Since We Last Spoke...

It's been a hot minute since my last post. For that I apologize, but the stinking, festering A-Rod situation is too much to bear on a daily basis. I don't hate Alex Rodriguez for this. I hate A-Rod. I hate the public persona of the Yankees 3rd baseman. I hate the omnipresent media eye and media mouth that feeds off of and into this larger-than-life figure. It overshadows everything and is mostly meaningless, trite, and exploitative.

With that in mind, I am putting a moratorium on the nickname "A-Rod". After all, if Sean Combs can go by "Diddy" when the names "Puffy" and "Puff Daddy" held too much negative connotation and association with violence and murder, Alex can do it too when the name "A-Rod" is more a harbinger of doom, disaster, and PEDs.

It's incredibly hard to ignore the Alex Rodriguez story as it will venture on for the next nine years of all of our Yankee lives. Alex and his glove-slapping, steroid-injecting, She-Hulk loving ways will continue to weigh on and nag the most staunch of his supporters and admirers. Those who despise him will remain unaffected as every story that comes out serves only to reinforce the negative disposition and disdain they already hold towardds him.

With that in mind, the prevailing debate that rages on is whether or not the Yankees are better off without him as he rehabs the bum hip. It's an interesting debate to be sure as logic tells you no, but emotion tells you yes. Clearly, it's tough to reproduce what Alex's bat gives you on a daily basis. Then again, he's such a media magnet and lightning rod for controversy that his absence has got to be a relaxing and soothing change of pace in the already dangerous media jungle that is the Yankee Universe.

Personally, I really think we're better off without him, but for the short-term only. I don't care about missing him for a month, especially when it's the first month of the season. Those predicting doom and gloom for the Yankees because of no A-Rod in April won't even remember he was on the DL when August rolls around.

The game is still based on two things pitching and defense and Alex's presence has little to no bearing on either. In fact, after watching Cody Ransom flash the leather in a few Spring Training games, I'm fairly convinced that we're getting a bit of defensive upgrade over at the hot corner.

Yes, I expect less homeruns in April and less overall scoring for the month. It's all irrelevant though if we're able to prevent the other team for scoring any and with that rotation heathy and productive (knock on wood), we're sure to keep the crooked numbers off of the scoreboard. People still forget that during the most important stretch of the season last year we were going with Mussina, Pettite, Ponson, Pavano, and a prayer (the prayer being enough strength for Mussina to pitch everyday as he was the only effective starter from August to September). C.C., Wang, Burnett, Pettite, and Joba represent the best single-season upgrade in all of baseball and probably the best rotation in all of baseball as well. This fact is obviously being lost in the wash in the face of the Alex Rodriguez mellowdrama(s). Alas, such is life though.

Turning the page, I have been obsessed with the WBC thus far. I know, I know, Robby and Marte are hurting from their participation, but they were hurting before it started and played anyway like true Yankee A-holes. Watching the Domincan team get eliminated was both bittersweet and familiar. As a Yankee fan I can relate when an obviously more dominant team on paper loses to a team of seemingly lesser players. It was a textbook Yankee failure. A couple of poor defensive plays and an inability to hit offspeed stuff led to team DR's downfall, plus just piss poor management.

Team USA goes tonight, I think, on ESPN so check it out if you get the chance. Andy Pettite takes the hill for the Yanks against the Twins. The Gardner/Melky battle leans more toward Garnder by the day as does the Nady/Swisher battle lean toward Nady. It's definately going to be interesting to see how this shakes out as we progress towards opening day. Alex's injury also helps us out in this aspect too as we pretty much have an extra month to decide on how the outfield should look.

News Droppings

On the Swisher and Nady front:

Tyler Kepner of The New York Times checks in today with some good stuff on the possible trades involving either corner OF, citing interest by the Reds, Nats, Braves, and Giants. From the tone of the piece, it looks like the Yankees aren't going to make a trade for the sake of clearing payroll or opening a spot on the roster. It makes sense. Nady and Swisher are two key guys who can play a meaningful factor in all 162.

Brain Cashman was quoted as well, saying:
“It depends on the trade talk, If we feel there’s a benefit, we’ll make a move. That’s basically it. We’re in a position where we don’t have to make a move, so that’s a strong position to be in. We could have them all year. We’re not going to do anything unless there’s a reason to do it.”

I wouldn't force the issue either. I think that this year will be the year of the mid-season acquisition. The free agent class next year is pretty weak and there's a lot of parity in the divisions these days. A lot of teams will be looking to pick up a key piece at the trading deadline and thinking they have enough to make a run.

The Yankees may find a better market for either player in late June than in January.

