It was Mo’s 39th birthday yesterday. The man has dominated since 1996. I wonder how long he can continue to dominate? A great year was wasted last year as the Yankees sputtered. Father time will eventually catch up with him but hopefully it will be in 4-5 years. He has such a smooth motion he probably can pitch for another 10 years.
The Yankees announced their 2009 spring training schedule. It is a little weird because of the WBC. The WBC will now be played in odd years to not conflict with the olympics.
I went to a spring training game about 10 years ago. It was Sawx versus the Yankees. Marc Augie got me a ticket into the game. I remember sitting next to a couple old Red Sawx fans (most of the people in the stands were old). Mo Vaughn made a nice defensive play at first and I said to the older gentleman next to me, “that is the nicest defensive play Mo will make this year.” He did not find it amusing.
Legends field is not named King Steinbrenner field He does do a lot in the Tampa area. I had to chuckle today at his genius. In the early 70’s he has the city of New York pay for major renovations to Yankee stadium pretty changing the whole look of the stadium. Now 30 plus years later they are building a 1.1 billion dollar stadium that “pays homage” to the original stadium. Hey George, why didn’t you just leave old Yankee stadium alone.
I will be away for a few days celebrating the Thamksgiving holiday. Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving.
The big news today was a report that Renteria may sign with the Giants. He never fit in the AL and needs to go back to the NL.
CC will wait as long as he can. Once he makes up his mind, more activity may follow. I am hoping it is this week but his agent is in no rush. Why sign when he can play the waiting game and make teams sweat. It is what every good agent does.
I was reading the 2008 media guide and realized Matsui and Damon will be free agents after 2009. The Yankees have some real salary flexibility the next couple years. Between wide free agent signings and developing some kids and a Democrat in the white house, the next 4 years may be very good.
The Arizona and Hawaiin fall leagues are done. Word is Hughes looked great, now we just need to see it in March and beyond. Brackman and Sanchez were coming back from injuries and were wild. Sanchez MAY pitch in the big league bullpen by the summer. Brackman will probably start at Tampa where they can keep and eye on him an the weather is warm. He is set to make a statement in 2010. Miranda, Hughes, Sublett, Romine are at various stages of their minor league career and non of them embarrassed themselves. Miranda may be trade bait now that Swisher is around unless they are looking at Miranda as a DH/1B in 2010. I guess there is never enough talent and a good idea to have guys waiting in case of injuries.
This week and most likely the next couple weeks moves will start being made. Teams like to have most of the offseason work wrapped up before the holidays and new years. Teams do not want to be negotiating throughout Christmas and new years. Players like to know where they will be playing in 2009 before the new year.
There are a lot of rumors around these days and this is a great blog for hot stove rumors.
I think the Yankees will get CC, may struggle to get deals with AJ or Lowe and will not sign Texeira. I know a few weeks back I predicted the Yankees would maybe spend half a billion on free agents this year but with the economy continuing to tank and Hal in charge of the finances the Yankees will not spend as freely as I originally thought.
Is this worth a 5 year/75 million deal?
It contains about 10 season. It would average 9 wins and 8 losses and about 22 starts. That would scare the heck out of me as a GM.
I prefer the Yankees go after Lowe for 3-4 years.
November 20th was the last day to set 40 man rosters.
The Yankees added 4 pitchers to the 40 man roster.
With the depth of the Yankees minor league system, some good talent was bound to be left available for the rule 5 draft. JB Cox has a good chance to be plucked by a small market team looking for bullpen help. He was a former second round pick and pitched at AAA last year. Hopefully he will be taken and returned in spring training.
If any other team officials are reading this blog, do not take Cox. He had tommy john surgery and is a liability with a bum arm. Do not select him in the rule 5 draft.
Moose announced his retirement this week. I was hoping he would come back because I think he can still pitch and win 15 games in 2009.
The big discussion now is does Moose deserve to be voted into the Hall in 2013? I do not think he is a first ballot hall of famer but I think he should eventually get in. He has 270 wins, a very good winning percentage and has 2813 strikeouts. If Jim Bunning is on, Moose is on.
Unfortunately the last 10-15 years lots of guys that do not really deserve to be in the hall are in the hall. The induction and news around the entry class every year means a lot of money and news so the hall will vote someone in every year.
Still nothing major Yankee news lately. The Arizona Fall league wraps up soon. Hughes is looking good and has developed a cutter. Whelan still cannot find the strike zone and until he does, he will never make it to the bigs. Sanchez was wild but coming back from 2 years of injuries, it is expected. Russo may be a super utility guy in the near future. Jackson played ok, still needs to cut down on the strikeouts. Miranda may get a shot at making the big league club although the Swisher acquisition made that tougher unless the team trades a corner outfielder and Swisher moves to left field.
Affeldt signed with the Giants which is a good move for them. They still need to get younger and is a team still trying to shed the image of Binds but they may contend in a weak NL West next year.
Dempster signed a 4 year deal with the Cubbies. 13 million a year after one good season. He will be a bust.
Hopefully Moose will make up his mind soon and the team resigns Pettitte to a 1 year, 12 million deal. Then sign CC and hopefully Lowe. A rotation of CC, Wang, Pettitte, Lowe and Joba/Hughes will not be that bad.
Check out mlbtraderumors.com for a lot of hot stove league news.
OK, not such a big move but Rasner was sold to a Japanese team today. I believe he was on the 40 man roster so this deal opens a spot for the Yankees and add a million dollars into the Yankees coffers. Rasner was not in the plans for the Yankees in 2009 so it is a good move.
Lost in a busy week of news was the Yankees announcing their 2009 coaching staff.
I like the moves. I do not know much about Kelleher but he has a lot of experience and is an infield coach. I hope he can whip Cano into shape.
Meachem was a terrible third base coach so Thomson will be an improvement.