And The Dynasty Finally Ended

Goodbye A-Rod, 

It's been a while since I wrote an entry about the New York Yankees, but hey, when some big time players announce their up upcoming retirements, it's time to have a look. The last time I wrote anything about the Yankees was when Derek Jeter retired at the end of 2014. While 2015 had its own little pleasant surprises, the nub of the problem was that the remaining players beyond what was once the 'Core Four' were getting older, and the other players were merely role players. The Dynasty has been receding from its historic peak for years.

I'll always be an A-Rod fan. At the end of the day I always appreciated his hitting. The whole PED issue has stepped back in importance for me when I look at his career. Sure, he took PEDs and possibly hit more than his fair share. Maybe he did it his entire career? May be he did it as a teen and that's how he became the A-Rod we know in the first place? One can think of the worst of him and come up with ever more theories about the relative merits of his career. I opt to put those things to the side for the simple reason that those homers and hits are real enough.

It is wilfully putting my head in the sand, I guess, for the world of sport screams out loud against "drug cheats".  The thing is, it's nothing like match-fixing. The athlete taking drugs to win, is going exactly in the direction everybody wants to them to go: to excel in performance like no other mortal human being. So, I've decided no, I'm not going to hold the steroids against the steroids era players. It's silly. MLB tacitly allowed this to happen under their watch and then belatedly hunted out players and made examples of them. It's not right, it's not a two-way street, it was a witch hunt concocted by Bud Selig so that he wouldn't have to look bad for having presided over the steroids era.

The truth is, it shouldn't be about the PEDs, the steroids, the allegations, the suspensions. It should be about the guy who was possibly the most talented player of all time. Win or lose, hit or miss, A-Rod provided a mountain load of entertainment for 23years. Twenty-three years! He was the heel, he was feared, he was outrageous, he was hilarious, he was the guy that always compared worse to Derek Jeter in the eyes of the New York Media, but had better numbers. He was all those things, rolled into one, and a once-in-a lifetime player like you will never see again. When I put it under the rationality light, I for one don't really fault the amazing trade that Brian Cashman swung to land A-Rod in 2003. The Yankees got well over a decade of something special from the guy.

We'd be chumps to pretend that didn't happen, or that it didn't mean anything. It meant the world.

Goodbye Tex

As for Mark Teixeira, he too reached the end of the road this year. The injuries caught up to him. He was making noises during Spring training that he'd like to go another 5 years after this season but obviously he said those things before the injuries got out of hand.

Out of eight seasons, Tex had 3 excellent seasons, 2 good seasons, 2 injury-curtailed seasons, and this one where he simply failed to provide any value at all for three months. All the same, it's a pretty good outcome for an 8year contract. As with A-Rod, there's no point complaining about the end being what it is. The Yankees signed him to a long contract just to land him in 2009, and they won the World Series on the back of that signing.

Tex isn't going to make the Hall of Fame, but he is in the imaginary Hall of the Very Good. The amazing thing about Teixeira for me is that I can remember the year he was drafted by the Rangers. The Cubs drafted Mark Prior, and they both made their debut in 2003. It doesn't seem all that long ago. Especially because A-Rod was already in his prime and in his last year as a Texas Ranger that year Teixeira came up into the big leagues. Arguably, the Rangers had the infield of the future in Teixeira, A-Rod, Hank Blalock, Michael Young, and Ivan Rodriguez behind the plate. It's a weird kind of twist of fate that brought half that infield to the Yankees by 2009, only 6 years later.

Amazingly, Tex's tenure at 1B for the Yankees follows in the footsteps of long tenures before him. There have only been five 1B since Mattingly won his spot as a regular in 1984. He went 12 seasons to '95; Tino Martinez went 6 seasons from '96 to '01; Jason Giambi wen from '02 to '08, and that brings us to Teixeira. For the first time since 1983, the Yankees will go into a season without knowing  who will be playing 1B.

The New Kids On The On-Deck Circle

It wasn't just A-Rod and Tex announcing retirements. Brain Cashman also traded away Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller, and Carlos Beltran to load up the farm system. The real story in a sense has been how decisively the Yankees have gone about re-casting their future and the talent they acquired to shape that future.

