Mets sign Wright. Felz is surprised. That is all.

Miller was also right about drug testing.

"Professional athletes draw our scorn because they make gobs of money to work a job we say we would do for free. Because some possess a sense of entitlement.

But even the luckiest, richest jerks in the world — the number of which, by the way, is grossly overestimated — deserve the right to choose their place of employment. They ought to receive their fair share of the pie they help create.

...

Don’t espouse the nonsense that players’ greed causes modern ticket prices to be so high. What, you think the owners would keep prices down out of the goodness of their hearts if not for the bloodthirsty players? Please. Pro sports are huge business, and it’s better today for the contributions of Miller, the union’s founding executive director."

Yeah, does anyone ever notice how expensive NBA games are, despite a salary cap?

All players from the steroid era are from the steroid era.

1) Craig Biggio may have taken steroids.

2) Even if he didn't use steroids, his stats benefited from the steroid users who surrounded him:

"All these players spent most of their careers in the era before testing, so we do not really know if they were cheating. But Biggio did not have bulging muscles, so most people assume he was clean. The same could be said of another first-timer, the former pitcher Curt Schilling, who was more stocky than sculptured and was also considered clean.

But assumptions, with varying degrees of evidence, are part of the problem for the hundreds of baseball writers who will cast ballots in this election. Bonds, Clemens, Piazza and Sosa were clearly Hall of Fame-caliber players, yet are widely assumed to have used performance-enhancing drugs. For many writers, even the whiff of such drug use means automatic disqualification."

I think it's a correct observation ... some players get benefit of the doubt, some players don't. But "lack of bulging muscles" is hardly a reasonable test.


"Here is a different question: what if a report surfaced tomorrow with hard evidence that an existing Hall of Famer used steroids? The fantasy of a pure Hall of Fame would be shattered, and the roster of inductees would look confusing with some stars still on the outside."

This will happen soon enough.


"There are no right answers. But it seems most logical to elect the best players and hope that future generations understand the sobering context of the time."

That's probably what I would do.

Now he'll get into the Hall of Fame.

"Still, though his contributions to baseball were compared to those of Babe Ruth, who made the home run an essential part of the game, and Branch Rickey, who broke the major leagues’ color barrier when he signed Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers, Mr. Miller has not been recognized by the Baseball Hall of Fame.

'There’s been a concerted attempt to downplay the union,' Mr. Miller told The New York Times, referring to the Hall, when he narrowly missed out on election in December 2010, the fifth time he had been on the ballot. 'It’s been about trying to rewrite history rather than record it. They decided a long time ago that they would downgrade any impact the union has had. And part of that plan was to keep me out of it.' "

I would have loved to have heard his acceptance speech.

The steroid era is back.

I always find it amusing when it's a player such as Carlos Ruiz and no one cares.

The word that comes to mind is "ersatz."

Though award-winning columnist Mike Lupica probably doesn't know what that word means.

I'll believe it when I see it.

I don't doubt the Blue Jays can be a pretty good team next season, and I also agree that the Forever NY-Bos #1-#2 Punch broke up long ago (even if few noticed).

So the AL East is more competitive than it has been over the past decade and a half.

But I'm simply not impressed Toronto got a bunch of expensive busts from a last place team:

"BEST LINEUP: TORONTO BLUE JAYS

The additions of Jose Reyes and Emilio Bonifacio, who are part of the Jays' haul from Miami, inject speed into a power lineup. Toronto only had slugger Jose Bautista for 92 games last season because of injury, but they still managed to finish fifth in the AL with 198 home runs. Cabrera, who batted .346 last season in San Francisco before serving a 50-game suspension for failing a drug test, gives the Jays a decent on-base threat, assuming he can even approach the .390 OBP he had last year.

Reyes and Cabrera can hit at the top of the order and be followed by Bautista, Encarnacion, Colby Rasmus (23 HRs last year) and potential star Brett Lawrie can bat next and the Jays can expect production from a bottom third of Adam Lind, J.P. Arencibia and Bonifacio.


Reyes is overrated. Bonifacio isn't that good. Melky will be off steroids. Bautista will get hurt again.

After all of these moves, I think the Yankees will probably have the best lineup, best defense, and best bullpen in the AL East next season.

Besides, before you move Toronto into AL East contention, consider the importance of the following: Pitching.

2012 AL MVP

Baseball Writers' Association of America:

I think my friends did a superior job with the AL MVP voting.  Of course, the BBWAA gave one tenth-place vote to platoon player Raul Ibanez and his .240/19/62 season -- the anti-Triple Crown winner.

