Bummer.

These guys kicked butt back in ’53!

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Chris Giglio runs the crisis management practice at the HL Group which is a New York public relations and communications firm. He is also a former producer for NBC’s Dateline.

And, now, he’s quoted in every news article that mentions the Yankees G.M. Brian Cashman.

He should be on the Yankees 40-man roster any day now…

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Cool story.

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Howard Megdal shares the following today –

Since taking over the LoHud Mets Blog in March 2011, I have been credentialed numerous times by the New York Mets-100 percent of the time my editor here, Sean Mayer, has requested credentials. This is nothing new. In my years covering sports, I have been credentialed by every major sports team in the New York area, writing for ESPN.com, The New York Times, New York Magazine, The New York Observer, and many other outlets.

So it was odd that last week, Sean received a call from Jay Horwitz, the Director of Media Relations for the New York Mets, telling him that while the Journal News can continue to receive credentials, the Mets would not be credentialing me.

Sean asked why that was, and Jay responded that the Mets “don’t like my reporting”. The team declined to respond to my multiple attempts to reach them for a fuller explanation.

But I don’t think much investigation is required. As of the final game of last season, I was credentialed. I participated in a conference call with Sandy Alderson in December.

Later in December, Wilpon’s Folly published. The book details the financial and legal problems facing Met ownership due to their investments with Bernie Madoff. The book was no surprise to the Mets- I reached out to them once I was asked to write the book by Bloomsbury, and spoke many times on background to multiple people within the organization about all specific reporting within the book.

The book’s reporting, incidentally, has not been challenged. It has been reinforced by subsequent articles in The New York Times, Adam Rubin at ESPN.com, and numerous other places. The only response the Mets have provided is to attack me personally.

The Mets can’t very well keep out Adam Rubin, whose right to be in the clubhouse is guaranteed by his membership in the Baseball Writers Association of America. Though I am a full-time sportswriter as my profession, I am ineligible for the BBWAA because I make my living through regular, part-time gigs, not a single, full-time one. So the team is lashing out where it can.

Say what you want about George Steinbrenner, but, I don’t think he ever pulled a stunt like this…

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Of course.

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Watching it almost makes you feel dirty…

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An interesting career – and an even more interesting story.

Every decade and/or era in baseball has these guys – great players and/or stories that most baseball fans don’t know. 

I’ve said this about basebal in the past, and I still feel that’s true: Everything there is to the game of baseball, and I use “everything” in the purest definition of the word, has a quicksand nature to it. Just when you believe you’ve made some progress digging into it, along comes the realization that there’s just as much still out there as when you first started.

Gosh, I love this game!

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If Derek Jeter got to pick his “Dream Team,” in terms of the guys who he went to war with, which group of Yankees do you think he would choose?

Squad 1:  Jorge Posada, Tino Martinez, Chuck Knoblauch, Scott Brosius, Hideki Matsui, Bernie Williams, Paul O’Neill, El Duque Hernandez and Andy Pettitte.

Squad 2: Russell Martin, Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, Alex Rodriguez, Brett Gardner, Curtis Granderson, Nick Swisher, A.J. Burnett and Phil Hughes.

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Casey Kotchman and Zach Duke say “Com’on, sign already!”

Vladimir Guerrero and Jon Garland probably feel the same way.

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Bernie’s only boy to make the big leagues. I wonder if he played his home games at Creedmoor Psychiatric Center? (That’s where I was told they played…back in the day.)

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Funny, just this morning, I read this in a Richard Justice column regarding the Yankees off-season plans and their prospect Jesus Montero -

“First and foremost, people say it’s the quietest winter the Yankees have had,” [Yankees G.M. Brian Cashman] said. “Remember last winter was quiet, too. We tried to do something with Cliff Lee, and once that passed, the old Yankee way would have been to do something.”

Cashman runs down a list of players — Dave LaPoint, Andy Hawkins, Danny Tartabull — signed, in part, as a reaction to moves made by other teams in years past.

