The HOF Vote

We're moments away from finding out who will make it into the HOF. The question that I have isn't who will get in with Rickey Henderson, but rather who will receive votes that absolutely shouldn't? Every year there seems to be a guy, like Walt Weiss did a year or two ago. This year's list of the undeserving in my opinion are Ron Gant, Dan Plesac, Jay Bell, Jesse Orosco, Greg Vaughn and to a slightly lesser extent, Mark Grace and Mo Vaughn. Now that's not to say that I think everyone else on the ballot deserves to be voted for, but I can understand why people might think they are HOFworthy. But the above 7? They don't deserve even 1 vote in my opinion.

If I had the luxury of casting a ballot, I would have voted for Henderson, Blyleven, Rice, Smith and Dawson. If only I were that lucky.

J-Boogie

Andy Pettitte Needs A Reality Check

Evening everyone. Hope the last few days have been kind to you. I've been swamped at work and since work is where I usually get my blogging in, I've fallen behind this week. I had to complete performance reviews for my staff of 22. They need to be complete by Sunday and I've known this for like 2 months, but that didn't stop me from waiting until the last 3 days to get them done. That's pretty much how I roll. But they're done, my schedule is clear, and I hope to get back to blogging daily. Let's catch up shall we?

For the most part it's been pretty quiet in Yankeeland. No major news to speak of. Andy Pettitte remains unsigned and I'm still fine with that. I read a few days ago at Ken Davidoff's blog that Andy wasn't too pleased with the Yankees. In my opinion, Andy needs to get over himself. Davidoff outlines 3 "grievances" Pettitte has with the Yankees, none of which have been mentioned by Pettitte himself, but rather from "people familiar with his thinking." So take these grievances for what they are, pure conjecture. Let's look at the supposed grievances:

1. Pettitte believes that the Yankees should display more appreciation for all that he has done for them.

Andy Pettitte has certainly done a lot for the Yankees. But why does appreciation have to mean paying him more than he's worth? In my opinion, the mere fact that the Yankees even offered him a deal is appreciation enough. They don't need him. They certainly can get by without him. But they're willing to bring him back anyway. Andy should be happy that he even received an offer.

2. While the Yankees are asking that Pettitte take a pay cut, the team clearly is not hurting financially, given its large investments in Teixeira, Sabathia, and Burnett.

Andy needs to understand that baseball is a business. As nice as it would be to give him whatever he wants, that's not how it works. Andy needs to realize that the Yankees don't need to sign him and that they have/had holes that they need/needed to fill and the dollars allocated to do that for the most part are gone. The goal of a business is to make money, or in the Yankees case, not to lose as much. It's doesn't make much sense to give away the farm just because you can. A point comes where it doesn't make fiscal sense to do a deal. That point is 10 million dollars. Take it or leave it.

3. Pettitte thinks that his 2008 season wasn't as bad as the Yankees are making it out to be.

I think Andy needs to get his vision checked, or maybe inject himself with a few more vials of HGH as it's rumored to help improve one's eyesight. Andy's season was by no means horrible, but by no means was it good. It was, by and large, average. He went 14-14, which is average. His ERA was 4.54, which was above the league average. Sorry, but a pitcher who loses as many games as he wins and has an ERA higher than the league average, DOESN'T DESERVE 16 MILLION DOLLARS! It's that simple. And besides, Andy's second-half performance was a huge factor in the Yankees finishing in 3rd place. The Yankess won their first 8 games after the All-star break and were within a few games behind the Rays and Red Sox. They quickly faded and Andy's 2-7 record in his last 11 starts did nothing to help the team's chances. His line over those last 11 starts was 65 innings pitched, 87 hits, 45 earned runs, 22 walks, 51 K, and a WHIP ratio of 2.03. His ERA was 6.23 over those 11 starts. Sorry Andy, but that is pretty bad. He's delusional if he thinks he's earned a 16 million dollar payday.

I think I'm most ticked because Andy said earlier in 2008 that it wasn't about the money and that he just wanted to pitch for the Yankees. It's starting to look like it is about the money and Andy is full of crap. I can't believe I'm so worked up over something that may or may not even be true, as again, this all comes from "people familiar with Andy's thinking." But I'm inclined to believe it because he would have accepted the Yankees' offer. I had planned to also write about the Yankees reported interest in dealing Xavier Nady or Nick Swisher, but my blood pressure is a little up after ranting about Pettitte, so I'm going to save that for tomorrow.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Little Bits & Pieces OF Yankee News & Notes

There are a few minor stories that broke today:

