productivity:

Alex Speir of WEEI wants to know why the rest of the country doesn't appreciate Kevin Youkilis for the haaahd-working, ovah-achieving supahstah he is. WHEN WILL YOU FACKS EVAH GIVE YOUK THE CREDIT HE IS DUE??!

If you are planning on buying Yankee tickets when they go on sale at noon today, be sure to check out the Ticketmaster tips from Ross at NYY Stadium Insider.

Nate Silver's projections say that Jeter will hit .286 this year and Allen Barra of the Village Voice infers that the Yanks are doomed if he's right... CRUCIFY THEM BOTH!

Speaking of the Captain, it appeared that he might have tweaked his throwing hand on a diving stop last night night, but according to him, it's fine and he'll play today against the Tigers at 1:05.

Joel Sherman says that it's "almost certain" that the Yankees will trade either Sergio Mitre or Chad Gaudin before the season begins. Gaudin seems to have more value as a swingman but also has a higher salary. Just depends on who they select as a trading partner, I suppose.

Patrick Sullivan over at The Baseball Analysts continues their Stakeholders series with five questions for Bronx Banter's Cliff Corcoran about the Yankees.

Greg Fertel from Pending Pinstripes did the math on the concept of bullpen chaining I brought up in my post about the 5th starer. Click through to see how much sending Joba to AAA would cost the MLB club.

Mike Vaccaro of the Post talked to Mark Teixeira about the pressures of playing in New York. It's the typical "playing in New York is so much more difficult and important that playing anywhere else" piece, but I still enjoyed this line:

Nobody ever wonders if a linebacker "has the makeup to make it in New Orleans." No one ever ponders if a power forward can become "a Portland guy." Or if a goalie has what it takes to make it in Buffalo.

Prospect maven John Sickels interviewed Yankees Senior Vice President Mark Newman. Topics include Slade Heathcott, Andrew Brackman, Jesus Montero, Pat Venditte, and Jeremy Bleich (pronounced "Bleish").

Geoff Baker did an interesting video interview with Bill James which included some reader/viewer questions. As always, James gives frank and interesting answers but this time you have visual confirmation that he is not a robot.

DRay's Bay wonders if the number of batters hit by pitches is in decline.

Is the hype around Aroldis Chapman enhanced by the fact he comes from the magical and mysterious island of Cuba? Tim Marchman believes so. Marchman also believes that it's ridiculous for baseball to be drug testing it's managers. We may or may not have some more thoughts on the Ron Washington Saga in the near future.

Jeff Zimmerman at Beyond the Box Score used spray charts as a way of examining wrist injuries. If nothing else, it's a nice reminder of how much David Ortiz sucked at the beginning of last year.

We'll be back with more in a little bit.

Joel Sherman Uses Old Story To Drum Up New Drama

In Sherman's column in today's Post, he dusts off the story about Derek Jeter's belief that he was still a good defensive shortstop before he started special training to improve his range between the 2007 and 2008 seasons. Joel suggests that his "arrogance" as an athlete might lead to some contentious contract negotiations come November:

So Cashman took Jeter to dinner in Manhattan and told the Yankees captain that his side-to-side actions must improve. Jeter has an outsized athletic arrogance. He believes in himself completely, which allows him to deftly block out criticism and negativity. This trait enables him to thrive in the cauldron, but also prevents him from seeing personal shortcomings the way others perceive them. Still, to his credit, he agreed to try a new way.

With the Yankees paying the bills, Jeter enlisted Jason Riley, the director of performance at the Athletes Compound in Tampa. Riley formulated a plan to increase Jeter’s first-step quickness, particularly in fielding grounders to his left. Power lifting was diminished, agility — especially in the hips — was emphasized , weight was lost. The results came slowly at first in 2008 and in a wave last year when Jeter had one of his finest defensive seasons.

“The player Derek is, he took to it and said, ‘Watch, I will prove you wrong,’ ” Cashman said.

This story is instructive in anticipating how Jeter’s contract talks will play out when his 10-year, $189 million contract concludes after this season. First, like the Cashman-Jeter meeting remaining untold publicly until now, Jeter will demand that his negotiations are done privately. Second, the good news for the Yanks is that Jeter is a competent shortstop again; the bad news is he is a competent shortstop again.

