SAM I AM SPORTS BLOG

CHAMPIONS

2009-11-05T11:29:00.001-05:00

JUST ONE MORE

2009-11-04T11:36:00.002-05:00

113! Thats how many victories the Yankees have won thus far.All they need is just one more victory to head back to the promise land. Its been way too long. Cmon Boys lets get it done tonight!

JETS: 10 UP 10 DOWN

2009-05-12T15:33:00.003-04:00

At the Daily News Rich Cimini gives his top 10 reasons to be fired up and concerned about the Jets:

Top 10 Reasons to be Fired Up:

The season ended 4 1/2 months ago, and it's four months until the 2009 regular season, which puts us in the middle of nowhere in terms of the football calendar. It's not exactly a "dead" period, as OTAs begin today (Thursday is open to the media), but you get the point. To pass the time, we're going to gaze into a crystal ball and take a look at 2009.

Today, we'll examine the top 10 reasons to be fired up about the Jets in 2009.

Tomorrow, we'll list the top 10 concerns.

Here we go:

1. Philosophy + attitude = plan. By this, I mean the Jets know what they want to be. Under Rex Ryan, they will be a defensive-minded team that plays ball control with a strong running game. He established that mindset from the beginning. They will be a "ground and pound" offense and attack on defense. A year ago, the Jets suffered an identity crisis, as Brett Favre's late arrival forced them to change their plans. They never found a comfort zone. Eric Mangini's beloved "game plan-specific" approach never afforded the players a chance to develop a personality. Basically, they were all over the place, especially on offense.

2. Attacking D. The read-and-react days are over; the Jets will be playing downhill in the front seven. Technically, Ryan's base is a 3-4, but he uses multiple fronts and it's not a pure two-gap system, as it was under Mangini. You will see a lot of 4-3 looks with OLB Bryan Thomas, or perhaps OLB Calvin Pace, as a down lineman. You won't see Kris Jenkins head-up on the nose every play; he'll move around. You won't see S Kerry Rhodes disappear for long stretches; there will be schemes tailored to his play-making ability.

3. Continuity on the O-line. All five starters return, a rarity in the NFL. That will help tremendously, especially with an inexperienced quarterback. C Nick Mangold and LT D'Brickashaw Ferguson are ascending players. LG Alan Faneca and RT Damien Woody, both on the wrong side of 30, are getting close to the downside, but neither player has hit that slope just yet. In other words, on paper, the line should be better than last season.

4. Improved secondary. With the additions of CB Lito Sheppard and S Jim Leonhard, this should be the most improved area on the team. There will be a lot more man-to-man coverage in Ryan's scheme, but Sheppard and Darrelle Revis should be up for it. Under Mangini, the Jets were scorched by short-passing teams because the corners played "off" coverage and the linebackers were too slow in their drops. As a result, they made heroes of pedestrian quarterbacks like Shaun Hill, Seneca Wallace, etc. Better coverage will help the pass rush, too.

5. Bart Scott. The $48 million inside linebacker's confident attitude is infectious, and he will bring energy and swagger to a defense that lacked both last season. He also knows Ryan's defense, as does Leonhard and DE Marques Douglas, which should make the transition period easier for the entire unit.

6. Three-headed monster. With Thomas Jones, Leon Washington and rookie Shonn Greene, the Jets have a deep and diverse backfield - and that's what you need to be a smashmouth offense. The Jets are stealing a page from the Giants' playbook, but, hey, it works. The trick will be managing the "touches," making sure each player's ability is maximized.

7. The QB competition. In a sense, this is a huge question mark, considering neither Kellen Clemens nor Mark Sanchez is proven, but let's take a look at the positive side: Nothing stirs a team like a legitimate QB competition. Clemens knows he's the underdog, but this is his chance to take a stand and make the organization feel like it screwed up by making such a huge splash for Sanchez. If Clemens has anything, he'll show it now; his career is riding on it. Those around Clemens and Sanchez should be able to feed off the intensity of the competition.

8. A chance for B Schott to be Schott. Ryan is giving coordinator Brian Schottenheimer complete control of the offense, which means he won't have to change his system to suit a geezer quarterback (see Favre) or a micro-managing coach (Mangini). This will be Schottenheimer's baby and, from the early indications, he wants to go back to the style he ran in 2006, when they relied heavily on motions and shifts to create mismatches. He had to scrap that last season because of Favre, who preferred static formations. This will be a great opportunity for Schottenheimer to sell himself as a head-coaching candidate.

9. The Leon King. Washington is one of the top playmakers in the league. Now all they have to do is get him the ball more than 12.5 times per game, last season's average (based on rushes, receptions, kickoff and punt returns). Washington is dangerous in space, making him the ideal complement to Ryan's "ground and pound" approach.

10. Vernon Gholston. He has to get better, doesn't he?

Top 10 Reasons to be Concerned:

1. No proven quarterback. Kellen Clemens has a 3-5 career record as a starter, and only one of the starts (a close loss in Baltimore in '07) could be considered a meaningful game. Rookie Mark Sanchez started only 16 games in college, albeit at a high level of competition. The point is, the Jets don't know what they're going to get from the quarterback position, and that's a scary proposition in the NFL. You've read a lot about Joe Flacco and Matt Ryan, both very successful as rookie QBs, but those were rare, perfect-storm situations. Flacco and Ryan started 26 and 32 games, respectively, in college - a huge help.

2. No No. 1 wide receiver. They have a very good No. 2 receiver (Jerricho Cotchery) and a handful of candidates for the No. 3 and No. 4 jobs, but the lack of a true 1 will have a major impact on the offense. With no one to stretch the field and/or draw extra coverage, the Jets will see more blitzes and more eight-man fronts, designed to choke the running game. It's hard to score points when your offense is operating on a 20-yard field, but that could be the case. I wouldn't be shocked if the Jets make another inquiry into Anquan Boldin before the start of training camp. And they will continue to monitor the Plaxico Burress situation.

3. Is there a blocking tight end in the house? The Jets are delusional if they think Bubba Franks is the answer. He hasn't played a full season since 2006, he's an old 31 and he didn't exactly light up the place last summer in training camp. He was dropping everything. But the front office botched the Chris Baker situation, and now it's paying the price. No matter what they say, Dustin Keller can't block. Nice receiver, can't block. It's hard to believe that a team with smashmouth intentions would fail to address such an important position.

4. A rookie coach. Rex Ryan has an impressive resume, a winning personality and good football genes, but he's never been a head coach in his life. There are bound to be some mistakes along the way, especially with game management. He's also had no experience on the offensive side of the ball, so it'll be interesting to see how he coordinates all three phases - offense, defense, special teams - into weekly game plans. Defensive-minded head coaches tend to be conservative on offense, and that's okay, but will that jibe with Brian Schottenheimer's vision for the offense?

5. Lack of depth - in a lot of places. The Jets are thin at tight end, offensive line, defensive line, inside linebacker and safety. Of course, that's what happens when you trade away draft picks. They've picked only 13 players in the last three drafts, and that catches up to a team in terms of the bottom third of the roster. They'd better hope they stay healhy, especially on both lines.

6. A shortage of edge speed. Truth be told, the Jets haven't had a speed rusher since John Abraham. Calvin Pace is a solid, three-down linebacker, but he's not going to draw two blockers. Neither will Bryan Thomas, who has had two straight subpar years. Vernon Gholston was supposed to have edge speed, but he plays about 2/10ths of a second slower than his 40 time. It looks like Ryan will have to manufacture sacks with clever schemes.

7. A short of long speed on offense. Other than Leon Washington, they don't have any home-run threats. WR David Clowney is a burner, probably the fastest guy on the team, but he doesn't have any pelts.

8. Unhappy campers. Washington has joined Thomas Jones on the "disgruntled running back" list. Recent history suggests the organization will eventually cave in. They gave Pete Kendall a "Get Out of Jail Free" card, trading him to the Redskins even though there was no adequate replacement, and they placated Baker by basically granting him free agency before he was due to become free. They pretty much did the same for Laveranues Coles. Washington is underpaid and, I suspect, will land a new deal before training camp. The Jones situation could be trickier. Will Mike Tannenbaum take a hardline approach? Will Jones try to shoot his way out of town? This one could turn ugly.

9. Learning a new D. Ryan's system is radically different from the Mangini scheme, and it will take some getting used to. Players say they're still thinking too much on their feet, not reacting instinctively. It's early in the process, very early, but it would be unrealistic to expect the defense to be as smooth and efficient as Ryan's old team in Baltimore. There will be growing pains.

10. Can anyone punt? There are no experienced punters on the roster. T.J. Conley, a rookie free agent from Idaho, has a chance. If he bombs, they'll sign a veteran for training camp.

MANNY RAMIROID?

2009-05-07T15:21:00.010-04:00

I can't help but laugh at Manny.
No, not because he was just suspended 50 games for the use of PED's.
Turns out that Manny wasn't enhancing his performance on the field.
According to sources, this drug was to enhance his sexual performance. http://www.rotoworld.com/content/Headlines.aspx?sport=MLB&hl=262161

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=ApmVQi9LjECCyZYtsXRrNcI5nYcB?slug=ys-ramirezsuspension050709&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
The only thing confirmed over here is that it was NOT Viagra.
At least Palmero was smart enough to make money out of his sexual problems.

I guess Manny was having a tough time getting "good wood" .
Or maybe he was having trouble "knocking it out of the park".
Maybe this explains all those late season "long balls".
I guess this confirms he really was a "dick" in the Boston clubhouse.
I hope they don't go to "hard on" him.
I'm here all night folks...

METS: OY VEY!

2009-04-30T11:05:00.002-04:00

Over at Metsblog.com...Matt Cerrone points out a few interesting stats on the Mets:

Mets are now 0–7 this season during games in which a win could have taken the series, completed a sweep or prevented a sweep.
Mets had a lead in eight of their 12 losses. Meaning, if they just split the difference, the team could be 13–8.
According to WFAN’s Boomer and Carton Show, the Mets have left 173 men on base in 23 games, or roughly seven per game.
In an 11–month span from June 2007 through today, the Mets are 151-141. Take out a brief two month boost from new manager Jerry Manuel last season, and the Mets are 112-122.

Oh and David Wright is on pace for 200 strikeouts...

JETS: JASON CAMPBELL

2009-04-29T15:29:00.001-04:00

At the NY Daily News Rich Cimini had this interesting thought:

"Here's a really warped way of analyzing the Sanchez trade: If it weren't for "Dancing With the Stars," Jason Campbell would be the Jets' quarterback.

Follow along:

If it weren't for the popular TV show, Jason Taylor might have reported to the Dolphins' offseason program last year instead of dancing on TV.

If he reported to the Dolphins, he wouldn't have ticked off Bill Parcells.

If he didn't tick off Parcells, Taylor wouldn't have been traded to the Redskins.

If he wasn't traded to the Redskins, the Skins would've kept their second-round pick (No. 44 overall).

If the Redskins had their second-round pick, they would've offered it, and their first-rounder (No. 12), to the Browns at No. 5.

If the Redskins offered the 12 and 44 picks, it would've been a better package than the Jets' offer - 17 and 52. The Browns would've
accepted the Redskins' offer and the Redskins' would've picked Sanchez.

If the Redskins took Sanchez at 5, they would've tried to deal Campbell, their incumbent.

If the Redskins tried to deal Campbell, the Jets would've made a deal for him because they wouldn't have wanted to go into the season
with Kellen Clemens and Brett Ratliff.

So there you have it. Farfetched? Absolutely, but I'm experiencing post-draft, pre-minicamp withdrawal, so my judgment is impaired."

FLASHES OF THE FUTURE

2009-04-29T10:09:00.012-04:00

You can look up and down the Yankee's $201.449.189 roster and not get too exited of what the future holds for this group of aging vets.

The Yankee's have only 3 good position players under the age of 30.

Mark Teixeira (29), Robbie Cano (27), and Nick Swisher (29).

The only players under the age of 30 on the starting staff are CC (28) but turns 29 this coming July, Joba (24) and Wang (29) who by the way is sporting a 34.50 ERA .

So basically, next year the Yankee's will only have ONE position player under 30(Cano) and ONE starter (Joba).

The pen on the other hand is young but extremely tough to gage. Unless you have yourself a dominant reliever, the year to year performance on those guys can change drastically. So when Mariano is gone, who knows what will be with the Yankees pen.

So the future of this club is none too encouraging .

Which is why lasts nights game was oh-so important. Not for the 2009 Yanx(although it was nice to halt a 4 game skid) but for the Yankee's of 2010 and beyond.

When Phil Hughes took the mound last night I wasn't sure what to expect. Were we going to see the dominant AAA pitcher or the ineffective major league'r we've grown accustomed to see.

Obviously , We saw the potential of greatness for many years to come. His fastball was sitting at 94 MPH and he was locating it . The movement was a thing of beauty. Phil's uncle Charley was just as effective. But what got me real excited was the development of his cutter.

Maybe that injured rib last season really hampered his ability's to dial it up and locate? Either way , He looked filthy last night . How old is Phil Hughes may you ask? 27? 28? No, he turns 23 in June.

After Hughes was given the pat on the back and given the rest of the night off.Due to a much needed 10 run outburst from the run starved Yankee's offense. The ball was handed to none other than the future star of the Yankees pen Mark Melancon (24) who is my bet to be the heir of the great Mo.

Last nights game left a huge grin on my face. I couldn't help but think of the future....

JETS & GIANTS: UNDRAFTED FREE AGENT SIGNINGS

2009-04-28T10:22:00.004-04:00

Jets
DE Jamaal Westerman (Rutgers)
TE Andrew Davie (Arkansas)
DL Matt Kroul (Iowa)
P T.J. Conley (Idaho)
S Emanuel Cook (South Carolina)
TE Robert Myers (Utah State)
FB Brannan Southerland (Georgia)
QB Chris Pizzoti (Harvard
OT Tavita Thompson (Oregon St)
WR Britt Davis (Northern Illinois)
OL Ryan McKee (Southern Mississippi)
DE Zach Potter (Nebraska)
OT Kyle Link (McNeese St)
TE J'Nathan Bullock (Cleveland State - Basketball)

Giants
TE Darius Hill (Ball State)
DE Maurice Evans (Penn State)
DE Alex Field (Virginia)
S Kenny Ingram (FSU)
CB Vince Anderson (Webber International)
S Sha'reff Rashad (UCF)
CB Vince Anderson (Weber International University)
DE Kenny Mainor (Troy)

For a complete listing of UDFAS click here.

If you don't think any of these players can make a difference..here is a list of players who went undrafted in the past 10 years:

Chris Carr CB Oakland
Joshua Cribbs WR Cleveland
Robbie Gould K Chicago
Ryan Grant RB Green Bay
Jim Leonard S Jets
Lance Moore WR Saints
Nate Washington WR Tennessee
Pierre Thomas RB New Orleans
Davone Bess WR Miami
Wes Welker WR Patriots
Willie Parker RB Pittsburgh
Jason Peters OT Eagles
Tony Romo QB Dallas
Gary Brackett LB Indianapolis
Antonio Gates TE San Diego
Bart Scott LB New York Jets
James Harrison OLB Pittsburgh Steelers
Shaun Hill QB 49ers
Matt Bryant K Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Antonio Pierce LB Giants
Rob Bironas K Tennesee
Adewale Ogunleye DE Bears
Jeff Saturday C Indianapolis Colts

MARK SANCHEZ: HOW THE DEAL GOT DONE

2009-04-27T10:54:00.003-04:00

"And with the fifth pick in the 2009 NFL draft the New York Jets select Mark Sanchez QB USC"...these words were only made possible due to Abram Elam...don't know what I'm talking about...

At si.com Peter King gives a behind the scenes story of how the deal got done...click here.

THE RETURN OF THE PHRANCHISE?

2009-04-24T09:25:00.004-04:00

Rumors are swirling in Yankee land the Philly Phranchise will be getting another crack at the Yankee rotation.

With Wang's latest clunker down in clearwater the Yankees are internally discussing whether or not to place Wang on the shelf.

In my opinion this is the smartest thing to do for more than one reason.

A) The Yankees can ill afford to lose every game they trot out the Taiwanese terror and B) this has got to be destroying Wang's confidence which we know plays an important role in every starting pitchers arsenal.

And Hey, I would love to see what Phil has been working on down there in the minors since last years debacle.

I actually just picked up Hughes in Fantasy baseball so I guess I'm expecting (more like praying) the "prospect" that we have been waiting to emerge as the next stalwart in the Yankees staff.

GETTING TO KNOW ST NICK

2009-04-21T15:58:00.004-04:00

When it comes to picking my favorite players , I have had a rough time over the past few seasons.

To tell you the truth, Since the departure of Paul O'Neill I have had an extremely difficult time finding "my favorite player".

When news broke a few moths back that Cash swindled a deal with the ChiSox and acquired Nick Swisher I was ecstatic.

I always admired the way Swish approached the game of baseball. He seems like he always is excited to live out the dream of millions of youth throughout the world.

If half the players in the major's had a swisher like attitude, baseball would that much better.

When I started to look into Nick Swisher as a person and not the player , I was so impressed and relieved to see that Nick Swisher is not only a good player but a GREAT! person as well.

Last week River Ave Blues , linked a very telling Sweeny Murti article which I will use to show you that Nick Swisher Is a downright great person.

