YFSF

Meaningless Accolades, 2009 Edition Part The Second

It's Mauer. Only an idiot would vote otherwise. Fortunately for idiots, there is at least one party favor in the BBWA, because Miggy Cabrera picked up a first-place vote (but came in fourth overall). Catcher Mauer's slashes EACH led the AL: 365/.444/.587. Read that again and remember he is a catcher. Wow.

Teix and Jeets finished second and third. Props and all, love dem Yankees, yada yada, but whatever. Smells. Bad. Lazy.

edit: Cabrera's first-place vote came from Keizo Konishi of Kyodo News, a member of the Seattle chapter.

About That Slugger...

David Ortiz has been outspoken the last couple seasons about the Red Sox' need for more power in the lineup, and he was at it again yesterday:

“Everybody was looking at me like I was a clown,’’ Ortiz said yesterday at Fenway Park, dropping an expletive to make his point. “I said we needed another 30-home run hitter. Everybody was talking trash. There you go. Now what?’’

Okaay. Of course, the Red Sox last year finished second in slugging percentage and third in home runs -- better in both categories than they did in 2008 and much better in home runs than in 2007. Now, Ortiz says the Sox needed another 30-homer hitter, which may or may not be significantly more valuable than a hitter who hit 28 home runs (as Ortiz did) or 27 home runs (as Kevin Youkilis, fifth in the league in slugging, did) or 24 home runs (as J.D. Drew did).

The Sox did have an offensive shortage in the postseason, but it's hard to say another power hitter would have solved anything, given the ones they had were atrocious. Jason Bay put up an OPS under .500, Kevin Youkilis' OPS was .250, and Ortiz himself put up a stellar 1-for-12 line with four strikeouts.

If the Sox re-sign Bay, the best way they can add a power hitter is for Ortiz to get himself healthy and worry about replicating his production from June forward.

Meaningless Accolades, 2009 Edition

Tim Lincecum repeated as winner of the Cy Young for the senior circuit, while Zack Grienke took home the honors for the AL. There's no argument from me about the results in either case, but it is bizarre that Lincecum got fewer first-place votes than Adam Wainwright. Anyway, that's two CYs in three years in the bigs for the 25-year-old Lincecum, who got paid 650k for his work in '09.

Mike Scioscia won the MOY. Texas won 11 of 19 against the Halos. Ergo, Ron Washington is the best manager in the American League. Also, there are no un-fake names that are as bad-ass as "Ron Washington."

Derek Jeter won more than half of all other major baseball awards available. Along with winning a Gold Glove at shortstop AND second base (a major-league first, that) he snagged the Silver Surfer or something, which was certainly expected, he being Mr. Fantastic of the Fantastic Four Core. Since you didn't ask: Mariano=Human Torch, Jorge=Thing, and Andy Pettitte's confession of HGH usage is the surprisingly Invisible Woman. Best of all, Mr. Fantastic took home the coveted "Platinum Watchy", which is given to the player who is consistently firstest and bestest in reaching the rail from the bench when someone does something somewhere that causes camera operators to point their cameras at the bench rail to find out who is watchiest.

Who is your pick for the AL MVP? I'm picking the umpires.

Pesäpallo: Finnish Baseball

Baseball is not big here in Indonesia. The national sport is badminton. You also see a lot of young guys playing soccer and futsal. As far as American sports, basketball rules the day, especially among teenagers. High schoolers sport Lebron or Kobe jerseys. There is always a basketball game being played at the Menteng Taman courts a few blocks from my home.  On the other hand, baseball is rarely played here. I've heard there is an expat softball league, and the American International schools have baseball teams. But, for the most part, this place is not a baseball town. 

You miss many things when you leave a your home city: family and friends, your favorite restaurants, your routines, the weather. One of the things I've missed the most has been being surrounded by baseball fans. I've yet to meet anyone who cares about baseball. This is probably a good thing for me as it forces me to think about other subjects. Perhaps I'll be a more healthy and emotionally balanced person as a result. But it's still frustrating that nobody I talk to here is capable of appreciating the funny way Alvaro Espinoza wore his hat. It can make one lonely.