On the Spring Training front:

From mlb.com and the boys at RAB the Yankees have offered 20 players non-roster invites to Spring Training. The list is as follows:

Pitchers: Kei Igawa, Jason Johnson, Mark Melancon, Sergio Mitre
Catchers: Kyle Anson, Kevin Cash, Jesus Montero, PJ Pilittere, Austin Romine
Infielders: Doug Bernier, Angel Berroa, Eduardo Nunez, Ramiro Pena, Kevin Russo
Outfielders: Colin Curtis, Shelley Duncan, Austin Jackson, Justin Leone, Todd Linden, John Rodriguez

Notables are of course Austin Jackson, Austin Romine, Jesus Montero, and Mark Melancon as they represent the best and the best known names of our homegrown talent. Keep your eyes on Ramiro Pena, Eduardo Nunez and Kevin Russo though. They will get more opportunities in camp than they normally would due to Derek and Alex's commitments to the WBC.

Jason Johnson, Angel Berroa, Kevin Cash, Todd Linden and John Rodriguez all have MLB experience and all more notable than Kei Igawa's, Justin Leone's, Shelley Duncan's, Doug Bernier's. Berroa was in fact the rookie of the year back in 2003 when he beat out Hideki Matsui for the title.

On the Jorge Posada front:

It's not looking like the Jorge will DH for Puerto Rico in the WBC. The Yankees are telling anyone within earshot that Jorge's just not ready for that kind of commitment.

I think we may get a pissing match yet though.

Cash has decreed:
"I am sure he would love to play [in the World Baseball Classic], but he is currently rehabbing from surgery and would not be ready."
"He wouldn't be able to perform. He won't start on time as a catcher in spring training. It's just a fact. There's nothing I can do about it or the player can do about it. We're hoping to have Jorge by Opening Day, but he will not be the opening spring training catcher, I can tell you that."

Jorge's retort:
"This will be my last chance to play for Puerto Rico, and I'm very clear on that. For that reason, I'll do anything possible to be 100 percent, because it is a dream of mine to wear that uniform."

Jorge's Dad even had this to say:
"He feels fine and wants to play for Puerto Rico."

Team Puerto Rico's GM, Lou Mendez mused:
"I would love to have Posada on Team PR. I am waiting to learn his status because of insurance issues."

And finally, Joe Giradi chimed in with:
"Obviously, he's very important to this club," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said recently. "We need him. I'm encouraged right now. ... You can talk about playing three out of four [games] or four out of five, but I think early on the important thing is that we don't abuse him, and allow him to continue to gain strength in that shoulder. I plan on him being our everyday catcher."

I hope this thing dies down and Jorge realizes that he's got to learn 2 new pitchers and needs to have much more of a commitment to the team that signs his paychecks than the country where his dad knocked up his mom.

Inmates vs. The Asylum

I alluded to this very recently in my Top Ten Reasons the Yankees Lost in 2008 post. This kind of primadonna crap gets on my nerves. Apparently Jorge Posada is gearing up to DH for Puerto Rico in the WBC. This report is coming from ESPN Deportes, but I'll give the hat tip to RAB for breaking it and the report can be reached here.

While this report is in no way confirmed, we can assume fairly easily that this is something Jorge wants to do. We can also assume, just as easily, that is certainly something that the Yankees do not want him to do. It's a tough call. I'm sure he's dying to play. He never wanted to go on the DL or even get the surgery in the first place last year, so I'm pretty sure he's itching to see some live pitches. I get it and normally I wouldn't have a problem.

The thing is, Jorge is 37 and coming off of reconstruction surgery in his shoulder. Naturally the Yankees want to keep him in-house so they can get their own readings on Jorge's recovery and rehabilitation. Also, they want to ensure that Jorge breaks camp healthy and with all his throwing strength. Any sort of head-first slide, collision at the plate, or what-have you could erase all the hard work he put in over the Winter. It's just a better way to keep tabs on a key player coming off of a serious injury. After all, the Yankees committed 4 more years to him and a bunch more millions before the injury-shortened '08 season. The least Jorge could do is obey the wishes of the team. We'll see about that.

In the interest of fairness though, if I was Jorge I'd stay as far away from any Yankee Spring Training. All the strength and conditioning work that gets done there leads to some horrific season ending injury for a hefty percentage of the team. Obviously I'd prefer Jorge to stay in Florida this Spring and root for Puerto Rico on TV, but all he's really doing is giving the Romaine's, Montero's, Molina's, Cervelli's, Cash's, and maybe even the Nutt's of the world to get some more time in behind the dish they wouldn't normally with Jorge in camp. If he does go to the WBC though, I'd just tell Jorge to get used to DH'ing. Once Matsui's gone he's got 2 more years where he'll be doing it exclusively.