Sunday, December 29, 2013

Thanks for the free advertising, by the way.

"Praise the Lord and pass the checkbook, if the Yankees outbid everybody for this kid Tanaka, perhaps our long national nightmare — and obsession — about a $189 million payroll for the Yankees might finally come to an end."

I don't quite understand the focus on $189 million, either. I always considered it a negotiation tactic more than anything else, though there may be some movement to cut payroll slightly.

Tanaka will sign with the Red Sox, which will trigger effusive Cherington praise from Lupica, and then Tanaka will be a disappointment in the American major leagues. That's my prediction.


"The coverage, of course, will be that Hal Steinbrenner has finally come to his senses, as if the Yankees going past $200 million again guarantees them World Series No. 28."

The coverage will be the Yankees are a third-place team.

No legitimate source in the entire world will guarantee a World Series for the Yankees.


"But Hal Steinbrenner has a right to look at the bottom line on his own bottom line."

No, he doesn't.

It is against the New York State Constitution for Hal Steinbrenner to look at the (ahem) bottom line on his own bottom line.


"He has a right to look back over the past decade, just since the luxury tax found its way into Major League Baseball, and not only see the $250 million the Yankees have had to shell out because of that tax (out of a total of $280 million in all of baseball), but the $200 million-plus his team pays out every single year in payroll.

You do the math on that."


No.

You do the math.

The big boy math.

Revenue, expenses, income before interest and taxes, return on investment, return on equity, total assets, etc.


"Oh sure, go ahead, do the math on payroll plus taxes as you remember that the Yankees since 2000 have won the same number of World Series as the Marlins and White Sox, one fewer than the Cardinals, two fewer than the Red Sox.

Steinbrenner has been portrayed as some kind of narrow-minded cheapskate for asking his baseball people to just spend an amount of money that is more than any team in baseball — other than his own — has ever spent on a World Series-winning team, in all of baseball history."

I have not seen any person describe Steinbrenner as a narrow-minded cheapskate.

Nor have I seen any person guarantee a World Series championship for the Yankees.  90 wins is the most optimistic prediction I have seen, and that included Tanaka.

Everyone knows the Yankees are not winning championships and everyone knows they are no longer a top-tier team. Lupica is either arguing with the Yankees PR crew or with voices in his head.

As for the success of the past decade, measure it in franchise value and it has been incredibly successful. The real story is that this asset train keeps rolling along despite a lack of titles.


Saturday, December 28, 2013

Who watches the watchmen?

Sportswriters judging the character of baseball players.

Sportswriters, who seemingly rate a player based on the player's willingness to conduct locker room interviews.  I'm surprised sometimes that they let Eddie Murray in.

Friday, December 27, 2013

"Need" is a funny word.

Not sure why the consensus seems to be the Yankees "need" a Japanese pitcher.

Friday, December 13, 2013

The thing is, it's only $20 million.

Bartolo Colon's contract is smaller than Phil Hughes's.

It's lot of things, but it certainly is not a blockbuster contract:

"So perhaps it’s appropriate the Mets celebrated this milestone anniversary by blowing the dust off that wallet Sherman referred to and signing Bartolo Colon to the kind of two-year, $20 million deal that had disappeared from their arsenal not long after however many hundreds of millions of dollars disappeared from their Madoff accounts.


Maybe this really is a sign the Mets are back in the business of brandishing, pairing the Colon signing with Curtis Granderson and seemingly stating, for the first time in forever, Madoff’s $50 billion lie finally has stopped chiseling away at their finances and their foundation."

It's a low-risk, low-money, probably low-reward contract.

In terms of 2013 MLB, it's not a blockbuster. You'll need to add another zero to the $20.

Monday, December 09, 2013

Marvin Miller is an American hero and a savior of Major League baseball. Bill Madden? Not so much.

The sport Marvin Miller saved allows Human Garbage like Bill Madden to make a living, and that's kind of a shame:

"You want to know why Miller, who missed by only one vote in the last Expansion Era election three years ago, didn't come close this time? You probably need to look no further than his repeated statements prior to his death in November 2012, decrying the players union's agreement to drug testing."