Evaluating Billy

Chris Jaffe, who writes for the Hardball Times, has a new book coming out this December titled Evaluating Baseball's Managers, 1876-2008. The Hardball Times is running an excerpt from it about Billy Martin. Here's how it begins:

Billy Martin was the most fearless manager in baseball history. In 20 years of managing, he never backed down from a challenge. As has been well documented by others, Martin consistently caused dramatic improvements to his squads immediately upon arrival by pushing them hard. The A’s went from losing 108 games to fighting for .500. The Rangers, who had posted back-to-back seasons in which they had played .350 ball, suddenly won half their games when Martin arrived. The Twins and Tigers improved by 18 and 12 games for him respectively. The Yankees won their first pennant in a dozen years under him.

I'm looking forward to reading this book, particularly for Jaffe's evaluations of managers I know well. How is Torre viewed? Was Grady Sizemore Little criminally underrated as I suspect? (I kid:)). And I also want to read about legendary managers such as Earl Weaver and Casey Stengel. This should be a fun read.

Yanks Will Go After Holliday

The proof is in Buster Olney's recent tweet: NYY are not interested in signing Holliday. They'll talk to Boras to keep other bidders honest, but corner outfield not a priority for them.

Presumably Buster is writing this based on information he received from a source in the Yankee organization. Or he's going rogue and offering his interpretation of the Yanks' offseason plan. In other words, this claim, offered without the least bit of qualification ("I think the Yanks are not interested...." "Team officials tell me they're not interested in Holliday but are interested in using me to further their agenda..."), is dubious, or more precisely, worthless. Still, these are words strung together which actually serve a purpose for this site, and that is to move your eyes from below this post to this post. Mission accomplished Buster!

The Hot Stove Rorschach Test Part I

What are the first hot stove thoughts that come to your mind?

More Valuable Than J.D. Drew

Grace-SF says hello. 

Dock Ellis

Just Watch It.

ht: YF

Warm Stove

It's been a while since I've found the time to post here -- and let's face it, following baseball after a Yankees World Series win isn't all that fun. Tomorrow, the missus and I will head to the hospital to welcome the arrival of Grace-SF, so I don't anticipate being around much in the near future.

Preliminaries out of the way, the Sox have been slightly active in the subsequent days. Here's a rundown:

• Trade Hunter Jones and Abe Alvarez for Jeremy Hermida. Is Hermida the next David Ortiz or Carlos Pena? The Sox seem to have good luck with scrap-heap, salary-dump acquisitions like this. Of course it seems likely that, if he does eventually fulfill his promise, Hermida could wind up more Pena than Ortiz -- failing to get enough playing time in Boston only to break out elsewhere. He'll be just 26 next year, and he was acquired for next to nothing. A solid move. Fun trivia: Before the Sox landed Jason Bay, Hermida's was the name being tossed around in the three-way trade rumors. Talk about falling stock.
• Decline $6 million option on Alex Gonzalez. A no-brainer of a move. Gonzo provides adequate defense, but it's not stellar like everyone seems to imagine, and his bat is wholly inadequate. Bringing him back wouldn't be a bad idea, but not at that price, and the best-case scenario is that Jed Lowrie's wrist is finally healed, and Gonzalez takes the role he really should have at this point: a sure-handed backup. It's disappointing that the Sox and Brewers couldn't reach an agreement on J.J. Hardy though.
• Sign Tim Wakefield to a two-year deal. As if Wakefield's $4 million recurring contract wasn't a good enough deal for the Sox, they came back and gave him two guaranteed years that cost even less (presuming his annual DL trip). Wakefield, of course, wants to win his 18 games to set the team victories record. He's won fewer than nine games in a season just once since he was a reliever in the early 2000s (that was the 2006 season, when the Sox seemed incapable of scoring runs for him). 
• Decline $5 million option on Jason Varitek. Tek has activated his $3 million option, making him quite the well-compensated backup catcher in his likely final season as a baseball player. Now that it's firmly established that Varitek will not be starting 100 games, it just doesn't seem so bad that he'll return.
• Reportedly offer four years, $60 million to Jason Bay. This is really a fascinating case, given the presence of J.D. Drew and his $14 million annual salary on the roster. Drew and Bay arguably provide similar offensive production, but Bay's comes via the sexier home run/RBI counting stats that seem to be valued more highly in the free agent market. Meanwhile, Drew's defense is much better, and the market for outfielders generally is worse than it was when Drew signed his deal, so by all objective measures Bay should be paid less than Drew. Yet it's virtually certain that Bay will receive more, thanks to the Sox' needs and the paucity of elite bats in left field this offseason. FYI, Bay was worth 3.5 WAR in 2009 and 6.5 WAR since 2007. Drew was worth 4.7 WAR last year and 10.1 WAR since 2007. 