If this story sounds familiar, that's because Ian O'Connor wrote about everything but the dinner meeting the day after the 2009 regular season ended. Does this dinner meeting tell us anything, as Sherman is trying to infer? How else was Cashman going to have this conversation with him? At the top of his lungs in the locker room? Whether it was in his office or at a restaurant, it was going to be a private and delicate discussion.

So this dinner anecdote leads Sherman to the following revelation: Derek Jeter would like to negotiate his contract in private. You know, unlike all the other baseball players who sit down and exchange numbers with their teams on live television.

Jeter's contract negotiations will be interesting and like Sherman says, made more difficult by the the shortstop's defensive renaissance. Both sides have a lot of leverage given that Jeter needs the Yankees just as much, if not more than they need him. But we already knew that Jeter's ego was going to make this difficult. I think the years of him refusing to acknowledge his deficiencies as a shortstop or change his position were a lot more informative than one dinner with Brian Cashman.

Debating the merits and estimating the size and length of Jeter's next deal are wholly futile at this point, despite the fact that this is a hotly debated topic and will be revisited ad naseum throughout the season.

How Jeter performs this year is going to go much further in shaping his next contract than any facts of the situation as they currently exist. If the Captain continues his excellent offensive production and is again solid at shortstop, the Yankees are going to be backing up the truck in a big way. If he struggles at the plate or in the field or God forbid, gets injured, the franchise isn't just going to give him a blank check.

Paradoxically, the better Jeter plays this year, the uglier the back end of his contract has the potential to look. Of course, we'd all "settle for" a great season and the resulting huge contract, but the best of both worlds scenario would be for Jeter to have a good but not great season and go back to being great in 2011. The first and foremost concern though, is Jeter's ability to stay productive in his later years, and unfortunately for the Yanks' checkbook, there is a direct relationship between the probability that he will continue to produce at an elite level and how much they are going to have to pay for the privilege of retaining his services.

Yet Another Joba To The Bullpen Post

Good morning Fackers. As our Spring Training countdown will remind you later on today, it's just twelve more days until pitchers and catchers report. It's been a pretty interesting off-season all things considered, but every year, the flow of transactions and real news invariably slows to a drip. That leaves us prone to rumor and conjecture, and apparently "us" includes "real journalists" as well.

Wednesday, Joel Sherman dipped into the trusty old Joba-to-the-bullpen bag to conjure up a story with a new twist, proposing that the Yankees lean on their on their one through four starters, wave the white flag on the fifth spot, and place both Chamberlain and Hughes in the pen to create a lockdown relief corps.

I was willing to just let it slide for what it was - a baseless hypothetical proposal during the dead days of the off-season - but as with any Joba-to-the-bullpen story it inevitably had legs. Even at that, I was willing to the let the usual arguments - make-up, potential, the eight inning, the succesor to Mo, etc. - play out and let the story die.

But then Dave Pinto put forth an interesting and unorthodox proposal that I thought brought something new to the table: let both pitch out of the bullpen, but utilize them much like pre-LaRussian firemen, pitching multiple innings at a time. Theoretically, not only would it allow both to pitch enough innings in 2010 to leave them well positioned for starting roles in 2011, but it would give the Yankees a highly effective bullpen while allowing them to carry fewer relief pitchers. As a result, they would conceivably be able to have a better bench, whether it be with a third catcher, another utility infielder, a pinch running specialist, etc.

Pinto's proposal intrigued me for a few reasons. Firstly, I like these type of "outside the box" ideas that challenge prevailing roster construction ideas. Secondly, I love any realistic plan that results in an eleven - or even better a ten - man pitching staff. Thirdly, it reminded me of something I proposed two years ago, as to how the Yankees should best deploy Chamberlain for the 2008 season when 40% of the rotation figured to be Hughes and Ian Kennedy and all three had fairly restrictive innings limits.