Name	Points
Miguel Cabrera	362
Mike Trout	281
Adrian Beltre	210
Robinson Cano	149
Josh Hamilton	127
Adam Jones	120
Derek Jeter	77
Justin Verlander	58
Prince Fielder	56
Yoenis Cespedes	41
Edwin Encarnacion	33
David Price	26
Fernando Rodney	24
Jim Johnson	22
Alex Rios	17
Josh Reddick	14
Albert Pujols	8
Ben Zobrist	7
Joe Mauer	6
Rafael Soriano	5
Matt Wieters	4
Felix Hernanez	2
Jered Weaver	2
Raul Ibanez	1

Felz and his Friends:

Name	Points
Miguel Cabrera	40
Mike Trout	27
Josh Hamilton	9
Derek Jeter	7
Adrian Beltre	3
Robinson Cano	3
Adam Jones	1

2012 NL MVP

Baseball Writers' Association of America:

Name	Points
Buster Posey	422
Ryan Braun	285
Andrew McCutchen	245
Yadier Molina	241
Chase Headley	127
David Wright	86
Adam LaRoche	86
Craig Kimbrel	73
Aramis Ramirez	47
Jay Bruce	46
Matt Holliday	34
Aroldis Chapman	20
Brandon Phillips	18
Joey Votto	16
R.A. Dickey	16
Clayton Kershaw	15
Ian Desmond	15
Michael Bourn	12
Allen Craig	10
Gio Gonzalez	8
Alfonso Soriano	8
Kris Medlen	8
Martin Prado	8
Ryan Zimmerman	7
Giancarlo Stanton	7
Carlos Beltran	6
Aaron Hill	6
Carlos Ruiz	4
Jason Heyward	4
Johnny Cueto	2
Bryce Harper	2
Chipper Jones	1
Miguel Montero	1
Angel Pagan	1
Hunter Pence	1

Felz and his Friends:

Name	Points
Buster Posey	35
Ryan Braun	31
Andrew McCutchen	15
David Wright	4
Chase Headley	2
Joey Votto	2
Matt Kemp	1

Shenanigans.

"Price won by just four points, 153 to 149, after being placed first on exactly half of the 28 ballots submitted by the writers. Verlander received 13 first-place votes, with the last going, courtesy of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Drew Davison, to Rays closer Fernando Rodney, who didn't rank higher than third on any other ballot. That vote alone didn't cost Verlander the award, however, as Davison had Verlander second on his ballot and the difference between first and second place was just three points. What's more, if Davison had ranked Rodney behind both Verlander and Price, it would have given an extra point to Price as well (one point separated second and third places), resulting in a mere two-point gain for Verlander.

The 28 ballots were submitted by two writers from each of the 14 American League markets and the two Angels writers, Michael Martinez of FoxSportsWest.com and Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register, both put third-place finisher Jered Weaver second on their ballots and Verlander third. They did not cost Verlander the award either, as the difference between second and third place was just one point, so Verlander would only have had two more points if Martinez and Plunkett had flipped Weaver and Verlander on their ballots.

Rather, it took all three ballots to make the difference in the award, so one can't necessarily call shenanigans on the voters."

I call shenanigans because of the typical provincialism.

Like Mark Feinsand over in the NY Daily News pointlessly defending Cabrera over Trout. Not so much of a controversy.

How is Rafael Soriano 8th?

"8. Rafael Soriano, Yankees : Many thought the Yankees’ season was doomed when Mariano Rivera tore his ACL. Soriano had other thoughts."

"Many thought" something and a guy on the Yankees did better than "many thought" he would? That's it? You seriously can think of only 7 players in the entire AL who were more valuable than a replaceable relief pitcher?

2012 NL Cy Young

Baseball Writers' Association of America:

Name	Points
R.A. Dickey	209
Clayton Kershaw	96
Gio Gonzalez	93
Johnny Cueto	75
Craig Kimbrel	41
Matt Cain	22
Kyle Lohse	6
Aroldis Chapman	1
Cole Hamels	1

Felz and his Friends:

Name	Points
R.A. Dickey	45
Gio Gonzalez	24
Matt Cain	12
Johnny Cueto	9
Clayton Kershaw	7
Aroldis Chapman	5
Cole Hamels	4
Craig Kimbrel	4
Yovani Gallardo	1

2012 AL Cy Young

Almost every writer had Price and Verlander in the top two.  Only two writers put Weaver in the top two.  Both of these writers put Weaver second and Verlander third.  Both of these writers are from Los Angeles.


Baseball Writers' Association of America:

Name	Points
David Price	153
Justin Verlander	149
Jered Weaver	70
Felix Hernandez	41
Fernando Rodney	38
Chris Sale	17
Jim Johnson	5
Mariano Rivera	4
Matt Harrison	2
Yu Darvish	1

Felz and his Friends:

Name	Points
Justin Verlander	35
David Price	31
Jered Weaver	26
CC Sabathia	7
Phil Hughes	4
Felix Hernandez	3
Fernando Rodney	2
Chris Sale	2
Yu Darvish	1
Jim Johnson	1

Props to Robinson Cano.

Robinson Cano becomes a US citizen.

No votes for Bobby Valentine?