“I’ve tried to condition the Yankees to be proactive and smart, and not react,” he said. “It doesn’t mean we’re smart. We just want to play smart. We missed on Cliff Lee. It wasn’t for lack of effort or money. He made a decision he felt was right for him.

“The Red Sox had an incredible winter last year [Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez], and there was a lot of media pressure for us to do something. We held our ground, said no, resisted the temptation. At the Trade Deadline, people said we had to get Ubaldo Jimenez. We didn’t like the price tag.”

“People thought we were taking a step back on [Jesus] Montero when we got Russell Martin. We did the same thing with [Jorge] Posada. It was three or four years until we fully handed it over to him. When people saw Montero at the end of last year, they said, ‘Holy cow, that’s a middle-of-the-lineup bat.’

And, now, we have these two pieces of news -

New York has finally made its move for a pitcher, agreeing to trade for right-hander Michael Pineda from the Mariners in exchange for top prospect Jesus Montero, CBSSports.com’s Jon Heyman reports. The Mariners will also get right-hander Hector Noesi, while right-hander Jose Campos goes the Yankees, Heyman reports. The deal is pending physicals.

Big night for the Yankees. They have agreed to a 1-year deal with [Hiroki] Kuroda, pending a physical. Deal will be between $10 and $11 million.

So, the Yankees add two starting pitchers. Does this mean that A.J. Burnett is on his way out? And, why would the M’s give up Michael Pineda for a player who’s best position is D.H.?

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Great stuff from Bob Klapisch today -

There was a time, earlier in my career, when voting on the Hall of Fame was a clean, clearly defined exercise, allowing me to honor the careers of can’t-miss candidates like Wade Boggs and Eddie Murray, while taking up the fight for the underappreciated, like Goose Gossage and Bert Blyleven.

Those were the days, when forgiveness of sins was as benign as cutting Roberto Alomar a break for having spit on umpire John Hirschbeck. Next year, however, the election process dissolves into chaos when the referendum on steroids arrives with the class of 2013, which includes Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa, Mike Piazza, Craig Biggio and Curt Schilling.

Good luck to anyone trying to make sense of the ballot’s hazy instructions, which urges voters to consider a candidate’s “character.” But, how, exactly does that apply to the juicers?

Punish the ones who openly admitted to cheating? No forgiveness for them?

How about the ones who were suspected but never caught or, for that matter, not even mentioned in the Mitchell Report? Obviously it’s a messy science, although some have suggested a black-and-white solution: Either let them all in, or banish them all to purgatory, convicts and suspects alike.

Maybe it’s time to take the vote away from the writers and give it to the players?  Say…any retired player who has at least ten years service time in the bigs gets the vote.  Would that work?

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Look at the bright-side Yankees fans…at least he kept his shirt on this time.

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Brandon Lee recently shared a great write-up on the comeback hopes of Johan Santana.

When I see the money that Santana is going to make in 2012, 2013 and maybe 2014, all I can think of is how the Mets would love to see that ~$24 million off their payroll in each of those years.

If Johan can pitch well this Spring and carry it into the start of the 2012 season, would the Mets look to deal him? If they’re smart, they should…

Of course, there’s the matter of him having a full no-trade clause. But, if the Mets are playing poorly, perhaps he would want to waive that and join a winner?

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Here are his stats in Japan -

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Reportedly, the Texas Rangers have won the rights to try and sign Darvish.

I cannot imagine anyone pitching better in Japan.  How will he do in the major leagues here?

Well, let’s put it this way:  If he doesn’t do well, I doubt anyone will ever lay out big bucks to bring over a pitcher from Japan again.

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Via Andrew Marchand -

Early in the process, Albert Pujols’ agent reached out to Brian Cashman to see if the Yankees had any room for his client. Cashman politely told Dan Lozano the Yankees did not.

Still, upon hearing that Pujols had agreed to a 10-year, $250 million contract with the Angels, Cashman’s reaction was probably similar to yours.

