SEE YA!

Well today is the Yankees first Spring Training game, but this will be our last blog post. The other things going on in our lives have made it impossible for us to keep our blog up-to-date and up to our standards of excellence.

Even now, as I watch the preseason game and listen to Joe Girardi ask Michael Kay how married life is, I can tell you I'll miss it. But John and I will be watching all season, rooting on the Yanks to their 28th World Series.

So For John Healy, I'm Jim Geant saying:

SEE YA!

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Michael Kay Gaffe

I was just looking at my twitter account, and saw Michael Kay's name flash across the news feed more often than it usually does (which is, not at all, especially in the offseason), and was trending in NYC. At first I thought, "OMG we've gone viral." Such was not the case.

Apparently Kay broke news that Royals ace Zack Greinke was traded to the Phillies. He based this news on a tweet by SI writer Jon Heyman's (his account can be found here). Unfortunately for Kay, the tweet came from a different account that was a fake Jon Heyman account (which I can't seem to find, possibly deleted). So Kay is pretty much getting bashed for this right now. Truth is it's probably not even his fault, that seems like it would be the producer's job, but it's not called "The Producers" (pretty sure that name's already taken anyway), it's "The Michael Kay Show." Kind of the way a pitcher gets the "L" when it was bad pitch calling by the catcher.

I'm inclined to give him a break, because 1) he probably wasn't the one searching through Twitter for the news 2) it could happen to anybody and 3) assuming he comes out and admits he was wrong, no harm done.

The best tweet I saw about this came from @asilecchio.

Michael Kay = Ron Burgendy Twitter= teleprompter.

If you don't get that reference, watch this YouTube clip:


Then go watch Anchorman.

And as long as Michael Kay doesn't get fooled by this Twitter account, he should be ok.

I'm Jim Geant? saying

SEE YA?

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All is right in the world

Derek Jeter has officially resigned with the Yankees. There's a press conference at 2:30 on ESPN. I'm stuck in class, but if anything important comes out of it, I'll post later.

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Winter Wonderland

Well we've got about 8 straight days of snow in the forecast here in Syracuse, so I'm a little jealous of everyone in Orlando for the Winter Meetings, which start today.

• GM Brian Cashman is done playing Santa's elf, and now wants to bring Yankee fans a Christmas present in Cliff Lee.
• Lee's agent was surrounded by reporters today, but said there isn't anything to report or speculate on yet.
• Pat Gillick was elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veteran's Committee, but late Yankee owner George Steinbrenner did not receive the requisite number of votes.
• Another ridiculous contract out of the Washington, DC sports market (after the McNabb-Redskins deal) as Jayson Werth signed a 7 year, $126 million contract with the Nationals. I can't find a quote from Werth, but if it says anything other than "I signed here because the Nationals were the only ones stupid enough to give me this much money" he is flat out lying.
• And as Jayson Stark writes, the only person who likes the Werth deal more than Werth is Carl Crawford, who is going to be swimming in money after this offseason.

There will probably be a lot more news this week than there has been this offseason, which of course MLB coincides with finals week, but we'll do our best.

SEE YA!

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Re-Enter Sandman

Reports form the NY Daily News say that closer Mariano Rivera is on the verge of signing a 2 year, $30 million contract.

The deal should be done by Friday night. This gets one of the 3 "Core Four" locked up before the Owner's Meetings begin on Monday.

Now hopefully the Yanks can get the Jeter deal done before moving on to Cliff Lee.

SEE YA...for now.

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Going Shopping...

Well Black Friday always marks the beginning of the Christmas shopping season, and it usually marks the beginning of the Baseball Offseason as well. Let's get caught up on what's going on.

Derek Jeter
Well, these negotiations have pretty much turned "messy" as Hal Steinbrenner forewarned. Word around town today is that he wants $150 million (cue Dr. Evil pose). That's much much more money than Jeter (or anyone else for that matter) is worth at this point. The Yankees have drawn the line in the sand with $45 million for 3 years. I don't understand why they don't sign a reasonable player contract and then do one of those personal services contracts for when he retires. I think, no matter what, Jeter's probably going to be laughing all the way to the bank.












