Finally, Some Good News

• Cano and Marte both received a seemingly clean bill of health after spending some time in the ol' MRI tube. Test revealed shoulder bursitis for Cano and some inflammation for Marte, confirming what Yankee trainers and officials suspected.

It might just be me, but it seems like a pretty rare day when a Yankee injury in camp isn't season-threatening. Let's hope it stays that way.

• The new look Brian Bruney not only reported to camp 40 pounds lighter than his '06 form, and 20 pounds lighter than last year. He also sports a new attitude, confidence, and overall level of determination. Bruney wants the 8th (despite what most Joba-to-the-pen morons think) and is prepared to take it.

"I look at it like it's mine," Bruney said. "I've got to prepare for the eighth inning. Until somebody tells me what I'm throwing, my goal is the eighth inning. That's what I'm mentally preparing for [...] I like people that doubt me," Bruney said. "I would rather somebody doubt me than call me the best. Tell me I can't do something, and I'll do it. That's how I look at it. Now it's my goal to prove all the doubters wrong."

I love this and think Bruney's more than capable of being the man in that situation. He was very impressive before that crazy foot injury (same one that shelved Wang and killed our season) last year and returned late in the season to finish up with some sick to fairly sick numbers. Check it:
In 34.3 innings he surrendered only 18 hits, posted 33K's, and allowed just 16 walks. That's a WHIP of 0.990 - add to that an ERA of 1.83; pretty nasty.

Sure it's an injury shortened season, but his new commitment to himself, his teammates, and the game has me thinking that 2009 will be the breakout year for Brian Bruney and will, hopefully, quiet most of the asinine waterheads who still think Joba is best suited in the 'pen. I'm looking squarely at you ESPN and MLB Network.

• Jorge Posada took his rightful spot behind the plate and caught his first game in nearly a year. He reported no difficulty after catching three innings for Andy Pettite on Sunday. The next step will be catching in consecutive games and testing out that arm during steal attempts.
  

This is good news. Posada's health and ability to rebound from shoulder surgery is without a doubt the single most important part of our team's success going forward. We need him to catch and we need him to catch often. For those of you hoping for a return to the '06 form, he's also hitting a .360 clip this spring.

• Stay tuned because Mo goes tonight.
  

Obviously, this is tremendous. Little else needs to be said about the importance of Mariano Rivera.

• And on the lighter side, Manny Ramirez's triumphant return is being halted by, you guessed it Red Sox fans, a bad hamstring. Go figure, the guy hamstrings the organization all winter long by rejecting every offer laid in front of him, then he hurts his hamstring when running down a ball (at around half-speed mind you) during his first in-game action out in left.

Those morbid Yankee fans who are still holding out hope that we get Manny if he opts out in 2010 can officially get off the bandwagon and return any and all Yankee memorabilia they own. This is why you do not want anyone over 35 who only brings offense to the table in your outfield. While I truly hope Manny's injury isn't serious, as he's a fascinating personality and tremendous hitter, I do hope most fans will pull their collective heads out of their collective asses and let Manny be Manny someplace far, far away.

And in reality it's never good news if a player gets hurt (unless of course they play for Boston, get well soon Dustin, you too Julio.)

Payroll, Manny, and Future Considerations

The guys at River Avenue Blues went ahead and did my job for me again today and broke down the 2009 payroll and beyond. It's a nice and neat look at what the Yankees have commitment-wise well into the future. I definitely recommend taking a look at it if you have any interest whatsoever in figuring out what we've spent and what we can still get.

With that in mind, The New York Times has a key quote from Brian Cashman 1 day removed from Manny being Greedy and turning down, what?!, 25 million dollars from the LA Dodgers. (Doesn't he know Dunn and Hudson will basically give LA the same production at a fraction of the cost?)

Cashman had this to say in regards to the Yankees signing Manny:

“I fully expect to go to spring training with what we’ve got. And that’s a good thing. People expect us to get in on Manny, but it’s not going to happen. We’re in the nonroster invitee mode.”

So unless you expect Manny to go to Tampa as a non-roster invitee of the New York Yankees, competing for a spot on the team with no guarantees and playing purely out of his love for the game and the City of New York.... ah, I'll leave it at that, you get the point -- he's not coming.

Interestingly enough, or not interestingly enough at all, the author of that RAB article referenced above goes way out on a limb and just assumes the Yankees will target Matt Holiday at 5 years $85 mill going into 2010.