-----------------------------------------------------------

*Established the Nick Swisher Foundation and "Swish's Wishes" foundation in 2007 to assist children with life-threatening illnesses.

*Organized his first Swish's Wishes Celebrity Cruise in January 2009.

*Hosted Swish's Wishes Days in Chicago in 2008, where kids in need would be his guest to the game and visit with him on the field.

*Was a regular visitor at children's hospitals in Chicago.*Supports Lynn Sage Cancer Center in Chicago.

*Dyed his goatee pink on Mother's Day to raise awareness for breast cancer and blue on Father's Day to raise awareness for prostate cancer.

*Provides holiday gifts and a party for mentally challenged children at Janet Pomeroy School in San Francisco.

*Supports UCSF Medical Center in San Francisco, where he served as the honorary chairman for the 2007 Macy's Tree Lighting Ceremony.

*Has also funded programs at the Children's Hospital & Research Center in Oakland and frequently reads books to children in the hospital.

*Teamed with Columbia Pictures in 2007 to host a private screening of the movie "Water Horse: Legend of the Deep" for 400 sick and low-income Bay Area children.

*Participates in Strikeouts for Troops, a non-profit organization that provides assistance to our wounded war veterans and their children by providing "comforts of home" while they recover in military hospitals nationwide.

*Toured U.S. bases in Spain, Greece and Italy on a goodwill mission to visit American soldiers and their families stationed abroad.

*Helped fund two programs for children in need at Tony LaRussa's Animal Rescue Foundation. *Participated in adopting 25 military families in need and provided Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner as well as Christmas gifts for the children in 2007 and 2008.

*Threw out the first pitch to eight-year-old Adam Bender on 7/1/08 vs. Cleveland… Bender lost his leg to cancer at the age of 1 and was flown from Kentucky to Chicago with his parents, older brother and younger sister by Swisher's foundation to celebrate the one-year anniversary of "Swish's Wishes." Bender plays catcher for his Little League team in Lexington, KY. Swisher provided Bender with a personalized White Sox jersey and a bat autographed by the team.

*In honor of his grandmother, Betty, who lost her battle with cancer in 2005, Nick joined as an ambassador to the EIF Foundation and the Women's Cancer Research Fund.

*Went without a haircut for nearly one year in 2007 as part of the non-profit Pantene Beautiful Lengths program that encourages people to grow, cut and donate their hair to create live hair wigs for women who have lost their hair due to cancer treatments… his father, Steve, made the "kindest cut of all" on the field in Oakland on 5/19/07, cutting Nick's hair to be donated to the program.

*Also supports childhood diabetes, prostate and breast cancer, and the Special Olympics.

*Was the Athletics' 2007 Roberto Clemente Award nominee.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Here is a particularly telling quote that Sweeny found on Swisher's website.

"I love helping people, especially kids. They are so innocent, full of such hope and wonder. The youth of today truly are our future. I plan to use whatever profile I may have while playing this great game of baseball that I love, to make a difference in the lives of others. Whether it's reading a story to a child in the hospital, visiting with our injured troops, growing out my hair so a wig can be made for a woman dealing with hair loss from chemotherapy, or simply making sure I sign as many autographs as I can - well, this is what drives me. This is who I am."

After reading all of that, I am proud to say that Nick Swisher is my favorite player in baseball, regardless of what he does on the Field.

OPENING DAY AT CITIFIELD

2009-04-17T17:09:00.005-04:00

I went to opening day at Citifield...I took over 225 pics...here are the links to the albums...

Album 1
Album 2
Album 3
Album 4
Album 5

ENJOY!!

i also took 5 videos..i will try to add them later...

THANKS FOR YOUR PATIENCE...

2009-04-17T10:56:00.002-04:00

I know that I have been M.I.A. for a while, but without further ado......

2009 METS 25 MAN ROSTER

2009-03-31T18:39:00.003-04:00

The 2009 New York Mets 25 man roster is set:

C Brian Schneider
C Ramon Castro
1B Carlos Delgado
2B Luis Castillo
2B/SS Alex Cora
SS Jose Reyes
3B David Wright
OF Carlos Beltran
OF Ryan Church
OF Daniel Murphy
OF Gary Sheffield
OF/1B Marlon Anderson
OF Jeremy Reed
OF/3B/1B Fernando Tatis

SP Johan Santana
SP Mike Pelfrey
SP Oliver Perez
SP John Maine

RP Darren O'Day
RP Pedro Feliciano
RP Bobby Parnell
RP Brian Stokes
RP Sean Green
RP JJ Putz
RP Fransisco Rodriguez

On April 11th they will release Marlon Anderson and call-up Livan Hernandez as their fifth starter.

TOP 10 JETS OF ALL TIME

2009-03-30T10:11:00.002-04:00

The NFL Network ran a list of the top 10 Jets of all time you can see the video by clicking here.

AROD OUT 10 WEEKS!!!

2009-03-05T11:26:00.004-05:00

ESPN.COM's Enrique Rojas is reporting that Alex Rodriguez will undergo surgery on a cyst on his hip on Monday and will miss 10 weeks making his return sometime in mid-May.

There are many out there that believe that the cyst is connected to his steroid use just like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens had cysts...However multiple "prominent" doctors have come out and said that there is no link between injecting anabolic steroids and having a cyst..

Anyways the Arod Saga continues...

The question now is Who will play third for the Yankees??

My plan is to move Robinson Cano to third..and bring in a Ray Durham type player for second

I have been saying for years that the Yankees need to move Cano to third Arod to short and Jeter to second..It just makes sense defensively..and forget about all this captain at short stuff...

A MUST READ

2009-03-02T13:50:00.001-05:00

At SI.com Peter King does a great job outlining what it took the Jets to sign Bart Scott as well as details on Chris Canty, Albert Haynesworth etc..Click here.

EMOTIONAL DAWKINS

2009-02-28T22:32:00.002-05:00

After 13 seasons with the Eagles Brian Dawkins has agreed to a 5 year $17.2 Mil contract with the Broncos.

An emotional Dawkins did an interview with Comcast which he had to cut off after less than 2 minutes..click here.

GREAT SCOTT!!!!

2009-02-27T10:26:00.002-05:00

The Jets Blog are reporting that the Jets are oh so close to finalizing a deal with stud LB ( the better and younger of the Ravens Dynamic duo) Bart Scott. The contract is believed to be a five-year deal in the neighborhood of $37.5 million.

I'm not sure how this effects the cap and I will not pretend too.

This would be a a tremendous pickup and a great way to kickoff the Rex Ryan era.

J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS

SORRY FOR VIDEO REMOVALS

2009-02-24T09:22:00.004-05:00

I would first like to thank Abie for his tireless work over here at The SAM I AM SPORTS BLOG.

His constant video updates are nothing short of fabulous.

It pained me to remove some of the videos that were recently posted.

But the videos were simply slowing down peoples modems which forced my hand to do so. Sorry for the inconvenience.

sympAthy fOR the Devil

2009-02-18T09:20:00.008-05:00

As mentioned in previous posts, their is no love loss here for A-rod.
I once was amongst his biggest supporters. Every time he made out in a big spot I was one of the first to say, give the guy a break, Baseball is a team game. Its not his fault that the pitching staff put the team in a situation where they needed him to come through just to save their hides.

But when Good ol' Scottie Boris instructed him to opt out a little over a year ago, I got out of character and just was fed up with the guy. In a way I felt betrayed.

From that day forth, I no longer supported Alex.
It would be foolish to say that without him the Yankees are better.
Without those "numbers" the Yanx and their lineup wouldn't be what it is.

The thing that does stand out however is that because the team is so accustomed to see him prosper in the regular season, its only natural to rely on him in the post season. So when he doesn't come through its catastrophic for the team and its psyche.

One thing that nobody can argue is that A-rod in all interviews just tries too hard and he comes off as a phony.

He seams like a guy that should have all the confidence in the world.
Hes got the looks , hes got the talent, hes got the money and he can get whatever girl he wants.
Its amazing how he is so self conscious of what the rest of the world thinks of him. I guess its just not that simple....

Which brings me to my point. Alex just doesn't seem like he means what he says. Its so easy to get rubbed the wrong way by just listening to him try to be sincere
In the aftermath of A-rods presser from yesterday when he divulged some more information of his PED use over the 3 year span. I think it could have gone better (why did he bring his cousin into the mix?, that will only make things more complicated) but it also could have gone a hell of allot worse.

There will always be questions and grey areas that we wont get satisfactory answers on. But on a whole, he basically got everything out there and I thank G-D for that. Because otherwise we wouldn't hear the end of it from the media.

I took note to the players faces when he turned to them and apologized. They didn't look to forgiving. But you could read into that whichever way you like...

Its a pipe dream to say that this story will get played out and we can turn the page.
When he pays visits to Boston, Texas, Seattle and even comes home to New York, He will always be a sideshow whether we like it or not.

In a way, I feel terrible for the guy. Every morning he wakes up he knows that where ever he goes he is enemy number one and that he is just not liked. And if he is liked, he has the sneaking suspicion, does this person really like me ? or are they kissing up to me for the money?
Its actually a depressing life come to think of it...

METS: OFFSEASON GRADES

2009-02-15T22:43:00.007-05:00

OK... with the offseason now officially over here are my grades for the Mets and Omar Minaya's offseason...

Please be aware that these are not grades on the overall team but grades on the offseason moves..

Starting Lineup: With the same lineup coming back from last year there is no improvement in this area. Relying on a platoon of Daniel Murphy and Fernando Tatis in LF and not finding a replacement for Luis Castillo were two areas of failure. But, picking up the option on Carlos Delgado was a good move in my mind however obvious at it may have seemed. Grade C

Bench: Here is where Omar has signed or acquired many players hoping to find a spark with a few of them. You have Ramon Castro and Marlon Anderson returning with Alex Cora as the new backup 2nd baseman as well as the sitting LF. The other two spots are a toss up between Jeremy Reed, Corry Sullivan, Angel Pagan, Nick Evans, Robinson Cancel, Rob Mackowiak, Bobby Kielty, Ramon Martinez and Andy Green. Take your pick. While Omar does have quantity, it is yet to be proven as quality and the bench still lacks a guy with power or that bats right handed. Grade B-

Starting Rotation: While signing Oly over Lowe might have been a mistake, signing so many back-end starters can and i think will be one of the better off-season moves that Omar has made. Every team goes through injuries and I think the Mets are well prepared. With the competition of Freddy Garcia, Tim Redding, Livan Hernandez, Nelson Figueroa, Casey Fossum, Tony Armas Jr, Jonathan Niese and Bobby Parnell, only one will be the fifth starter with one or two being added to the pen. Grade B

Bullpen: Obviously the area that needed the most improvement and boy did Omar come through. With an injured Billy Wagner out at least until mid-August, Omar signed and then traded for the top two closers on the market (FA and trading). K-Rod being the obvious one, but the trade for Putz was the better of the two in my mind. The Putz trade has to be one of the best trades Omar has ever pulled off. Giving up Heilman, a guy most NYers wanted out, Joe Smith, Endy and a bag of balls for Putz (replaces Heilman), Sean Green (replaces Smith) and Jeremy Reed( replaces Endy) really helps this bullpen out and makes it one of the best in baseball. Grade A+

Overall Grade: B+

SPRING TRAINING: TV SCHEDULE

2009-02-12T13:33:00.007-05:00

Yankees 2009 TV Schedule:

February 26	Tampa Bay Rays	1:15 p.m./YES HD
February 28	Minnesota Twins	1:15 p.m./YES HD
March 3	Team USA	1:15 p.m./YES HD
March 7	Atlanta Braves	1:15 p.m./YES HD
March 10	Cincinnati Reds	7:15 p.m./YES HD
March 14	Houston Astros	1:15 p.m./YES HD
March 17	Pittsburgh Pirates	7:15 p.m./YES HD
March 19	Toronto Blue Jays	7:15 p.m./YES HD
March 24	Boston Red Sox	7:15 p.m./YES HD
March 26	Philadelphia Phillies	1:05 p.m./YES HD
April 3	Chicago Cubs	7:05 p.m./YES HD
April 4	Chicago Cubs	1:05 p.m./YES HD

Mets 2009 TV Schedule:

2/26	Florida Marlins	1:10 PM	SNY
2/27	St. Louis Cardinals	1:10 PM	SNY
3/1	Houston Astros	1:10 PM	CW11
3/3	St. Louis Cardinals	1:10 PM	SNY
3/7	Washington Nationals	1:10 PM	CW11
3/9	Baltimore Orioles	1:10 PM	SNY
3/12	Florida Marlins	7:10 PM	SNY
3/18	Atlanta Braves	1:10 PM	SNY
3/19	Houston Astros	1:10 PM	SNY
3/22	Atlanta Braves	1:10 PM	SNY
3/25	Detroit Tigers	1:10 PM	SNY
3/27	Washington Nationals	7:10 PM	SNY
3/28	Florida Marlins	1:10 PM	CW11
3/30	Baltimore Orioles	7:10 PM	SNY
4/3	Boston Red Sox	6:10 PM	SNY
4/4	Boston Red Sox	1:10 PM	CW11

?????????????

2009-02-12T11:22:00.002-05:00

To see why Mike Pelfrey is wearing this helmet click here.

Top Ten Messages Left on Alex Rodriguez's Answering Machine

2009-02-10T23:46:00.004-05:00

10. "Hey, it's Mark McGwire. Want to get together this week and not talk about the past?"
9. "Joe Torre here -- thanks for helping book sales"
8. "Could you find a steroid that keeps you from choking in the playoffs?"
7. "Are you worried this will taint all the championships you didn't win?"
6. "It's Bernie Madoff. Nice try but I'm still the most hated man in New York"
5. "Michael Phelps here. Got any snacks?"
4. "This is Sammy Sosa. Just pretend you don't speak English"
3. "Michael Phelps again. Did I call you or did you call me?"
2. "Hey, it's Rod Blagojevich -- I'll say you're innocent, if you say I am"
1. "It's Madonna. You got a phone number for Jeter?"
For the video click here.

MLB: 2009 PREDICTIONS

2009-02-10T14:29:00.003-05:00

At Baseball Prospectus Nate Silver calculates how many wins/losses among other stats each team will have in 2009.
He has the Mets winning the division with 93 wins and the Yankees winning the wild card with 97 wins one shy of the Red Sox total..

He also calculates that Jose Reyes will hit .309 with a .374 OBP, 15 HR, 73 RBI and 64 stolen bases, while Johan Santana will go 15–8 with a 3.14 ERA.

Also, Silver projects Luis Castillo will have a .347 OBP in 448 plate appearances, while stealing 17 bases.

METS & YANKEES: 2009 PAYROLL

2009-02-04T22:59:00.007-05:00

Adam Rubin of the NY Daily News does a great job of breaking down the Mets 2009 payroll player-by-player.

According to his estimates the Mets as of now are at $140 Mil (w/ Garcia) and the Luxury Tax hit is after $162 Mil..

To see the entire article click here.

At River Ave. Blues Joseph P. runs through the Yankee 2009 Payroll which he estimates is between $192.35 Mil to $206.35 Mil depending on the signing bonuses of Tex and CC..

To see the entire article click here.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

2009-02-03T15:15:00.007-05:00

VS.

Oliver Perez and Fransisco Rodriguez both signed similar deals with the Mets this offseason..Who is worth more to the Mets?

TWO FEET DOWN??

2009-02-02T08:09:00.000-05:00

IS HIS RIGHT FOOT DOWN?????
and remember he has to have complete control of the ball from the time when he catches it and in this picture it is when he is just receiving the ball...and his right foot is just above the ground.and from here it leaned on his left foot as he tilted out of bounds..

METS: BIG BAT?

2009-02-01T23:03:00.002-05:00

At MetsFever Ed Ryan goes through the reasons why the Mets need a big bat and the big IFS the Mets have with their offense. Just click here.

IS IT JUST ME?

2009-01-28T23:16:00.003-05:00

OK! I get it that I'm a Mets fan and any comments I make about the other team in NY makes me look bad...BUT!!!

As I look at the Yankee bullpen I don't see much...I don't know why more people aren't discussing this..I'll dissect it..

Closer - Mariano Rivera - No questions about his stuff..BUT coming off of shoulder surgery as minor as they say it was, he is still in his upper 30's and any surgery then is a red flag...

Setup Man - Damaso Marte - He was a good lefty specialist in Chicago and Pittsburgh, but it seemed that once he came to NY he was used in a different role and was asked too much of himself..he posted an ERA of 5.40 in NY..I don't see how he is the new setup man...

Setup Man #2 #3... - Brian Bruney - Jose Veres - Edwar Ramirez - Jonathan Albaladejo - All of these pitchers are yet to be proven..YES they have shown some upside but to put a season on the line with a bunch of maybes is just stupid...

All you need to do is look across the street at the Mets last year and you'll see how a bullpen can ruin a season..

Relying on Marte and a bunch of unproven pitchers to get the ball to Mariano who may not be 100% on opening day is very un-yankee like..wheres John Wettland, Mike Stanton, Jeff Nelson..even a Jason Grimsley?

Maybe my memories of last year's Mets bullpen and the acquisitions of K-Rod and Putz has blurred my vision of a bullpen a bit, but as a Yankee fan are you trully happy with the bullpen as it stands now?