Mariano Rivera
There had been talk about Rivera pulling an Andy Pettitte and going year to year, but now he apparently wants a 2-year deal. I don't see why the Yankees don't sign him to that contract right now. The second year is probably tied to the chance to pass Trevor Hoffman on the All-Time Saves list. This deal will probably get down soon, and with hopefully less drama than Jeter's deal.





Cliff Lee
And now we move on to the biggest non-Yankee target the coveted left hander Lee. There are conflicting reports on whether an official offer has actually been made, but Cash Money (Brian Cashman, not the rap label) went down to Arkansas to visit with him and his family. It's probably more a matter of years at this point, because Lee's going to want about 7, but he's 32 so he's probably going to have to settle for less.







So that's it for now. But as more news develops, we'll keep you updated.

SEE YA!

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That's All She Wrote

I know Yankee fans (well, I am) are circulating around the blogosphere to make themselves feel better. The fact is the Texas Rangers just outplayed the Yankees. Their offense kept piling on runs and their pitching stifled the Yankees bats. Sure there are moments we can blame Girardi or a player or two, but the bottom line is the Rangers were just the better team.

The Yankees did win the World Series last year so, for me personally, it doesn't sting as it has in years past. But the team just didn't seem to have that special feeling it did last year. The second half of the season was a mess, and injuries (Pettitte) and underperformance (Burnett) were hard to overcome this season.

And I have the postgame on the YES Network and they just interviewed Andy Pettitte. Man, that was tough to watch. It sounds like he may not come back and we've seen the last of Pettitte. He's been debating retiring for a few years now, so it would be no surprise if he retires. There's going to be a lot of questions in the offseason and moves to be made.

I do want to say one more thing. When Mark Teixeira went down with that hamstring injury in Game 4, that changed the whole dynamic of the series. It seemed like it was the final nail in the coffin for a series that didn't have anything go right except for 15 pitches in Game 1.

We will do our best to keep the blog going through the offseason and into the 2011 season. It's a place where we've been able to vent our frustrations and share our excitement, whether anyone actually reads it or not.

There's only one thing to say...See Ya!

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What Happened?

Seriously I don't know what to say. A.J. Burnett was willing his way to a quality start. The Stadium was loud. The Yankees were winning. Then Mark Teixeira's hamstring blew out. The stadium went dead. Joe Girardi starts deciding to intentionally walk the fearful (I'm being sarcastic) David Murphy with 2 outs and Joba warming and leaves Burnett in to face Bengie Molina who is raking in the playoffs, and next thing you know it's 5-3 and Molina's rounding the bases.

It didn't end there. Girardi brought in Robertson for the 7th inning and he gets the first two outs nice and quick. Then for God knows why, he brings in Boone Logan when David Robertson is perfectly capable of getting left-handers out to face Josh Hamilton. What does Logan do? Gives up a home run. 6-3.

It didn't end there. The Yankees loaded the bases in the 8th down 7-3 with Swisher and Berkman coming up and niether one can get a hit or push a run across. Sergio Mitre entered the ninth and well, a slow and painful death became even slower and more painful as I left and didn't bother to watch the rest of the ninth.

By no means is this series over. But it felt like the life of the team, fans, and everyone was taken out the moment Tex went down. CC is on the mound tonight. He's came up big for us before. If he do his job and send it back to Texas, just maybe, there's some hope.

As Yogi Berra said, "It ain't over till it's over."