Why? I mean Matt Holiday in left just strikes me as another offense-first outfielder who is shuffled to a corner spot because of his bat and the fact that the DH spot will be used by our older players. The author even makes a few key points against his own Holiday projections when he says the Yanks 2010 payroll would be $177.35 for just 11 players and $146 million for nine players in 2011. He then says that things could clear up in 2012, but CC would have to opt out and the Yankees would have to hold options on Cano, Marte, and Swisher, but that’s still $85 million on four players.

Here's what I don't get. You're trying to write an article about payroll flexibility and you muck it all up by adding a guy who inflates the payroll to the same lofty heights we've all come to realize was our downfall circa 2001-2007. Why? Because he's got some neat offensive statistic that no one, outside of roto-geeks and stat nerds, has ever heard of? Why not project a homegrown product like Austin Jackson for 2010? He may not play left, but he helps you prove a point Cash has been trying to make for a year now. Younger, more athletic, payroll flexibility, have you guys even been paying attention?

Manny, oops I mean, Many Questions Remain

Question of the day:

Why is it considered shrewd negotiating when the owner of the Boston Red Sox publicly fires off e-mails indicating they're no longer a factor in Mark Teixeira bidding? And when a spokesman within the Anaheim Angels organization says basically the same thing, the Angels are officially out of the race. Why is that?

The Red Sox are clearly the media darlings this millennium. They know no wrongs. When they "say" they're out of the Tex race it's seen as a coy strategy for dealing with a snake of an agent in Scott Boras. When they break a gentleman's agreement with the Japanese Nippon league, it's heralded as a new way to get talent. When they spit in the face of history and tradition by making a mad marketing cash grab by adding alternate jerseys, caps, and logos it's viewed as a progressive and unique maneuver.

And now that Anaheim is "out" of the Teixeira race, Boston will no doubt emerge as the desired destination. And if they do sign him, no matter what the cost, it will be considered a BIG get despite the fact that they don't need him. It will also be considered a moral victory when The Little Baseball Club That Could stares the big greedy agent/bully down and gets their man. That only happens course once they find a buyer for a 36 year-old 3B coming off of hip surgery or move the best 1B in baseball, Youk, out of town.

I still think this market is based on need. Anaheim needs Teixeira the most. Therefore they should get him despite the rampant rumors and assumptions that say otherwise.

The big problem is everyone in the media is trying to get the story. And they're missing it big time. The story isn't where Texireira goes. It's all based on who gives him the most money. Boras and Tex expect a certain amount of money to come their way over a set amount of time. No one has approached that amount yet. Why would teams drop out now? Why not get creative with opt outs or lower the deal to 5 years with a greater annual salary? It's called a negotiation for a reason. But the thing is the media only thinks that one team, Boston, is really negotiating.

A lot of this has to do with the notion that Teixeira want to play on the East Coast and reporters are running with this concept as if it's gospel truth and as if C.C. Sabathia and his "West Coast preference" never existed. You can't get a straight story on the numbers either. All teams involved have as little as 150 mill or as much 180 mill on the table. And Washington is out there ready to drop 200 mill in some stories. I don't think anyone's got a clue at this point, me especially, and anything could happen between now and when Mark Teixeira actually signs.

In other news, Holy Shit!!! Manny says we offered him a 3 year deal worth about 75 million dollars. I'd link it, but the paper of question is the Dominican Republic based Impacto Deportivo. I can't speak or read Spanish, so I linked the story that broke on MLB TradeRumors. Impacto Deportivo has a spotty record with breaking news like this so take it all with a grain of salt.

I'm pretty salty about it myself. All I can really say is "No Fucking way"! Damon in CF is a recurring nightmare I still have and Manny would get lost in the vastness that is Yankee Staduim's LF. I'm telling you, any offense we gain is lost defensively. While we win the 14-7 blowout game we still lose the 3-1 pitching battle, even with C.C. and A.J. The best thing for us going forward is a better defense, not a more potent offense.

"We Need Offense"

I keep seeing this. On message boards. In the "Comments" section after an online article or blog. In my dreams.

Seriously, these words haunt me. They're scary. Especially if Cashman hears them and it leads to 8 years of Teixeira and/or any years with Manny. That's just frightening.

I am steadfast in my belief that Brian Cashman will remain deaf to these pleas from the ignorant, uninformed, and downright idiotic members (a.k.a. "the majority") of our glorious fan base. Something tells me he pays a little bit more attention than these dunderheads.

For example, I am pretty sure Cashman is taking a lot more into account than "who's gunna protect A-rod?". I hate that question. I don't even understand the concept of protection in the lineup. It's probably one of the dumber things I hear people say when they're analyzing a lineup. There's 3 outs per inning, the batting order doesn't matter much when you're facing elite pitching.