PETTITTE IS BACK, FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE

2009-01-27T10:10:00.007-05:00

I will be the first to say that Cashman has done a remarkable job on getting Pettitte for the dollar amount that he did.
Andy will probably do what he always does. Fill the Innings that the Yankees desperately need while winning 10 plus games.
Last season it was well documented that Andy was going out every 5th day in the second half with lingering arm injuries. Which is probably why his season ended as ugly as it did.
All considering, He still ended up with 14 victories.
As a forth Starter, that is more than acceptable.
With last years lack of Andy's spring training work out regimen Due to the steroid fiasco its a strong possibility why he wasn't conditioned for the stretch run of the '08 campaign.
At the end of the day, I am happy Andy will be back in pinstripes.

But, River Ave Blues notes that Mike Ashmore is not sure if this is such a good thing.
An important question is raised . "Yankees fans have to ask themselves…what’s more important, Andy Pettitte getting 30 starts or Hughes/Ian Kennedy/Phil Coke/Alfredo Aceves getting 30?"
then He asks, "And how long before some of these players start getting frustrated with having to repeat levels of the minors?"

These are the questions that Yankees brass had to have been asking themselves throughout the Pettitte negotiations. I hope the correct decision was made. We must play the waiting game to find out the true answers.

1 year/$5.5M (2009)

re-signed by NY Yankees as a free agent 1/26/09
$4.5M in performance bonuses: $0.5M each for 150, 160, 170 IP; $0.75M each for 180, 190, 200, 210 IP
$2M in roster bonuses: $0.1M for 120 days on active 25-man roster; $0.2M for 130 days; $0.25M each for 140, 150 days; $0.4M each for 160, 170, 180 days

SUPERBOWL: PARTY

2009-01-26T18:13:00.009-05:00

Its that time of the year where fans from all over the world sit down for 5 hours and watch some of the best and worst commercials of the year with some NFL game interruptions in between.

Like always there will be a Superbowl Party..

This year it will be hosted by Ralph Hanan in Brooklyn,NY

Party starts at 5pm

Whether your from NY or NJ come...its always fun to have all the boys together.

No cover charge although donations are accepted.

Back by popular demand...TV IN THE BATHROOM..also guaranteed to have more than 3 TVs..

Alcohol and soft drinks will be served along with Buffalo Wings, Cajun Poppers, Freedom Fries, And General Tsao's Chicken - All Home Made!

If your part of the boys & not just a crazy yankees fans mad at sammy for his brian cashman remarks - you know who you are come over and enjoy! Wives welcome too!

For more information or for the address get Ralphs cell number and text him.

TO MY DEFENSE

2009-01-04T21:59:00.007-05:00

After today's bashing that I endured I will try to defend myself to the best of my capabilities.
Although I can not get to everyone of your points I will touch upon the most important and rational opinions.
But before I do I am trying to understand what type of malicious people you all are.
Since I am entitled to my opinion and I thank Peter for giving me the opportunity of relaying it to a larger audience, all of you as well are entitled to your opinion.
You don't have to necessarily have to agree with my opinions nor I do yours.
Being a civil human being I respect yours nonetheless.
Who do you people think you are displaying this animalistic behavior? I will be a better man and not stoop down to your level and start name-calling like a 12 yr old girl.

James:
1) I'm not saying they should have kept Lowell, all I am saying is they either should held onto him or at least get something worth-while.
2) Ted Lilly was a lefty who showed lots of promise. END OF STORY.
3) Kevin Brown's back was an ongoing injury before the Yankees got him. Trading for a high-priced aging pitcher with a bad back is just foolish.
4) You rather Shef over Vlad? What are you smokin'?
5) The Yankees gave up a hell of alot more than the Sox did. Casey Fossum had nowhere near the value of Johnson and Rivera.
6) Pavano's career stat wise was just plain mediocre. If you actually take the time to look at his stats you would notice that his Hits/IP were horendous.
7) Jaret Wright coming off one good year after years of being an experiment is NOT somebody I want on my team. Wright and Pavano were definetly products of the NL.
8) Johan is light years ahead of CC, and Miggy is a hell of alot better hitter than Mark Texeira. You are wrong we do have the prospects! Melky and Kennedy were actually worth something back then. The Mets gave up far less!
9) Finally, this article was not hindsight at all! These were all bad moves at the time.
But thanks for your opinion I really appreciate it.

Ross, I am flattered from your praise. Just because the Yankees didn't have many options for third base it doesn't mean they should have brought back a guy that carries a guy to the postseason only to abandon them once there. A guy like that has his teammates looking at him to carry the load and YES if he doesn't it cripples the team. I agree its not fair to expect the world from one player, but you've got to do better than that. I guarantee you, if you give the same amount of at-bats to any other player in the majors, he puts up better numbers.

Becca, I wasn't permitted the amount of words to write this post that I would have liked. In my original draft I did note his good moves, but I had to edit them out. You along with many others are saying, I don't have my facts straight but you are failing to point out which of my facts are incorrect. Moot point.

Moose and Matsui were good signings and the acquisition of David Justice was a great move.
But, how could you say that the Nady and Marte moves were good ones? Yes, Nady had a decent stretch last season, but we did give up Jose Tabata, who does have attitude problems but not too long ago Baseball America regarded him highly.

You ask how I could bash the Burnett signing, this guy is the most injury-prone guy in the game. It makes zero sense to give him that contract. You're setting yourself up to have the Darrel Rasner's of the world spot start when he goes on the DL.

Kevin S., You don't even deserve a response from me. You obviously are an angry man!

Potch, which of my facts are incorrect?

Barton Bickle, whichever part of the media you run, I wouldn't work for you for free. You apparently are as ignorant as the rest of them. BTW Mike Francesca is an idiot.

I appreciate all of your support and hope to hear from you soon.

PINCH HITTING ON LOHUD

2009-01-04T10:48:00.002-05:00

Today I am featured on Pete Abe's Blog.
I am taking my share of bashing. Check out the comment thread to see what I'm talking about.l
I will be more than happy to answer every one of you on THIS comment thread.
Here is the link.

http://yankees.lhblogs.com/2009/01/04/pinch-hitting-sam-i-am/

METS: APPLE & MANNY

2009-01-01T22:59:00.010-05:00

During the 2007 season the website savetheapple.com was created in order to create a petition to save the home run apple that was in Shea Stadium and put it in the new Citifield. They got 9,133 signatures! Back then their plans were to auction it off to the highest bidder, but now after the petition was created they now say it will be placed on the concourse and some rumors have it back in its place beyond the centerfield fence.

The reason I bring this up is because there is another petition going around for Mets fans to put Manny Ramirez on the team. To sign the petition just click here.

Question of the Day

2009-01-01T17:40:00.003-05:00

JETS: MATCH.COM

2008-12-31T18:28:00.004-05:00

With Bill Cowher now off the list for the NY Jets Head Coach here is the my top list for the job:

1) Bill Parcells - no questions here
2) Steve Spagnuolo - Jets need a defensive minded head coach and he is the guy
3) Jon Gruden - if he is fired he is a guy that gets an immediate turn-around from his teams
4) Mike Shanahan - offensive-minded coach whose offense revolves around the running game..hello Thomas Jones
5) Mike Holmgren - for Favre
6) Steve Mariucci - for Favre

My list revolves around the idea that what has been lacking to the Jets isn't necessarily the players on defense, but the overall scheme of it. If we can get a defensive minded coach like Spagnuolo to setup the defense with a wide of range of blitzes this defense can be one of the better ones in the league.

JETS & GIANTS: 2009 OPPONENTS

2008-12-30T19:25:00.004-05:00

I know its a little early to look at next season but here are the opponents the Jets & Giants will face in 2009:

JETS

Home:
Dolphins - Division
Patriots - Division
Bills - Division
Bengals - Random added game
Titans - AFC South
Jaguars - AFC South
Falcons - NFC South
Panthers - NFC South

Away:
Dolphins - Division
Patriots - Division
Bills - Division
Colts - AFC South
Texans - AFC South
Raiders - Random added game
Saints - NFC South
Buccaneers - NFC South

As you can see the Jets will face the AFC & NFC South this year (combined only had one losing team this year, Jaguars) and their 2 random games are @ Oakland again (for some reason the NFL keeps scheduling these two teams every year) and home to the Bengals again (2nd year in a row).

GIANTS

Home:
Cowboys - Division
Eagles - Division
Redskins - Division
Falcons - NFC South
Panthers - NFC South
Raiders - AFC West
Chargers - AFC West
Cardinals - Random added game

Away:
Cowboys - Division
Eagles - Division
Redskins - Division
Saints - NFC South
Buccaneers - NFC South
Broncos - AFC West
Chiefs - AFC West
Vikings - Random added game

So the Giants play the NFC South (best division in football record-wise) and the AFC West (worst division in football) as well as the @ Vikings and home to the Cardinals (both division winners).

BAD KARMA

2008-12-30T13:47:00.003-05:00

Bad karma is something that I never really believed in.
I was always from the school of thought that if something was supposed to happen it will happen , regardless of your bad karma or not.

Recently, I have changed my views on this topic.
The reason being , is solely because of the Jets most recent collapse.

You see, I'm one of the few Yankee/Jets fans.
So I know my share of sports disappointment's.
Thank Goodness though that I am Not a Mets/Jets fan.
If that were the case I probably would not be here typing this post. I would either be in a mental asylum or rather at the edge of the Verezanno bridge.

Over the past few seasons, Since the Yankees basically have been a non factor. I got the next best thing.
In case you were wondering what that may be , let me tell you .
Every Yankee fan , whether he likes to admit it or not .
Loves to see the New York Mets fail.
Its not because us Yankees fans despise the Mets .
But We love to see the Mets fans suffer in anguish.
I know that sounds kinda sick and twisted.
But what do you expect from us? Mets fans have as much hatred for the Yankees than the love they have for the Mets .
Its only natural for Yankee's fans to have mutual feelings.

So when the Mets Collapsed for the second straight season to their FLORIDA rival , I was down right jubilant.

Not only did I rub it in every single Mets fans that I know faces.
I declared that September should be renamed , "Another Amazin Mets Collapse Month " .
I realized it wasn't catchy enough to get the rest of the world to agree with me so I quit my campaign.

The 2008 NFL season started out so promising for the New York Jets.
With the Acquisitions of a hall of Fame QB in Favre and the rest of the Pro Bowlers . The Jets were primed to make a serious push at the post season. In the NFL , once you're in the Post season, anything can happen.

So you could imagine, Myself along with most of the Jets fan base was reved up for the roller coaster ride that the Jets always provide. Except this season , the general pulse of Jets Nation was "this year is different"

I don't know why, but every freakin year I fool myself and say this will finally be the season.
I seem to forget that this team has broken my heart time and again.
I seem to forget that this is a cursed organization and no matter who the personal on the field or off, that we will never win.

And you know what? I probably will forget these facts at the start of next season as well. But that's the beauty of football and the rest of sports for that matter.

After the Jets handed the Undefeated high and mighty Titans Their first loss of the season and ran there record to 8-3 , you could imagine the sudden SUPER expectations the Jest have suddenly painted themselves.

Newspapers , radio shows, power rankings, you name it . Were all just putting the Jets in the Championship game, some even the Superbowl.

Not only was I buying into the fact that this Jets team is Different . I was already looking to purchase Playoff tickets!

With a relatively soft schedule for the remainder of the season.
You couldn't even dream of them managing to not make it. Every aspect of The Jets , either Offense, defense and even special teams were flat out dominant.

this is where the bad karma comes in.
I rooted so hard for the Mets NOT to make it. I also rooted SO hard for the FLORIDA marlins to give the Mets the final knock out punch. To my dismay, I was granted my wish.

As the Jest were in the final stages of there most recent debacle .
It was only befitting it came by the hands of the hated FLORIDA rival.

To add insult to injury. Once fan favorite Chad Pennington (still is) who was casted off to make way for the big bad Brett Favre.Was the face of the Dolphins. Gave the Jets A Knock Out blow of there own.
This also added a new wrinkle in the Bill Parcels saga.

I truly believe this was a typical case of bad Karma.

JETS: REPLACEMENTS

2008-12-29T13:37:00.007-05:00

Now that Mangini is gone who is the next Head Coach for the Jets?

1)Mike Holmgren - If you want Favre back this is the guy you go after
2)Steve Marriucci - Again appeals to Favre
3)Bill Cowher - Hard-nose coach may be what this team needs
4)Marty Schottenheimer
5) Steve Spagnuolo - Great Defensive Coordinator possibly good Head Coach
6) Brian Schottenheimer - Current Offensive Coordinator - has been interviewed by other teams
7) Bill Parcells - Can opt out of current 4 yr 12 mil contract in January and receive all 12 million (best fit)

If you have an interesting Head Coach for the Jets let me know in the comment section

JETS: MANGENIUS NO MORE!

2008-12-29T10:33:00.006-05:00

Less than 24 hours after being eliminated from playoff contention the Jets fire Head Coach Eric Mangini

PRESS CONFERENCE AUDIO

Rumors are swirling as to what the main reason for this firing was
Some say it was the collapse
Some say it was the Jets listening to Favre and how he was brought into the principal's office to talk about all his bad INTs..so maybe they are trying to keep Favre..
GM Mike Tanenbaum mentioned the fans in the press conference so maybe this has to do with those expensive PSLs
Whatever the reason this team is looking for a new head coach after having winning seasons in 2 of the last 3 years
Whoever is the new head coach he will have a great base with a good offensive line, RB, D-line and a secondary that needs a couple of players
My issue is that the Jets needed a safety and another corner last yr and Tanenbaum did not deliver and it showed
Other firings include Browns Head Coach Romeo Crennel and GM Phil Savage, Lions Head Coach Rod Marinelli
On the other hand the Raiders are expected to keep their coach Tom Cable and the 49ers have signed Mike Singletary to a 4 or 5 yr deal

NFL: PLAYOFF SCHEDULE

2008-12-28T18:51:00.012-05:00

AFC

#6 Ravens @ #3 Dolphins - Sunday 1pm CBS
(only team Miami beat last yr was Baltimore)
#5 Colts @ #4 Chargers- Saturday 8pm NBC

#1 Titans will play lowest seed of the two winners

NFC

#6 Eagles @ #3 Vikings - Sunday 430pm FOX
#5 Falcons @ #4 Cardinals - Saturday 430pm NBC

#1 Giants will play lowest seed of the two winners

Divisional Playoffs
Saturday, Jan. 10
AFC:Lowest Seed at Tennessee, 4:30 p.m., CBS
NFC: Highest Seed at Carolina, 8:15 p.m., FOX

Sunday, Jan. 11
NFC: Lowest Seed at N.Y. Giants, 1 p.m., FOX
AFC: Highest Seed at Pittsburgh, 4:45 p.m., CBS

Conference Championships
Sunday, Jan. 18
NFC: To be determined, 3 p.m., FOX
AFC: To be determined, 6:30 p.m., CBS

Super Bowl
Sunday, Feb. 1 in Tampa, Fla.
AFC vs. NFC, 6 p.m. (NBC)

YANKEES: CONTRACTS

2008-12-27T22:52:00.003-05:00

The following are the details of the new Yankee contracts:

Brian Cashman Senior VP, General Manager
3 years/about $6M (2009-11)

signed extension 9/30/08

C.C. Sabathia lhp
7 years/$161M (2009-15)

signed by NY Yankees as a free agent 12/11/08

$9M signing bonus (paid in 3 installments: 12/31/08, 3/1/09, 7/31/09
09:$14M, 10-15:$23M annually
salaries to be paid semimonthly over all 12 months of year, rather than semimonthly during season
Sabathia may opt of of deal after 2011 season
no-trade protection
perks: suite on road trips

Mark Teixeira 1b
8 years/$180M (2009-16)

signed by NY Yankees as a free agent 12/23/08
$5M signing bonus
09:$20M, 10:$20M, 11-16:$22.5M annually
full no-trade clause

A.J. Burnett rhp
5 years/$82.5M (2009-13)

signed by NY Yankees as a free agent 12/12/08
09-13:$16.5M annually
limited no-trade clause (Burnett may block deals to 10 clubs each year)

Nick Swisher of-1b
5 years/$26.75M (2007-11), plus 2012 club option

signed extension with Oakland 5/11/07, replacing 1 year/$0.4M deal for 2007 signed 3/07
$0.5M signing bonus
07:$0.7M, 08:$3.5M, 09:$5.3M, 10:$6.75M, 11:$9M,
12:$10.25M club option ($1M buyout)
2012 option increases to $12M with top 5 in MVP vote any year 2007-11
limited no-trade clause 2011-12 (may block deals to 6 clubs)

Damaso Marte lhp
3 years/$12M (2009-11), plus 2012 club option

re-signed by Yankees as a free agent 11/12/08
09:$3.75M, 10:$4M, 11:$4M, 12:$4M club option ($0.25M buyout)

If I missed anyone let me know...

JETS AND METS

2008-12-26T15:46:00.002-05:00

I think the image above pretty much describes what a Mets & Jets fan like me feels like every year...
You start off running every year with high hopes just like Charlie Brown did every time Lucy would put the ball down..
Then right at the end you had the high hopes of making the playoffs or going all the way just as Charlie did in kicking the ball...
Then right at the end you collapse and end up with a headache and nothing left to show for it..Like Lucy picking up the ball and Charlie missing the kick in anguish...