Dim Sum Détente

So how do two jewish guys from opposite sides of the baseball fan universe work things out?  They eat pork. Lots of it.  YF and I (along with both families) headed to Sunset Park this weekend to smooth out the rivalrous tension, and also to fill our bellies. We may disagree about baseball, but we both agree that cheap, bountiful chinese food is a key to happiness.  More pics after the jump.

A Tale of Two Teams

On a Saturday family field trip out to Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, we made a stop at a local Greek food shop. Clearly, for the moment, Yankees territory. Their cross-town rivals were represented - city pride still exists. And clearly, as you can see after the jump, the Mets are #2.  Pun intended.

Keeping Score: 27

Courtesy of YFSF reader (and avid Yankee season ticket holder and almost-every-game-attender-and-scorekeeper) LSG, here and after the jump are his sheets for the entire series.  Enjoy, YFs.

(click on each image for a larger version)

27! Congratulations Yankees, World Series Champs of 2009

Phillies-Yanks World Series Gamer VI

Petey and Pettitte. Let's get it on. Comment away.

Where Will You Be Tonight?

I have a feeling the Yanks will win the World Series tonite. They are, on paper, the better team, they have the advantage of playing with a DH, and they will be before a home crowd in the Bronx. Mariano Rivera means the Phils are playing with somewhere between 21 and 24 outs to the Bomber's full 27. 

The last time the Yanks won the Series I was in Europe on business. I will never forget the night in 1996 when they finally won, after so many years of futility. I watched with my future wife in her studio apartment, and afterward met up with all my diehard friends outside the bar where the Yanks were celebrating their victory, just a few blocks away.

I'm not invested in baseball the way I was at that time, or even a few years ago. Losing Yankee Stadium was a blow. But I still care—even when I've wanted to give up this franchise I just have never been able to do it. Certainly, the players this year have rewarded those of us who've been watching, and it's been an especially memorable series. Cliff Lee's nonchalance in Game 1 and Johnny Damon's crazy-genius dash for third in Game 4 will forever have a place in my mental Hall of Fame. So too will the pomaded Chase Utley and Alex Rodriguez, the fearsome slugger we always knew he was.

Will the season end tonight? Perhaps yes, perhaps no. The Phils could always steal two in the Bronx—I don't put it past them. Whatever the result, there will be some sadness, as there always is on the last day of the season. Our childish game will be put away for the year. So savor it while you've got it. And put that champagne on ice. 

Essential Subway Reading

The Daily News gives us 26 Yankee titles, 26 back pages. I enjoyed it very much.

Reason(s?) Why The World Series Isn't Over

I know one reason: neither team has won four games. But if that's not a good enough reason, Jon Heyman has a few others.

Yeah, But The RBI Is Overrated

About one in every four runs scored by the Yankees this post season is attributable to Alex Rodriguez' bat.

Nothing Has Hatched Yet: Yanks-Phils World Series Gamer V

We're taking this one game at a time. At the end of this one, who knows what we'll be feeling? A.J. Burnett vs. Cliff Lee. Comment away!