Most fans don't realize the bats that we've already acquired this off season. Allow me to re-introduce most in the fanbase to Hideki Matsui and Jorge Posada.

Hideki Matsui has been battling injury fairly consistently for the past 3 seasons. In 2006 he played in only 51 games, he missed 20 games in 2007, and missed 69 games this season. Over that 3 year period he's missed more than a full season plus the playoffs.

The good news is he's our DH. The bum knee and freak wrist injuries are less apt to happen when you watch the other team hit from the bench. For his career, Matsui has DH'd in 134 games -- almost a full season. And over that almost-season as a DH, Matsui hit .296 with .369 OBP and .489 SLG. -- with 22 HRs and 90 RBI. Not bad at all.

It isn't too much of a stretch to expect this type of production next year. And it's a pretty good bargain at $13 mill if we could just get Manny off the brain. If Matsui can do that, who needs Manny anyway? Hell, David Ortiz, widely considered the best DH in the league, posted a .264/.369/.507 line last year with 23 HRs and 89 RBI. Granted he was battling a wrist injury of his own, but I'm fine with cherry-picking stats that prove my point.

Jorge Posada is our catcher. In 2008 he experienced his first injury-shortened season and only played in just 51 games. Unfortunately, his shoulder gave out on him and needed extensive surgery. He's still rehabbing the shoulder and has recently made as many as 75 throws from 60 feet. The hope everyone holds is that he can regain his shoulder strength and have enough to play 120 or more behind the dish.

Jorge's strength has always been his impressive switch hitting ability as opposed to his average to above-average catching ability. In 2007 he set career highs in offensive categories by posting a sick, sick line of .338/.426/.543. His career numbers are still impressive for catchers in the league with a line of .277/.380/.477. Something between/near those 2 lines is probable for 2009. And when you take into account the production we got from the catching position in 2007:

Jose Molina: .216/.263/.313
Chad Moeller: .231/.311/.330
Ivan Rodriguez: .219/.257/.323
Francisco Cervelli: .000/.000/.000

You'd understand first why scoring was so far down and second that giving up on Chad Moeller and expecting Pudge to do something was a really fucking stupid idea. Posada's numbers as a catcher are light years beyond this pile of shit we were forced to eat last year. Sorry for the profanity, but those numbers make me really mad!

The problem with Posada is that shoulder. It forces us to be extra-cautious in regards to a guy like Mark Teixeira. You can't go long term with Teixeira when 3 years reamian of Posada's deal. And those who point to Posada's progression in going 75 throws at 60 feet, he's still 6 inches away from getting it back to a pitcher with a 75 pitch limit.

Manny and Teixeira are not realistic or even smart options at this point. We don't need offense. So shut up.

Cooler Heads?

Some relief today as more doubt appears to be creeping into this Mike Cameron situation. I wish it was over, but the tentative belief here is that Milwaukee and New York won't be able to find a compromise between now and the start of Spring Training at the very least. The Yankees really need to operate in the mindset that Milwaukee needs to dump Cameron way more than they need to acquire him and/or dump Igawa. I think that's course of action they're taking as you can't even get a straight answer in regards to the terms of the deal. Some have us taking a chunk of what's owed Igawa while others have Milwaukee picking up a portion of Cameron's deal. To me, the sticking point is who wants to rid themselves of which bad contract more.

The Manny stuff still prevails, but the more I think about Manny, the more I come to the realization that the two parties will never reach a basic agreement. I'll take Manny for one year. 20 mill plus another 5-10 in incentives. That's it. I won't consider anything else. Let Manny and Boras pimp the Yankees for a better deal with another team in a better economy next year while the Yankees pimp Manny's bat (never his glove, he's the DH or nothing) for ring number 27.

Obviously this will never happen. The player and the agent won't make that kind of concession and there's the very tricky situation of moving Hideki Matsui and his no trade clause.

I said it yesterday and I'll say it today, a platoon in center between Melky and Gardner is the best decision. Melky was good enough to start in center last year. He's good enough to start this year -- especially when you're talking about replacing him with a man who's more than ten years his senior and hits for average just as poorly as Melky did when he was sent down to Scranton.

What I do is start Melky and keep Gardner on the bench. Then in the 7th inning of every game, regardless of the situation or score, I pull Damon from left, slide Melky over and put Gardner in center.

Obviously I value defense over offense in the outfield. But it's needed if you look around the diamond. Every other position on the field is occupied by a player who is expected to contribute more with his bat than his glove. And seeing how hits that fall in the outfield amount to extra bases, this late inning defensive upgrade will take more pressure off the bullpen and help ice games. You're also helping Johnny stay fresh when he hits free agency next year. Cuz he sure as hell ain't coming back.