RIGHT ON THE MARK

2008-12-23T15:45:00.004-05:00

Buster Olney has reported that the Yankees have come to terms with Mark Teixeira.

Terms and details of the contract have not yet been revealed but reports are stating its around 8 years 180 Million dollars.

Tex will slot nicely into "a desperate for offense Yankee lineup".

Starting pitchers across the league probably have just soiled their pants at the thought of a A-Rod Teixeira 1-2 punch.

Are the Yankees overpaying here? the answer to that is Definitely.

But in my opinion the fact that we kept him off the Sox is worth a boat load of money in its own right.

Mark Teixeira is not a Hall Of Fame type player and he probably will not put up the same offensive numbers Manny will in the next few seasons. With all that being said, I'm still thrilled to have this guy on my team .

Ultimately I feel the Yankees made a great decision here.

Tex, has not been injury prone and is as consistent as they come .

Plus, in his limited post season experience he has put up monster numbers.

Great Signing all around.

I think its safe to say Happy Chanukah/Merry X-mas And happy Quanza to all Yankees fans.

Probably the greatest off season of all time.

I love being a fan of the Evil Empire, now lets get Manny...

NFL: PLAYOFF SCENARIOS

2008-12-21T20:40:00.004-05:00

AFC:
#1 Titans - BYE
#2 Steelers - BYE
#3 East Winner - see below
#4 West Winner - see below
#5 Colts
#6 Wild Card winner - see below

Jets:
Division
1) Win over Miami, Pats Lose to Buffalo
Wild Card
1) Win over Miami, Ravens Lose to Jaguars

Patriots:
Division
1) Win over Bills, Jets win over Phins
Wild Card
1)Win over Bills, Ravens lose to Jaguars, Phins beat Jets

Dolphins:
Division
1) Win over Jets

Ravens:
Wild Card
1) Win over Jaguars

Chargers/Broncos:
Division
1) Win

PS - If Ravens and Pats lose then Ravens get Wild Card and NYJ/Miami play for division.

NFC - UPDATED AFTER SUNDAY & MONDAY NIGHT GAMES

PAYROLL: METS & YANKEES

2008-12-18T23:41:00.006-05:00

METS:

Opening Day payrolls for 25-man roster
(salaries plus pro-rated signing bonuses):

o 2008: $137,793,376
o 2007: $115,231,663
o 2006: $101,084,963
o 2005: $101,305,821
o 2004: $ 96,660,970
o 2003: $117,476,429
o 2002: $ 94,633,593
o 2001: $ 93,674,429
o 2000: $ 79,800,000

YANKEES:

Opening Day payrolls for 25-man roster
(salaries plus pro-rated signing bonuses):

o 2008: $209,081,577
o 2007: $189,639,045
o 2006: $194,663,079
o 2005: $208,306,817
o 2004: $184,193,950
o 2003: $152,749,814
o 2002: $125,928,583
o 2001: $112,287,143
o 2000: $107,588,459

SALARY CAP:

o 2011: $178,000,000
o 2010: $170,000,000
o 2009: $162,000,000
o 2008: $155,000,000
o 2008: $155,000,000
o 2007: $148,000,000

The penalty for going over the salary cap is....
22.5% for first time offenders, 30% for second time and 40% for third time and beyond. All of this money is then divided among small market teams. The tax has been implemented ten times and the Yankees have been taxed five times.

JETS PLAYOFFS??

2008-12-16T15:00:00.006-05:00

WOW! i was just fiddling around with some numbers and came across this:

If the Phins and Pats both lose this week and the Jets win vs SEA
AND the Jets lose to the Phins in the last game of the year they still lose the division!!

here is the rundown - Pats also win their last game then:

a) they will all be tied in record 10-6 (Jets, MIA, NE)
b)All 3 head-to-head are 2-2(all split games vs each other)
c)All 3 teams are 4-2 in division
d)Common Games: Jets are 8-6 with 2 other wins coming vs Cinci and Tenessee, Phins are 10-4 with 2 other losses vs HOU & BAL, and Pats are 10-4 with 2 other losses vs PIT & INDI
e)Pats and Phins left...both teams are tied in conf record 7-5
f) Strength of Victory - MIA +14 NE +48..
PATS WIN DIVISION..

So...the Jets must win their last 2 games of the year in order to win the division and their only likely shot at the wildcard is the Ravens losing their last 2 games (Jets lose 1 game)..

PS JUST WIN!!

PINCH HITTING AT LoHuD

2008-12-15T15:37:00.003-05:00

SAM I AM SPORTS BLOG UPDATE

Hi Everybody,

As I was skimming through the blogs i read every morning and I came across one of my favorites.
The LoHuD Yankees blog which is updated multiple times a day. The Author of this blog isn't your average Tom , Dick, or Harry that has a Sports blog (Such as myself).

The Author of this blog is an established New York Yankee Beat reporter (My dream Job) for the Journal News .

This Blog gets thousands upon thousands site hits a day. to say the least , it is extremely popular.
Pete , posted today that he will need a few pinch hitters in his absence. Naturally , I shoot him an email asking if I could get a shot.
To my disbelief , He told me "your in".
Now, i must think of a topic to write to my national audience.
This is where you guys (and gals)come in .

What should my topic be about?

Q & A: OMAR MINAYA

2008-12-15T09:42:00.005-05:00

Steve Serby of the NY Post does a great job in his interview with Mets GM Omar Minaya..
They talk about what he did immediately when he landed in Vegas and how the JJ Putz deal got done...click here for entire article...

Some excerpts:

Q: The first call you made when you landed in Las Vegas and checked into the Bellagio?

A: The very first call really was to get together that night with Frankie Rodriguez and his agent (Arn Tellem).

Q: Were you optimistic? (about K-ROD)

A: They were at three years and vesting for a fourth. We were at two years vesting for a third.

Q: What was the game plan at that point?

A: We were not sure if Fuentes was going to sign before Rodriguez. We felt being patient was the key here. Fuentes might have been waiting to see what Rodriguez got. They felt Rodriguez was gonna drive the market.

Q: You were supposed to meet with Trevor Hoffman, as well.

A: His plane got delayed. We were never able to meet with him.

Q: K-Rod had one concern.

A: He also wanted to know "Who's the guy that's gonna give me the ball?"

Q: What did you tell him?

A: "Look, we're gonna try to trade for a guy." I didn't want to give him false hope.

Q: But you wouldn't trade your young pitching prospects Jon Niese or Bobby Parnell.

A: So what happened was, he asked me, "Can you get me (outfielder Franklin) Gutierrez and (Aaron) Heilman? I called Mark (Indians GM Mark Shapiro) and asked, "Will you do Gutierrez for (Joe) Smith?" 'cause they like Smith. He said, "Let me think about it."

Q: Do you think you've closed the gap on the Phillies?

A: I don't believe in winning championships on paper; I think we're a better team. I think like last year, it's really who gets the stroke of luck. Unfortunately for us, we haven't had the stroke of luck. They're champions, and we respect that. One of these years, we'll get a stroke of luck.

Q: You're the talk of the town.

A: Being a Met fan, it's a passion. I just want Met fans to know we all care. I say, "Look, if you're afraid of your heart being broken, you cannot be a baseball fan," but you can't be a Met fan if you're afraid of your heart being broken. We overcome tough losses. It's like relationships in life - you overcome them. You bounce back. The fact that it's Christmas in the city, waiting for spring to start for new hope of a better year - they (Mets fans) should feel ownership and the front office will continue to do everything they can to provide them a championship team.

For the entire article click here.

METS: K-ROD CONTRACT DETAILS

2008-12-14T22:29:00.005-05:00

3 years/$37M (2009-11), plus 2012 option

signed by NY Mets as a free agent 12/9/08

$2M signing bonus

2009:$8.5M, 2010:$11.5M, 2011:$11.5M, 2012:$17.5M option ($3.5M buyout)

2012 option becomes guaranteed with:

55 games finished in 2011, and
100 games finished in 2010-11, and
doctors declare Rodriguez healthy after 2011

Rodriguez receives $3.5M termination buyout if 2012 option does not become guaranteed
annual performance bonuses, 2009-11:

$0.15M each for 50, 55 GF; $0.2M for 60 GF

2012 performance bonuses:

$0.3M each for 50, 55 GF; $0.4M for 60 GF
(GF means "Games Finished")

limited no-trade clause allowing Rodriguez to block deals to 10 clubs

WEEK 16: AFC PLAYOFF SCENARIOS

2008-12-14T19:35:00.010-05:00

Okay! here are the Jets playoff scenarios:

Most important thing is to win vs MIA otherwise they lose their edge in division record and in conference record which is vital in any tie-breaker situation!

To win the division:

a) Win both games - simple!

b) lose vs SEA win over MIA; Pats need to lose to ARI or BUF (hold tie-breaker with MIA in head-to-head)

c)win vs SEA lose to MIA; MIA to lose to KC; Pats need to lose to either ARI or BUF; then it goes to best record among the three..Jets 2-2...MIA 2-2, Pats 2-2..then it goes to division record(if Pats lose to BUF then they are out) otherwise all tied at 4-2; then it goes to best record in common games and your on ur own there...

To win the wildcard:

Only team that is realistic is the Ravens (since Colts have 2 game lead on Jets) and if tied with Pats or Phins then division rules apply so see above..

a)As of now they are both tied in Conf record at 7-4..that is first tie-breaker..so if Jets lose to SEA and Ravens lose to JAX then Jets get in..

b) If tied in Conf record then goes to common games in which they have played:
CIN: Jets win; Ravens 2 wins
OAK: Jets lose; Ravens win
TEN: Jets win; Ravens lose
MIA: Jets 2 wins (if they win last game); Ravens win

So as you can see the Dolphin game comes in again, so it is a must win..

c) If common games is tied then it goes to Strength of Victory in which i believe it means points for subtract points against...in that case as of now the Jets are +66 and the Ravens are +112 so we lose there...

I hope I didn't lose you!

IF THE SEASON ENDED TODAY:

Titans - Bye and Home Field throughout playoffs
Steelers - Bye
Ravens @ Jets
Colts @ Broncos

MLB: WINTER MEETINGS

2008-12-11T18:54:00.002-05:00

"And the award for the best GM at the winter meetings goes to.......

TOP 5 MOST OVER USED SAYINGS AT THE WINTER MEETINGS

2008-12-11T17:36:00.002-05:00

#1 "Taking a Flier"

Every time a reporter gathered information that a club is showing interest in a high risk player they used the term "Taking a flier".
For example, The Yankees are taking a flier on AJ Burnnet.

Investopedia Says:When an investor is taking a flier, he or she is knowingly acquiring a high-risk, speculative instrument that may end up with them taking a bath

#2 "Kicking the Tires"

I don't know who or why this expression makes sense. Like "Taking A Flier" This saying apparently means that would like to do a general investigation on a player.

Investopedia Says:Individual investors and fund managers alike partake in tire kicking. Asking your full service broker or financial adviser about a company, calling and visiting a company, and doing general investigative research prior to investing in a stock are all examples of kicking the tires

#3 "Believed to be having Internal discussions" .

To me All this means is some reporter sees 2 GM's at a black jack table and start to speculate that they are discussing some sort of baseball transaction. meanwhile they are probably just discussing the wild night they had the night before.

#4 "stepped up their efforts"

To me, this expression is just used out of desperation by clubs when they are afraid their potential client is losing interest.

#5 "Making progress"

The expression making progress is used when a counter by any party is made. That's all it means...

There are many more Over used Aggravating sayings I must have read over the week.
But these are the ones that got under my skin.

Let me know which sayings annoyed you?

METS: JJ PUTZ INJURY

2008-12-11T11:50:00.007-05:00

Last night at 7pm Omar Minaya had a press conference where he announced the signing of K-Rod...Minaya finished the press conference and immediately his phone rang..he grabbed a pen and paper and started writing names down..as he was doing that Mets executives pushed him into their suite and the negotiations for JJ Putz got serious...

A few hours later at around 1045 pm I went to my computer and refreshed the Metsblog.com page..it said Mets acquire JJ Putz, Sean Green, and Jeremy Reed for Aaron Heilman, Joe Smith Endy Chavez and a bunch of minor leaguers...Quickly i reached for my phone and texted my phonebook about the news...I then ran and told my father the news..then while going back into my room out of excitement i jumped and landed sideways on my right foot...crack..crack...crack....ten minutes later the swelling could be seen from miles away..

I rushed to the hospital via ambulance and took some x-rays...the doctor came in to tell me the news but before she did she asked how it happened so i told her about JJ Putz and the whole thing..she then laughed and told me that she is getting married to a Putz in April and her last name will be Putz...Freaky!..and i know i am a putz too lol....so i fractured a bone in my foot that goes to my pinky toe (Seinfeld!)..and i'll be sidelined for 4 to 6 weeks..

Anyways if there is an award for die hard Mets fan or crazed Mets fan i think i win!

Here are some fun facts on Putz:
a) he had less walks in 06 and 07 combined then K-rod had in any one year of his career
b) while in Michigan University he shared a dorm with Quarterback Tom Brady

Acc to ESPN's Keith Law: “If the Mets get the healthy J.J. Putz - he missed time with rib and elbow injuries in 2008 - they might actually have acquired the best closer of their offseason, one even better than their new closer Francisco Rodriguez.”

Word is also that Johan Santana is pushing the Mets to sign Bobby Abreu...

NOW IM OFF TO THE DOCTOR TO GET MY CAST! (i think the doc's name is LaPorta so he's the guy that got traded for CC last year)

DO YOU CC WHAT I SEE?!?!?!?!

2008-12-10T14:34:00.006-05:00

We all have been waiting for CC to make up his mind .

He did what any sane person should do.To tell you the truth i would do the same!

He waited to see if any team would come close to the Yankee bid , and if they did he knew the Yanx would up the anti. He had no intention of Pitching anywhere but NY. He just wanted the most he could possibly get.

After these long and torturous past few weeks.

Mr Sabathia realized the market is not what he and his agent expected.

So he pounced on the Yankees offer which was never going anywhere to begin with.

I actually am thankful the Mets got K-Rod for so cheap. This definitely sent a message to CC that this Yankee offer would not be trumped.

If such a high profile Free Agent got just half of what he sought after there is no way any other offer would come close!

CC's thought process must have been "this was the best He's going to get".

I also love how all of those sports columnists that said CC had no intention of pitching in NY are Nowhere to be found today.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Whats Next?

STARTING PITCHING:

Word has is the Yankees are closing in on Lowe. You know what ? The Yankees sure can be stupid sometimes.... I want Zero part of this guy.

On the other hand, I would LOVE if the Yanx signed Sheets to a two year deal. But no more than 2 years.

I'm Praying Burnette signs with Atlanta. He simply is not worth the risk. Not for that many years with those dollar figures.

Pettitte and Cashman will probably meet in the middle and settle on a $12 Million dollar deal which is still not worth it but what the hell.

Projected rotation

1 CC (only bec the Money)

2 Wang

3 Sheets/Lowe/Burnette

4 Joba

5 Pettitte

OFFENSE:

Its no secret the Yankees are in need of some offense .

They just lost a ton of production in Giambi and Abreu.

Plus , how Confident can you be that Matsui and Posada will be healthy and that Cano will bounce back.

Why is everybody and there mother counting the Yankees out of the Texiera sweepstakes? Just because Hal/Hank Just broke the bank on the Lard Lefty , it doesn't mean diddly squat.

Hal wants to make a mark and follow in daddy's footsteps his first year behind the wheel. If you remember his remarks last month , he said , and i paraphrase "Everybody is a target".

If the Red Sox Sign Tex I will gag. It just can not happen. PERIOD.

There are several fallback options however.

For example Adam Dunn would be a great fit.

And then there always is that fellow named Manny...

Whispers of Rick Ankielle are being floated around and being linked to the Yankees. I am lukewarm on Ankielle. Not so sure he could maintain his offense.

Once again we have no way of knowing whats going to happen until it happens. We are reduced to the waiting game.

I personally enjoy reading completely false rumors . throughout the day. Its fun to see people make complete fools out of themselves by just trying get any story possible.

Until Next time my friends....

METS: K-ROD

2008-12-09T15:42:00.007-05:00

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, Ted Berg of SNY and Joel Sherman of the NY Post report that the Mets and Fransisco Rodriguez have agreed to a 3 yr 37 million dollar deal with a vesting option for a 4th year at 14 mil (pending on IP in final yr or final 2 years of contract)..Sherman also writes that K-Rod will be in NYC tomorrow for a physical and possibly a press conference..

The Angels will get the Mets first round pick the year (25th overall). but that should be made up if Oly Perez signs elsewhere..

Great pickup by Omar..and i don't think he is even close to finishing..he still has teams interested in Aaron Heilman for a reliever like Houston Street and said after getting his closer he will look to improve the starting rotation...and Sherman says that the Mets will now move on to Derek Lowe..

THE HOT DOGS JUST WENT UP ANOTHER DOLLAR AT CITIFIELD.. lol...

For Joel Sherman's complete column on the signing click here...

UPDATE: Mets sources say deal is awaiting a physica...
Omar Minaya has a press conference at 6pm today..prob on SNY or ESPNEWS...

KEEP IT UP OMAR!

