A Few More Words on MLB Trades and Idiocy

Does this man to the left look crazy? I never used to think he was. While I didn't think he was a great GM, I always kind of respected Kenny Williams of the ChiSox because he said what he was thinking and was a colorful guy. He wasn't boring, he wasn't one of those GMs who never said anything of substance. He was a cool dude, in my opinion. And hey, he won a World Series in 2005 so he'll have credibility for life in baseball circles.

Which is the only reason his comments yesterday could possibly have been accepted.

Kenny Williams denies it, but he basically traded for Griffey because he's always wanted him and he's running the White Sox like some of my idiot friends play fantasy baseball. That is, by operating under the principle of Big Name = Great Player. People, and sadly Ken Williams is included in this, tend to be star-struck by iconic names... and Ken Griffey, Jr. is an iconic name.

This is one of the best players in the history of the game. At his peak, I think you can make the argument that he was the best we've ever seen (by "we" I mean us new-age blogger types). His numbers were astounding, his defense was jaw-dropping and he apparently did it alal "clean."

And Kenny Williams sure hopes he still can. Because he's planning to play Griff in center field.

This is dumb on a lot of levels. South Side Sox feels it will destroy the season. Yikes.

But getting back to Williams' comments, here's what he said:

"Center field is actually the easiest of the outfield positions to play from a health perspective. I know that doesn't sound right because you've got to go a lot of left and right, but trust me, it's a little easier to play center field."

Um, no. No, sir. No, Kenny, you're wrong. Or maybe you're a genius and every single other baseball person ever is wrong.

See, CF requires more dexterity, more speed, more ability to track down balls thn the other two spots. That's why Barry Bonds played left and not center. And that's why guys like Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle would have been wasted in a corner spot. It's not easier. That's why Griffey stopped playing there in 2006.

Last year was the first year he didn't miss significant time due to injury, after having done so in each of the six previous years. Usually leg injuries. Which, you know, happen when you run a lot. Like when you're playing center field. Just saying.

More Dumb-Dumb Talk

Out in L.A., where the Dodgers completely won out by getting Manny Ramirez for very little -- and not having to pay him -- more idiocy popped up:

In addition to monitoring Ramirez's personality, Torre must find a way to best utilize what is an already crowded outfield. Ramirez will be the Dodgers' everyday left fielder and could bat third, fourth or fifth, Torre said. "We certainly didn't plan in advance how to move the pieces around," Torre said. "That makes you yearn for the DH."

Why, Joe? Because you don't want to take at-bats away from Andruw Jones, the guy hitting .163 with 2 homers and 13 RBIs on the season? Seriously? Jones is a joke and is having the most embarrassing season imaginable.

The other "veteran outfielder" you keep hearing mentioned as having to have playing time found for him is Juan Pierre. Juan Pierre, who has 74 singles, 9 doubles, 1 triple, zero home runs and 24 scoreboard-smashing RBIs. Juan Pierre, whose OPS+ is 69. 69! That's terrible. (Well, Andruw Jones' OPS+ is 33 -- chew on that.)

No, there's no "crowded outfield." Pierre and Jones are stealing money from the Dodgers. Why sacrifice the season just to make them earn their pay? There's no way they can earn it -- they've proven that -- and to continue playing them is to flush your season down the toilet.

Why am I talking about the White Sox and Dodgers so much? Because stupidity makes me mad and there are obvious answers to all these silly questions. And this isn't 1996, so acquiring Ken Griffey isn't the coup Ken Williams thinks it is. And the Dodgers deserve to lose for handing out zillions of dollars to undeserving schlubs like Andruw Jones and Juan Pierre, but since I like Joe Torre I am kind of happy they got Manny and hope they make the playoffs. I secretly am hoping for a Dodgers-Yankees World Series so Joe comes back to the Bronx.

That's enough for now -- you stopped reading a while ago anyway. Here are some pics of Vida Guerra's goodies to reward you for reading this far. Oh, and here's a guy apparently getting to bathe Vida. See? I knew you weren't paying attention.

Could We Have Some NY-LA Fires Stoked?

Several news outlets are reporting that Joe Torre is about to be named the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers and, apparently, lapdog Don Mattingly will be going with him.

After yesterday's news of Joe Girardi getting the Yankees managerial job hit, Mattingly said he would accept no job within the Yankees. Ah, I see, Don. You want to be the manager of the most expensive and most valuable team in major league baseball... the team that outspends everyone... and you have zero managerial experience... and if you don't get that job, you're taking your baseball and going home. Do I have that right? Fine, then get lost, you hayseed.

Here's the truth: If Girardi is successful and the Yankees win, he'll be here a long time. If he's not successful, he'll be here less than four years. Either way, if the Yankees go to Don Mattingly in the future and tell him they want him to come home and manage the team he loves, where his number is retired, etc., then of course he will. And if he doesn't, then he's just dumber than he appears.


