Hey Keith

Keith . Please Check out this clip of the YES crew after his Texas start. Notice how they talk about Phil's changeup. That pitch will only get better over time =

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01zgbYx0ywo



Listening to Keith Law today with Max Kellerman regarding Hughes


Kellerman : Hughes was the number one prospect in baseball reportedly threw in the middle to high nineties as high as 97 when only 19yrs old...etc Why then should the Yankees trade a 21yr old kid who projects as number one starter to the twins for a 29yr old pitcher who will also be a number one starter etc...

Kieth Law : Hughes in the 5 or 6 times I've seen him thru the majors and minors never threw high or middle nineties. He has a decent-"to plus" fastball that tops out around 93 or 94 but it's a very straight pitch which will make him somewhat homerun prone.
He's a got a plus curve which is his "out pitch" which to be considered a number 1 or 2 starter you must have however his change up is an average pitch and he's yet to command it at the major league level. To my knowlege that pitch is still considered a work in progress. The issue with Hughes is going to be whether or not he can locate his fast ball to both sides of the plate. To this point he showed he could control it up and down but not to both sides of the plate. Without a third pitch he's going to be very vulnerable. In my opinion he has number 2/3 potential but only if he can master a third pitch.

Kellerman: Of the three how do you rank them blah blah..

Keith Law: Chamberlain. I've seen him light up the gun at 97mph in the 7th inning and has that devastating slider to got with his fastball so he already has 2 plus plus pitches with an average curve and change up that he throws for strikes. I think he has the potential to succeed in either role and he's by far the highest ceiling prospect.

He said Kennedy is the most polished and probably will be a solid 5 or maybe 4 later in his career.

Don't vote for Romney or Huckabee

Vote for Obama!!!! Time for Change

Good Night..

Why can't Wang do it?
Why does everybody seem to think that he can not tweek one of his pitches or come up with a new one to make him the the no 1 and the playoff pitcher they want him to be? He has had two 19 game seasons on a team that at times weren't playing very well for the last two years. Until he slips, for me he wins another 19 or more this year.


He is 27 or 28 years old with a career 3.83 k/9. Hes at an age where most pitchers don't improve all that much and while hes still really good with that k rate its almost impossible to project him to be an ace with it being that low. The 4.70 k/9 this year was encouraging but thats still not top of the rotation good. Theres nothign wrong with being a #2 or #3 and Wang certainly fits that bill. Hes a guy whos gonna get 65% or so ground balls and put up ERAs in the mid 3s. Hes also gonna eat up innings. Thats a hell of a good pitcher. If he becomes an ace then thats just icing on the cake but it is really tuff to project or count on that. I'll take him on my team any day even tho I don't think hell ever be an ace.


At this point, 3 years into his big league career, and turning 28, I don't know if he will ever develop his secondary pitches.

I know Guidry encouraged him to throw his slider more, but it was a pitch he hadn't really used since college (though it was supposed to have been good then). Its very raw, his other stuff, is undeveloped, and I doubt will ever evolve to being real quality stuff.

I do know he wanted to develop a change up and work on secondary stuff, but was discouraged from doing so, if Eiland thinks he can help Wang develop some swing and miss stuff, or show me type pitches and turn Wang into more then a one pitch pitcher, then maybe he can be an ace.

Now don't get me wrong, I think Wang is a fantastic pitcher, you don't win 19 games 2 years in a row on luck, his one pitch is a fantastic pitch, and thats why he is special, but if he had developed other stuff, he could have been a Webb pitcher.

I still think MLB is weak-- for never clamping down on the Steinbrenners (first George, now Hank's) constant urge to talk openly about other teams' players.... it's called tampering.

The Twins are going to file something against Stein after they complete their deal with another team. They really should deal with another team if they can pull out a good enough offer elsewhere.

Brian Cashman is too polite to ever act in the bafoonish way that Hank has.

Hank has acted like his whims and wants control the pace or status of the trade talks.

My god Hank, shut up kid.

Twins showing some give in efforts to trade Santana

http://boards.boston.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?nav=messages&webtag=bc-redsox&tid=42702

The club appears willing to adjust earlier demands in its quest for a deal, but GM Bill Smith remains patient.