• Andy Pettitte has apparently rejected the Yankees offer of $10 million. I understand trying to maximize your worth, but come on Andy, wake up and smell the roses. You're not worth $10 mill. The Yanks have the options to move on without you. If you really want to pitch here, accept the deal, sign the contract, and come back to the fold. If you're the Yankees, do you bump the offer up another million or two? I don't. It should be perfectly clear to Andy that $10 million is the offer, take it or leave it. They don't need necessarily need him. Sure, it doesn't hurt to have another veteran arm on the team, but if he wants to walk, let him. I hope the Yankees don't cave.
• The Yankees DFA'd Shelley Duncan today. Oh well. There really wasn't any room for him anyway. Good luck Shelley. I'll miss your youthful exuberance.
• According to Pete Abraham, via Sam Borden, the Yankees told 26 year old lefty, Phil Coke, to prepare to work as a starter during spring training. Don't read too much into that. It's more of an insurance policy than anything else. It's easier to prepare to be a starter and end up relieving than the other way around. This was the plan a few years back for Scott Proctor. If anything, it gives the Yanks another option for the 5th spot in the rotation. You can't go wrong with that.
• Also according to Pete Abraham, again via Sam Borden, the Yankees signed RHP Jason Johnson to a minor-league deal. He's a bum with a career W-L record of 56-100 and a career ERA of 4.99. It might as well have been Sidney Ponson and Lord knows, we don't really need another Sir Sidney floating around. But again, Johnson is another option. The competition might be good for the other youngsters up for that 5th spot.
• A couple of ex-Yanks found, or are close to finding, new homes today. The Giambino is all but back in Oakland. Giambi is about to ink a deal worth $4 million per year, far shy of the $23.5 mill he banked last season. That's quite the pay cut. I applaud Jason for realizing what he's worth and not trying to break the bank again. Jason has always been a stand-up guy. Kudos to him. And then there's Carl Pavano. He signed with Cleveland for a reported $1.5 million. As bad as he was for the Yankees, that's a steal if you ask me. A lot of the higher-paid starters get paid more than a million bucks per win. I'd have to think Carl can pull out two wins. It's a nice low-risk, high reward signing. Best of luck to the both of them though I hope Pavano falls flat on his face.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Mark Teixiera Press Conference

I've got the Mark Teixiera press conference playing on my XM Radio. Here are some things I took away from it, with some of my comments bolded/italicized.

• Hal Steinebrenner said he and his family are committed to investing and reinvesting in the Yankees to guarantee they put the best possible product on the field. 1000 times thank you. God bless you guys for continuing to try to win year after year.
• Brian Cashman presented Teixeira's wife, Leigh, with some roses. Aw, how cute.
• Joe Girardi can't wait to pencil his name into the lineup. I can't wait either.
• Mark's will wear #25. Order your jerseys now folks.
• Mark is excited his family is close by and can come see him more often
• He doesn't think he's reached his potential yet. I hope he's right.
• Mark and his wife decided two weeks before Christmas that he wanted to play for the Yankees. He said his wife wanted him to be a Yankee. Maybe we should all send her roses?
• He feels blessed to be a part of the first season of the new Yankee Stadium.

XM didn't broadcast the whole press conference. At least I don't think they did. They carried the 1st 20 minutes of it, which is about how long a segment is. So that's all I've got. I'm sure the conference will be broadcast in its entirety on the YES Network. Maybe they'll post the audio from it on the Yankees multimedia website. If they do, I'll link to it here.

Man, I can't wait until pitchers and catchers report!!

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Back To The Daily Grind

Greetings my fellow Yankee fans and readers of the blog. Welcome to 2009. I hope you all had a great holiday season. I know I sure did. I took a rather long and well-deserved vacation from work. I'd been off since December 23rd. Today was my first day back to the grind. And I pretty much hated it. I know a lot of people would be bored out of their minds if they stayed home and did nothing all day. Not this guy. I love just sitting around and doing nothing. Well, I shouldn't say that. I love sitting around and not having to work. If only I could retire. I spent most of my downtime playing Rock Band 2. I don't have the full band game otherwise my wife would probably go crazy from the drumming. Strumming along on the fake guitar, that's OK. Wailing away on the fake drums into the wee hours of the morning? That wouldn't go over quite well. It's still a lot of fun.

I pretty much removed myself from baseball for the last week and a half. I figured there was no better time. Most of baseball shuts down for the last 2 weeks of the year anyway. I checked in online everyday to see what was happening and not much went down. I was excited for the launch of the 24-7 MLB Network. I could probably watch that station all day and all night once baseball season starts. Right now though there seems to be way too much Red Sox programming on. If I have to see the 2004 World Series film one more time I'll probably puke. All in all though, big fan. Two thumbs up.

Tomorrow, or today depending on when you read this, is the Mark Teixeira press conference. I'm still overjoyed that the Yankees pulled that off. I feel more confident about the Yankees chances to win their 27th World Championship this year than I have in quite some time. Everything fell right into place this offseason. The only real question that remains is what will happen with Andy Pettitte. There hasn't been anything substantial reported on Andy lately. Depending on who you read, you get a differing of opinions. Some say Andy's return is inevitable. Some say his return is unlikley. Personally, I like Andy and all, but the time has come to part ways. His glory days are behind him and I think the Yanks are best suited by giving the ball to Phil Hughes and/or Alfredo Aceves. The Yanks should be able to survive with that tandem filling the 5th spot in the rotation. Then again, most people said that last year about Hughes and Ian Kennedy and look where that got us. Though it's unlikely in my book, I suppose it's possible that Andy could have a bounce back season a la my man Mike Mussina. Again, that's unlikely. I think the Yanks should just hold onto their money, thank Andy for the years of service, and tell him they'll see him at Old Timer's Day. I think the roster is pretty good just the way it is right now.