That said, interesting as Pinto's proposal is, I don't think that 2010 is the time to try it with Chamberlain. The Yankees have handled him very carefully for the past three seasons to have him in the position he is now. He's primed to enter 2010 with no restrictions, capable of being a fully vetted starting pitcher for the entirety of the season. As such, the intrigue and potential fringe benefits of Pinto's proposal aren't enough to punt on the opportunity to just let Joba pitch this year. Yes, he was frustrating to watch for much of last year, but that's typical of any 23 year old pitcher, let alone one who's had Joba's hype and expectations heaped upon him. Let's see what he can do this year before we give up on the Joba starter project.

Hughes, on the other hand, presents a difficult case. Because of the way he was used last year, he will likely have a 2010 innings limit that proves restrictive. It almost assuredly wouldn't permit him to be a starter all season long, and there's no guarantee that there's a rotation spot for him anyway. But, if the Yankees utilize him strictly as a traditional set up man again in 2010, Hughes will be ill-prepared to assume a starting role in 2011. The organization has to find a way to get Hughes an appropriate amount of innings this year, and in his case Pinto's suggestion may have some merit.

In the end, Pinto's proposal won't happen. While I would like an extra position player or two on the bench, Dave Cameron had an excellent look Tuesday as to how filling the fringe of the roster with pitchers rather than position players is probably the better move. Further, in light of the recent extensions signed by Zack Greinke, Josh Johnson, Felix Hernandez, and Justin Verlander, both Rob Abruzzese at Bronx Baseball Daily and Joe Pawlikowski at RAB note the importance of the Yankees developing Chamberlain and Hughes as top flight starters of their own. Pawlikowski further notes that it's unlikely for a contending team like the Yankees to experiment with such a non-traditional technique. And if that's not enough water thrown on the fire, a "high level source" told Baseball Prospectus' Will Carrol there's "no bleeping way" both pitchers wind up in the pen.

Well, that killed two more days of the off-season. Just twelve more until we can move on to real news like who's "in the best shape of his life" and who's been on fire through two dozen at bats against replacement level competition despite years worth of sucking in the Major Leauges. It's not much, but it beats speculating about Joba to the pen or where Damon will land.

*No dead horses were harmed during the writing of this post

The Latest On David Cone

Good morning, Fackers. One of the off the field storylines we've followed pretty closely this offseason has been David Cone's departure from YES. First it was rumored he was leaving the network after a dispute with management, then he actually did leave but said it was in order to spend more time with his family.

Yesterday, Joel Sherman offered up his understanding of the situation on his 3UP blog, and it runs contrary to what Richard Sandomir wrote in the Times when Cone's departure was official:

I continue to hear that Cone’s departure after one season in the booth for YES was hardly pleasant. He had a personality conflict with one executive in particular, feeling this executive was intrusive and disrespectful all year. However, there were two incidents, in particular, that made Cone flip out.

Early in the season, with the Yankees struggling, Cone remarked on the air that if the Yankees did not start performing better than they could fall out of the race. The YES executive told the broadcasters that this remark aggravated Hank Steinbrenner and needed to be avoided in the future (so much for a firewall between the team and what is said on the air). Cone felt this was a true statement – and rather innocuous – and should not have been discussed.

It it wasn't already blindingly apparent why Hal is running the team and not Hank, it should be now. Really, Hank? Trying to censor the broadcasters over something that trivial? Unacceptable. Go outside, smoke a couple Marlboro Reds in a row and try to regain your composure before we send you back to the fucking horse farm.

Late in the season, Cone remarked that one of the important, behind-the-scenes workers involved in daily coverage of the Yankees was a free agent at the end of the year. This made the top YES executive flip out because the plan was not to retain this particular employee. Cone was confronted by the YES executive and there was a heated exchange during which Cone explained that he had made a lot of money playing (nearly $67 million) and took the YES job as a way to get back into baseball, but that he would not take such verbal abuse from anyone because he did not need the job. At that point it became apparent that Cone would not be back in 2010.

Obviously, Cone has a point here. He's not in it for the money and this mystery executive should take that into account when interacting with him. You might be able to lean on John Flaherty or Bob Lorenz because they are thrilled to have their jobs and probably could use the money, but you can't strong arm a guy who is there purely by choice. Admittedly, Cone didn't have to react so obstinately, but I can't help but side with him in both scenarios.