By LAVELLE E. NEAL III, Star Tribune

Last update: January 4, 2008 - 9:11 PM

There are roughly six weeks before Twins pitchers and catchers report for spring training and, the way things are going, a media horde could be on hand to bombard ace lefthander Johan Santana, teammates and the club about why he's still with the Twins.

But don't expect that to happen.

New General Manager Bill Smith continues to be patient as he tries to get the best deal possible from the Red Sox, Yankees or Mets. Smith remains mostly mum on Santana's status, but discussions with several people with knowledge of the trade talks suggest that the Twins recently have adjusted their demands.

For instance, indications earlier in the offseason were that the Twins wanted the Yankees to include righthanded pitching prospect Ian Kennedy in a package led by prized young righthander Phil Hughes and center fielder Melky Cabrera. Now it's believed that the Twins are willing to accept other players instead of Kennedy.

Recent reports have righthander Jeff Marquez as part of the deal.

Lefthander Kei Igawa, who floundered to a 2-3 record and 6.25 ERA in his first year after arriving from Japan, also has been mentioned in talks with the Yankees, perhaps as a fourth player in the package. His salary -- $4 million annually over the next four seasons -- shouldn't be a problem for a club whose payroll would drop under $50 million if Santana is traded.

Another development has been the emergence in trade talks of the Mets, who were believed to have no shot at landing Santana unless All-Star shortstop Jose Reyes was included in the deal.

The Twins now have let it be known that the Mets have other players to package for Santana. Several Mets prospects, including outfielders Carlos Gomez and Fernando Martinez and pitchers Mike Pelfrey, Philip Humber and Kevin Mulvey, have been mentioned as part of deals throughout the offseason. Gomez could step right in and play center field. Martinez, perhaps the Mets' top prospect, still needs a couple of years to develop. It's still hard to view the Mets as a serious player in this game, because although they have good young players, they lack quality talent at the front of the deal.

Mets GM Omar Minaya, by the way, leaves today for an eight-day goodwill tour of Israel and might have to negotiate through e-mail, if he can at all.

There has been little dialogue between the Red Sox and Twins lately but, as someone with knowledge of talks explained, each side knows where the other stands.

Boston still has two packages on the table. One consists of lefthander Jon Lester, outfielder Coco Crisp, infielder Jed Lowrie and righthander Justin Masterson. The other includes outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury -- who starred in the World Series -- Lowrie, Masterson and maybe a fourth player. The Red Sox are willing to tweak the back end of a deal, but there's no way Lester and Ellsbury will be packaged together.

Both the Twins and Santana's camp know that it's not in the best interests of either party to bring the Santana Sweepstakes to Fort Myers, Fla., for spring training. But the Twins continue to maintain that they will if they have to.

With Boston looking to build a dynasty in the AL East and the Yankees and Mets in need of starting pitching -- and control of the back page of New York sports sections -- perhaps someone will make that one phone call that Smith keeps talking about.

Jeter has how many 200 hit seasons?

He’s been a top candidate for an MVP and never won an MVP kind of like Ortiz…

Jeter has 4 WS rings to Ortiz 2. Jeter has a gold glove collection… Ortiz has Jenny Craig.

I hate Dericka Jeter, and I like David Ortiz. Jeter is a hall of famer… 12 seasons, 12 playoffs, 4 world series, and he was a starter, and a star in each of those titles, not to mention 2 other WS losses.

David Ortiz needs more than 5 freaking seasons. Dale Murphy, Don Mattingly, Andre Dawson… all players who had 5 or more GREAT years. Dave Parker… and none of them played in the steroid era… using or not Ortiz doesn’t play a position… he’s a DH. And he’s playing in a the Juiced Ball era… and the Juiced Player era…

He needs 500 homers, 1500 RBI, then we can talk hall of fame for him.

You have to take your bias out of it as an Ortiz fan, and look at it as a statistic base… and look at WHO is voting… Sports journalists who take the Hall of Fame DAMN serious… look what they did to McGwire last year! These people are purists in the oldest sense of the book. Baines won’t get 17% of the votes, and he was an amazing hitter… a far better ball player than Edgar Martinez was no offense to Edgar who was a great guy, and a great hitter, but Baines was better… He was a DH too much of his career, and that will hurt him.