JETS: PLAYOFF SCENARIOS

2008-12-08T20:44:00.016-05:00

With the Jets recent disappointing play in the past 2 games..the following are their playoff scenarios:

Out of the 3 teams noted above the Jets have the easiest schedule since SF is better than BUF and KC may be a bit better than SEA but the west coast trip prob makes up any difference..

For the Jets its simple win out and you win the division..
It may all come down to the last game at the Meadowlands (if both the Jets and Phins win both of their games)..since first division tie-breaker is head-to-head..if Jets win they will have won both games vs the Phins and they would hold the tie-breaker against the Pats if they won out since they split the season series 1-1, it would go to the second division tie-breaker which is division record in which the Jets are 3-1 and the Pats are 3-2...

The longest road to the division title is the Pats who down't hold any tiebreakers amongst the three teams as of now...

The other option is the wildcard:

As of right now this seems unlikely since the Jets are a game behind both of these teams and don't hold any tie breakers against them:
a) Conference record - Jets 4 losses, Ravens 3 losses, Colts 2 losses
So if the Ravens lose a conference game and the Jets win out the will be tied in record and conference record..
b)So, the second wild card tie-breaker is record in common games (min. four) in which they both beat 2 common teams and both lost 1 game in which the other team won...
So, it then goes to margin of victory in which the Jets are currently +62 and the Ravens are +116...so there goes the wild card..

For a complete run down of all the NFL playoff tie-breakers click here..

There are other scenarios but as of now these are the clear ones if you can even call them clear!

PS In 1993 the Jets were 8-5 going into their last 3 games and they lost all three to the Cowboys, Bills and Oilers (Bills went on to play the Cowboys in Superbowl)(Oilers started season 1-4 and finished 12-4, got a bye and then lost to KC in playoffs)

J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS!!!

DAY 1: MLB GM MEETINGS

2008-12-08T17:13:00.006-05:00

Today was day one of the MLB GM meetings in Las Vegas...YAY!...here is the summary:

Mets GM Omar Minaya met with K-Rod and according to reports over a steak dinner offered him a 3yr deal.. one report has a 4th yr option...One story out of Vegas has K-Rod willing to accept a 2 yr deal as the Yankees would be interested as Rivera's contract will be up by then..
Also teams are waiting for the Mets to sign K-rod quickly so that the asking price for Fuentes, Wood, Hoffman etc..drops...
So, if the Mets sign a closer not named K-Rod..then K-Rod will probably only get a 2 maybe 3 yr deal at at most 8 mil per year...so maybe its best for him to agree to a deal sooner than later

Minaya also met with Brian Fuentes at 12:30pm and then Trevor Hoffman shortly after..
Also in Las Vaegs is Jeff Wilpon which might mean that the Mets are looking to get things done instead of waiting 6 weeks after the meetings like they did last yr when they landed Johan Santana..

Another developling story is the Brewers offering CC a 6th yr and acc to one report putting an opt out clause after the 2nd or 3rd year....as he will be 30 at that point and if he really misses the west coast he can opt out..

Amongst all this specualtion there has been one deal that has been confirmed and that is a Gerard Laird to Detroit trade that has a couple of minor leaguers going to Texas..

The Jermaine Dye deal is being knocked down and as of now is a false story....

Also the Phillies are looking into trading for Delmon Young..you know the guy that was traded for Matt Garza, Jason Bartlett and a reliever...so who will this "talent" be traded for next..rumor is it is Phillies top SS prospect Jason Donald....

Also one guy that is getting lost in the mix is John Smoltz..he played through injuries last year before shutting it down..I am very skeptical to see where he goes and for how much...

UPDATE: SI WFAN SNY Jon Heyman is reporting that the Mets have offered K-Rod a 2 yr deal with a 3rd yr option at roughly 12 million per yr

METS : FA 101

2008-12-05T13:28:00.006-05:00

With the obvious need for a closer the Mets might be using an interesting method in approaching a few big ticket closers...

Acc. to ESPN's Buster Olney he says "It is not known exactly what the Mets intend to offer to the top-flight closers, but let’s say they proposed a three-year, $36 million deal to Francisco Rodriguez; a three-year, $30 million offer to Brian Fuentes; and a two-year, $18 million offer to Kerry Wood. And then they could tell all three that the first to bite gets the contract. The Cardinals, Brewers, Indians and other teams are looking for closers, but probably won’t spend at the same level as the Mets."

Is this a good method?

Should teams use this method??

CITIFIELD??????

2008-11-25T19:30:00.007-05:00

With the season less than 5 months away and the Mets eager to open up their new stadium.
Only one question remains.
NO, not who will the closer be.
But, what will the name be???
With the government's recent bailout of CitiGroup .There are sources that say that they will back out of their record setting 20 year 400 million dollar deal. For the naming rights of the stadium as well as a few extra marketing perks.

So the big question is What will the new name of the stadium be? TaxPayerField???
Lets get creative.

Mickey Beyda - TARP (Troubled Assets Recovery Program), Field at Bailout Yards or Hank Paulson Stadium.

Post some of yours in the comments section!

JETS = Jets End Titans Streak!!

2008-11-24T18:51:00.003-05:00

After defeating the previously undefeated Tennessee Titans the Jets are among the top teams in the NFL..BUT this Jets fan is not ready to use the "S" word just yet..

Here is Ed Werder with Leon Washington...

46 REASONS TO TRADE PHILLIP HUGHES

2008-11-19T10:27:00.004-05:00

TRIVIA QUESTION :

What Do All These Players Have in Common?

Edwin Jackson, Greg Miller (both with the Dodgers)

Adam Lowen, Zack Greinke, Gavin Floyd, Jose Contreras,

Adam Wainwright, Jeremy Bonderman (up and Down) Dennis Tankersley,

Jerome Williams (Giants) Jon Rauch (minor league player of the year with the White sox),

Boof Bonser, Chin Hui Tsao with the Rockies was HUGE.

Bobby Bradley with the Pirates, Kurt Ainsworth with the Giants, Bud Smith with the Cardinals.

Brett Myers, (Not nearly as good as advertised.)

Mark Mulder and Bary Zito (only had a couple of good seasons but also not as good as advertised.)

Matt Riley with the Orioles was a Huge prospect , Kip Wells, Wilfredo Rodriguez with Houston.

Tony Armas Jr, Carl Pavano (both were HUGE) prospects Montreal got for Pedro.

Jon Garland, Danys Baez, Jesus Colome. Bruce Chen was the next Tom Glavine.

AJ Burnette Didn't turn out as good as expected, JOHN PATTERSON.

Ryan Bradley with the Yanks, Jeff Weaver , Matt White with the (Devil) Rays.

Kris Benson was hailed as the next Messiah, Matt Clement.

Jaret Wright ("the next Clemens") Braden Looper threw 100 MPH

Prior, Wood, Jesse Foppert, Juan Cruz, Ryan Anderson, Rick Ankiel,
Brad Penny.
And Finally Paul Wilson and Bill Pulsipher.

ANSWER:
The answer to this question is, they were all HUGE pitching prospects over the last decade and NONE of them turned out to be what they were supposed to be.

Sure, some of these guys had moderate success in the majors. But by and large, they all are disappointments.
Every single one of these guys was predicted in Baseball America to be Extremely productive pitchers if not Aces for many years to come.
But, we all know that "Prospects are Suspects".

(These 46 names were compiled by Avi D,

There are more . These are just the poster boys of the list of baseball busts)

After seeing that list of let downs. How can you justify Not Trading Phillip "the Phranchise" Hughes, Ian Patric Kennedy etc...
For relatively young established Major league aces when they are available?(ie, Johan last year, and Peavy this year )

It just doesn't make sense. Even if Hughes lives up to his potential , he never will come close to the hall Of Famer in the making (Johan).
I know that Peavy is an extreme drop off from Santana. But we cant miss out on the same kind of opportunity just because of last years "NON" trade.

There are always prospects who actually do live up to there potential.
Yes every now and then we encounter guys like Lincecum , Cain and Joba. Beckett and Shields Garza and Kershaw, Billingsley ,Volquez ,Danks and Hamels.
(some of these guys are still yet to prove it for more than a few years, but you get my drift)
But to every ten busts there is only one success story.
What I'm trying to say is, Get the ace when you have a chance . Because when it comes to prospects , pitching in particular. Its like NY Lotto's slogan. "Hey Ya Never Know..."

DUSTIN PEDROIA? YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME

2008-11-19T09:27:00.003-05:00

I know automatically before reading this rant all you people are saying to yourselves "hes just a bitter Yankee fan".

But COME ON!!!!!

Dustin Pedroia?!?!?!?

I heard whispers about this late in the regular season but immediately dismissed them. Why would a player who doesn't lead the league in any major categories win the highest honor that MLB has to offer?

Just look at his stats.

AB 653 R 118 H 213 2B 54 3B 2 HR 17 RBI 83 TB322 BB50 SO52 SB20 OBP.376 SLG. 493 AVG.326

Joe Mauer won the batting title edging out the Red Sox's bald little elf by a few points.

Ichiro was tied with Pedroia for most hits .

His amount of doubles are Very misleading and were a product of the monster (I think, I didn't look at the splits)

This one is great. Get this Pedroia was tied with 5 other players ranking 43rd in the AL in Home runs. That means there were 42 other players (or more) that hit more HRs than him. (this is a joke)

Wait, there's more... He was 27th in the league in RBI's.

(He didn't even lead his team in those last two major stats.)

He was tenth in the league in OBP and once again didn't even lead his own team. (Youkilis was 6th in the league.)

Ill finish off with this one. He was 15th in the league in Stolen Bases.

I seriously don't understand why the current system is still in place. These baseball writers are flat out dumb.

For example, (courtesy of RAB) A Milwaukee writer had 3 or 4 1st baseman ahead of Pujols on the ballot. He had a few Brewers ahead of him. Why isn't there a uproar that this popularity contest is still in place is beyond me.

My choice for the AL MVP is Justin Mornoe. His Stats are far and beyond better than This Little mans were. If your of the school of thought that you must be on a winning team. (which in my mind is another incoherent thought, if one of you peers are better , don't punish him because the team around him sucks...but whatever I'll save that for another post.) Mornoe actually led his team to a one game playoff with the Chi Sox.

Also, Mornoe edged out Jeter a few years back with the same kind of stats he put up THIS season. Although I was extremely pissed off that Jeter was robbed of highest honor (which would of put a cherry on top of his already HOF career). I couldn't do anything about it. The opposing argument was, that Mornoe's power numbers were far and beyond Jeter's (which is true). So if that's the case, How in the Hell is it possible that this year Mornoe didn't win again? The scenario is was eerily similar. Except Jeter was better that season than Pedroia was this season. I just don't get it.

(This reminds me of when Ichiro won the ROY then when Matsui was up for the award he loses to Angel Berrowa. WHY may you ask? well, the reason they gave was "Matsui isn't considered a rookie, hes a Japanese vet". WTF, so where was that theory when it came to Ichiro...just pathetic)

Just because he plays in Boston and hes short and scrappy, Doesn't Justify him getting this award.

Does he get more out of his talent than say Cano? The answer to that is HELL YES. But that doesn't warrant this pathetic choice.

This Red Sox Bias has gotten to a point of ignorance and patheticness . End of Story

Cashman for Three........ SWISH

2008-11-14T11:26:00.011-05:00

In a shocking turn of events, Brian Cashman makes a GREAT move!

Not only did cash net Swisher, who is an on base MONSTER who is a 30 HR threat (short porch BABY!) He got him for adequate prospects at best. The fact that he conned the Chi Sox to throw in another minor league prospect in this deal (Not the Teixera I was counting on) Is a joke.

If the Yanx slot Swish into RF and Still sign Big Tex. This will be a dream come true. I don't like the move, I LOVE IT...

Here are another few reasons why I love this guy.

The Loss of A Baseball Prophet

2008-11-12T09:29:00.003-05:00

For all of you who do not know. There is a man who prides himself on being " The Baseball Prophet".
He claims that anything baseball that is uttered from his lips is "straight from G-D's mouth".
The Person I am referring to is an avid reader of this blog and contributes sparingly. You can see his picture in the right hand side with the likes of A-Rod (his former hero) and Cano. As well as Sterling and Sheppard.
His name is Avi Dwek.

The truth is, He "WAS" a heck of a talent.
Although I never wanted to admit it. He always "WAS" correct.
Whether he was predicting which prospect out of high was the real deal or which prospect would be a bust, he always was dead on.

If I were a baseball owner I would hand over the General Manager job of my franchise to him in a heartbeat.
He simply "knew" how to evaluate talent as good if not better than Theo himself .
I know for a fact he would field a championship caliber team with a Billy Bean like budget .
I don't know anybody who is a better at Fantasy Baseball than him.

There comes a point in every man's career where you start to see a drop in his productivity.
Its only natural to slip in performance as you get up there in age.
Just look at the ladder stages of Bernie Williams tenure in pinstripes for example.
He was a shell of his former self and nobody gripped about it simply because it happens to just about everybody
(with the exception of Barry Bonds but we know the truth behind that story )

The drastic fall of Avi however came upon us in the blink of an eye.
Some say it was his Devotion to his job (anybody need a car?),
some say the key to his downfall was his obsession with fantasy baseball. However you slice it, the facts are inevitable. Avi Dwek no longer is "The Baseball Prophet".

Here are a few telltale signs of my reason why.

#1, A few years ago our former "Prophet" lost a monetary bet with another one of our readers Max N.
The wager was that Bobby Abreau will not reach the 100 RBI Plato after his first half of the season slump.
Avi made it a point to publicize this wager to prove his point.
As we all know, El Come Duce reached the century mark on the Yankees final series of the year to cap his blistering second half.

A few minor false predictions were made that I don't feel is important to mention. I skip all the way to this past season and give a few more examples.

#2, Before the season, along with everybody else that knows baseball , Avi was screaming that Yankees should somehow rid themselves (one way or another) of the services of Mike Mussina.
He even was willing to bite the bullet and cut him.
By no stretch of the imagination could anybody not entertain that notion. Especially after his atrocious 2007 campaign.
As it turns out. The Moose turned in one of his best years of his career and established himself as the Yankee stopper and ace. In a year when they least counted on him and needed him most.
Mussina ended up throwing over 200 innings to an E.R.A in the mid 3's and won the elusive 20 games. Something he failed to do through out his entire illustrious career.

Anybody else gets a pass on this one.
But, if your calling yourself "The Baseball Prophet" , you must take the hit.

#3, The final example I will be giving is,
This past season Avi Predicted at the half way point that
"Grady Sizemore WILL NOT hit 30 HRS this season".
Once again, he was wrong. He ended up with 33.

In no way shape or form am I saying Avi no longer knows his stuff. I still would let him be my GM of my franchise.
But I think its time to announce that He no longer is
"The baseball Prophet".

Its a shame we lost such a talent in Avi. It was a once in a lifetime gift which we may never see again and I am happy to have been a part of something special.

AWARDS: CY YOUNG

2008-10-17T14:35:00.004-04:00

As the 2008 season comes to a close we will now go through the awards given out at the end of each year, starting with The Cy Young Award.

American League:
In the AL the top contenders are Cleveland's Cliff Lee, LA's Fransisco Rodriguez and Toronto's Roy Hallady. In my eyes there is no debate here, Cliff Lee gets this hands down... he went 22-3 with a 2.54 era on a .500 team (81-81)...and set a record with over 27% of his teams wins...

National League:
Now this one is open to debate..
There is San Fransisco's Tim Lincecum who went 18-5 with a 2.62 era, his best stat is his 265 K (Led NL) in 227 IP..
Next is Arizona's Brandon Webb who went 22-7 (most wins in NL) with a 3.30 era while striking out 183 in 226 IP..
The final candidate is New York's Johan Santana who went 16-7 with a 2.53 era (led MLB) and 206 K in 234 IP....
Another candidate that may get consideration is Milwaukee's CC Sabathia, who combined went 17-10 with a 2.70 era..

ESPN has what they call the "CY Young Calculator" which you can go to by clicking here.

Who's your guy??

STADIUM AUCTION

2008-10-10T08:28:00.005-04:00

As both Yankee and Shea Stadiums come to a fall, there is still a way to keep a piece of history:

The Mets have an auction on their website which you can go to by clicking here. It includes items from the "S" from the Shea Stadium main sign to a brick for $50 to wall panels to the most random items that have been a part of Shea Stadium.

Once the Yankees start to auction off their parts I will set up their link.

TAKE YOUR PICK!

