YFSF

YFSF Auld Lang Syne

 

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?

The Year of the Rickey will soon be upon us. But in the meantime, dear readers, thanks for a great 2008!

Lowe, Mets playing in Different Ballparks

The Times is reporting that the Mets are earnestly targeting Derek Lowe.  It's looking good: they are only $54M apart.  Boras has the Mets right where he wants them.

Friendly Advice from a Yanks Fan

It appears the Red Sox have just begun their off-season. Yes, they were one of the first teams to make a move when Epstein traded Coco for Ramon. But a lot of time passed between this move and their next. During this hiatus, the Sox swung and missed at Teixeira (aka "Plan A") and watched as the Yanks spent gazillions, thereby rebranding the Bombers as the team to hate (and this is different from before how?) and the team to beat (but not really). The Sox signed Brad Penny to what appears to be a low-risk high-upside deal. This in itself is not enough. It's simply not enough. Just think for a second. The Yanks added freaking CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira, AJ Burnett and Nick Swisher (Nick Friggin' Swisher!) and the Sox counter by adding Brad Penny?! Red Sox Nation, sit down for a minute and internalize that. Stop what you're doing. Breathe. Now is a time for you to act. Theo and John Henry have spent but a penny of all the money you have given them in ticket purchases and costs of Nation membership. They have so much more money to spend. Shouldn't they actually spend it?!

Here's what I want you to do. Take out a pen and a blank piece of paper. At the top of it, put the words "Red Sox Nation's Wishlist for the 2008-2009 off-season. Make it Happen!"

Now take down these names and the arguments in their favor. You will mail this list to Red Sox headquarters to Theo Epstein's attention.

CNN/SI: Boston Wanted Ramirez Back

...

Ok, not that Ramirez. The other one. Still don't remember? Jon Heyman and Tom Verducci relay this fun rumor:

The Red Sox made a play to re-acquire Marlins superstar Hanley Ramirez  after losing out to the rival Yankees for star free agent Mark Teixeira, league sources tell SI.com. But while the Marlins listened to Boston's overtures, Florida isn't anxious to trade its best player, and talks apparently have been aborted after no agreement could be reached.

The Marlins were said to be most interested in a center fielder, and discussions apparently centered on Boston's promising youngster Jacoby Ellsbury, talented pitching prospect Clay Buchholz and others in a package for Ramirez, who began in Boston's organization.

I'm telling you. Let bygones be bygones. The Sox want to upgrade their offense. Why else go for a no defense/all-offense star like Hanley and be willing to give up so much talent? There's another guy who fits that description and his price tage is falling. Make it happen. Hug it out.

Remembering Yankee Stadium

My contribution to Alex Belth's wonderful Bronx Banter series on Yankee Stadium is up today; check it out. It was a real honor to be asked to take part along with so many distinguished writers. One thing that has struck me in following the series is how formative the bleachers have been for so many of the contributors. The opportunity to sit close to the field, at minimal cost, and to be part of a community is really priceless. One of the things I fear about the new ballpark is that this opportunity will be dramatically compromised. Anyway, enjoy the piece.

Pay It Forward

This article reports that Roger Clemens donated three million dollars towards the construction of a pediatric wing at Houston's Memorial Hermann Medical Center. The facility opened three years ago with Clemens' name attended. Due to the desire "To better reflect its commitment to all sports and athletes", the center has chosen to remove his name from the Roger Clemens Institute for Sports Medicine.

There is a lot of room here to cast aspersions and make sport of "the Institute for Sports Medicine," but Mr. Clemens, from my perspective, is approaching a sympathetic character.

Penny Wise...

Reports indicate the Sox will sign Brad Penny to a 1-year deal. The big righthander had shoulder problems and lousy numbers in abbreviated work last season, after two solid campaigns for the Dodgers. By my quick count, this is player number 7 from the 2003 Marlins World Series championship team drafted into The Rivalry. Results have been mixed, to say the least. 

Can We Blame the Injuries Now?

The events of the last few days have me thinking about 2006 -- the last time the Sox finished out of the playoff picture (the only time, for that matter, since 2003). It was the nadir of recent Red Sox history, all the more frustrating because it occurred during a season in which David Ortiz set the club record for home runs in one campaign and the team won 12 games in a row for the first time since I was a 13-year-old kid cutting out articles from the Globe, Herald and Courant and gluing them onto looseleaf paper (and that was before the scrapbooking craze! A trendsetter am I).

The discussions on this site then hewed closely to the discussions on this site after the Yanks' similar third-place finish in 2008. The fans of the non-playoff team point out the role injuries played in torpedoing their season. The rival fans poo-poo this as "making excuses" for a poorly constructed team. I've wondered for the past three years whether '06 was really a year that coulda-been or simply a year that never was, so with some free time this Christmas week, I decided to take a look.

Andy's Last Chance?

A number of articles have been written about the dimming chances of an Andy Pettitte return now that the Yanks landed another high-priced free agent. The ubiquitous anonymous sources are doing a fine job of pissing leaking the Yanks' supposed real thinking about the Pettitte negotiations to beat reporters. Anthony McCarron's latest article has one such leaker saying that the chances are 55-45 against the big lefty's return. Interestingly, this same article mentions that the Yanks' 1-year, $10 million offer is still on the table.

It seems to me the Yanks are on a deadline and want to get this Pettitte business done soon so that the front office knows it's payroll situation for the remainder of the off-season. If he re-signs, then I think the Yanks are going to aggressively try to move an outfield contract. If not, perhaps they hold onto all of them and deal with the mess on the field. I think it's a nice mess to have in the first place.

Memo to Corporate America: Be Like the Yanks

Though it kills him to say so, Red Sox fan and YFSF regular Daniel Drezner has no problem with the Yankees' big spending ways this offseason, and, indeed, thinks they should be a model:

First, it would be awesome if American corporations acted more like the Yankees.  One cause of the deepening recession is that firms are afraid to do anything other than hold cash in hand at the moment. The smart ones should invest in expansion—capital is ridiculously cheap right now and they’ll be well-poised once the economy takes off again. If enough firms acted that way, the economy actually would take off again. In signing these players, the Yankees have made long-term investments while keeping their expenditures constant relative to last year’s payroll. Given their move to a new stadium, their revenues should increase. They have made these moves in order to improve their chances of competing. That’s how corporations should behave.

He also notes, for those advocating such a system, that leagues with salary caps are more prone to dynasties than those without. A lot to mull there on a holiday weekend....