1) Miller was 100% correct. You want a drug test, you get a Court order.

2) Doesn't explain why Miller wasn't elected long before 2012.


"Almost to a man, the Hall-of-Fame players have condemned the alleged steroids cheats — Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Roger Clemens et al, who have obliterated their records or passed many of them on the all-time lists — and Miller's adamant stance against taking measures to clean up the game has diminished him despite all his accomplishments on their behalf."

Colon to the Mets!

Because Bill Madden cares about ethics!

Or maybe Madden just has an affinity for colons, since he's a 6-foot piece of crap.


"And lest anyone still believes this is still an owners' conspiracy to keep Miller out of the Hall of Fame, again, there were only four owner/executives on the 16-man committee. The rest were either senior baseball writers, historians or former managers. It was not much different from the first Veterans Committee ballot Miller appeared on in 2001, which then was comprised of all the living Hall-of-Famers, most of them former players who were Miller's constituents, and he fell short by more than 10% of the necessary 75%."

No one said Hall of Fame ballplayers were intelligent people.

They owe Marvin Miller just about everything, and so does Bill Madden.

If Hell has a newspaper, Bill Madden will have all Eternity to write its Ethics column.

Sunday, December 08, 2013

Curtis Granderson

If you want to improve your status in the Daily News, simply sign with the Mets.

Andy Martino compares Granderson to HOFer Catfish Hunter:

"When Hunter signed a then-historic five-year, $3.35 million contract with the Yankees before the 1975 season, his arrival augered a better age for a team emerging from its darkest phase.  The onetime Oakland ace ended up a pedestrian 63-53 for the Yanks, though he contributed in key moments.
But that was hardly the point.  Hunter was George Steinbrenner’s first big catch, before Reggie, Goose, or any of the others who headlined the late-70s dynasty. Catfish was the beginning of Yankees spending, the true end of the doldrums of CBS ownership, the signal that the team was emerging again.

Thirty years later, the Mets employed this same approach, using significant offers to Pedro Martinez and Carlos Beltran to signify that they were back after a few seasons behind the shadows, ready for relevance in the Omar Minaya age.  That plan never resulted in a championship, but did give the team and it’s fans several years of intrigue and excitement. Martinez and Beltran were worthwhile contracts for the Mets, and the latter was greatest free agent acquisition in franchise history."

I get what he's trying to say, but Granderson is not that thing.

Also, the Mets signing of Pedro was a disaster.  $50 million for 32 wins.


Lupica's predictable endorsement of All Things Mets feels like the Geno Smith Kiss of Death:

"Curtis Granderson won’t hit as many pitching-wedge shots over the wall at Citi Field, but he will help the Mets a lot, and probably go back to being the kind of hitter he was when he was with Detroit."


Granderson hasn't been a Tiger since 2009.

Why would a 33-year-old be as productive as he was at his peak at the age of 26? 

At the end of this contract, the 36-year-old injury-prone OFer is going to hit 20 triples just because CitiField plays large in the power alleys?

Granderson's age is a non-issue, but age is all you hear about when the subject is Beltran, Ellsbury, Soriano, etc.



I am not slagging on Granderson. I think it was a good signing for the Mets and would be a good signing for any team.  (Same goes for Ellsbury, McCann, and Beltran.)

Thing is, Granderson is not the Pied Piper putting an entire sub-.500 franchise on his shoulders.  Fans aren't going to clock to CitiField to see the 100th-best player in baseball.

Granderson is also not the owner of a time machine.

The Daily News is simply insistent on pushing a pro-Mets/anti-Yankee agenda.

Should the Yankees sign Bartolo Colon?

Bill Madden wants the Mets to sign Colon.

I have a hunch that Madden wouldn't even consider Colon for the Yankees because Colon is too old for the Yankees and too suspended by MLB. Is there a single player that Madden wants the Mets to sign who is not a steroid cheat?


Sunday, December 01, 2013

I just heard the song "Car Wash" in the supermarket.

I was thinking the hand claps at the beginning are probably sampled a lot.

What does that have to do with baseball?

Alex Rodriguez:

"Maybe Yankee fans can start organizing weekend car wash events if that’s what it will take for their team to pay off Alex Rodriguez and tell him to go away."

