Frayed Knot

The Yankees last night were closing in on trading Jaret Wright to the Baltimore Orioles, a person familiar with the Yankees' plans told Newsday. Sorry Lord. I know I'm going to hell for this but I just couldn't resist.

"Trachsel [is] a free agent" In more ways than one!

]covering the Mets, Yanks in the late 60's-early 70's Explains why it didn't ring a bell.

I think there was a time when NYM mgmt didn't seem all that interested in fostering ties to their past. Recently they seem to be almost going overboard in making up for it. Half the '86-era team has been given some sort of job over the last few years. Mazz, even though there was talk about him being a future manager while he was still playing, didn't jump into it immediately. He chose to play on his looks and popularity by doing the stage acting thing for a while plus some other stuff w/his info-tainment host wife (he still with that chick?). Nothing wrong with that of course; hell, it pays a lot more than some Single-A job. He got back in - as Dickshot notes - when his early mgr/mentor/paisan Torre got the reins in Yanqui-land. Thinking that he should have turned that down based on the fact that the fans of the team he came up with wouldn't like it is silly (remember also that the team that nutured him also celebrates the day they traded him as one of it's top turn-around moments). Want to turn him down for "screwing" the Mets by intimidating the ump into making that obstruction call? Fine with me; I don't really care one way or the other if he coaches here. Of course if he wasn't willing to make calls like that then it wouldn't make him a very good coach would he?

I honestly don't know what Belicheck's beef is with Mangini - I don't follow closely enough to care really - though it sounds like there are some personal issues buried somewhere. If it is strictly based on him taking a job with "the enemy" then, yeah, he is being a childish dope, especially since most (if not all) of the NYJ ownership/mgmt has changed hands since back when B.B. had his split with them. But, even as dopey as that would be, it's still a different situation than the one where the fans of the team that a player/coach once worked for want him to make career decisions based on what they think of the team where there's a job opening. On a side note, it always cracks me up to hear old-timey fans lauding the likes of Mantle or DiMaggio for their "loyalty" in sticking with the one team for their whole careers -- as if the fact that they were legally (illegally, actually) bound for life to one team had nothing to do with it.

Thinking that players & coaches are supposed to maintain a fan's version of silly, blind loyalties to a particular team to the point of turning down promotions and stunting their careers is blatantly absurd. We may view the sports world as a set of black hat/white hat contrasts, but they (properly) see those teams, not as good or evil, but as potential EMPLOYERS.

- Sheffield's usually not an on-field distraction. Torre reportedly liked him, as did Bobby Cox before him. He's more of a pain to front-office people as he starts whining about "disrespect". He was always one of those guys I'd listen to 10 minutes of one of his rants and have no idea what the fuck he was talking about. Lots of words, no sense whatsoever. - He should still be good for Detroit this year (how 'bout the fact that being sent to Detroit is no longer considered "banishment") but I'm not so sure I like him 3 years out. - Yanx already have a full OF: Matsui-Damon-Abreu; can't see them chasing after Drew

]The Tigers agreed to sign Sheffield through 2009, an investment that should placate Sheffield for the time being. That's the interesting part. It also means that there was some discussion between the parties prior to the deal going down; IOW, while Sheff was bitching about it all.

]I was a little more emotional over their parting with Leiter a few years back but turns out that was the precise moment to have done that. The thing with signing Glavine again is that it guarantees that if he craps out, he'll crap out wearing our clothes. Leiter had a longer tenure and more "big moments" as a Met than Glavine, but was also more clearly outta gas by the time he was sent packing compared to how Tommy is now - so I don't have a lot of fear with one more season.

The sign part seems a bit fishy. Seems to me that they'd announce something prior to just erecting a sign w/o any fanfare. A large part of the reason corps do this sort of thing is for the pomp and circumstance that goes along w/it. ]I dropped off the Dickshotmobile for service just a couple blocks from Shea this morning. I will investigate when I pick it up, prolly early tomorrow. How many pieces will it be in when you pick it up?

I have no idea how 'Silver Slugger' awards are determined

Interesting tactic by Drew. He's a terrific talent but there's always the injury bug. And it's not just a string of bad luck which could turn around at some point; he's got a lingering knee problem that limits his OF play and keeps him out of the lineup. There's also ... well, just something missing from his game. He's so frustratingly unagressive at times to the point where you wonder how much he cares. I don't like to throw around that charge but he's one of the few where it think it fits.

The filing had to be done simply to keep the paperwork in place and his options open. It doesn't really change anything. There's only been that one story about him getting two years (from Adam Rubin in the NYDN) and that got backed off of pretty quickly. Most reports have them getting together on a 1-year deal at a point somewhere between the two option figures (around $12mil) if he decides to stay -- and that $12 is essentially $9 plus the money he "rebated" the team from last season. Of course the one thing we haven't heard so far is whether his supposed only other acceptable destination even wants him. With a strict budget and a fairly expensive stable of starters already: Smoltz, Hampton, Hudson, Thomson; it's questionable whether Atlanta can afford to pay him even if they do decide they want him.

Interesting tactic by Drew. He's a terrific talent but there's always the injury bug. And it's not just a string of bad luck which could turn around at some point; he's got a lingering knee problem that limits his OF play and keeps him out of the lineup. There's also ... well, just something missing from his game. He's so frustratingly unagressive at times to the point where you wonder how much he cares. I don't like to throw around that charge but he's one of the few where it think it fits.