Guess who loses in all of this? The fans, of course. Sherman believes that the end result of this will likely be Tino Martinez being in the booth for 40 games in 2010. If he's anything like he was in his on short stint on Baseball Tonight - awkward and rigid - then color me less than excited.

As for Cone, the Post also indicates that he could play a role in the upcoming CBA negotiations. He has a history of being very influential in his time in the Players Association and a deep knowledge of the issues that will be on the table.

So maybe this is a blessing in disguise. We won't get many FanGraphs references this coming year (unless someone teaches Michael Kay how to use a computer) but it might free up Cone to help out with the labor situation and affect some real positive change in the game.

Yankees Sign Randy Winn, Lose

According to Joel Sherman on Twitter, the Yankees have come to terms with Randy Winn for one year for just about the elusive $2M Brian Cashman was dangling in front perspective free agents.

Last year for the Giants, Winn was nothing short of dreadful at the plate, racking up a smooth .262/.318/.353. He's going to turn 36 this season so he's less likely than a younger player to rebound from such a poor effort.

Here is the first positive thing: he's a good defender. Winn put up some gaudy UZR totals in the corner outfield positions over the last few years so even if those are overstated, he's still likely to be quite a bit better than average.

Last year he was atrocious against left handed pitching. Like real atrocious. Which is fine because he's going to be platooning with Brett Gardner and facing primarily... wait. Fuck.

He could probably still play centerfield in a pinch, but so can Gardner and Jamie Hoffmann. What the Yankees needed was a bat and what they got a glove that's not any sort of an improvement over the two they already have.

Whatever, it's only $2M dollars - 1% of the payroll. But as Matt mentioned to me on GChat, with the power of hindsight, the Yankees could have had Jim Thome DH for $2.2M and then had enough to bring Johnny Damon back instead. Without having to go back in time, the Yanks could have just inked Reed Johnson who mashes lefties and is no defensive slouch himself. I don't really get it.

The best part about this? It will be at least a year until we have to read another article talking about Johnny Damon coming to the Yankees. That and the endless amount of puns we will be able to make using Winn's last name when he inevitably sucks.

Anyway, that just about rounds out the 2010 Yankees aside from the few bench spots that will be up for grabs in Spring Training. We'll probably have more on this tomorrow, but what do you Fackers think?

Yesterday In Yankeedom

Good morning Fackers. Well yesterday was a relatively busy day in Yankee-related news, and at this time of year that qualifies as a big news day. So let's get to it:

• Ben Sheets signed with the Oakland A's yesterday. The Yankees were linked to Sheets early in the off season, but that went out the window with the Javier Vazquez trade. Of greater pertinence is that Johnny Damon was rumored to be the A's back up plan in the event they were unable to land Sheets. Setting aside the obvious question as to how signing an outfielder could be a viable back up plan for failing to land a starting pitcher, it would appear that Damon has one fewer potential suitor. Except maybe the A's are still interested. Or maybe they're not. I have no idea anymore. I wish Damon would just sign somewhere and/or Spring Training would start.

• Xavier Nady signed with Cubs. Like Sheets, the Yankees were in on Nady earlier in the off season, before deeming his price to be too high. Interestingly enough, apparently the Yankees' price for Nady was higher than the Cubs price. Nady signed for $3.3M with $2M in incentives. According to Joel Sherman though, Boras' last proposal to the Yankees was for $5M. No word as to whether that was $5M guaranteed or total, but if it was the former it doesn't bode well for the increasingly icy relationship between Boras and Cashman.
  
  It'll be interesting to see how Nady fares returning from a second Tommy John surgery. By inking a deal with an NL club he has no DH safety net in the event his arm can't handle the rigors of playing the field. With Nady now off the market, there is one fewer suitor for the other right handed outfielders on the market, all of whom have some level of appeal to the Yankees.

• The Yankees made a deal of their own yesterday, trading minor league infielder Mitch Hilligoss to the Rangers for recently DFA'd outfielder Greg Golson. Hilligoss posted good numbers in his first two pro seasons, but is coming off back-to-back abysmal seasons at high A Tampa.
  