2008-10-07T13:30:00.004-04:00

The following is a free agent list for this offseason, as the title says "Take your pick" and prove/show how your team will improve this offseason:

Catchers
Brad Ausmus (40)
Paul Bako (37)
Rod Barajas (33) - $2.5MM club option for '09
Josh Bard (31)
Michael Barrett (32)
Henry Blanco (37) - $3MM mutual option for '09
Johnny Estrada (33)
Toby Hall (33) - $2.25MM club option for '09
Jason LaRue (35)
Paul Lo Duca (37)
Miguel Olivo (30) - $2.7MM mutual option for '09
Mike Redmond (38) - $0.95MM club option for '09
Ivan Rodriguez (37)
David Ross (32)
Javier Valentin (33)
Jason Varitek (37)
Gregg Zaun (38)

First basemen
Rich Aurilia (37)
Hank Blalock (28) - $6.2MM club option for '09
Sean Casey (34)
Tony Clark (37)
Carlos Delgado (37) - $12MM club option for '09
Nomar Garciaparra (35)
Jason Giambi (38) - $22MM club option for '09
Eric Hinske (31)
Doug Mientkiewicz (35)
Kevin Millar (37)
Richie Sexson (34)
Mark Teixeira (29)
Daryle Ward (34)

Second basemen
Willie Bloomquist (31)
Jamey Carroll (35) - $2.5MM club option for '09
Craig Counsell (38)
Ray Durham (37)
Damion Easley (39)
David Eckstein (34)
Mark Ellis (32)
Mark Grudzielanek (39)
Jerry Hairston Jr. (33)
Orlando Hudson (31)
Tadahito Iguchi (34)
Jeff Kent (41)
Felipe Lopez (29)
Mark Loretta (37)
Nick Punto (31)

Shortstops
Willie Bloomquist (31)
Orlando Cabrera (34)
Alex Cintron (30)
Alex Cora (33)
Craig Counsell (38)
David Eckstein (34)
Adam Everett (32)
Rafael Furcal (31)
Nomar Garciaparra (35)
Jerry Hairston Jr. (33)
Cesar Izturis (29)
Felipe Lopez (29)
Edgar Renteria (33)
Juan Uribe (30)
Ramon Vazquez (32)
Omar Vizquel (42) - $5.2MM club option for '09

Third basemen
Rich Aurilia (37)
Casey Blake (35)
Hank Blalock (28) - $6.2MM club option for '09
Willie Bloomquist (31)
Aaron Boone (36)
Russell Branyan (33)
Craig Counsell (38)
Joe Crede (31)
Nomar Garciaparra (35)
Mark Loretta (37)
Fernando Tatis (34)
Ramon Vazquez (32)

Left fielders
Moises Alou (42)
Garret Anderson (37) - $14MM club option for '09
Milton Bradley (31)
Emil Brown (34)
Pat Burrell (32)
Carl Crawford (27) - $8.25MM club option for '09
Adam Dunn (29)
Cliff Floyd (36) - $2.75MM club option for '09
Luis Gonzalez (41)
Jerry Hairston Jr. (33)
Raul Ibanez (37)
Gabe Kapler (33)
Kevin Mench (31)
Jason Michaels (33) - $2.6MM club option for '09
Craig Monroe (32)
Greg Norton (36)
Jay Payton (36)
Wily Mo Pena (27) - $5MM club option or $2MM
Manny Ramirez (37)
Juan Rivera (30)
Fernando Tatis (34)

Center fielders
Rocco Baldelli (27)
Willie Bloomquist (31)
Mike Cameron (36) - $10MM club option for '09
Jim Edmonds (39)
Jerry Hairston Jr. (33)
Gabe Kapler (33)
Mark Kotsay (33)
Corey Patterson (29)
Scott Podsednik (33)

Right fielders
Bobby Abreu (35)
Casey Blake (35)
Cliff Floyd (36) - $2.75MM club option for '09
Brian Giles (38) - $9MM club option for '09
Ken Griffey Jr. (39) - $16.5MM club option for '09
Vladimir Guerrero (33) - $15MM club option for '09
Gabe Kapler (33)
Jason Michaels (33) - $2.6MM club option for '09
Fernando Tatis (34)
Brad Wilkerson (32)

DHs
Milton Bradley (31)
Pat Burrell (32)
Adam Dunn (29)
Cliff Floyd (36) - $2.75MM club option for '09
Jason Giambi (38) - $22MM club option for '09
Vladimir Guerrero (33) - $15MM club option for '09
Raul Ibanez (37)
Manny Ramirez (37)
Juan Rivera (30)
Mike Sweeney (35)
Frank Thomas (41)
Jose Vidro (34)

Starting pitchers
Kris Benson (33)
A.J. Burnett (32) - can opt out after '08 season
Paul Byrd (38)
Roger Clemens (46)
Matt Clement (33)
Bartolo Colon (36)
Ryan Dempster (32)
Shawn Estes (36)
Josh Fogg (32)
Freddy Garcia (33)
Jon Garland (29)
Tom Glavine (43)
Mike Hampton (36)
Mark Hendrickson (35)
Livan Hernandez (34)
Orlando Hernandez (43)
Jason Jennings (30)
Randy Johnson (45)
John Lackey (30) - $9MM club option for '09
Jon Lieber (39)
Braden Looper (34)
Rodrigo Lopez (33) - club option for '09
Derek Lowe (36)
Greg Maddux (43)
Pedro Martinez (37)
Sergio Mitre (28)
Jamie Moyer (46)
Mark Mulder (31) - $11MM club option for '09
Mike Mussina (40)
Carl Pavano (33) - $13MM club option for '09
Brad Penny (31) - $8.75MM club option for '09
Odalis Perez (32)
Oliver Perez (27)
Andy Pettitte (37)
Sidney Ponson (32)
Mark Prior (27)
Kenny Rogers (44)
Glendon Rusch (34)
C.C. Sabathia (28)
Curt Schilling (42)
Ben Sheets (30)
John Smoltz (42)
Tim Wakefield (42) - perpetual $4MM club option
Kip Wells (32)
Randy Wolf (32)

Closers
Brian Fuentes (33)
Eric Gagne (33)
Eddie Guardado (38)
Trevor Hoffman (41)
Jason Isringhausen (36)
Brandon Lyon (29)
Francisco Rodriguez (27)
Salomon Torres (37) - $3.75MM club option for '09
Kerry Wood (32)

Middle relievers
Jeremy Affeldt (30)
Luis Ayala (31)
Joe Beimel (32)
Joe Borowski (38)
Doug Brocail (42)
Shawn Chacon (31)
Juan Cruz (30)
Alan Embree (39) - $3MM club option for '09
Scott Eyre (37)
Kyle Farnsworth (33)
Casey Fossum (31)
Keith Foulke (35)
Tom Gordon (41) - $4.5MM club option for '09
LaTroy Hawkins (36)
Mark Hendrickson (35)
Matt Herges (39) - club option for '09
Bob Howry (35)
Jon Lieber (39)
Jason Johnson (35)
Damaso Marte (34) - $6MM club option for '09
Trever Miller (36) - $2MM club option for '09
Guillermo Mota (35)
Will Ohman (31)
Darren Oliver (38)
Chan Ho Park (36)
Horacio Ramirez (29)
Al Reyes (38)
Dennys Reyes (32)
Arthur Rhodes (39)
Juan Rincon (30)
Glendon Rusch (34)
Rudy Seanez (40)
Brian Shouse (40)
Russ Springer (40)
Mike Timlin (43)
Ron Villone (39)
David Weathers (39)
Kip Wells (32)
Matt Wise (33)
Jamey Wright (34)

IS THERE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL?

2008-10-03T14:57:00.014-04:00

After collapsing two years in a row the Mets thought they had the manager they wanted in Jerry Manuel. Omar Minaya in his conference call said that Jerry Manuel will be the manager for the Mets in 2009 and that they are "in talks" with his agent. However, as many people are reporting talks have hit a stall as the 2 yr near 2 mil (a mil per yr) with an option for a third yr is not enough for this "gangsta". With the Mets already owing Willie Randolph 2.5 mil in 2009 it doesnt seem like Jerry will get any more money.

So, what is the Mets next move. Do they have any other options? Well according to an email sent to ESPN's Andrew Marchand from Bobby Valentine, it says, "I am working for a team that needs me and wants me as their man," Valentine replied. "I love it here, but I am an American and love great challenges. I was in a Met uniform in the '70s, '80s, '90s, 2000, and would love to be there in the next decade."

As for Valentine, he could be too expensive for the Mets. He reportedly is making $4 million annually managing in Japan, a salary that makes him the second highest-paid manager in professional baseball, behind the Dodgers' Joe Torre.

A poll done today on Metsblog.com asked fans who they would rather have as their manager. Over 3,600 votes came in and the answer...Bobby V with 57% (2,067 votes) and Jerry Manuel with 41% (1,475 votes) with 3% saying neither...

So, the ball is in Fred Wilpon's and Omar's court. We all know what Bobby V did with the Mets team from 96'-02'. They vastly overachieved, making it to the World Series in 2000, in a yr when they only had one guy with over 100 rbis (Piazza), one guy with over 100 runs (Alfonzo), noone with double-digits in stolen bases and lets not forget Armando Benitez..Do you believe he can do the same with a team that has 3 guys over 110 rbis, 4 guys over 95 runs and few speedsters...I do!

It would do me a great pleasure to tell one radio host...Mike Francesca..to shut his mouth about how the Mets should trade their "core" and how Ryan Church hates NY acc. to his "source"..when 3 articles said that he loved it in NY..someone is looking for ratings after losing his co-star/STAR!..it's amazing to me how even the biggest Yankee fans are now sounding like Mets fans did in the 90's...

Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself and this is all just a news page article...but if Omar can get this done imagine the scene at Citifield next yr..wow...This just might be the change the Mets need. Now, let's see if Omar can deliver and earn that new contract he just signed while the ink is still wet..

10/03/08 4:42PM - ACCORDING TO KEN ROSENTHAL AT FOXSPORTS & JON HEYMAN AT SI - THE METS AND JERRY MANUEL HAVE AGREED TO A 2 YEAR CONTRACT WITH A CLUB OPTION FOR A THIRD YEAR...

THE METS COLLAPSE...AGAIN

2008-09-28T22:23:00.012-04:00

After last years collapse of 7 up with 17 to go the Mets manage to almost top it with a collapse of 3 1/2 up with 17 to go..

After going through both of them the only thing I can say is that i would never wish this on anyone else(except maybe the Phillies)...

This was a waste of a year in my books and coupled with last year is wasting all of the talent that both 07 and 08 brought us..

You can rip them all you want but i don't think i need Elias to tell me that it's the first time a team that have 4 guys with at least 160 hits and 32 doubles and 3 guys with at least 25 hr 110 rbi to fail to make the postseason..its unbelievable to me..and just magnifies the bullpen woes that this team had..even back in the 90's i don't think that they could have predicted how vital a bullpen is to a team..maybe it was one fifth of a team now it is prob greater than a third of a team..

This team had the hitting even had the starting pitching and comparing this team to any of the past Mets teams arguably you could say this was one of the best right next to the 86' team(bullpens werent a big thing then)..

As much as my father kept telling me before hand that they would blow it..and even when they went down 4-2 he said "they'll get the tie run on base or to the plate and hit it to the wall just to tease you and get your hopes up"...him being a Mets fan from their creation..and then afterwards saying i told you so..I still know that i will be back at the new ballpark Citifield on Opening Day sitting and looking forward to a new year..as Tug Mcgraw said "Ya Gotta Believe"...call me a sucker or maybe just a Mets fan..

Ranking the past few years in disappointment i would have to go in succession of year..i.e. #1 2006 #2 2007 and #3 2008...

Looking to the future there is hope..hope that once Shea is demolished and the new Citifield is opened..October baseball will be restored in Flushing..

It's going to be a difficult offseason in Queens, and with some tough questions:
Do you rip apart this team..trade a Carlos Beltran or Jose Reyes?
Is David Wright the face of the franchise/leader of the club?
How can you sure up the Bullpen?
Who will play 2nd base and Left field next year?
Etc...

I don't know how Omar got a 4 year extension based on the past 4 years i guess it was put togther by the same guy who offered Castillo 4 years..and we'll see if Omar can earn his money this offseason...

There are many questions that need to be answered..my answer to all of this..is not to create more questions by solving one of them..Meaning don't trade a Carlos Beltran just to change the team if it means wondering who will play centerfield and who's gonna give us 25+ homers and 100+ rbi..

Anyways this is my immediate reaction to all of this...
Maybe in a few days when my emotions clear a bit..and Shea is put to rest..we can all get over this collapse..

I just hope that the final collapse the Mets and their fans have to witness is the collapse of Shea Stadium.

ITS THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN

2008-09-26T14:52:00.002-04:00

Being a Yankee fan now really sucks. for the first time in more than a decade I don't get to see my team battle for a world title. While St Joe Torre will try and continue to rub it in to the Steinbrenners over in L.A.

But The New York Mets are doing a good job cushioning the blow by attempting to somehow squander away a playoff berth for the second consecutive year.
To tell you the truth, I couldn't be happier.
With the Marlins playing with a vengeance,this series spells a recipe for disaster for the Metropolitan's.

We only can wait and see at this point...

ONLY THE CAPTAIN CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN

2008-09-17T16:20:00.002-04:00

In a season that there pretty much was nothing to cheer about. Where the high and mighty Yankees suddenly hit rock bottom.

A Packed house at the stadium, day in and day out was trying to find something to root for in a positive manner.
In a way it would only seem befitting to send off this history packed cathedral in the Bronx.

In the past, whenever the Yankees needed a big hit , Derek was always there to save the day.
On those nights all the Jeter basher's who don't understand the clutch factor and who just didn't think his stats were up to par .On those nights were flat out lost for words.
(In my opinion the rise of fantasy sports lessened the value of the intangible type players.)

A few weeks ago when Yankee Stadiums final home stand was looming closer and closer. All was lost. The players quit and in effect the fans quit. It took all the luster out of what was supposed to be a momentous and grandeur time.

New York was searching for even a tidbit of positivity. With the Mets in the midst of pulling off an almost identical performance of last years team really wasn't helping this city to say the least.

This is where the Captain comes up clutch . Not only to save his organization from being the laughing stock of the AL East . But to save the face of Yankee Stadium.
At a time when an entire fan base didn't know where to turn, Jeter provided guidance.

Call it timing, call it luck.
But Jeter Breaking The Iron Horses hit mark at the stadium at the time he did is just flat out clutch in more reasons you could imagine.

Hell, Isnt that what Jeter has been doing his whole career? Why should we expect differently.

2008 PLAYOFF SCHEDULE AND 2009 TENTATIVE SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED!

2008-09-17T05:55:00.000-04:00

The following is the 2008 MLB PLAYOFF SCHEDULE:

NLDS

SERIES A & B

GAME 1: WED OCT 1ST

GAME 2: THURS OCT 2ND

GAME 3: SATURDAY OCT 4TH

GAME 4: SUNDAY OCT 5TH

GAME 5: TUESDAY OCT 7TH

ALDS

SERIES A & B

GAME 1: THURSDAY OCT 2ND/WEDNESDAY OCT 1ST

GAME 2: FRIDAY OCT 3RD

GAME 3: SUNDAY OCT 5TH

GAME 4: MONDAY OCT 6TH

GAME 5: WEDNESDAY OCT 8TH

Looking at the 2009 schedules you see a few interesting things:

1) The Mets will open Citifield on April 13th vs the Padres, the Yankees will open the new Yankee Stadium on April 16th vs the Indians

2) The Mets will not play the Yankees in May instead they will play the Red Sox.However they will play the Yankees 2 out of 3 weekends in June on June 12-14 and June 26-28.

3)The Yankees will play a total of 6 Inter-league series 2 vs Mets and 1 for each of PHI, ATL,FLA,WSH. Interleague is getting out of hand..Most or the rest of teams play at most 5 series.

4) THE SEASON ENDS ON OCTOBER 4TH!! A new record..

WHO EVER SAID IT AINT EASY BEING GREEN?

2008-09-09T08:44:00.002-04:00

As the Yankee season is all but done in a what turned out to be a very embarrassing farewell tour of the house that Ruth built and now the Steinbrenners are tearing down. I cant help myself but turning my attention solely to the only sports franchise right now that is giving me something to be positive about. For all of you who don't know who I'm talking about , I'll be more than happy to tell you. J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS !!!!!!!.

The new look NY Jets have suddenly catapulted their way as Superbowl contenders and NO I'm not getting ahead of myself here. Being a Jets fan my entire life, I have been used to failure, have been used to bad signings bad draft picks and have always been frustrated at the "Non Moves" that should be made.

But for whatever reason being. All that has changed this past off season and I couldn't have been more thrilled. But being the Passionate fan that I am, I was skeptical and I seriously, can you blame me?!?!?! Ive never seen this team win in my entire life time.

Even going into week one going up against the lowly 1-15 Dolphins. I was expecting the worst (praying for the best). As the game started and we lost the coin toss I said to a friend of mine "seasons over" but to my dismay the defense looked solid. granted we were facing Miami , but I liked what I saw.
Brett Favres 56 yard TD throw to Cotch was simply a thing of beauty. That's when suddenly it all hit me, Holy crap we got Brett Effen Favre on our team we really have a chance to be a contender.
The most important acquisitions of the off season The newly revamped O-line was better than advertised. Not only did Faneca look every penny worth his contract, He transformed The "Brick" physically and mentally into a legitimate looking 4th overall pick instead of the bust in which i thought he was.

As we all know, a good O-line = a good running game which in effect makes Thomas Jones into an elite back.

So lets simplify things, we have a great QB a solid running game, suddenly the Jets have a Damn good offense.

This leaves us to the million dollar question, Is the Jets Defense good enough to make them a factor in the AFC this year? well, aside for those 2 minutes of Chad looking like Montana, I would say yes. When was the last time you could remember a Jets defense holding the opposition to less than 60 yards rushing? In my recent memory, NEVER.
The corners were solid all game , highlighted by Revis's game saving INT and the D-line was applying heavy pressure which was sparked by the performances Bryan Thomas Calvin Pace and Shaun Ellis.

If this is all that happened in week one , I truly would have been satisfied.