"it's the boras trump card trying to beat the beltran contract. mr. beltran is the last player to get more than he deserved (for non-pitchers). boras is going to get close to that as possible (7yr 119M ) to this type of contract," Boras don't enter into this cuz he's not the agent. And even if he was, Beltran was a 28 y/o CFer when he signed. Soriano is 31 and a corner player with MUCH worse OBP skills. Saying he wants a comparable deal doesn't mean someone has to agree to it. " though it is idiotic to sign, it still gets signed ... boras tells whoever wants to sign soriano that for 5 yrs you must pay more... 5 yrs of misery is less than 7... which means $20M." Sez who? -- you're going to have to come up with better logic than that. Agents make claims and throw out asking prices all the time that are never met. I think it was w/Millwood a couple years ago where Boras claimed he had "several standings offers" for something like 5 x $15mil ... before they wound up accepting a 1 year deal for around $10 This will be a negotiation, not a one-way dictation.

I don't recognize the name. What/when did he cover while at Newsday?

Elster88 wrote: Why waste time explaining why someone is not going to get a 5 year deal at 20 per when the phrase is "I'm hearing". I like to be thorough ] 95% of the published hot-stove stuff is crap, there's no point in giving any credence to someone just posting a statement like that with no backup or sources. It challenges the person w/the original post to either come up with some sources or realize that unbacked statements don't have a long shelf-life around here.

Yanx officially picked up Sheff's option last night and Sheff predictably went off on just about everyone: Cashman (just a "middle man"), Torre, Abreu (he's not me), and even tacitly implicated Jeter for not sticking up for ARod. He also claims that Cashman and the other 'middle men' are keeping him away from Steinbrenner whom he feels could straighten the whole thing out if given the chance. No Gary, he doesn't want you either. I'm enjoying all this as both sides are getting what they deserve. The Yanx are getting a huge headache and he gets tougher to trade by the minute. And Sheff - who bragged about serving as his own agent when he & George made this deal (over the objections of some NYY front office personnel) - found out about the old adage about a lawyer representing himself having a fool for a client. The ink was barely dry on the deal before he started complaining that he was worth more and that too much money was deferred. heh, heh

It's a pale imitation of those 'Chuck Norris' type-lists that were floating around the internet a while ago. In fact, putting one in that said Endy could beat up Chcuk Norris would have made it funnier.

]I'm hearing 5 years - $100M and not a penny under. Not a chance he gets that. No one has touched $20mil/per since the A-Rod, Manny deals during the dot-com era spending boom of 2000-01 -- and both teams came to quickly regret those expenditures even though the players played as well as could be expected. And even the teams who came close to the 20-mark with players (Thome w/Philly, Delgado w/Toronto, Giambi w/NYY, etc.) wanted/still want out of those deals while they were still going on. I know the scuttlebutt has it that there's going to be all kids of money thrown around this winter but Soriano isn't a complete enough player to command that kind of scratch. And, yes, Manny wasn't either, but Soriano on his best day isn't the hitter that Manny is.

- I could see giving Garciaparra or Durham shots - but not with 3-year deals. Too risky. - The Mets, btw, are "talking to" Valentin according to several published reports. A good move IMO so long as it's not the sole option. - Anderson Hernadez hasn't come close to showing that he can hit well enough to hold down a full-time ML job. NO ONE is that good a fielder. - Adam Kennedy is only 31, but he sure has declined in the last few years. Not sure what to make of him.

Johnny Dickshot wrote: George Bamberger was a pitcher in his playing career, the only pitcher to ever manage the Mets. Dallas Green sez: 'Remember Me?'

]Later, Sain became a popular pitching coach with the Yankees, Chicago White Sox, Minnesota, Detroit and Atlanta. Controversial might be a better word there. I don't recall all the specifics of his philosophy, but Sain was one of those guys that pitchers seemed to either swear by or swear at. Jim Bouton touted him all over 'Ball Four', frequently implying that he had some unconventional ideas that were constantly getting him into trouble w/managers and front offices. But Seaver once said something along the lines of; 'I wouldn't let Sain near me'. Sain wasn't a big running guy ("it makes me tired") which maybe explains part of what offended Seaver's 'leg power' attitude.

Well James probably wouldn't base his decision on a whole lot more than what we discussed here. Our numbers crunching showed (in a generic sort of way) that a succesful bunt would have slightly increased the odds of tying the game (getting 2 runs in) while decreasing the odds of winning it in that inning (3 or more). We touched upon that to truly do it right you'd need to factor in the odds of actually pulling off the sac bunt (and sending anyone other than Floyd screams that the bunt was ON as loudly as Cliff did that it was off) plus consider the chance that the Cards would screw it up to our benefit, but didn't have those numbers handy when we did. P.S. What I suspect is that James (or James-ians) have cited the 1st + 2nd/no-out situation as one where they find the sac bunt acceptable in that it doesn't decrease your run-scoring odds and that this writer is somewhat aware of that and quickly made the leap to from his knowledge of this "fact" to calling something that didn't follow it "boneheaded"

First black player for the Red Sox; the last ML team to integrate. Kevin Elster?