  Golson was a first round pick of the Phillies in 2004 and was traded to the Rangers for John Mayberry Jr following the 2008 season. He's 0 for 7 with 5 Ks in 7 Major League games over the last two years and has a .263/.308/.395 batting line in 2780 minor league PA, with 140 SB in 178 attempts (78.7%). But, the Yankees are lacking outfield depth at the upper levels of the minor leagues. If nothing else, he gives Scranton a center fielder for next year, which is important because they'd give up a lot of triples without one.
  
  For what it's worth, Frankie Piliere, who we noted yesterday is a former Rangers scout, tweets that Golson is "an interesting tools guy" and calls it a good deal for the Yankees. There's already speculation that Golson might be 2010's Freddy Guzman. And that may be true, but does it warrant the 40 man roster that Golson now occupies?

The acquisition of Golson leaves the Yankees with 39 players on their 40 man. Still room for you Johnny...

The Yankes Are Serious About This Budget Thing

Joel Sherman writes on his blog today that the Yankees only have $2M remaining to spend on a left fielder and as a way of making that point, unveils this tidbit:

Hal Steinbrenner, after all, has shown a much greater willingness to hold to some financial guidelines than his father, George, did. For example, the Post has learned, the Yanks had a completed trade last July with Milwaukee for Mike Cameron, pending ownership’s blessing to take on the money. But Hal Steinbrenner refused to add the approximately $5.5 million in salary and luxury tax it would have cost for the rest of the season, so the deal was scrapped.

Sherman leaves out some important details, namely who would have been exchanged for Cameron and when in July this deal almost took place. It was rumored that the Yankees were about to trade Melky Cabrera to the Brewers for Cameron last December, so it's possible that he would have been included in the deal again. Brett Gardner broke his thumb in July 25th, so the Yanks could have tried to orchestrate a trade in that small window before the July 31st deadline, in which case it would be more likely that other players would have been sent to the Brewers instead of Melky.

With a total salary of $10M and $125,000 bonuses kicking in at 425, 475, 525 & 575 plate appearances Cameron wasn't exactly a bargain last year, but that prorated amount would have only been about 2.7% of the Yankees payroll. It was a proverbial drop in the bucket at that point. Clearly it wasn't a necessary addition as the Yanks got all they needed out of centerfield in 2009, but it takes a lot of discipline as an owner to be convinced of that at the time.

Sherman goes on to say that the Yankees are interested in Xavier Nady and Reed Johnson but that the former might be slightly out of their price range. This means that signing Jerry Hairston, Jr. would all but exhaust their budget and unless Johnny Damon wants to come back on a bargain-basement-one-time-only-red-tag-special, he's obviously out too. Your move, Reed Johnson.

Vazquez Trade Reactions

We posted our initial take on the deal earlier this morning, but here is a collection of what else is being said around these here internets about the acquisition of Javier Vazquez:

Will from IIATMS looks at what this might mean for the Yankees' defense. Aaron Gleeman from Circling the Bases asks a similar question.

Ben from River Ave. Blues revisits Vazquez's last time in the Bronx.

Craig Calcaterra correctly guessed that it was Vazquez this morning, posted a quick reaction to the deal and as a Braves fan, explained why the deal wasn't so bad.

Joel Sherman was the first to name Vazquez as the target this morning and has an in-depth breakdown of the trade. He also explained that the Yankees valued a starting pitcher over a left fielder and are still looking to keep their payroll under $200M, meaning LF will likely be filled on the cheap. They are also planning to deal either Chad Gaudin or Sergio Mitre before spring training.

There are over 200 comments on the BBTF trade dedicated to the trade as well.

And some quick quotes, taken completely out of context:

Dave Cameron, FanGraphs: "The reaction to this deal on Twitter has not been kind to Atlanta, with most people concluding that the Yankees got Vazquez for peanuts. I’m not so sure."

Joe Posnanski: Sigh. The Yankees traded for Vazquez to be their NUMBER FOUR starter. And the Royals signed Jason Kendall to be their starting catcher.