The Yankees have, for once, collected a lot of talent in their farm system. They have depth at just about every position. In fact they have the most depth at SS which is the hardest to fill. They go 6 deep at SS, starting with Gregorius at the Big League level, Tyler Wade in AA, Gleyber Torres and Jorge Mateo at High A, Hoy Jun Park and Kyle Holder in Low-A. That's a lot of depth. Even first base will have a competition next year with Greg Bird coming back from injury and Tyler Austin graduating the farm this year. They also have a packed outfield with recent additions Clint Frazier and Bill McKinney as well as Aaron Judge.

Not all of these guys will make it, but the Yankees potentially have one of the younger rosters in the AL  next season. It really is a re-boot of the team, right from the ground up. I don't think I've seen anything like this in the Yankees since 1995. Chances are, the young core to emerge out of all these young players won't win a World Series until 2020, but depending on the way things break, this group might peak earlier than expected, just as the aged veterans were forced out sooner than they had hoped.

I can recall back in 2009 when the Yankees wont World Series that the window had closed on that team. The 2009 win was the last win possible with the Core Four. A quick survey of the farm system at the time revealed that the Yankees would project to being a pitching and defence sort of team by 2016-2017. Judging from the makeup of the current team, it's something that has come to fruition, if a little less effectively than hoped. Yet the new kids projecting forward seem to provide an ample horizon where the Yankees will once again be The Bronx Bombers.
That's one sure thing about Baseball - hope always does spring eternal.

Yankees Update 26/04/09

Driven To Tears ...In The Tendon

The story of the week in most part was the piling up injury concerns. Wang was sent to Tampa for assessment and a simulated game and was promptly put on the DL with a soreness in the hip - which is a euphemism for a pain in the ass, I'm sure.

Brian Bruney has also been placed on the DL along with the non-achieving Cody Ransom. Filling 3B with Ransom in the absence of A-Rod was probably a tall order given that the Yankees already have a weak CF and injury concerns in the other corners thus far. Unfortunately this has meant that the third string 3B is Angel Berroa who has played one inning at 3B in his pro career.All of this goes to that it's hard to have depth at 3B when your starting 3B is A-Rod under contract for another 9 years. It also highlights why some of us hold out hope that Eric Duncan amounts to something along the way. If he could play league average 3B about now, he'd be the right tonic. If, that is.

Bruney going on the DL actuall impacts my last remaining fantasy league as well as the thus-far-cruddily-performing bullpen. Hopefully he won't be out for too long. All the injuries and callups have resulted in the Yankees releasing Humberto Sanchez outright. I guess the Yankees got nothing for trading away Sheff.

In relatively good news, Nady won't be going under the knife; he's going to rehab his elbow tendon.

Why Can't They Beat These Guys?

2 games in Boston thus far have yielded 2 slugfests. Neither of which the Yankees won. It's enough to make you hate the game. This capped off a week where the Yankees took 2 from the A's and split the series with the Indians.

Still, the 5-4 and 16-11 losses to the Red Sox just drives me around the bend.

Robinson Cano's Hot Bat

In amongst the crappy week, there was this line of .354/.403/.538 through yesterday.

He has 3Hrs, but also 6 walks to go with 6 strike outs in 16 games so far. He's doing very well indeed. I like this 2009 version of Robbie. Much better than 2008.

BABIP? Did I Hear You Quote BABIP?

During the week, Brian Cashman mentioned that one of the reasons they picked up Nick Swisher was because of his BABIP last year.

Cashman, in his two-hour program, talked of the collecting and meshing of information in making decisions. He still employs scouts extensively to speak to a player's intangible qualities, but the use of underlying stats to evaluate players is a growing part of running the franchise.

For instance, in the decision to acquire Nick Swisher despite a .219 average for the White Sox last year, stats like line-drive percentage and pitches taken were used. "The only stat that was different was batting average when he put the ball in play," Cashman said, "so we concluded it must have been an unlucky year."