But the Highlight of my weekend (call me sick) was the game break that CBS showed when Brady went down.
I
don't want to hear all you politically correct people yelling at me that I'm a monster for being happy somebody got hurt. To all those people I say " Screw You ". If your a true fan of sports and a certain somebody especially the face of the enemy themselves go's down, your thrilled .

When I heard Beckett or Schilling got hurt, I had the same feeling.
Why? Well because when people that make you upset can no longer do that , there is nothing else but jubilant feelings to be felt. Its only natural, If you don't, your lying to yourself.

Its nothing personal, For all I know Brady is a great guy. He's probably a sweet heart. But on the field, I hate the man with a passion.

For the past 7 years all I see is this guy beating us and making me frustrated. Its time for My team to shine.
I agree that its nicer to beat the Pats with the Reigning MVP, but when your a Jets fan, you simply take whats given to you and be happy. Even if its not the same, I'm at he point where I say to myself "who gives a damn".

For all I know Cassel is a pretty good QB, Even though he hasn't started a game since High school. But I know one thing, Cassel is no Tom Brady.
With the Pats losing Brady and every big AFC threat losing, This division is wide open and the possibilities are endless.

SIGNS OF LIFE? OR FALSE HOPE?

2008-08-25T15:01:00.003-04:00

Just 5 days after I officially threw in the towel, the Yankees go on a mini hot streak and find themselves just 5 games out from the wild card with only Boston and Minnesota ahead of them.

I would like to reiterate the point that I still feel the same way about this team. There is no reason should believe in a team that cant muster up any sort of consistency. Although this team is doing a great job hanging around in the playoff hunt, they haven't shown the drive and motivation for an extended period of time to make me think otherwise .
Although I agree that my tune could change drastically after taking 2 out of three (or dare I say sweep) from the arch rival Red Sox which very well could be a possibility especially with Drew and Lowell sidelined and Manny no longer a headache Mussina and the rest of the Yankee pitching staff has to deal with. And trust me , I hope it does. I hope I will be singing the the tune of victory instead of the songs of sorrow.

This series is a classic in the making. It already has set itself up to be a historic series in baseball lure. This will be the last time the Yankees host the Sawx at Yankee stadium. It would only be befitting if the Yanx would Tear them another one.... Amen to that

THROWING IN THE TOWEL

2008-08-20T16:14:00.005-04:00

We are approaching the end of August. Usually this time of year , you basically have an idea of what your ball club is all about.
After watching this disgraceful offense day in and day out, I no longer believe The Yanx have what it takes to even contend For the title.
Throughout the season up until last week. I kept on saying to myself, " don't worry, the Yankees will start to hit". How could you blame me or anybody that said that. There is an all star at just about every position. But that's not the case. The Yankees as the Ghost has previously said "flat out suck" .
The comical part about it is that what has been a weakness in recent years is actually one of their strengths. The pitching staff, which has been decimated with injuries has actually been quite good. If only we could score some runs Damn it.

I know its foolish to throw in the towel with over a month of baseball to play, but I just don't feel we have what it takes.

Now that I officially wrote them off, watch them go on a ten game winning streak. Ill be glad to eat my words and admit I was wrong. But I honestly don't see that happening.

All I have to say is J-E-T-S - JETS JETS JETS

Were just a few weeks away from the Football season. I already could envision Favre hoisting the Lambardy.......(I can dream cant I ?)

Yankees Suck

2008-08-13T16:45:00.003-04:00

Flat out suck. I am disgraced to be a Yankee fan every single time Joe Girardi decides to use his stupid 1st base platoon. I am befuddled time and again when Girardi keeps his relievers in the game for too long, well after any rational manager (including Torre!) would have pulled them out. His inability to pull relievers from a game after they dig themselves into suicidal holes cost us at least 2-3 games over the past few weeks.

Question: How much does an 8 game winning streak help a team if right after that 8-0 clip they drop 12 of 18? NONE. The problem facing this team is (something hardly anyone predicted in the offseason:) THEIR INCONSISTENT OFFENSE. Yes, anyone could make excuses that injuries plaugued our team this season and blah blah blah... But the truth of the matter? The Yankees cut the AL East leading Rays' stranglehold on the division to a mere 3 games at one point; and while Rasner, Ponson, and Giese are not exactly Wang, Joba, and Hughes the aforementioned 3some of replacements have not been the root of the Yankees' woes nor the source of their loosing streak.

Molina= sucks, Cano= sucks, Melky= sucks, Jeter= sucks (compared to what he should be doing), Giambi & Abreue= inconsistantly suck, A-rod= sucks when it counts, Damon= sick but sucks at staying healthy....

I can vent forever on the sad state of the yankees, but my doctor says it isn't healthy. I will close with one last note.
Dear Mr. Hank a.k.a. "Mini Boss", You were quoted making the following quotes yesterday:
"I think it's very simple, we've been devastated by injuries. No team I've ever seen in baseball has been decimated like this. It would kill any team"
"Imagine the Red Sox without [Josh] Beckett and [Jon] Lester. Pitching is 70 percent of the game. Wang won 19 games two straight years. Chamberlain became the most dominating pitcher in baseball. You can't lose two guys like that."
"It's not making excuses. It's reality. That's part of the game. That's clearly our problem,"
"We're going to win it next year" "If we need to add a top veteran pitcher, we'll do that. We'll do whatever we need to do. Next year we'll be extremely dangerous."
"They're trying hard to win. There's only so much you can do. They're not supermen."

Yes, your team was beset by more injuries than you can count on my 11 fingers (just kidding I have 10). Yes, pitching is the most important aspect of the game. Yes, injuries are a part of the game that no one can control. Yes, we will win it next year; and no, they are not supermen.

HOWEVER despite all the very valid points you made, you have a few flaws in your thinking that are a byproduct of trying to rationalize the disappointment that is 2008.
1) The lineup has been COMPLETLY ANEMIC for most of the season.
2) The replacements for the pitchers who went down would have a shitload of wins if they could simply get some run support.
3) The injuries to position players (Posada and Matsui) that you might want use as excuses for the lack of offensive production from the lineup have been offset by the MAJOR AQUISITIONS that your GM made at the deadline, and one can even argue that he replaced the fallen soldiers with better hitters that were penciled into the lineup at the start of the season. So do me a favor and stop crying about injuries cause freakin Nady is a direct child of god with his play for the yankees.
4)Winning next year is not good enough, I want 27/08!!!
5)No team is made of freakin supermen BUT WHEN YOU'RE PAYING YOUR LINEUP ALONE $137 MILLION DOLLARS YOU BETTER EXPECT MORE OUT OF THEM THEN 11TH IN THE LEAGUE IN RUNS SCORED/GAME!!!!
How about picking up a veteran BAT in the off-season before worrying about a rotation that will have Wang, Joba, Hughes and possibly pettite and moose back next year.

Due to concerns for my health I must conclude here, but let me say that this 6-12 slump they are in SUCKS, their 14-12 record after the break SUCKS, the fact they lost a series to the Oriels SUCKS, the pitching SUCKS, but the hitting SUCKS EVEN MORE.

-The pissed off, stressed out, balding, fed up "Ghost" of SAMIAM

MAKE IT OR BRAKE IT FOR JOBA AND THE YANX

2008-08-06T10:36:00.002-04:00

I hate to use one of the most overused cliche of the century as the title of the post but its true.
The New York Yankees 2008 campaign is hanging in the balance this week. while they are only two and a half games back from a playoff spot with 50 some odd games left remaining you could rationally say their in great shape. Every year the Yankees stage some sort of major push and why should this year be any different?
The answer to that is simple. This season an already shallow rotation is in Limbo of losing by far its greatest weapon. Joba Chamberlain currently is getting a "second opinion" by none other than Dr James Andrews. If the Doc gives any sort of negative opinion you could call it a season for young Mr Chamberlain.
The Yankees will never recover from losing two aces in one season (Wang and Joba) unless Carl Pavano and Phil Hughes come riding in on their White horses to save the day. We all know Carl will probably hurt himself getting on the horse.( so we could count that theory out.)
In addition to all this going on the Yankees just started a crucial 10 game road trip out on the wrong foot going o and 2 in heart breaking fashion. We can ill afford to lose any more ground and the starters better start going deeper than 5 cause our over taxed bullpen is starting to get exposed.
Lets right this ship and pray all goes well for Joba. If all doesn't go well and Joba is hurt you could kiss this season goodbye.

Bye Bye Birdie

2008-07-31T11:37:00.003-04:00

In another stunning move, Brian "the dealer" Cashman raped another team in a late night trade yesterday. Somehow he convinced the Houston Astros to take Latroy "The Hawk whose really more like a pigeon" Hawkins off our back s and even got a minor leaguer in return!

Even if Matt Cusik never reaches High-A ball this trade will be considered a fleecing. The fact that the Cashmoney was able to to get a living, breathing, moving person should put him in the running for some sort of Nobel Prize. Hell I woulda traded him for 10 bats if someone offered them...

There are about 5 more hours until the trade deadline, I'm looking forward to seeing what else we could put together.

-The Ghost of SAMIAM

Another Great Trade

2008-07-30T17:45:00.001-04:00

The reason there was no post from the ghost over the recent trade of tabata+throw-ins for damaso marté and xavier nady was 2 fold. 1: I was busy haunting the dreams of Met fans for not being able to get Manny. 2: the biggest idiot of all time (Steve Phillips) who singly handed crushed the mets franchise proclaimed "the yankees need bulpen help and can not be contenders without added arms". The fact that the Yankees then got Marté really upset me because any normal person with common sense knew the bullpen was fine, and because nothing good will ever come from listening to a belligerent fool such as Phillips.

I was hoping deep inside of my ghost body that Ca$hman added to a point of strength (the bullpen) in order to help spin off a relief arm while their stocks were high for another piece (catcher or SP) to fill out our club. TODAY IS THE DAY CA$HMAN MADE THAT KEY ADDITIONAL MOVE. Cashman has just taken advantage of 2 hot months of Kyle Freakin Farnsworth and traded him back to the Tigers for Ivan Pudge Rodriguez.

While obviously he is not the same pudge from 10 yrs ago, this acquisition takes Molina's bat (which is worse than McLovin's ;) ;) ) out of the lineup and gives us another legit righthanded hitter to balance out the lineup. While only 2 weeks ago the bottom half of the order read Cano, Melky, Molina, Gardner/Christian (all basically automatic outs at the time), it now looks like Cano, Nady, Pudge, Melky (only 1 automatic out).

Is this tade a direct result of being held to practically 4 runs over almost 3 full games (the past 3 losses with exception to last night loss to the O's where we finally scored a few runs late in the game)? I would assume so... Am I happy? Hell yes! This organization is looking to do everything in its power to make a serious and deep run into and through the playoffs. The only place of concern left on this team is the 4th & 5th starters positions, and if cash doesn't make a move to shore it up, that only means he has faith in IPK/Aceves/Hughes/Wang to come back and take over their roster spots. Lemme tell ya, after the past week of trades, I trust this guy.

Everyone, please feel free to post your opinions. One more thought: is cash making these moves to save his job???-The Ghost of samiam

TIME TO MAKE UP SOME GROUND

2008-07-25T10:54:00.002-04:00

Today we approach game one of yet another epic Yankee Red Sox series in a match-up for the ages. Josh Beckett vs the "Phenom" Joba Chamberlain.
This three game set could do wonders for the hobbled Bronx Bombers. Coming of a six game win streak, is just the perfect way to enter this three game set of such high magnitude.
The Bosox got lucky by the timing of Poppy's return. Especially now that Manny was just bit by the injury bug himself. (or was he ?!?!?!)
This series to me is a litmus test for the Yankee bullpen. A bullpen which is firing on all cylinders (including Farnsworth). If they impress against this lineup on such a high stage, then bullpen help via the trade market is just not necessary. If they falter, then bring on Fuentes and co...
I'm very curious to see how this team responds on a whole. In my opinion, this series is really a good way to see if we are October bound. Cm-on boys, lets tear them another one!

Holy Cano! It's 5 in a row!

2008-07-23T09:56:00.002-04:00

Last night I came to SAMIAM in a dream and we had a lengthy discussion. Of the many topics we spoke about (the ghost being overrated in softball, met fan's ignorance, if their same ignorance led to bliss etc.), the hilight of the conversation was how pleasurable it is to watch a Yankee game when they score and win (which has been happening a lot more often as of the ASB).

I dare to say this a game or two too early but Yankees bats have awoken and the bronx bombers are back (even w/o posada and matsui). The starting pitching has been great with exception to the 4th and 5th starters who have somehow managed to get out of trouble, eat enough innings, and help the team pick up some wins (what more can you ask for?). The relief has been nothing short of stellar! When the Yanks have a lead, the game is essentially over after the 6th inning as Veras, FarnsWORTH (I never thought i would take out the worthless from his name), edwar, and mo rivera just don't give up runs anymore.

Life is good as a Yankee fan... For all the Mets fans that read the blog, all I can say is I really thought with Billy Wagner down you guys would be able to win some close, tough, in-division games yet the Mets still manage to blow a lead in the 9th last night and put a smile on my face.

-El Fantasma (ghost) de SAMIAM

SAM I AM SPORTS BLOG UPDATE

2008-07-21T14:40:00.002-04:00

Let me take this opportunity to welcome myself back to the blog.......
OK, now that I got that out of the way, I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to this character who calls himself -The Ghost.
I think your doing a fine job and I hope the fan base feels the same way. I will try ( if time permits me to do so) to periodically drop in a post every now and then. Its good to be back.

-SAM I AM

And the second half begins...

2008-07-18T11:21:00.003-04:00

Tonight the yankees start the 2nd half of the 2008 missing 2 starting OF's and 3 SP's, including the ace of the team, from the projected opening day lineup. Practically every single starter went down for a period of time in the first half with the exception of Cano (who maybe needed the time off the most to find his old self), Pettite, Moose and Abreu. Miraculously the Yankees find themselves just 6 games out of 1st place in the division. If they turn it up the season can easily be ours, and with the way the pitching and bullpen performed in the first half all we need is to score a few runs every now and then to win. Lets be clear, an avg run of 5 in a row and then fall back to mediocrity isn't gonna cut it...We need to start scorching like the weather thats hitting us in NY now, we need to scorch like dare I say, give me a minute im having a hard time typing this as my finger are reluctant to hit the keys, the mets...gulp! I was going to throw myself off the blog for that, but I will make up for it by saying the mets are paying Johan $137 million for an 8-7 record at the break...Here's hoping the yankees can put something together against the second toughest remaining schedule for the second half of the season (although most of those tough teams we are fighting with in the Wild Card and division race so they are high impact games)

-The ghost

I can't help dreaming about next season in the new stadium

2008-07-16T14:38:00.004-04:00

Although I was only able to catch the first 3 innings of last nights allstar game because I was catching a flight from DFW to EWR, I had a few epiphanies while sitting in the airport sportsbar that I feel must be shared:
1. Great pitching really does shut down great hitting

2. The Yankees must sign Sheets and/or Sabathia, whichever one the Brewers can not afford to sign.

3. Top priority number 2 of the off-season should be signing Texeira (behind signing the fallen Brewers).

Evident by last night's all-star game, there is no greater asset to a team then great pitching; after all great pitching wins championships right? In 30 total innings pitched, the all-star pitchers held the hitters to 6 earned runs, and 1 of those six runs were given up by billy wagner who is awful in situations that are actually important! By following point #2 in the off-season, the yankees would have a rotation that would sport: Wang and his strike-out badass self, Ben Sheets who made AL hitters look stupid last night, Joba the ace in training, Pettite the reliable vet and TRUE YANKEE, and Philip J. Hughes the prospect who inexplicably has lost favour in the eyes of many yankee fans dispite being just 21 and being ranked THE TOP PITCHING PROSPECT IN ALL OF BASEBALL (I didn't count matsuzaka as a prospect that year) when he was just 20 years of age and the last year he was eligible to be considered a prospect. To all of you downers on Phil Hughes I say go hump a tree this guy is the real deal just give him a little time! That rotation has the ability to win 85 games just between the starters!!! Having Phillip J. Hughes as your 5th starter??? not normal.

Second objective of the utmost priority in the off-season is to sign Mark Texeira. That gives the Yanks another masher from the right side, an all-star studded infield, and a class act that is a switch hitter. This platoon garbage @ 1B has gone on long enough (almost every year Giambi has been with the team) and must come to an end. This will let Matsui be the everyday DH and we can have some stability in the lineup for a welcomed change. I must add again how important it is to having him able to bat righty so its not just A-rod, Posada, and Jeter playing when opponents throw out a LHP.

After signing one or both of Milwaukee's aces, we won't really need most of the plethora of SP prospect that we have just dwelling in the minors. Take a bunch of decent-above avg arms (Listed in order of who I would like to jettison: Kennedy, Marquez, Horne, McCutchen, McAllister, Brackman, Betances) and trade it in for an above avg outfield prospect THAT CAN ACTUALLY HIT A BASEBALL. We already have 5 amazing starters in our hypothetical rotation so we can afford to give up a few arms for the cause to add QUALITY youth to the lineup. Who to trade for? Honestly, I don't know other teams prospects but I know its much harder to come by quality pitchers then hitters so it shouldn't be so hard to make a deal. To give a little more of a picture, I am thinking like a Garza for Delmon Young type of deal that went down last summer, except we would probably have to give up more then one pitcher.