The most intriguing part of this to me, though, is that the Dodgers might be able to trump the Yankees in terms of press. The Yankees may announce Girardi as their new manager today and it's very possible that the Dodgers will announce a bigger name (Torre) as their new man either today or tomorrow. Whenever it happens, if Torre takes Mattingly the old Yankees-Dodgers mutual dislike that's been dormant in recent years could be re-stoked. Remember, these two teams played each other in the World Series a lot back in the days when the Dodgers were in Brooklyn. The fan bases hated one another. Even after the Dodgers went to glitzville, the two teams met up in the World Series in '77, '78 and '81.

How much fun would it be to see Torre in Yankee Stadium in the World Series... against the Yankees? Okay, okay, for those of you who hate the Yankees and don't want to ever see them in the World Series at all, I guess it wouldn't be fun. But for some of us, it would be good entertainment. For as much as I am a true Yankee fan, I wouldn't hate seeing Torre stick it to the Steinbrenners.

Good For Joe

If you're a sports follower, then you've probably already heard -- Joe Torre turned down the Yanks, which I find outstanding.

All this time there's been talk about whether or not the Yankees would fire their 67-year-old and nothing-but-successful manager.... or would they bring him back? Back and forth it went, with multiple meetings of the Yankee "brain trust" in Florida over the past few days.

So finally today they grace Joe with an offer. A shitty, one-year offer. Never mind the money (at $5 million, he'd still be the highest paid manager) -- when I say it's a shitty offer, I mean the one-year contract part.

If Joe signed for one year, he'd have to either announce immediately that this was his final go-round and it's his farewell tour, OR he'd have to deal with an entire year of the crap we heard for the past few weeks, about how he might be fired if the Yankees aren't winning at a Colorado Rockies-like clip (and how weird is it to say that?).

So Joe says no thanks and I love it. Nobody seemed to ask Joe what HE was thinking all this time -- everybody in the media was waiting for the Yankees to decide whether they royal family wanted Joe back, all the while assuming that if they snapped their fingers, that Joe Torre would be eager to scurry back to his position. I've said before that I thought Joe should have been treated with more dignity and respect. And the easy way to do this would have been for the Yanks to say to Joe that they had decided they wanted him back and then asked if Joe would like to come back. If Joe then said yes, they could have announced that and then gone into some negotiations. But no, instead we have this draconian approach where the Yankees cryptically meet without Torre and then offer him a deal he's supposed to be grateful for. I'm glad he said no, and this is coming from a big-time Yankees fan, as anyone who knows me can attest.

I had a friend email me right after this happened and I said I was happy for Torre and he replied and asked if maybe this was all planned by the Yankees brass. Like they told him his options were: A) they would either offer him a deal to reject and leave with dignity or B) be fired. I don't think this could possibly be the case because this is the Yankees and they're not about letting people go out on their own terms. Just look at Bernie Williams. The Steinbrenners are simply too arrogant to even risk the possibility of a deal like that coming to light. They have control and they want everyone to know that.

I absolutely love Joe Torre as a manager. I think he's a terrific manager of men and is so seasoned and experienced especially after having had this particular job that no matter where he goes he's going to be well-received and whoever gets him will be lucky to have him. It could be broadcasting, but I think Joe wants to be on the field a little longer. So it's weird for me to like him so much and yet be happy about this -- but I am. I am glad Joe is walking away and not enduring more years on a ridiculous "hot seat" that shouldn't have ever even gotten warm. Joe's a class act and a great guy and he just thumbed his nose at the Yankees. Whether or not it was in direct response to how they've been treating him, we may not ever know. But I am happy he's got his dignity.

Good for Joe.

Yanks-Tribe Postmortem

First of all, congratulations to the Cleveland Indians and their fans. Unlike a lot of Yankee fans (and certain co-authors here) I don't enjoy gloating or rubbing my friend's facing in things when their teams don't do well or minimizing them when they do do (hee hee "doodoo!") well. I mean, unless they're playing Boston.

The Indians deserved to win this series from the start and no matter what you may hear when watching SportsCenter, the Yankees didn't lose this series -- the Indians won it.

The Yankees, always overanalyzed, put up twelve hits in the final game, so they weren't asleep. They were just beat. Cleveland came out prepared in each game and jumped right on the Yanks, the only exception being Andy Pettitte's incredible performance in Game 2 that truly should have been more than enough for a win if the Yankees could have done more than a Melky Cabrera home run off of Fausto "Don't Call Me A Closer" Carmona.