Swisher has been an early-season success for the Yankees.

If there were any doubts about the sabermetric-savvy of the Yankees GM, I think it should be banished. He at least understands BABIP which means he is abreast of DIPS theory. What a GM! This is why Yankee fans like Cashman.

Say It Ain't So - Redux

Okay, I Admit It, I Stayed Up Late To Watch The Grilling

So I watched the statement on video, and I watched the other bits of the Q&A. A-Rod really does himself no favors. He's a terrible interviewee in that he looks evasive all the time. It makes it hard for anybody not to lend the basic charity of understanding to his statement. Instead it provokes more questions than answers, and frankly, do we want more dodgy answers to what is already a dodgy situation? I think I've had my fill.

For A-Rod's part, we have to concede a few things to him. He's given the most outspoken admission in Baseball apart from Jose Canseco. He's come cleaner than McGwire, Bonds, Sosa, Palmeiro, Clemens, and even Pettitte and Giambi. Asking for more detail is a little unfair given that he was outed through the inaction/incompetence/faith-breaking of the MLB and MLBPA combined, and the US government that subpoenaed those results.And it's only because some body leaked them that we're all here saying "say it ain't so A-Rod and where's your fucking mea culpa?"

That's right: Let's not forget that the public was not to be privy to this information from 2003, and now that it is, we're collectively making A-Rod pay for all those 104 names. It's way too rich for the press to claim some kind of high ground as it accuses A-Rod of being evasive. And those 103 other guys sure are getting off lightly. They need to send A-Rod a very big Christmas hamper for taking ALL the heat.

As for the Yankees, they seem to be getting very tired of these PED-admissions-biennale. Giambi's "sorry, but I can't admit to what I did" thing was one thing; Pettitte saying, "yes I did, but only once' was another; now with A-Rod saying "I was young, naive and stupid, I wish I'd gone to college where they teach you this stuff" routine must have had the Yankee brass' collective stomachs churning. I like how Cashman said he liked it when A-Rod emphasised the 'stupid' part more than the 'young' part. Indeed, good sir.

Many people give Brian Cashman a hard time for being the GM of the team with the highest pay-roll, as if he's got some wasy, cushy job; but it's in these moments that I think he's gold. He sure doesn't sugar-coat things. If having to organise these horrible moments for the press with a marquee, mics, PA, etc. every couple of years, front up and keep a straight face when you want to chew the players' heads off for their stupidity... I think it would be tough. Really. You have to take your hat off to the man.

Phil Pepe sasy it's a different kind of Bronx Zoo now, but it's  a Zoo all the same. I tend to agree with that easy summation too. I think about those guys now and it seems a world away. I mean, imagine if it turned out Reggie Jackson was on steroids when he hit those 3 homers in that World Series game in 1977? This is a little bit like that hypothetical. Pardon the jokey pun, but this is the Bronx Zoo on steroids. :)

If one had 10 lifetimes, in one of them I think we'd all like to have been an elite athlete. I would've loved to have been the slugging 3B for the Yankees. I wanted to be like Graig Nettles, y'know? Crack some homers, crack some funnies at the journos. He was the man!

When the current guy filling the job description turns out to be a media-circus scandal-sheet-headline and bad-PR rolled into one entity, you wonder how such an endowed human being who is living  dream, turn his dream into such a nightmare? I mean, how do you fuck up something so good, so right royally A-Rod?

*Ugh*. But today is another day. The players are filling into spring training. There are sounds of balls being hit. The guys who got signed look good, the injured guys from last year look fresh, the guys looking to make the team look keen and pretty soon it will be the regular season!

What do the Yankees have going? They have a lineup that has A-Rod and Tex in the heart. It might be the best combo since Mantle-Maris. You'd think this thing has got to score a lot of runs. I hope they kill the league pitching. I really do - as I do every year.

Yankee Hotstove

The Hot Stove Begins Early
That's what happens when they don't make the play-offs. Just checking around the blog-verse, there's a certain resigned air to most of the Yankee Empire of fans. 1) it was bound to happen some day; 2) there were a lot of injuries this year; and 3) that Hughes-Kennedy-Chamberlain troika didn't quite transpire the way it was hoped.