While you two banter about those two… as I believe neither will come close…

The true test will be Frank Thomas. He was a DH from day 1. He was a lousy fielding 1st baseman with no range, but he was the best right handed hitter in baseball for about 8 years, had 3-4 horrible seasons, and then came on strong. He’s never been to a WS, but his post season numbers are strong, and he is a 2 time MVP I believe…

He has 500 homers, he will probably get close to 3000 hits, and his OBP is phenominal… and he is dead set against the steroid people, and the reporters love him…

He still will have a hard time getting in the hall of fame because he was a DH and not a real ball player.

All of this means nothing…

Hank is a controlling general partner

Hall is the MBA who is also a controlling general partner and he was the one put in control of the finances based on his financial background.

Hall doesnt want to commit 200M to a pitcher & Cashman is also against the move also.

Hank can yap all he wants, he cant make the move without his brother’s approval.

QUOTE(PedroSpecialK @ Jan 4 2008, 10:36 PM) *
Hank Steinbrenner leaning towards doing a Santana trade.


"Nothing is really decided at this point. I’m still leaning towards doing it. There’s others leaning not to do it. There are some others that are leaning to do it also. Disagreements within the organization. Nothing major, but just different opinions. I’ve changed my opinion a couple times.”

On Brian Cashman: “I always told him, `I’m going to make the final decisions because when you’re the owner you should.’ He is the general manager, and he has the right to talk me out of it and he has talked me out of some things.”

PedroKsBambino posted this little nugget on the main board, it seems to apply here. It must suck to be Brian Cashman right now, Hank sounds like a pompous ass. I can’t recall an owner or executive in the past discussing a trade so openly. I wonder what offer he’s “leaning towards” the twins accepting.

Hank really sounds like he thinks that its up to him whether or not this trade happens, as if there's not another party. I love the stuff about how all final decisions have to be up to him and Cashman can try to talk him out of things, but he's got the final say because an owner is supposed to have the final say. It's like the CEO of a bio-medical firm going into the lab and telling the scientists how to mix chemicals because a CEO is supposed to have final say and the scientist's role is really just to talk him out of it because it would cause an explosion. Hank really believes he's acting out a role, I love this guy

Am I the only one who could honestly see Hank Steinbrenner firing Brian Cashman and then hiring...Hank Steinbrenner as the new GM of the New York Yankees? This guy has an ego the size of China, the maturity of a 13-year old, and the tact of current-day Britney Spears. I really believe this could happen and I also think he'll have a few public meltdowns along the way.

Glory.

Edit - Spelling


QUOTE(missinpedro @ Jan 4 2008, 11:09 PM) *
Hank really sounds like he thinks that its up to him whether or not this trade happens, as if there's not another party. I love the stuff about how all final decisions have to be up to him and Cashman can try to talk him out of things, but he's got the final say because an owner is supposed to have the final say...

Is there anybody, outside of Hank Steinbrenner himself, who thinks that Hank's boss-like pronouncements might help position the Yankees better in negotiations with the Twins? Nothing at all has come out of the Red Sox in the last week or so. Is there any reason why Hank talking to the press at this point might be tactically sensible? I can't think of any.

In the absence of any sound negotiating strategy, it appears that Hank likes to read himself in the papers. He's a copy-writer's dream: he has no idea what he's doing, and he's happy to flounder in public. The column title writes itself: Desperately inadequate son attempts to fill daddy's shoes.

Blog by Journal News beat writer Peter Abraham
Pinch hitting: The Bronx Stop

January
5

It’s a slow month for baseball news. But fear not, we’ve lined up a series of guest bloggers to entertain you. Next up is Mark from The Bronx Stop.

Mark is a full-time student at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio. He was born in Columbus, minutes from the Yankees old AAA farm team, the Columbus Clippers. In one of his greatest Yankees moments, Mark met Derek Jeter at a “Clipper Convention” for kids and to this day possesses an autographed Jeter minor league card.