“I just said, ‘Wow,’” Cashman said.

While discussing Pujols’ new deal, Cashman gave Jesus Montero, the Yankees’ DH/backup catcher, one of the highest compliments. He said Pujols’ production is “Montero-like.” He didn’t seem to be kidding around.

“He is obviously one of the greatest who has played,” Cashman said of Pujols. “He makes everyone significantly better. If he played for anybody, he would make them all significantly better. I don’t know him personally, but I see what he does with that and it is Montero-like.

“I always try to somehow promote the Yankees,” Cashman added.

Cashman said he knew the Yankees would never be players for Pujols because the timing wasn’t right.

“They touched based with me, but I said, ‘No,’” Cashman said. “I gave a nice respectful no. We have made our commitments. … Even though you could say he could fit on anybody’s club, realistically, our money is spent in those directions. How do you add that with our commitments? How do you add that? You just can’t. It is not feasible.

“They just checked in. … But even Dan Lozano recognized [Mark] Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez, Montero. There is no vacancy here.”

Last season, in Triple-A, Jesus Montero batted .288 (in 463 PA). Again, that was in Triple-A. It’s the highest level that Montero has ever played a full season at as a professional.

Albert Pujols ran through the minors in just one season. And, he’s been one of baseball’s greatest batters, ever, since he’s been in the major leagues.

How the heck is Pujols “Montero-like”?

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Which team should Cooperstown put on Johnny Damon’s plaque cap, if he makes the hall?

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Pound for pound, were his best years as a Yankee?  Then again, there was that magic 2004 season in Boston.  And, he did play in K.C. for the longest.

This is a tough call.

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Fun with numbers today from Wally M -

Send your cards and letters to Dan Szymborski, not me. Dan is a regular contributor to ESPN Insider who has been projecting the performance of major league ballplayers for the past decade, with a sometimes astonishing degree of success, and from time to time this off-season I will be examining his projections for the 2012 Yankee season.

If you’re the type who must skip ahead to the last page, you can read all of his Yankees projections for 2012 here.

Dan’s methodology combines the use of algorithms with comparisons of some 29,000 past and present major leaguers. As he says, “It’s a guess, but an educated guess. It actually works similar to how hurricane forecasting works.”

Dan compared Hurricane Jesus — that’s Jesus Montero, by the way — to former major-league catchers such as Mike Piazza, Javy Lopez, Matt Nokes, Mike Sweeney and Ramon Hernandez, among others, and came up with the following numbers for his 2012 season, assuming, of course, he makes the roster and plays a full year:

–156 games played, 27 home runs, 93 RBI, a .271 BA, .333 OBP and .476 SLG.

By comparison, here is his 2012 projection for Alex Rodriguez: 21-82-.264, .350 OBP, .474 SLG.

But the most telling stat is this one: The system projects A-Rod will play just 108 games next season, evidence of his age (he will be 37 on July 27) and failing health.

“Sadly, Alex appears to be in decline,” he said.

Then again, Bill James once projected that Phil Plantier would hit the most homeruns in the major leagues in the 1990′s. So, who knows?

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Still Active Picks from all Rays MLB Amateur Drafts:

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Still Active Picks from all Yankees MLB Amateur Drafts

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So, which team does a better job in the draft?

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Verlander turns double play, wins AL MVP.

Is Justin Verlander now the best #2 overall pick in the draft ever? He’s creeping up on that honor -

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Great stuff from Jeff Bradley -

The Case for the RBI Single.

While GM Brian Cashman has said his three objectives to improve the Yankees this offseason are pitching, pitching and pitching, we believe the team’s offense, in spite of gawdy production totals, has become too one dimensional to negotiate the postseason with the same consistency as the Yankee teams that won four titles in five years from 1996-2000. With one or two tweaks, possibly with players already on their roster or possibly with an under-the-radar free-agent signing, we believe the Yankees can improve their title hopes.