I said it all year -- the Yankees were a great offensive team but great offensive teams rarely win it all. You need to have shutdown pitching to win in the playoffs and the Yankees haven't had that for a long, long time. Why is this such a shock? They score a ton of runs because they play the Devil Rays and Orioles 38 times a year. It's got nothing to do with choking in the playoffs or the pressure of New York or any of that crap. It's got to do with how they're put together. It's also got nothing to do with "heart" or any other made-up sheet like that. The Tribe has heart and hustled and played outstanding. But did you see the Yankees dogging it? Did it look like they didn't care? I don't think so. They cared and they played hard and they got beat. End of drama.

The Torre Situation

This is so sad to me. The fact that Joe Torre care so much about his guys and puts together twelve straight playoff runs, averaging somewhere around 95 wins a year over that time, yet has to sit there and answer questions about being "fired." Well, first of all, his contract is up and he's 67 years old. Who's to say he definitely wanted to come back to the Yanks? I think it's possible that this was Steinbrenner wanting to act like he had the final say and was "firing" Torre, because if Torre walked away after this year, Steinbrenner and the Yankees would possibly appear to not have complete control of everything. You and I know they indeed don't have control of everything but we live in reality world -- Steinbrenner and his jackass sons live in YankeeLand.

To put that quote out there about Torre having to win this series or else he wasn't being brought back was just bush league. Bush. League. All you haters who were all over Alex Rodriguez for shouting at the Blue Jays rookie months ago -- pay attention to this behavior by the frickin' owner of the franchise. This is bush league.

Your team is already down 0-2 in a series and they know the expectations in New York and with their much-maligned payroll. So they come home and now hear they have to win or else the manager they all love is going to be gone. Well, yeah, that's a really good way to loosen them up, jackass. Well-played. And I'll tell you this: there's no way Joe wanted them playing for him -- he wants his guys playing for the team. And they almost always do.

Torre is an average field manager but he's a brilliant manager of men and that's what's probably most important in baseball. In football, being a great game-planner is critical. In baseball, it's more about keeping things rolling along smoothly, keeping the highs under control and the lows from being too low. Torre was masterful and, as someone who watches probably 110-130 of their games each season, to see Torre have his postgame press gaggle every single night and practically never seem moody or impatient is just awe-inspiring. I hope I can be a fraction of that patient one day.

I understand that leadership changes have to happen sometimes. And I understand it might be good for the Yanks to have Joe leave and remain the hero that he is to Yankees fans. But I wish he was allowed to do it with all of his dignity and not be painted as having been yet another casualty of the George Steinbrenner iron fist. I've said many times that Yankee fans have no clue how good they've had it and that people who write headlines like this one on ESPN.com just don't get it. Their "Era of Greatness" didn't just come to a halt last night. If championships are what define greatness, I guess it ended in six years ago. If 90+ wins a year and making the playoffs every year count, then it's far from over.

A final thought on Joe Torre -- I've never understood how people can hate the Yankees when a guy like Torre is running the show. And when you confront Yankee-haters about it, many of them agree he's a great guy. And many have even said (to me, at least) that they like him enough that they would have had no problem with him managing their team. He's universally liked and respected and he should be. And this treatment he has endured from Steinbrenner has always irritated me. Yes, yes, Joe is highly paid. Fine. But think of your own job and make your salary your dream salary and then think about being de-pantsed publicly by your irrational boss a few times a year. While you might put up with it, you wouldn't think it was warranted.

As for replacements, I sincerely hope they do not go with Don Mattingly. I think we'd be in for a dark time for the Yankees if they go that route. I think the best possible hire would be Joe Girardi. The only questions will be whether he'll want to put up with the crap that comes from being the Yankee manager and whether he'll be okay with following Torre.

The A-Rod Saga Continues

Well, nobody was booing A-Rod last night and that's a good thing. But he didn't give the haters or the supporters anything solid to stand on. He hit .267 for the series, with a homer and one RBI. Certainly not what should be expected from a guy with a .314/54/156 season, but also not .071 like last year. Let's put it this way: ARod wasn't the problem.

And let's also keep in mind Derek Jeter, "Captain Clutch," grounded into three double plays in the series and seemed to come up small many times. He went 3-for-17 (.176) with one RBI. Where's the outcry? I know, I know, he's come through before so he's immune. And maybe he should be. But let's not just pile on ARod. They all lost, and they all could have come up bigger.

Will ARod stay or go? I've felt most of this season that he will indeed opt out of his contract in a few weeks, regardless of how the Yankees did. I still think that's likely and the only reason I think he might stay in New York is because his Scott Boras-inflated price tag of $30M per season is just ludicrous and there aren't many teams that can even consider paying that.

That said, I think the smart money is on only two suitors for ARod -- the Angels or the Cubbies. I think Chicago is a city that could eat him up, too, but he might hit 70 homers playing in Wrigley and he loves Lou Pinella. The Angels -- well, they showed they need some more offense and Arte Moreno, their owner, isn't afraid to spend money. Plus it's LA, and doesn't ARod just look like a perfect fit for Los Angeles?