Here’s his post:

Joe Torre had a quote on the Mike Tirico show on ESPN Radio Thursday. It went something like this, “Chemistry does not create winning, winning creates chemistry.”

When I heard Mr. Torre recite those words, I stopped dead in my tracks. Something about that quote just did not feel right to me. “Come on!” I said to myself, “Joe Torre is already one of the most successful managers in the history of the game of baseball, and he doesn’t look to be stopping anytime soon. Why is it so hard for you to accept this great baseball man’s opinion on the concept of team chemistry?”

The more I thought about it, the more I could not understand how Mr. Torre could possibly feel that way after being a manager in the Major Leagues for two decades. “Chemistry does not create winning, winning creates chemistry?”

On the surface this makes a lot of sense. But under closer examination its enough to make any red-blooded Yankee fan wonder. Could Mr. Torre (who is to this day still one of my all-time idols) possibly have this concept backwards? Did he mean to say “Chemistry creates winning, and winning creates chemistry” but it just came out wrong?

I can not answer that question, but I can tell you this: I have long respected the words of our once fearless leader, but on this subject I must be honest with myself and flat-out disagree.

Vastly underestimated in any team sport is the concept of “team.” If you don’t agree with me, think of your workplace. When you go into work in the morning do you look forward to spending the day with your co-workers or do you do everything you possibly can to avoid them? Well, chances are, whichever way you answered greatly impacts the enjoyment you get out of your occupation.

Well, the same goes for baseball players. After all, baseball is a business right? Just because they make millions of dollars does not mean that they show up to 162 games a year thrilled to be in the company of their teammates. They are human. They too, get annoyed with the guy who always interrupts people.

As a baseball fan, would you rather have a Yankee team who enjoys playing ball together day in or day out or a Yankee team who only has chemistry when they win? As a rational fan (and I assume all of you are) I really hope you chose a team who enjoys playing ball together day in and day out.

Baseball is still a game where intangibles can lead to amazing things. All you have to do is look closer at the Indians. That club talked all year about being so successful because of the chemistry they shared on and off the field, and look what happened in the postseason.

As a fan who strongly believes in the “team” concept of team sports, I must say I am really looking forward to the 2008 season and all of the new ideas on what it is going to take to win No. 27. With a new era approaching, a new manager at the helm and loads of young, enthusiastic and truly quality talent, the Yankees may once again become a team to fear for many years to come. That is if they don’t trade it all away

Why We Wait

There are now officially 40 days left until pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training. We are deeply entrenched in winter. I don't know about you guys, but where I live it's been around 20-25 degrees out lately. At the moment, it feels as if the baseball season may never return.

So to keep up morale in these discouraging times, I've advised a plan. I'm going to try out a series of posts called "Why We Wait". And for each one, I'll list a reason why while the Red Sox season may seem far away, it will all be worth it come late March.

Today's reason - beating up the Yankees. No regular season win is quite so sweet as one that comes at the hands of our hated rivals. The first Red Sox/Yankees series of the 2007 series was especially sweet.

In the first game of the series, the Red Sox scored five runs in the 8th inning, to beat the Yankees by a run. Mariano Rivera blew his second straight save opportunity and Hideki Okajima notched his first major league save. Then, in the second game, the Red Sox won the series behind Josh Beckett. It was the final game of the series, however, that was most sweet.

On April 23rd, the Red Sox swept the series in dramatic fashion. They tied a major league record by hitting back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs off of Yankees prospect Chase Wright. I can imagine Yankees fans thinking, "it's alright, no one was on" after the first home run. Then they probably thought, "alright, at least we're still up by a run" after the second home run. After the third, I'm sure they couldn't believe how they just lost their lead. And after the fourth I'm sure some of them had to turn off the TV for a little while.

Watch the video and relive the magic.

Lucchinno's a fucking hypocrite and such nerd way back in high school."Larry Lucchino’s idiotic comments about "Yankees are Evil Empire" and "The little engine that could comment " ? Larry,Stop embrassing yourself and pointing fingers at Yankees you fucking homo .We aren't Evil because We don't spend money like Yankees do because We are different team than The Yankees. Your a copycat and Welcome to Darkside fucking Dick. “THE F**KING RED SOX!We are not Yankees Blah Blah.. They spend more money than 28 other teams in the LEAGUE! Underdog? My ass! You want to root for an underdog, go root for the ROYALS!” Lucchino probably still have a gay open relationship with his boyfriend John Henry.