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Why I'd pitch CC in Game 4

Going into the top of the ninth inning, it was 2-0 Rangers, and Cliff Lee was dominating. I was prepared to just be "Lee pitched a helluva game, nothing you can do about that." But then that monstrosity of a 9th inning happened and really pissed me off. You can't let a team score tack-on runs, especially 6 of them, in the playoffs. We all know that the Yankees can score in bunches to win games in the late innings (see: Game 1) but not when they're down 8. If it's a 2-0 loss, you just tip your hat and come back the next day, but 8-0 leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

Then there's the AJ Burnett situation. Joe Girardi immediately told the media Burnett is starting tomorrow. I disagree with this decision 100%. The Rangers are throwing Tommy Hunter, who gave up 3 runs in 6 innings against the Rays in the ALDS, but isn't in the same ballpark, zipcode, state, country, or even continent of Cliff Lee. The Yankees should (if they wake up) hit him well. But do you really want to have to try to win a 10-9 game with Burnett pitching? I say they throw CC to shut down the Rangers and tie this thing up 2-2.

John disagrees with me (which, believe it or not, actually happens from time to time.) His concern (and I have to admit, it is a valid one) is that if CC loses, do you really want AJ pitching Game 5 down 3-1? The answer to that is obviously no. But, to me, it's like when a pitcher's pitching in a tough spot; when they have the option between their best pitch and their fourth-best pitch, they pick their best pitch every time (or at least they're supposed to). If you are going to get beat, you have to lose with your best. If the Yanks go down 3-1 with CC on the mound, at least you know they weren't screwing around went all in and they play "all hands on deck" the rest of the way. If AJ loses, sure you have CC to pitch Game 5, but you still have to win 3 games in a row, 2 of them on the road.

The reason CC isn't starting this game outright is Girardi and the Yankees don't want to use Hughes and Pettitte (who also pitched a helluva game tonight) on 3 day's rest. Hughes because he's already thrown a lot more innings than he ever has and Pettitte because he was injured most of the second half. Here's my solution to that: CC pitches Game 4 and wins. AJ starts Game 5 with Hughes ready to come out of the bullpen for 2, maybe 3 innings (it would be his throw day), you go Pettitte Game 6, and CC Game 7, if necessary. I would still throw Pettitte on 3 days rest for a few reasons: 1) I think his performances so far in the postseason prove he's healthy, 2) the Yankees have no long-term investment in him. I know it's not a nice thing to think about, but Pettitte's contract is up after the season, and he's been hinting at retirement for about 5 years now. If something happens to Pettitte, he just goes off quietly into the sunset waiting for his number to be retired and possibly be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Chances are that's what is going to happen anyway.

Now, this is baseball, so AJ could channel his inner Sandy Koufax tomorrow and pitch a gem and make me come back tomorrow night and eat my words. I hope to the Great Yankee Fan in the Sky that happens, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

SEE YA!

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What A Game

By now everybody knows what happened in last nights ALCS opener. The Rangers got to CC early, and CJ Wilson was pitching like an All Star and before you knew it, the Rangers were up 5-1 in the 8th inning just six outs away from their first home postseason win. Other than a Robinson Cano solo shot in the seventh the Yankees showed no signs of getting to Wilson.

Then a routine groundball to first base changed everything.

Brett Gardner beat C.J. Wilson to the bag as he dove for first and was safe. Derek Jeter doubled down the line and made it a 5-2 ballgame. Wilson's night was over and it was up to the Texas bullpen to prevent any more damage from being done. Four pitchers, two walks, a double, and two singles later, the Yankees were up 6-5 and everyone in Texas looked like this.

The Yankees showed why Texas is going to have a hard time with them. They don't give up. After a miserable September many people were doubting the Yankees. Well keeping doubting because this Yankee team showed enough to me yesterday to make me feel like they are going to repeat as World Series champs. I know there's a lot of baseball left to be played but tell me how Texas can recover from that? The Rangers got almost everything they could have asked for. Early lead, work CC, great starting pitching, but the bullpen didn't do the job whereas the Yankees lineup and bullpen did theirs.

Colby Lewis takes the mound against Phil Hughes today at 4:07 ET. We'll see how Texas responds.

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