	1st	2nd	3rd	Points
Bob Melvin, Athletics	16	12		116
Buck Showalter, Orioles	12	16		108
Robin Ventura, White Sox			12	12
Joe Maddon, Rays			7	7
Joe Girardi, Yankees			5	5
Jim Leyland, Tigers			2	2
Ron Washington, Rangers			2	2

Red Sox lose payroll flexibility.

I won a gold glove at second base.

How did I win a gold glove?  I make easy plays look hard.

Football is not like baseball.

A football coach is not like the owner of a baseball team.

Rex Ryan is not like George Steinbrenner.


So this is the start of Mike Lupica's Sunday article:

"In so many ways, and not even in town four full seasons yet, Rex Ryan is as close as we have come to a new Boss. As in Steinbrenner."

If you can read that introductory sentence and masochistically continue with the rest of the article, then you're a stronger person than I am.

My blogging of this particular article must therefore abruptly end.

Felz Small Sample Size Stats of the Day.

• Madison Bumgarner is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA in World Series games.
• Miguel Cabrera has a .172 batting average in World Series games.

Subway.

I have to admit, these greedy attempts to rip off the average fan have finally backfired:

"The highest payroll in baseball did not help the Yankees in their failed bid to make the World Series. Charging as much as $58 to park has not helped the company that runs the parking lots around Yankee Stadium, either.

Bronx Parking Development Company, the operator of the lots, has defaulted on nearly $240 million of its bonds because of overambitious forecasts and less expensive transportation alternatives for fans, like the subway and Metro-North Railroad."

This goes way back to the first day of economics class when you learn about the price sensitivity of the demand for sugar and high fructose corn syrup. It's why the label on the soda says sugar "or" high fructose corn syrup.

I actually agree that Yankee image has been tarnished.

This is why Jeter is worth his salary even if his on-field performance diminishes:

"This regime has tasted playoff failure before. Yet there’s a difference coming off the Yankees’ pathetic offensive performance against the Tigers. The Bombers were humiliated in the ALCS. The team was booed out of New York. Instead of taking it on the chin and walking away the players whined, showing just how fragile their egos are.

They were shocked the 'faithful' turned on them. Was this a delayed reaction from the fans? Or was the level of disgust building before the postseason even began?

The empty seats at the Stadium during the regular season and playoffs do not provide conclusive evidence. That’s partly a residue of an anemic economy. Many fans cannot afford spending food or rent money on a Yankees game, even if the tickets are deeply discounted on Stub Hub."

I agree that the brand has been somewhat tarnished. 

It was also weird scheduling, a spoiled fan base who isn't particularly impressed by the playoffs anymore, and the negative aftermath of Jeter's injury.

 The ALCS didn't help, because it's the only time of the year that people are actually watching baseball games.  

 

The corporate crowd at the New Stadium backfired, too.  It's Saturday night, Jeter is out of the lineup, we can't name three players on the Tigers, ARod is hitting on that other lady: Let's go to a martini bar instead.

 

"The Yankees’ TV ratings on the Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network are a better indicator of fan dissatisfaction. The Bombers averaged a 3.92 rating, down 8.3% from 2011 and YES’ lowest Yankees household rating since 2003. The nine-year low came during a season in which the Yankees battled Baltimore down to the wire to win the AL East, which should have driven the ratings to an all-time high."

The AL East's down-to-the-wire wasn't really as intriguing as Raissman seems to think (sorry, Bud Selig).

 

 I think the fans really like winning.  But, after so much winning, they get spoiled. 

The rivalry with the Red Sox was mostly absent, the rivalry with the Mets was mostly absent, and the other rivalries -- even down to the wire with the Orioles -- are fabricated.

"At the time we first reported the ratings drop, the thought was that more fans take it for granted the Yankees will punch their October ticket, so why watch? Considering the fan backlash and the Yankees’ reaction to it, maybe a negative perception had already caused these fans to turn off YES.

All of those old-grinder Paul O’Neill teams are now completely in the rear view mirror, finally replaced by a different breed of player, some of whom are perceived as selfish whiners. Players who went through the motions when their backs were to the wall.

How will this play on YES during the 2013 season? If the Yankees continue to be viewed as aloof and unlikable, if they give off an uncaring vibe, like Robinson Cano, the brand will be further tarnished. Like it or not, the current face of that brand is Alex Rodriguez."

The face of the brand is definitely still Jeter.  

 

Jeter's absence from Game Two certainly added to the foul mood (and the Bleacher Creatures oddly blamed Jeter's injury on Swisher, because of the botched fly ball in RF which extended the 12th inning).

As for aloof and unlikable players, I'm not sure that's affecting the ratings so much.  Cano has been aloof and unlikable for seven years in a row and the fans love it as long as he hits.

 

ARod may be a jerk, but he draws crowds.  Raissman said it himself -- the ratings haven't been this low since 2003.  No coincidence that ARod showed up in 2004.

So the ratings were high for a long time with Cano and Rodriguez, but it's the presence of ... ummm ... let's see ... it's the presence of Cody Eppley in 2012 that was the last straw?  I don't think it's quite that simplistic.