I don't get it.
 
I get what Lupica is trying to say ... Yankee fans don't want ARod around anymore.  
 
But I don't get why he brought up a car wash.  
 
Is that supposed to be funny?


Besides, the Yankees probably have money-printing machines right behind Monument Park (yuck yuck).
 
 
"This isn’t about whether the Yankees can afford Cano; of course they can afford him, they’re the Yankees and probably have money-printing machines behind Monument Park."
 
Exactly!
 

"But Cano’s contract will be a bad one at the back end the way CC Sabathia’s will be a bad contract at the end, the way Rodriguez’s contract turned out to be the worst contract in all of world history.

So here’s the deal if they do go to eight years and $200 million at the end:

When he breaks down in three or four years, nobody is allowed to be surprised."
 
Like every Yankee and every non-Yankee.  But I don't recall the same scrutiny applied to Johan Santana, Dustin Pedroia, and David Wright.
 
In fact, it would be amusing if Cano actually signed with the Mets. In Lupica World, Cano would instantly go from overrated and overpaid to the Greatest Athlete in New York History (outside of Geno Smith and Tony Womack).
 




Monday, November 25, 2013

A well-respected organization.

Meet your new hitting coach.

Oh, we already know each other.

Oh, yeah!  Say "hi" to Dr. B. for me next time you see him.

Thursday, November 21, 2013

2013 NL MVP Poll

 BBWAA
NamePoints
Andrew McCutchen409
Paul Goldschmidt242
Yadier Molina219
Matt Carpenter194
Freddie Freeman154
Joey Votto149
Clayton Kershaw146
Hanley Ramirez58
Carlos Gomez43
Jay Bruce30
Craig Kimbrel27
Shin Soo Choo23
Jayson Werth20
Andrelton Simmons14
Yasiel Puig10
Hunter Pence7
Troy Tulowitzki5
Allen Craig4
Adrian Gonzalez4
Buster Posey3
Adam Wainwright3
Michael Cuddyer3
Matt Holliday2
Russell Martin1



Felz Poll
NamePoints
Andrew McCutchen19
Paul Goldschmidt13
Matt Carpenter7
Gary Carter4
Hanley Ramirez4
Joey Votto4
Jay Bruce2
Michael Cuddyer2
Freddie Freeman1
Buster Posey1



2013 AL MVP Poll

 BBWAA
NamePoints
Miguel Cabrera 385
Mike Trout282
Chris Davis232
Josh Donaldson222
Robinson Cano150
Evan Longoria103
Dustin Pedroia99
Adrian Beltre99
Manny Machado57
David Ortiz47
Jason Kipnis31
Max Scherzer25
Adam Jones9
Edwin Encarnacion7
Greg Holland3
Carlos Santana3
Coco Crisp3
Jacoby Ellsbury3
Torii Hunter2
Hisashi Iwakuma2
Koji Uehara2
Yu Darvish1
Felix Hernandez1
Salvador Perez1
Shane Victorino1


 Felz Poll
NamePoints
Miguel Cabrera 24
Chris Davis10
Mike Trout6
Gary Carter4
Josh Donalson4
Adrian Beltre3
Robinson Cano2
Adam Jones2
Adam Longoria2
Alfonso Soriano1
Koji Uehara1



I think ARod is lying.

Not because I analyzed his body language, but because I analyzed his language language.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

2013 NL Cy Young

 BBWAA
NamePoints
Clayton Kershaw 207
Adam Wainwright86
Jose Fernandez62
Craig Kimbrel39
Matt Harvey39
Cliff Lee32
Jordan Zimmerman21
Zack Greinke18
Madison Bumgarner3
Francisco Liriano3




 Felz Poll
NamePoints
Clayton Kershaw 20
Adam Wainwright11
Gary Carter4
Jordan Zimmerman4
Jose Fernandez3
Francisco Liriano2
Zack Greinke1
Craig Kimbrel1
Kyle Lohse1










2013 AL Cy Young

Not much interest in my poll this year, including respondents who didn't bother to figure out which league the players are in, but here you go.