From Yankees poster - Here you go Rem

UniqueNyc



The funniest thing about this whole Santana situation?

John Henry is a commodity hedge fund manager who's entire career is about minimizing risk!
The Redsox have been trying to eject Manny's 20M for years...
Since Henry bought the team, they have never handed out more than 5 years...
They have also never signed anyone for more than 15M...
They have also held the wallet tight when paying players into their 30s...

Now they are supposedly going to...

Approve a 190-200M aquisition for 7 years (they are 2x tax offenders also) for a flyball lefty pitcher in Fenway...
Take the risk of paying him 20M+ into his mid 30s when they dont have the Yankees revenues...
Give him his extension and buy at the top of the market (this is not hedge fund manager behaviour)...

All this when it looks like we are likely headed into an economic downturn...

image

I Smell A Heap Of Bullshit!

This always was and always will be about driving up the price for the Yankees.

A couple of months ago when A-Rod opted out, Hank said that if he opted out, they would not pursue A-Rod at all. And look what happend....10 year deal. He then basically said about a month ago that there was no chance at all that the Yanks would get Santana...now he is claiming that he thinks he has the "best" offer for the Twins, and that he would like to make a deal. So just goes to show you, so far every major situation that has come up, he has changed his mind. HECK! the Yankees might not even BE in any talks with Santana and have no intention at getting him at all for all we know. So a warning to all of you fans....do not believe ANYTHING that comes out of Hank's mouth....don't know about Hal though, whatever happened to him, never hear about him doin anything.



It's not lying...

It's called "Giving an interview when you're not sure of your position, and you keep changing your mind when new information comes in."

It's an inept corporate communications strategy, but it's not really lying.


eah, I mean who does Hank think he is?? rofl

Arod came back to HIM, and offered to accept a deal for about what was being offered before. It would have been STUPID not to accept the deal for ARod, I don't care what he said before.

Owners often blow smoke, huff and puff, and spread their feathers. In then end, they make the best deal they think they can get.

Has anyone ever dealt with a car salesmen before?? It's called haggle. It's part of the process involved. Unless you always pay retail sticker price for what you buy, in which case you are a fool...

As for Santana, Hank will weigh the situation in the end, and if he likes the final asking price, he will buy, if not, he will walk. We won't know until it is over. We aren't privy to that information, and likewise, shouldn't be.

So, get over it OP. Hank is da owner. He pays. If you can't live with it, move to another team, where you will find the same thing happens with owners.

Hank's mouth only alientates our positon in a deal...He is arrogant, impudent and any other negative adjectives that end in "ant" or "ent" and other words that sometime end in "y" and possible many that have a silent "e"....

He needs to talk less and deal more...simple math.

BOSS JR. 'LEANING' FOR JOHAN
By MIKE PUMA

http://www.nypost.com/seven/01052008/sports/yankees/boss_jr__leaning_for_johan_804410.htm

January 5, 2008 -- Hank Steinbrenner has cast his vote, but not for Hillary, Barack or Mitt.

The best candidate to bolster the Yankees' rotation in 2008, according to Steinbrenner, is still Johan Santana.

Speaking yesterday outside Legends Field in Tampa, Steinbrenner essentially confirmed a report that indicated he still wants to make a deal for the Twins' ace but is facing opposition from his brother Hal, who has concerns about the financial implications of adding Santana to the team's $200 million payroll.

"I'm still leaning towards doing it," Hank Steinbrenner told the Associated Press.

"There's others leaning not to do it. There are some others that are leaning to do it also. Disagreements within the organization. Nothing major, but just different opinions. I've changed my opinion a couple times."

Phil Hughes and Melky Cabrera remain the centerpieces of a potential deal for Santana, with whom the Yankees would need a window to negotiate a new contract. Santana can become a free agent after this season.