Keith Law: "At this point, the Yankees now have a rotation close to that of the Red Sox, and they could very well enter 2010 a better team on paper than they were at the same time before 2009.

Peter Abraham, Boston Globe: "You knew this was coming. Once the Red Sox signed John Lackey, there was no way the Yankees would go into next season with a rotation of CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Andy Pettitte and two question marks."

Jonah Keri, via Twitter: "To be fair to the #Braves, any time you can acquire dryer lint for one of the best SP in baseball, you gotta do it.

Tyler Kepner, via Twitter: "Yanks use 6 prospects to get Granderson and Vazquez, yet keep Hughes, Joba, Montero, Melancon, Romine, McAllister. Not bad."

Ben Kabak, River Ave. Blues: "As much as it strengthens the team’s rotation, it also weakens their outfield. The leftfield situation currently looks like a Brett Gardner/Jamie Hoffmann platoon, which doesn’t exactly inspire confidence."

Rob Iracane, Walkoff Walk: "Let it be known that this guy (points to self) would rather have dismissed Nick Swisher, who cannot field his position, run the bases, or dress like a grown-up. But hey, Vazquez strikes out batters like it's his job (note: it is his job) so as a Yankees fan, I am pleased."

Satchel Price, Beyond the Box Score: "Considering what the Phillies landed for one year of Cliff Lee, arguably a superior pitcher, at a cheaper salary, I think that Atlanta got a pretty solid return for Vazquez, even if it doesn't include the impact bat that Atlanta sorely needs."

Kevin Kaduk, Big League Stew: "It's often been said that Vazquez is a pitcher that throws best when the expectations are low and his stats do back that up. "

Josh, Jorge Says No!: "Make no mistake about it though, if Vazquez can give the Yankees 200 IP with 190+ K's, and a 3.75 ERA, then there is no reason why he won't be able to win 15+ games with the Yankees the way this team is constructed."

And It Comes Full Circle: Javy Vazquez Returns

When Matt created the Nick Johnson trade tree last week, he had to go all the way back to the trade that sent Johnson to the Expos for Javier Vazquez. Since then, Johnson's been oft-injured but productive when healthy, putting up .402 career OBP. A year after being acquired from Montreal, Vazquez was traded to Arizona for Randy Johnson, who was disappointing in his tenure in Pinstripes. In the five years since that trade, he's thrown over 200 innings every season, with a combined ERA+ of 110.

It seems that Brian Cashman is now attempting to right those wrongs as the Yankees have reportedly acquired Javier Vazquez from the Braves along with lefty reliever Boone Logan in exchange for Melky Cabrera, Mike Dunn and Arodys Vizcaino, who was just named the Yankees third best prospect by Baseball America after an excellent campaign in short-season Staten Island.

Vazquez is coming off a terrific season for the Braves in which he threw 219 innings to a 2.87 ERA. He'll be making $11.5M next year (the last on his contract), so he won't come cheap, but he's very similar to Andy Pettitte in that he's likely to pitch a whole lot of innings at a better than average ERA. The Yankees might have bought at the peak of his value, but this is a salary dump to a certain exent as well because they didn't give up a whole lot.

Boone Logan is a 25 year old lefty who was traded to the Braves along with Vazquez from the White Sox last winter in exchange for two minor leaguers and two of the least manly-named baseball players imaginable - Tyler Flowers and Brent Lillibridge. Logan's career ERA is north of 5.00 and it's not a whole lot better in the minors, but he'll likely compete for a spot in the bullpen now that both Mike Dunn and Phil Coke are gone.

It's sad to see Melky go, but he's starting to get fairly expensive and hasn't displayed the kind of tantalizing ceiling that makes you think he is going to be an All-Star caliber player in the future. Dunn is a converted outfielder, so he is still early in his development as a pitcher. He could very well turn out to be a solid reliever, but for now his walk rate is awfully high. Arodys Vizcaino is a long, long way from the Majors, but he flashed a lot of potential this year and is the one piece that could be the most painful to see in another uniform in the long run.