While the numbers presented here in no way tell the entire story, they do represent an attempt to examine a critical in-game situation and how the Yankees have handled it. In short, the 2011 Yankees were an offensive wrecking ball, capable of blowing teams away, but in close games, both in the regular season and playoffs, when they needed someone to deliver a base hit, a chink in their armor was exposed.

“If you don’t have singles hitters,” said one American League advance scout, who requested anonymity, “you need hitters capable of becoming singles hitters when the situation calls for it. Against great pitching, in tight ball games, in the postseason, you almost always need a ‘short game’ to win.”

According to statistics gathered by the Elias Sports Bureau, in four of their five championship seasons since ’96, the Yankees ranked in the top four in baseball in RBI produced by singles. The only year of recent vintage in which the Yankees won a championship and weren’t among the best at driving in runs with singles was 2000, when they ranked eighth. Ironically, that team won it all over the Mets in Game 5 of the Subway Series on — you guessed it — an RBI single by Luis Sojo with two outs in the top of the ninth.

In 2009, one year after missing the postseason for the first time since 1993, and one year after driving in only 226 runs with singles (ranking ninth in MLB), the Yankees returned to being an elite RBI single team (258 runs on singles, second best in MLB) and won their 27th world championship. In 2010, they reverted, producing only 222 of their MLB-leading total of 859 runs. That total ranked sixth in baseball.

This past season, however, while the Yankees scored the second-most runs in baseball with 867, they drove in only 201 of those runs with singles, which ranked 12th among the 30 teams.

For more on this, click here to see something that I wrote four years ago.

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It’s simple: Restack the teams into two conferences of four divisions each.  At season end, within the conference, the first place teams face-off in two-round playoff format (taking the four teams into two, then into one – to represent their conference in the World Series).

Here’s how you could restack the teams:

Conference One -

• Division One:  Yankees, Mets, Red Sox and Phillies
• Division Two: Orioles, Nationals and Blue Jays
• Division Three: Rangers, Astros, Royals and Cardinals
• Division Four: Giants, A’s, Rockies and Mariners

Conference Two -

• Division One:  Rays, Marlins and Braves
• Division Two: Tigers, Brewers, Cubs and White Sox
• Division Three: Indians, Twins, Pirates and Reds
• Division Four: Dodgers, Angels, Padres and Diamondbacks

Do this and there’s a great chance you would see some hard fought battles to get into first place within each division.  And, then you can have the same amount of playoff games as we have now to determine who gets to the World Series.

Of course, since there are 15 teams in each conference, there would be “inter-conference” play required each day.  But, baseball is heading down that road now, anyway.  At least this would take away the wildcard and still give teams a good chance to make the post-season.

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Jack Magruder wrote a great feature on the job that Kirk Gibson did in Arizona this year. Click here to check it out.

I can’t believe that Gibson is now 54-years old.

Hey, that’s not old. (Shoot, I will be forty-nine later this month.) It’s just that I have a different picture of Gibson in my head.

Of course, any baseball fan not living under a rock for the last 23 years knows about Gibson’s homerun in the 1988 World Series. And, that’s one that I will never forget watching on TV.

But, when I think of Gibby, I think of a young football player trying to play baseball. One blessed with tremendous speed and great power – always a sexy baseball tools combo. And, I remember a guy who just wrecked a Sunday for me in the summer where I was 18-years old.

That seems like yesterday. Then again, Mick Kelleher, who was the Yankees first base coach last year, played in that game too – and he’s now 64-years old.

Gosh, where does the time go?

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Via a story in Baseball America last month on A’s prospect Grant Green -

Grant Green thought that he’d always be a shortstop. The role defined the Athletics prospect, now back for his second season with the Arizona Fall League’s Phoenix Desert Dogs.

When meeting people for the first time, he always told them he was a shortstop.

Green made his second straight appearance last July as one of two shortstops on the United States team in the annual Futures Game, this time earning MVP honors after hitting two doubles to lead the U.S. team to a 6-4 win over the World team.