Though Yankee GM Brian Cashman has a say in the process, Steinbrenner indicated that ownership will make the final call on pursuing a deal. The team already has Andy Pettitte and Chien-Ming Wang penciled into its 2008 rotation.

Adding the two-time Cy Young award winner Santana could allow the Yankees to keep Joba Chamberlain, a potential starter this season, in the bullpen, continuing in his setup role. Ian Kennedy and Mike Mussina are two other starters vying for spots.

The fact Cashman won't have final say on whether the Yankees pursue a deal indicates the GM, whose contract expires next fall, has lost much of the authority he gained following the 2005 season, when he contemplated leaving the organization.

"I always told [Cashman], 'I'm going to make the final decisions because when you're the owner you should,' " Steinbrenner said. "He is the general manager, and he has the right to talk me out of it."

Steinbrenner said he'll watch tomorrow's "60 Minutes" interview with Roger Clemens, who was named in the Mitchell Report for receiving injections of steroids and HGH, and reiterated that the Yankees have no interest in re-signing The Rocket.

Steinbrenner also indicated that Tino Martinez will serve as a guest spring training instructor and Luis Sojo will be the manager for Single-A Tampa.

mpuma@nypost.com

Steingrabber is so smug.

"Yeah, I guess *yawn* maybe I'll go get Johan Santana now."

I loathe the Bankees.

i truly believe that if the yankees were gonna deal hughes, it woulda been done by now. I don't think the deal is gonna happen for the yankees.


Hank Steinbrenner is worse than his father. He just keeps running his mouth....

Nothing would please me more than for the Mets to get Santana and stick it in Hank's face....

QUOTE(rembrat @ Jan 4 2008, 04:43 PM) *
Why do you consider Chris Carter their 3rd best prospect? Also, Moss shouldn’t be in a top ten as he at best is a 4th outfeilder. Other than Carter, Moss being in it and Lowrie being too low I have no problem with this list.


Carter has absolutely raked at every level and has given no indication that he wont do it at the highest level. His numbers are gawdy. Moss is on the list because of proximity. He will be a MLBer some day. He will likely be a reserve. BUT, he has a MLB future, which is more than we can say about some of these guys you have on the list. I am not saying that distance from the bigs is a major issue. I am saying that a guy without a 70+ rated tool is no sure thing to develop. I was tempted to say your 10 would be Almanzar, but reasoned with Moss.

Hey Kg do you know what happen to Espn Inside Edge roster? Do you know what I'm talking about? It's empty and blank. Espn took out Cold zone and hot zones off their Website.

Santana could still land at Shea
Johan Santana


http://stations.espn.go.com/stations/1050espnradio/sectional?id=sportsclicker

By ANDREW MARCHAND SportsClicker SURROUND SOUND Listen (Friday, Jan. 4): In the MARCHAND MINUTE, Andrew Marchand reports that the Mets still could get Johan Santana.

Two baseball executives told 1050 that the Mets could still land Johan Santana. The executives say that the feeling is that the Twins are waiting for the Red Sox., Yankees or Mets to up their offers.

One executive says that his organization  which is involved in the trade talks-- was surprised the Mets haven't gone "crazy" yet in trying to land Santana. In other words, the Mets have yet to include all of their top prospects in an offer.

An official with the Twins says the Yankees and Red Sox have more to offer, but he felt that the Mets have enough to do a trade. Met executives have maintained throughout the process that they have the prospects to deal a trade without including Jose Reyes.

The Red Sox, according to one of the executives, have no plans to change their offers. They will either center a Santana trade around Jacoby Ellsbury or Jon Lester. The Yankees are still the wild card because of Hank Steinbrenner, who could wake up one day and just make a deal forsaking GM Brian Cashman's reluctance to include Phil Hughes and other prospects in a deal.

If the Red Sox and Yankees stand pat, the opening continues to be there for the Mets. Omar Minaya perhaps could deal Carlos Gomez, Fernando Martinez, Mike Pelfrey and Kevin Mulvey. That might be defined as "crazy," because they are the Mets top four prospects, but if Minaya did it he might be able to land Santana.