My overall impression is that this is a great deal for the Yankees for this year. They get a very solid starter to fill out the back of their rotation (and a possibly lefty for the 'pen) in exchange for two fringe MLB players and a pitcher that is still several leaps and bounds from the Big League club.

However, this means that top 4 members of the Yanks' starting rotation will be making $62.5M this year. It also means the Yanks will most likely have to go outside of the organization to fill the hole in left field. I guess it's good that the Yankees are spending the money they are making instead of stuffing it in the coffers, but the talk of a "budget" that was prevalent early in this offseason is getting more and more laughable by the day.

What's Being Said About The Granderson Trade

Since the trade is seemingly official, it's time to round up some reactions for the deal that saw the Yankees give up Austin Jackson, Ian Kennedy and Phil Coke, the Diamondbacks surrender Max Scherzer and Daniel Schlereth and the Tigers deal Edwin Jackson and Curtis Granderson. MLBTR weighs in with the salary implications and when the dust settles, here's where they all end up:

• Yankees get Granderson
• Diamondbacks get Edwin Jackson and Ian Kennedy
• Tigers get Austin Jackson, Max Scherzer, Phil Coke and Daniel Schlereth

It's sad to see Austin Jackson go but I don't think we are going to miss Ian Kennedy or Phil Coke all that much. Kennedy was not likely to start for the Yanks anytime soon and Coke - although he was solid for long stretches - was victimized by his high HR rate.

Granderson is not without his flaws, namely abysmal production against LHP, but he's relatively inexpensive for a player of his caliber. I would personally love to see Granderson play LF in the Bronx. Teams like the Rays and Mariners have stashed players capable of playing CF at corner OF positions (Carl Crawford, Ichiro) and seen good results, but most of the talk has assumed Granderson will be playing CF. For what it's worth, UZR hasn't thought very highly of his defense in CF over the past two years and the Yankees have a serviceable duo in CF already. Should Granderson want to take over that slot, it may require further maneuvering.

Now for some other reactions...

Dave Cameron absolutely loves the deal for the Yankees:

From the Yankees perspective, this deal is almost too good to be true. Heading into his age 29 season, Granderson is a legitimate +4 win center fielder signed to a bargain contract for the next four years. I ranked him as the 22nd most valuable asset in terms of trade value in baseball over the summer, and the Yankees are getting him for a variety pack of role players. He instantly makes their team better, giving them a legitimate all-star center fielder who should thrive in Yankee Stadium. For as much as the Yankees have a payroll advantage, they continue to win because Brian Cashman targets the right players. Granderson is a fantastic acquisition for them.

Matthew Pouliot from Circling the Bases agrees that they made out well.

Granderson's defense has slipped a bit and it looks like he'll always be a liability against lefties, but he still brings quite a bit to the table and he should put up some big numbers in center field for the Yankees. His contract is also manageable, as he's due $5.5 million next year, $8.25 million in 2011, $10 million in 2012 and then $13 million or a $2 million buyout in 2013.

Perhaps the Yankees should have just signed Mike Cameron instead, but the price for Granderson was right. Austin Jackson was the only piece they gave up likely to play a big role going forward.

Joel Sherman analyzes the loss of Austin Jackson:

The tough player for the Yankees to lose in this swap was Austin Jackson. In recent years, the Yankees have protected Jackson when, for example, the Nationals asked for him in July 2006 for Alfonso Soriano and Seattle asked for him last July for Jarrod Washburn.

But the reality is, if Jackson maximizes his talent, he probably would be just a cost-efficient version of Granderson.

Greg Fertel at Pending Pinstripes thinks a rebound is likely for Granderson:

Curtis Granderson had somewhat of a down year in 2009, posting a wOBA of .340 compared to his career mark of .358, but he plays a good center field and should be able to rebound. The short porch in left field should allow him to improve his power numbers and a rebound on batted balls in play should make his overall hitting like look quite a bit better.

In 2009, he hit only .276 on balls in play. Due to his speed, he has been able to maintain an above average mark of .323 for his career. Even though he hit markedly more fly balls in '09, it is unlikely that he posts a BABIP as low as .276 in the upcoming seasons.

More on this later, obviously.