THE BULLPEN IS AMAZING AND ONLY STANDS TO GET BETTER. Within the next year the yanks should be adding Melancon, Cox, Sanchez, and Bruney to an already stacked bullpen. Life is good when you have a lead after 6 innings again...

Stop the Melky mistake and let Abreu go. With damon in LF, our newly aquired OF talent through a trade, and Gardner/Christian holding down fort until Ajax is ready for a ML call up (which Keith Law believes could be as soon as the middle of '09) we now have an above avg. outfield!

The beauty of this plan is not only does it make the yanks younger and better, but they are feasable goals and don't require to much work to get done. If you disagree with any of the ideas above you can comment in the comment box or just throw your opinions in the garbage, whichever is easiest for you.

P.S. --> Yes I did say we should trade some prospects because the sign of a good organization is its ability to use their farm system to improve the big league club. Sometimes this means using the prospect to fill the holes in the majors and sometimes it means pawning off those prospects that are deemed "expendable" to fill a larger hole on the big league team.

-The Ghost of SAMIAM

SHOW UP or BLOW UP

2008-07-10T11:18:00.003-04:00

As you get excited about the Yankees 2 game sweep of the Rays at THE stadium, I warn you sit back down and prepare for a long journey ahead of us. With 71 games left, the streaky Bronx Bombers have plenty of time left to play with your emotions, while twisting and turning your heart in all sorts of directions.

Is it possible that the Yankees use this series as a springboard to launch them into the race for the division crown (as they did last year right before the all-star break)? YES. Is it likely? I'm not so sure.
The Yankees currently have: Matsui, Damon, Hughes, Bruney, and Wang on the DL; IPK somewhere in the minors; Posada who can't catch on consecutive days (he has been the DH for the past 3 games forcing Molina's horrible bat into the lineup); Brett Gardner and Melky in their lineup that flat-out CAN'T HIT A LICK; an aging Jeter and Abreu posting wayyy below career stats; a 1B that believes his mustache and a thong bring him good luck; and the only $30 Million Man with a divorce hanging over his head . Now with all that stacked up against them, I believe its pretty remarkable that they are still this close to the ML leading RAYS.

Unless the Yankees find ponce de leon's fountain of youth, it will be extremely hard for them to overcome these injuries and the ineffectiveness of certain players.

Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, there is still plenty of time for the Yankees to SHOW UP (i.e. the 2007 rockies) or BLOW UP (i.e. 2007 METS)

Here's to finishing on top and not on the bottom!

-The Ghost of SAMIAM

And with the 90th game there came a ghost

2008-07-08T00:32:00.002-04:00

Hello to you and a good day unto all!
To redeem the yankees from this .500 hell SAMIAM in the flesh has resurrected me, The Ghost. I'm gonna keep this one short, but beware because the blog is back and so are the Yankees! Hank, have no fear, your $200 million team is about to reappear.

-The Ghost of SAMIAM

FORGIVE ME

2008-06-18T13:03:00.002-04:00

I don't know how to say this, but I'm sorry. I know its simply inexcusable for not posting in what seems like forever. So I just hope all of you could just accept my apology.
For what its worth, I haven't really had a chance to be in front of a computer for some time now. Due to the fact that I do not own a laptop (donations are accepted).
One thing I'll tell you, I do have what to say on Wang , Willy and the rest of the sports world etc...
Just hang tight and hopefully for the sake of normality I'll keep posting on a regular basis.

JASON'S JOLT SHOULD PROPEL THE YANKEES

2008-06-06T17:08:00.008-04:00

The Yankees do have their share of problems. If its not the inconsistent bullpen its the lack of speed on the bench . Oh, I forgot to mention that our ace is winless since the turn of the century and Pettitte is just plain old mediocre.

You can look at yesterdays game and look at all of the flaws . You could say Farnsworth is just not the answer (which is the truth) You could say this team just lacks fundamentals which Cano pointed out when he couldn't drop down a simple bunt .

You could say allot of things.

But I'm saying this:

After yesterdays epic pinch hit two out mammoth walk off blast that came on an 0-2 count off the bat of Jason Giambi, I think the Yanks are taking a turn for the better. It was one of those season changing things that every mediocre team hopes and waits for.

As Yankee fans we must relish in the fact that Moose is just , for a lack of a better term "Great". If not for Mussinas Renaissance who knows how deep in the cellar we would be. I'm not sure we could expect this kind of performance throughout the rest of the season but anything close I think will be enough.

Wang will get back into form ( I hope) and I expect some sort of contribution from the Hughes and Kennedy tandem but for now that spot in the rotation is looking mighty fine thanks to Rasner.

That leaves the rest of the work load on the shoulders of Andy Pettitte and Unfairly on Joba. I say the Yanks are in pretty good shape. Even with this aside for Mo , unstable pen.

Although the offense started to percolate the minute A-rod was inserted back into the lineup we really owe allot of the credit to Johnny Damon and His resurgence. Now that Posada's back, Forget about it.

As the weather warms. Ironically so do the Yanks. Lets just hope they don't follow that pattern once October rolls along.

JOBA DOBA "DO"N'T

2008-06-04T09:44:00.002-04:00

In what felt like a world series atmosphere, where flash bulbs were blinding as Joba dealt his first pitch of his career as a starter. I myself for a moment lost sight of all the problems the Yankees are having.
I couldn't help but envision what Joba (hopefully) turns out to be.
Although the runs that were scored against him were some of the softest runs imaginable between the walks the balk the past ball and the error. Joba was as wild as we have ever seen him.
Truth is, could you blame him? This was supposed to be a part of the "plan" .
But it wasn't just any plain old start. This turned out to be one of the biggest events that Yankee stadium has hosted in the past few years. Which really isn't all that fair for young Joba. This wildness that Joba displayed was solely based on nerves and will surely not be the case in his next start which is slated to be against the lowly Royals.
I think its safe to say that the current bullpen the Yankees have will not exactly be in tact in say...two months from now. And unless Mark Melancon is ready sooner than expected, its imminent that a move must be done( Brian Fuentes anybody?)

LOOKING BACK AT JOBA THE RELIEVER

2008-06-03T14:55:00.003-04:00

Now that we are turning the page on Joba the "reliever", I would like to take a quick look back at his brief career as the set up man.
We all know he was just flat out dominant, but I think we fail to realize how dominant he was.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/c/chambjo03.shtml

After taking a look at the numbers, It really gets you thinking... Should Joba still be in the pen and continue to be groomed to be the next closer? The answer to that is NO!!!!

I am getting very frustrated by the fact that these so called "Baseball" experts" say he should be kept in the pen. If I keep on hearing these ignoramus rants every time Farnsworth blows a lead in the eighth all I have to say is there was a reason Joba replaced Kyle in the first place. The reason was he flat out SUCKED. This isn't the first time Farns blew it, this has been happening since the day they signed him. I place most of the blame on a combination of Girardi and Cashman. Girardi should know that Farns is unreliable just by following this team last year as a broadcaster and should be mixing and matching with Edwar and company.

If your going to ask me why I blame Cash??? That's simple, if the plan was to start Joba from the get go, then why didn't he bring in a suitable replacement to start the season. Don't go off telling me that he had confidence in Hawkins , Farns And Bruney when the season started cause that's just a lie. A deal should have been made (and still should be) for a quality bullpen arm with the bevy of prospects that the yanx have.
One more point I would like to make is if we get quality starts from quality starters and the starters don't blow numerous leads in the same game we wouldn't even be having this discussion. Which is why we need Joba to be a quality STARTER.
I'm looking forward to a START of a new career.

Juiced Sports Blogs 100 most Valuable Sports Blogs

2008-05-29T12:16:00.002-04:00

Recently , I came across a post on the Juiced Sports Blog which lists the 100 most valuable sports blogs (http://juicedsportsblog.com/2008/05/top-100-valuable-sportsblogs.html).
Since The Sam I Am sports blog is powered by Blogger it doesn't qualify.

Hopefully one of these days I will get around to actually getting MY site ( www.samiamsports.com ) up and running. When that day comes, look out Blogging world cause I'm gonna be on top. ( I wish ).

SAM I AM

LETS GET IT STARTED!!!

2008-05-29T09:27:00.002-04:00

Joba Chamberlain is on the fast track to being the newest member of the Yankees rotation. To be quite frank, I couldnt be more thrilled.

Going into last nights game, the plan was to have Joba throw around the 50 or so pitch mark . With that being said, I dont know what took so long to put him in the game. I know Pettitte was coasting and looked like the Andy of old , but still a plan is a plan.
Then after Joba was just flat out dominant in striking out two in the eighth, there is no reason to bring in Mariano. Especially if he was supposed to throw a certain amount of pitches. Just because it was a save situation , it doesn't mean you must use the closer.?.?.?
Its not like the Yankees put in Mo in place of Farnsworth. In that case I would agree with you.

In the situation the Yankees were in last night where Joba is supposedly building up stamina and arm strength you not supposed to take him out. (Was Joe not confident that Joba could have finished the game?.) Joba did finish his pitches in the pen , but as we all know in game pitching is allot more effective than a bullpen session. I think Girardi lost sight of the greater good and succumbed to good 'oll managerial pressure.

You guys are probably thinking that I'm nitpicking at a solid Yankee win and your probably right , but this was on my head and I had to vent. Oh By the way Giambi is a monster. No matter how many times he gets written off he always bounces back .

SOME THOUGHTS ON NOT TRADING IPK THIS PAST OFF SEASON

2008-05-28T14:43:00.002-04:00

I know there is nothing we could do about it now. But its very frustrating to see Kennedy go out their start after start and not get the job done. Its not like I didn't say this in the past, the Yankees had a golden opportunity to trade IPK this past off season. His trade value was through the roof and higher than it ever will be again. Hind sight vision is always 20/20 but its not like I'm changing my views on this topic, (you could go look through my previous posts.)
I'm not even going to delve into the Johan Possibilities but we could have definitely gotten something better than what we are getting now.
I pray that this kid over the course of time turns out to be at least half of what he was advertised but as of right now, my hair is turning gray.

ITS ABOUT TIME

2008-05-22T11:00:00.001-04:00

Last night was a special night in Yankee universe.
Not only did the offense wake up from its season long slumber ( thanks to the greatest "regular season " player of all time.)
Darell Rasner put together his third consecutive stellar outing.
You got to love this guys attacking the strike zone approach. Ian Kennedy has allot to learn from Rasner. For whatever the reason being, Rasner gets no love whatsoever. I think its safe to say that he earned himself at least a few more starts and the respect from all that are a fan of the Yankees.
The Yankee offense was fueled by A-rod and his HR and two Doubles (should have been two HR'S) . Note that this was the third Blown HR call since Saturday. For all of you who think some sort of instant replay should be installed into base ball I highly recommend you read this -http://samiamsports.blogspot.com/2007/11/instant-replay.html.
I may not like the guy (due to his post season woes) but there is no way around the fact that he definitely helps out this lineup enormously. His presence alone changes the way the opposing pitcher pitches to everybody else.

The main storyline in this 8 - 0 drubbing took place in the 8th and 9th inning.
Joba Chamberlain , took his first steps in being transformed into a starter. Over the past few months , throughout baseball this topic was a wee bit controversial. Whomever thinks that your supposed to keep a dominant pitcher in the bullpen and only let him pitch 80 innings instead of 200 innings , I dont know how to put this but I think your a fool.
You don't see the Red Sox plucking Beckett out of the rotation and making him the eighth inning guy. You dont see the Padres making Peavy the most dominant reliever in the game etc....
It just doesn't make sense. I am really glad the Yankees are sticking to "the plan". I just dont like that he didn't start the season in this role. It risks too many injuries. Just ask the Phillies about Brett Myers.
Anyways, I'm back.... (Its allot easier to write about a Yankee's win than yet another listless performance.) Hopefully This win is a sign of things to come.

ALMOST FAMOUS

2008-05-16T10:25:00.005-04:00

In my head I was already planning the press conference, the questions from all the beat reporters. The scrutiny that I was probably going to be sick of after the initial 2 weeks of fame.

The Glamour the glitz and the publicity that this very blog would be finally getting.

I had stumbled on what I lead to believe a gold mine at the time , but it just turned out to be something "pretty cool".

A friend of mine that has no clue whats so ever about anything that has to do with baseball was in the airport. He was waiting by the luggage carousal for his bags. Then suddenly he saw his suitcase come tumbling down on the other end of the conveyor belt. With no time to waste , he sprinted towards that direction to go fetch his belongings. In the process , he left behind his "Carry on" on the floor.

On his way back , he accidentally retrieved the wrong Carry on. His bag and the one that he picked up were almost identical.

It wasn't until that evening where he learned that the bag wasn't his. After a long and tiring flight, he was in no mood to sort things out. He opted to wait till the next morning.

When the time came where he actually looked through the contents of the bag , he came to the conclusion that it belonged to some ball player.

The contents in the bag were as follows. 1) Cell phone 2) Two sets of keys 3)Some sort of pain killers 4) A baseball cap with a name and number embroidered into the back 5) (Here's the kicker) Some sort of injecting substance.

Even being the Baseball ignoramus that he is, my friend knew that there was something just not right about an injecting like substance. Naturally, he calls none other than myself.

After carefully listening to this story , impatiently I blurted out the million dollar question.....WHO??????

Searching his mind for the right name was like pulling teeth. So I said , at least narrow it down and give me a team name. Without hesitation he said it was "a guy on the Red Sox".

When I heard that my eyes lit up brighter than the the lights of a menorah or the lights on a Christmas tree.

I started naming the roster one by one. I listed all of the High profile players and even the scrubs but to no avail. I started to give up hope and thought it was some sort of mistake. I searched my mind to the deep end and back then out of nowhere I blurted out Julian Tavarez???

His response was priceless. " YEAH THAT'S THE GUY".

In a heartbeat, I was in his office to examine the goods with my own eyes. Like he said , it was all there. When I got my hands on the vile I read and re read all the ingredients. It was like Chinese to me. So I did what any sane man would do. I Googled it. Here is the link of what I came up with. http://www.americanregent.com/PDF_For_Products/Cyanocobalamin%20IN0031%20Rev.%201-03.pdf

I learned it was nothing but a lame B-12 shot. The stuff the Clemens claimed he took. It is perfectly legal.

Now I'm stuck with stuff that I have to somehow return. In case you were wondering, my friend kept the cell phone and master reset it.

My plans of submitting this story and having my fifteen minutes of fame were foiled.

I "almost" tarnished the Red Sox organization and the two recent titles which they have nabbed.

But as the saying goes " ALMOST DOESN'T COUNT"

BEWARE OF THE SUNSHINE STATE

2008-05-12T13:28:00.003-04:00

As I look at my calendar I see that we are approaching mid May. At this point in Both the Yankees and Mets Season its fair to say that they both have their share of problems. The Yankees Problems have been mainly the injury bug . But you have to expect that out of an older team. The Mets Problem has just been the excessive use of their bullpen. While the Yanks have been hovering around the .500 mark and the Mets have been a few games over. You will have a hard time arguing with me if I said that Both NY teams will be right in the thick of things once September rolls around.
The Mets are currently in 2nd place in the NL East to the Florida Marlins who are currently surging with their core of young guys with an astounding 23 and 14 record.
The Yankees are currently tied in third place with the O's, 4 games behind the Bosox but the real shocker is that the Rays are right there with a 21 and 16 record.
I will ask you this. Are the teams from the Sunshine State for real???
In my opinion , the Rays are legit. With a solid young core of young pitching with Kazmir Shields and Garza with the veteran bullpen help that Dan Wheeler and Troy Percival bring to the table along with this dynamic group of young talented position players throughout the line up there is no reason to believe they aren't for real. The only way the Rays wont be there at the end of the day is if they get the "Dee
r in headlight syndrome".
If not this year then for sure sometime in the near future. Beware AL East . Its not only the Yankees and Red Sox anymore.
As for the Fish , I dont think they can keep it up. But A five hundred finish isn't out of the question.

FROM HERO TO ZERO

2008-05-06T17:21:00.002-04:00

One year ago today Roger Clemens made his famous appearance in the Steinbrenner's box. Like a dream come true to all Yankee fans. Whether he liked it or not, On that day Clemens tagged himself as the savior of a team who's future at the time was looking bleak.

I myself was ecstatic and thrilled from this news.
Even though Roger didn't necessarily put up the numbers that we all expected him to , I think we could all agree that he gave the Yanks the spark that was lacking and played an integral part in the Yankee playoff push.

Exactly one year later, Clemens is amongst the laughing stock in America. All of his Hall Of Fame credentials mean absolutely nothing.
Now the face of steroids is suddenly the face of the Rocket and no longer Ba"roid" Bonds.
You cant even go two minutes without hearing about another women saying they enjoyed the Rockets company in more ways than you could imagine.
Roger Clemens has done the unimaginable. In just one year he has made a transformation from American Icon to American Idiot.

I will always remember that Clemens played a vital part in the 99-00 championship teams, but its still hard to look at the guy with half the respect that his presence once commanded.

One thing will never change though, I will always see him as the guy who tried to literally kill Piazza on more than one occasion. If you ask me, no matter what a guy does after that , he always will be a true Yankee icon.

All kidding aside. In just one year. Roger Clemens has gone from "HERO TO ZERO".