I definitely hope he stays because he's the best player any of us will see, regardless of what he did in two postseason series in 2005 and 2006. He's a career .279 hitter in the postseason, even with those two terrible series, with 9 doubles, 7 homers and 17 RBIs in 39 games. Nothing spectacular but also not a complete flop. And without his monster season this year, do people not realize the Yankees would probably have been close to a .500 team? No, the answer is they do not realize it.

So if he leaves, prepare to laugh hard at New York, Yankee-haters. You'll be well within your rights.

Back to Cleveland

As I said earlier, congrats to Cleveland. They deserved this victory and they are a far better team than many of us (including me) realized. They do a lot of things well and they seem to manage around their weaknesses. For example, their closer is a bit of a joke, so they give him multi-run leads to protect. Well-played. I don't know if this will work all the way to the Series, though, so let's keep an eye on that.

The Indians are going to be good for a while now. They've got excellent young talent and have shown some smarts in signing good veterans to help bring it all together, such as Willie Mays Hayes -- err, I mean, Kenny Lofton.

Seriously, though, have fun with Boston, Tribe fans. More analysis on that series coming later this week.

Joe and Willie - A Short Play

SETTING: A Subway sandwich shop.


Hey, Joe.





Hey, Willie. Why the long face?






Don't be a jerk, Joe. You know what's going on.




What do you mean? No, really.. what's up? I've just been here enjoying my sandwich all weekend. I let Jorge manage. I like to do that when we've got the playoffs wrapped up.




*Eyes Joe suspiciously*





*innocently chews sandwich, wipes dressing from face*





*glances at menu*





So what did you do when you had things wrapped up?




I knew it! I knew you couldn't resist!





Sorry, Willie, but come on... the Phillies? Have you heard Charlie Manuel talk? He's borderline retarded.




Look, Joe, I've had a rough weekend, okay?




Okay, okay. *pause*

So who are you starting in Game 1?




Dammit, Joe!





Sorry! I just can't resist! The Phillies? Weren't you guys in first all season? Weren't we in last in like May? I can't remember because I really don't care. I'm just collecting a paycheck.



Whatever, Joe.





You should really order the mesquite chicken and bacon sandwich.





Really? Is it good?





Pretty good. I enjoyed it all summer long.





Oh, that's cool.




*stifling giggles*
Yeah, then in September I had a Philly Cheese Steak and it was so good, I relegated the mesquite chicken and bacon sandwich to second place.




You're such a jerk, Joe.





I have an idea, Willie, this will make you feel like a winner all over again.





Joe, get away from me. Wha-- what are you trying to put on my head? Come on, Joe...





Just hold still... there we go. How's that?







Gosh, you know, I actually do feel like a winner in this.

Can't Keep the Evil Empire Down For Long

Hey, remember back in May when the Yankees were scuffling and I said the Sux couldn't play .700 ball all season and that it was only two months in? And how boilerdowd reveled in the Yankees sucking and called me out, I guess, for not conceding the season? Well, only losers concede things that early.

Last night, the Yanks completed their turnaround and clinched a spot in the playoffs. The numbers really are amazing, whether you like the Yankees or not. They were 21-29 after 50 games and since then have gone 70-38. That's ridonkulous.

Have they perhaps blown their wad just to get into the playoffs? Possibly, but I am the first to admit (unlike most Yankee fans) that this team isn't built to win the World Series, it's built to win the division (or, in this case, the Wild Card).

See, you can slug your way through the regular season, pounding on teams like the Orioles, Jays and Devil Rays, but you don't get to play teams like that in October. When the Yankees were winning all those titles, they really were the best, most complete team in the majors. Pitching, hitting, baserunning, defense. They were just solid in all areas. Now they're average (at best) defensively, a little above average in starting pitching, perhaps climbing to above average in the bullpen and excellent in the hitting department. Well, what wins championships, kids? That's right, pitching. I have confidence in Wang and Pettitte, but then....? Old Man Clemens? Kid Phil Hughes? Erratic Mike Mussina? It'll be an adventure, as always.

But that's to worry about next week when the playoffs begin. For now, let's have some fun with photos in this post. Enjoy.


Mo Rivera and Roger Clemens douse Hideki Matsui ("of Japan," the ESPN caption actually says) with champagne, while Matsui mumbles, "Yeah, but we still got your asses at Pearl Harbor."


Derek Jeter scopes the groupies for the three he will bang that night.


Joe Torre reminds Doug Mientkiewicz of their deal from back in May, when Mientkiewicz said, "If we turn this thing around, I'll put on a pair of goggles and make out with Joe Torre."


Upon realizing that making the playoffs means he'll make more money as part of his playoff bonus, Roger Clemens is overcome with emotion.


Joba Chamberlain explains: "Hey, I'm just a rookie... Alex told me to hold this bottle right here while he grabs it... I don't know, I just do what I'm told."