When Twitter Is Too Much: The 2009 Winter Meetings

There are times when Twitter can be a useful tool - an advantageous manifestation of technology that can help people relay information where other forms of media can not keep up or go at all. And then there are situations like Major League Baseball's Winter Meetings where the frequency of communication far exceeds the amount of information and those fishing for the latest tidbits from Indianapolis are coming up with a lot of old boots.

Let's assume that the 2009 Winter Meetings ultimately produce the same amount of trades, signings and other types of announcements that this summit yielded in each of the past couple of years. Maybe slightly more or, if you read the first-person accounts from the first day this year, slightly less - but we'll call it even. Given this assumption, what function does Twitter serve?

It has become the central source for breaking news. Within that though, the sources are fragmented, with Joel Sherman, Ken Rosenthal, Jon Heyman, Tim Brown and Buster Onley leading the way, countless others at a second tier and the untamed masses below that hungry for any dispatch the above can provide. There is an inherent power structure and it gives reporters the ability to post news essentially as soon as they find it out.

Once that news item gets stuffed into 140 characters (and somewhat mangled in the process), it gets passed around infinitely faster. Tweets get re-tweeted and shortened and re-tweeted again, echoed and dissected, posted to blogs and commented on. So in the time that it used to take reports to file a blog post back in the old days - 10 or 15 minutes, say -that tidbit has already traversed Twitter, reaching far more people that it previously would have and is going to be up on MLBTR very shortly.

However, there isn't any more news than there has been in the past, remember? So much of the messages that get tumbled through that cycle above are half-truths, speculation or worst of all, intentional misinformation.

The instantaneous nature of the media also produces the typical results of a game of telephone as shown by our friend Joe at RAB yesterday. The originating source says one thing, and since each person who discusses the rumor feels the need to rephrase it so as to not to simply regurgitate what was already said, and things that were intentionally vague at first become more and more certain without regard to the actual probability of occurrence.

In a way, this is similar to the quest for intelligence in preventing terrorism. We don't know what we're looking for; we just assume that there are bits of information that need to be uncovered which will predict things that are going to happen. Giving every CIA agent the ability to continuously feed information back to headquarters isn't necessarily going to lead to better information, just more of it.

At the Winter Meetings, there isn't just the ability to feed information, there is the pressure to do outdo every other reporter there. So ultimately (at least on the baseball side of this analogy), we spend more time overreacting to things that were never going to happen than analyzing the things hat actually do.

Kevin Kaduk from Big League Stew did a good job of summing it up this morning:

Not to sound too crotchety here, but it used to be that reporters had an entire day before the next edition — or at least a few hours before the next blog post — to sift through all the B.S. and decide which passed muster and which didn't. The result would be a piece that would float a few possiblities that we'd be able to consume and mull over.

Now we have a conflicting wall of noise that's often hard to translate. Want to write a blog post that takes an analytical look at the pluses and minuses of a proposed deal from your local beat reporter? Want to chew it over with fellow message board posters? Better make it quick, because by the time you even write a title, there'll be 18 additional tweets that will make your item obsolete before you hit publish.

Ironically, I started brainstorming for this post yesterday afternoon, so even writing about Twitter is subject to this reality.

But I agree with 'Duk's larger point in that sometimes the quest for instantaneous information is actually detrimental, particularly when there is little in the way of actual news and an incredible amount of white noise to wade through. In this case, the hunger for information is leading to more of it, while the amount of worthwhile tidbits remains the same.

Obviously, the Twitter train is already roaring full speed ahead and it's going to take a while for this dynamic to change. Our buddy Jason suggested that reporters rate the validity of their rumors on a scale of 1-10, and that might work in a perfect world, but people aren't going to want to attach a number rating to a rumor that might get thrown back in their face eventually. If you read between the lines, they already hedge their bets by using non-definitive wording like "possibly" and saying that teams are "in talks".

My solution to this problem is to follow from a distance and at the risk of not being the first person to discuss possible deals, not waste time fretting over spurious rumors. Your mileage may vary, but I'll trade the continuous ups and downs of reeling in the line - whether it be for boots or lunkers - for the certainty of cutting into the fish once it's on my plate.