The 13th overall pick in the 2009 draft was just midway through his third year in the A’s organization when the word came down from the Oakland front office that he would no longer be a shortstop—instead, Green would be moving to center field.

The news came as a surprise to the former University of Southern California star, who had virtually no outfield experience at any time in his baseball career.

“They told me that this was the quickest way for me to get there (to the major leagues),” Green said, “the best position for me athletically and with the bat and glove-wise . . . if that’s what they truly believe and are wholeheartedly with it, then let’s roll with it.”

Switching in mid-season required a lot of on-the-job training for Green. He played center field in his last 47 games of the Double-A season, followed by a few games in right field for Triple-A Sacramento during the Pacific Coast League playoffs.

Green has returned to the Fall League to gain more experience in the outfield. He’s got a friendly face to help his transition with Sacramento hitting coach Todd Steverson managing the Desert Dogs this year.

“The organization decided to make a move,” said Steverson, “and it’s up to us in player development to help him make the move.”

Scouts following the AFL currently grade Green’s outfield skills as below average, not surprising considering his lack of experience there.

Steverson puts it more diplomatically, saying, “So far his progress is early in the stages . . . The majority of the work is happening right now in batting practice and just in regular work.”

Green acknowledges that he’s got a lot of work ahead of him.

“(I’m) definitely not feeling as comfortable as I’d like to be,” Green said. “What I feel I really need to do is work on those jumps. It’s a little bit different . . . first step back as compared to the first step in as an infielder . . . seeing the ball off the bat and getting the angles down on pop flies.”

Steverson, who went through a similar conversion during his playing career in moving from his natural third base position to the outfield, says that shifting to the outfield is tougher than it seems.

“It is a switch,” Steverson said. “A lot of people think the ball goes up, you catch it, and throw it back to the infield. But the reality of it is when an outfielder makes a mistake, it’s a lot more glaring then when an infielder makes a mistake because the ball ends up at the wall and that’s an extra base. So the reads on the balls are key . . . In the outfield the ball takes a little longer to get to you so you have a little more read time. But the feet have to work just as fast.”

Green is eager to learn the new position and has been seeking help from other sources. Hall of Famer Ricky Henderson observed one of Green’s games after the position switch and offered welcome advice on going after balls over his head. Since arriving in Arizona, he’s also discussed defensive situations with fellow Desert Dog outfielder Anthony Gose, a fellow Southern California native and a top prospect in the Blue Jays organization.

It’s interesting that so many in the game have made the transition from the infield to the outfield and performed well, defensively, after the switch – and made the move with relative ease. Yet, for others, it’s a much larger effort to make the switch. Perhaps, when it comes to such a migration, there is no absolute with respect to making it happen or not?

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You can’t make this stuff up…

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Can’t think of a better tool to keep track than this one.

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The Kansas City Royals traded Melky Cabrera to the San Francisco Giants for Jonathan Sanchez.

If Melky plays 140 games for the Giants in 2012, that would be the fourth different team he’s played 140+ games for in the last four years – all before he reached the age 28.

If that doesn’t set a record, it has to tie one, right?

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I guess the scenes of him peeing in a cup landed on the cutting room floor.

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Yup, Derek Lowe was moved.

The Braves were hot and heavy for Burnett at one time.  Think they’ve changed their minds now?

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Here’s what he wrote today –

The Yankees will now not, I repeat NOT, have an announcement today regarding the contract of GM Brian Cashman. No explanation was given for the shift in plans but feel free to concoct your own conspiracy theory. Personally, I think it has to do with Cashman not wanting to have to deal with questions regarding CC Sabathia without knowing what his ace is going to do with the opt-out clause.

My Plan B is that Cashman is waiting to see if Sabathia opts out before deciding to take on the job of rebuilding the Yankee pitching staff.

My Plan C? He and CC are out trick-or-treating today dressed as Laurel and Hardy.

Sabathia and Cashman as Laurel and Hardy is pretty darn funny. I was thinking maybe Murtaugh and Riggs? Or, better yet, these guys:

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