Actually, now that I think about it. There's another question that remains: Which OF is on the outs? Nady, Matsui, Damon, Melky/Gardner, Swisher. 4 guys for 2 spots if you count the DH. I have to think someone will be gone by Opening Day. I'm not sure who I'd deal. Nady's salary is pretty low. Same with Swisher. Damon is in the final year of his deal but is coming off a pretty good season and is our best option for a leadoff hitter. Matsui swings a good stick and hits from the left side and provides good balance to the lineup. Eeenie meenie mynie moe, I choose.....I don't know. If you put me on the spot and demanded an answer, I'd say Swisher or Matsui. So much for making a decision, right? In my eyes, Swisher isn't yet a Yankee, if that makes sense? And I think Matsui's best days are behind him. We'll have to see. Maybe Cashman will stand pat and keep the lot of them. Your guess is as good as mine.

6 weeks until pitchers and catchers report. Baseball will be back before we know it.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Happy New Year

Just wanted to take a quick second to wish everyone a safe, healthy, and happy new year. May it be everything you want it to be and more. It is shaping up to be a very prosperous year for we Yankees fans. Everything is in place for a serious run at #27. On a personal note, I'm extremely looking forward to the new year as my wife and I are expecting our second Boogie Down Baby at the end of April. It's another boy, which is what we were hoping for. We wanted Cooper, the first Boogie Down Baby, to have a brother as close to him in age as possible. Needless to say, we're all very excited.

Unless anything breaks over the next few days, I'll be back to regular baseball blogging on Monday.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Bored? Have 3 Minutes To Kill? Try This!

If you're bored and looking for a fun way to kill 3 minutes, click here. John from Jetpunk.com e-mailed me a link to a "quiz." The quiz is naming as many MLB teams as you can in 3 minutes. I, sadly, blanked on the 30th team and failed to get them all. I don't want to mention the team I missed in this post as to not give away anything. Apparently, it's the most commonly missed team. I'll mention the team I missed in the comments. Good luck and feel free to comment with how you did on the quiz.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Merry Christmas From The Boogie Down

I just wanted to wish everyone a safe and Merry Christmas. I hope everyone had a great day.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

ps - if you're looking for something to do tonight, may I suggest turning your TV to TruTV. They are having a marathon of The Smoking Gun Presents: World's Dumbest. The episode currently on is the World's Dumbest Shoppers. It is absolutely hysterical. Laugh out loud funny.

Hark The Herald Angels Sing, Teixeira Is A Yay-Yankee

By all accounts, the Mark Teixeira to the Yankees is a done deal. It's being reported by pretty much every news outlet known to man. All I can say is hot diggity dog. I am extremely overjoyed that the Yankees nutted up and brought Teixeira into the fold. I think it's an incredibly smart move and the Yankees were wise to make it happen. Mark Teixeira was pretty much Boston's main target this offseason and now they're left in the cold. They still have a pretty decent lineup but it would have been a million times better with Teixeira hitting behind David Ortiz.

Am I the only one who is now thinking that Teixeira wanted to play for the Yankees all along? I know he's a big Mattingly fan. I believe Donnie Baseball is his idol. And wouldn't you think if he really wanted to play for the Red Sox he would have signed that deal like a month ago. The only real contender in the running for Teixeira prior to the Yankees stepping in were the Red Sox. The Orioles and Nationals were fooling themselves if they thought they had a chance. I'm really starting to think that he had no interest whatsoever in playing for Boston. I love it.

My friend and co-worker Jeff thinks that the Yankees are unbelievable for pulling this off, questioning how I could be a fan of this, even calling me an f'n a-hole. The Yankees now have the 4 highest paid players in baseball. So if you're a Yankee fan, fully expect to hear a lot of chatter about the team trying to buy another championship and that the Yankees are bad for baseball. Hogwash I say. Hogwash. As I told Jeff, wait until opening day to see what the Yankees final payroll is. They had $88 million come off the books this year and they still have a shot at coming in under that amount. Even more comes off next year when the contracts of Hideki Matsui and Johnny Damon expire. And who is to say that Cashman doesn't have other cost-cutting moves in mind? I think that the Teixeira signing is a precursor to another move as the Yankees outfield just got a lot more crowded. Nick Swisher now joins Xavier Nady, Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, Melky Cabrera, and Brett Gardner in the OF. Swisher can play CF but I don't see that happening. I wouldn't be shocked if the Yankees find a way to deal Matsui or Damon.

The real question now is how interested are the Yankees in Manny Ramirez? I don't see that happening now but who really knows?

Merry Christmas Yankee fans! Santa Cashman just hooked us up!

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Merry Christmas Yankee Fans!!

Just got the text alert from Danny Mac: Buster Olney: Texieira reached agreement with Yankees on 8 year deal worth more than $170 million

Should I start dancing yet??

J-Boogie