Beantown - I’m not going to start arguing with you, and I’m not going to call you names. And I’m not going to respond any further. However, I will say that you’re right about the Yankees and Red Sox farm systems (they are both excellent), but that’s a new development for both teams. You’re probably too young to be aware of this, but as recently as three or four years ago both franchises were ranked near the bottom for their farm systems. And both competed only by buying stars. That may well have changed now, we’ll have to see over the next few years. If so, then yes, they would do very well under a salary cap. But they’d also be on a par with everyone else, and rather than be guaranteed contenders every year they’d have their up and down periods like other teams.

GENO says:

January 5th, 2008 at 3:48 am

This being primary season, let’s take a little poll.The two candidates are MN nice vs Beantown.What say you folks.How would you like have Beantown as your next door neighbor.The only problem is the guy on the other side is worse.And we in MN always wish we were more respected by the big city boys(NY and Boston).Who wants it.That why my east coast friends only go home to see mommy every other Christmas.The call MN a untapped treasure.To have to read Beantown i think you know why.He right about one thing.Ortiz was not respected in MN.You can lay that one on the doorstep of one Tom Kelly.He never respected young players.Now he has passed that on to his pupil, Gardy.

Yu Darvish Becomes the Youngest 200 million Yen Player

The PL’s 2007 MVP and Sawamura Award winner Yu Darvish signed a one-year contract worth 200 million yen ($ 2 million) in base salary plus incentives and a signing bonus. The deal made the 21-year-old pitcher the youngest player ever to make 200 million yen. The Fighters gave Darvish a raise of 128 million yen after he posted a 2007 record of 15-5 with a 1.82 ERA and 210 strikeouts. Darvish had the best record in the NPB. If he doesn’t request to be posted for the US, he may well become the first NPB player to hit 1 billion yen/year mark within the next 5 years.

Seattle Mariners Sign Kenta Suda

http://www.dugoutcentral.com/blog/?p=765

Nobuhide Shimizu, manager of NOMO Baseball Club, an amateur club established and funded by ex-major leaguer Hideo Nomo, officially announced that the Mariners have signed 18-year-old fireballer Kenta Suda.

Jan 5, 2008 9:09 am - Quote: Hankees Leaning Towards Santana

...posted by Matthew Cerrone...

In the New York Post, Mike Puma quotes Yankees GM Brian Cashman as saying…

“This is what the rotation is, and this is what we’re going [to spring training] with.”

However, according to the Associated Press, Yankees VP Hank Steinbrenner said the following about his team’s pursuit of Johan Santana while talking with reporters during a conference call yesterday…

“Nothing is really decided at this point. I’m still leaning towards doing it. There’s others leaning not to do it. There are some others that are leaning to do it also. Disagreements within the organization. Nothing major, but just different opinions. I’ve changed my opinion a couple times…I’m going to make the final decisions because when you’re the owner you should.”

According to Puma, citing ‘sources,’ the Yankees do not have an official standing offer to Minnesota for Santana.

Meanwhile, at his blog for the Journal News, Peter Abraham writes…

“The Twins must be loving this. Cashman is like a poker player who’s buddy is standing behind him saying, ‘Wow, you have two kings.’”

…from what i understand, while hank would like to acquire santana, cashman and Hal Steinbrenner do not, because cashman has ‘a plan,’ and it includes Phil Hughes, and hal has a budget, and it doesn’t include santana…

QUOTE(missinpedro @ Jan 4 2008, 11:09 PM) *
Hank really sounds like he thinks that its up to him whether or not this trade happens, as if there's not another party. I love the stuff about how all final decisions have to be up to him and Cashman can try to talk him out of things, but he's got the final say because an owner is supposed to have the final say...

Is there anybody, outside of Hank Steinbrenner himself, who thinks that Hank's boss-like pronouncements might help position the Yankees better in negotiations with the Twins? Nothing at all has come out of the Red Sox in the last week or so. Is there any reason why Hank talking to the press at this point might be tactically sensible? I can't think of any.

In the absence of any sound negotiating strategy, it appears that Hank likes to read himself in the papers. He's a copy-writer's dream: he has no idea what he's doing, and he's happy to flounder in public. The column title writes itself: Desperately inadequate son attempts to fill daddy's shoes.