 BBWAA
NamePoints
Max Scherzer 203
Yu Darvish93
Hisashi Iwakuma73
Anibal Sanchez46
Chris Sale44
Bartolo Colon25
Koji Uehara10
Felix Hernandez6
Matt Moore4
Greg Holland4
James Shields2

 Felz Poll
NamePoints
Max Scherzer 24
Bartolo Colon9
Yu Darvish6
Gary Carter4
Felix Hernandez3
Anibal Sanchez3
Adam Wainwright3
Zack Greinke2
C.J Wilson2
Phil Hughes1
Hisashi Iwakuma1
Cliff Lee1
Mariano Rivera1





Describing Bill Madden as a hypocrite is an insult to hypocrites.

"But if he doesn’t get Granderson, where might Alderson go for the bats he needs? I say he should think Biogenesis.

After all, Alderson has never seemed to have a problem with drug-tainted players, going all the way back to his days in Oakland when, whether he knew it or not, the Bash Brothers, Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire, were alleged to have been shooting up steroids in the bathroom stalls of the A’s clubhouse.

...

There is one other added advantage in signing Cruz or Peralta. Both of them have demonstrated they know how to beat a drug test."

Not that a clown like Bill Madden ever sought noble goals such as "journalistic integrity" or "consistent principles," but the next time the name "Alex Rodriguez" is moving up his throat, he should choke on it.

I know nothing.

I would have bet the ranch on Farrell.

Sunday, November 03, 2013

Mike Lupica can't think of anything interesting to write about the Yankees or baseball.

If you don't believe me, ask Mike Lupica:

"There was a time, and it wasn’t so terribly long ago, when you got the idea that you could lead a paper like ours with Yankee news in or out of season, like they were the big game in town no matter what else was happening in football or basketball. But those days are long gone, starting with the way pro football has gotten as big as it has over the past several years, because of the Giants winning two Super Bowls that stand with any dramatic World Series the Yankees have ever won.

There is more to it than that, you know there is. Rex Ryan got to town and was an immediate game-changer for the Jets until things went sideways for them. There is this arms race between the Knicks and Nets now in New York, the teams and their owners apparently as obsessed with beating each other as they are with beating the Heat or the Bulls or the Pacers in the Eastern Conference.

You even wonder what happens to the whole dynamic of the baseball summer if ’14 is the year when the Mets make another run at the playoffs.

(What, a guy can’t dream?)"

I think the problem is that you are unskilled at your profession.

Worse, you are whining about it in public.



"If you’re a Yankee fan, and you’ve been watching the way teams like the Cardinals and San Francisco Giants and now the Red Sox win the World Series, are you really willing to pay Robinson Cano whatever he wants?"


Of course not.

I also didn't pay much attention to the World Series because that has little to do with my analysis.

I did pay attention to the 2013 Yankees ... I know that's boring torture for you ... being your job and everything.




Friday, November 01, 2013

Listen to what you're saying, part two.

MLB is accused of singling out ARod and putting emotion ahead of prudent, blind justice. Rob Manfred responds by emotionally singling out ARod.

Manfred also inadvertently accuses MLB of either ignorance or injustice:

"Mr. Rodriguez's use of PEDs was longer and more pervasive than any other player, and when this process is complete, the facts will prove it is Mr. Rodriguez and his representatives who have engaged in ongoing, gross misconduct."

Either:

1) MLB knows of a lot of other players who took PEDs and evaded punishment.

2) MLB has no idea how many other players took PEDs.

Scenario #2 is more likely.

But if that is the case, then Manfred shouldn't proclaim with certainty that ARod took more PEDs than Sosa, Dykstra, Canseco, Bonds, and ... most likely ... some AA muck-a-luck catcher who never batted above .250.

Listen to what you're saying, part one.

Jon Lester defends David Ortiz against Colin Cowherd's accusations:

"You couldn't be more wrong," Lester said about Ortiz. "You really haven't seen the power numbers spike up. He's really just become a more complete hitter. It's not like he's all of a sudden hitting 50 homers and driving in 140. He's done it the right way for a long time."

Right.

It's not like he's hitting 50 HRs and driving in 140 ... like the first time he used PEDs.