The past few years' post-season appearances have been pretty bad, so it's only a matter of degree of disappointment that's different. 2005, 2006, 2007 were all crappy entries in the annals of Yankee Play-off appearances. They had no pitching and no mongrel in them.

The Brian Cashman Watch Begins... Again
It doesn't seem like it, but it's already been 3 years since we did this merry-go-around when Brian Cashman seemingly won a battle of wills with George Steinbrenner to run the team his way, with his vision. Since then, the 'Steinbratz' Hank and Hal have taken over where George left off and it's been anybody's guess. So here we are again, waiting to see if Cashmoney is going to stay with the organisation in which he came to prominence.

As the Yankees enter another off-season, their first priority is to re-sign Cashman, who is well liked by the Steinbrenner brothers. Hal Steinbrenner has worked closely with Cashman and Manager Joe Girardi, and Cashman said, “I have a tremendous relationship with the Steinbrenner family.”

Hank Steinbrenner has publicly promised to be aggressive in pursuing free agents this winter, and the crop will be thick. The Yankees will explore Sabathia, although they are pessimistic about his desire to play for them.

Well that's nice. He might stay then. That would be very nice. In an organisational sense, he's an in-house product, much like Mo and Jeter and Jorgie, so you'd think he'd stay to see it out.

Things I'd Rather They Didn't Do...
More from the link above:

The Yankees could let Cabrera and Brett Gardner, two strong defenders, compete for the center-field job. But they must prove they can hit. The team could also see if the Dodgers would trade center fielder Matt Kemp for Canó, who has bothered many in the organization for producing so little after being rewarded with a long-term contract. Canó could be replaced at second base by a free agent like Orlando Hudson.

The O-dog is a funny guy - he once called JP Riccardi a guy who dresses like a pimp - but I'm not sure another older player is what the Yankees want. Cano after all, did have a sucky BABIP most of the way of the season. He was down 40 points from his career norm.

Had he hit to his career norm, his line of .286/.305/.410 would have translated to
.326/.345/.501, which is roughly his 2007 line with a touch more SLG. The guy's still an excellent 2B. Matt Kemp is a very nice player, but the upside of Cano is too good to trade away at the lowest point of his value.

Things To Watch Out For...
...apart from signing Cashman.

1) Will they sign Mark Teixiera?
2) Will they sign C.C.Sabathia?
3) Whither Moose and Andy?
4) Who will they sign as the other catcher?
5) What's the bench going to look like in 2009?

Thus the hotstove begins.

UPDATE: Overnight, Cashman confirmed he would return, so that part is done.

“I consider coming off a season where we didn’t reach the playoffs for the first time since 1993 as a personal challenge,” Cashman said in a statement. “I’ve never been one to run from a challenge, and I look forward to having the chance to go after this thing again.”

New York’s shortcomings this season led many to believe that Cashman would not be back with the Yankees in 2009.

However, Cashman received a vote of confidence from Yankees co-chairmen Hank and Hal Steinbrenner, who made the decision Tuesday in an effort to jump-start what likely will be a turbulent offseason in the Bronx.

Hank and Hal Steinbrenner, the sons of Yankees principle owner George Steinbrenner, praised Cashman in a joint statement released by the team.

“Holding the position of general manager for any major league team is a challenge,” the statement said. “But to do so in the great city of New York, where baseball is passionately followed 12 months a year, you must possess a number of unique attributes.

“Brian has shown throughout his Yankees career that he has the dedication, integrity and know-how needed to perform - and succeed - in this environment. Having him in place allows us to begin an offseason of hard work, and we are pleased he will be working hand-in-hand with us to bring the New York Yankees back to the postseason.”

So that's a good sign. If I were him I'd keep going until they took the desk away from me. :)

Today's Mixed Bag

Please Explain
Here's an interesting one in the Weekend Australian today:

THE Federal Opposition has accused the Government of failing to properly investigate a legal agreement which saw Australia's wheat exporter channel $290 million of its money to Saddam Hussein's regime.

Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd said between 1997 and 2003 the Australian Wheat Board paid a Jordanian trucking company to transport its wheat through Iraq.

However, an independent investigation has now found the former AWB, now AWB Ltd, unwittingly provided kickbacks to the former Iraqi dictator via the trucking company, under the United Nations' corruption ridden oil-for-food program.

Mr Rudd said he did not want to point fingers at the AWB and suggest its members were to blame.

However, he said he believed the Australian public should be concerned about how this happened in the first place.

Mr Rudd said the AWB had informed the federal foreign affairs department in 2000 of its intention to enter into an agreement with the Jordanian trucking company and was told there was no international legal reason impeding this decision.

He was concerned Foreign Affairs minister Alexander Downer had not properly investigated the company or the agreement at the time.

"My challenge to Mr Downer is ... what was the detail of your response to the AWB request or letter to you at that time concerning the commercial arrangement with this Jordanian trucking company," he said.

"The stakes are very high here - $US221 million which went from the AWB into the pockets of Saddam Hussein personally.

"That's 14 per cent of the total amount of corrupt payments received by Saddam Hussein under this oil-for-food program."

The AWA insisted it had no idea the money it paid to a Jordanian transport group, Alia, was funnelled to Saddam's murderous regime.

What I want to know is why the ALP is beatinng about the bush with this stuff when there are bigger problems afoot.

The Off-Season Moves
So now that Joe Torre and Brian Cashman will stay with the yankees, it seems like the order of the day is to re-sign Hideki Matsui and go after BJ Ryan and a center fielder at the right price. My guess is that they will angle for a trade with the Twins for Torii Hunter, rather than sign Johnny Damon to a hefty contract.

However, the bigger news of the day is that Daisuke Matsuzaka is having problems with the Seibu Lions getting them to 'post' his contract for the MLB to bid. They figure that although the price on Matsuzaka would be high, they'd rather keep their last star player in a time when they are having trouble drawing a crowd.
The real shame is that Matsuzaka feels he's ready now:

秋季練習後に黒岩彰球団代表と話し合った松坂は「何年もかけ、準備してきたものが整ったという気持ちが強い。もっと深く話し合い、自分にとっていい方向に行けばいい」と話し、今後も粘り強く交渉する意向を示した。
　黒岩代表は「個人的には世界を目指す気持ちは理解できるが、西武グループのシンボルとして、球団を経営していく上で必要な選手だと伝えた」と語った。

Well, he figured to be the only starting pitcher the Yankees were likely to go after this off-season. In all honesty, I think this guy's headed for Pinstripes at some point. Rumours had it the Yanks were cashed up to go posting after him.

Catcher Kenji Johjima of the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks, is now a Free Agent and is saying he wants to test the waters in the majors.


I think at 29, there won't be that many takers. Maybe the Mets who will look to replace Mike Piazza, but I think even they were put off by the non-performing contract of Kaz Matsui. He's a great player, but it's hard to say if his "skills will translate across the Pacific" as they like to say.

Stove League Kicks off

More Info On Cashman

Here's the MLB.com article.

Cashman said most of his negotiation time with Steinbrenner, general partner Steve Swindal, president Randy Levine and COO Lonn Trost discussed not financials, but processes of streamlining and simplification. Cashman spoke Thursday of "splintering," in which members of one faction would voice displeasure with certain philosophies and opinions.

"Obviously, that can create a lot of different potholes along the way as we all travel in the same direction," Cashman said.

Unsatisfied by the final results of the last five seasons, Cashman said he found the ranks of executives open to change and to the removal of ongoing drama from the club's two operating arms.

He drew an analogy to highway guardrails, protecting the straight path through a hands-on ownership group to a 27th World Series championship. Cashman said Steinbrenner was receptive to the plan in a lengthy telephone call last week.

"I want to be that filter," Cashman said. "Everything goes through me. With the chain of command, I think everyone involved wants it that way. We've all suffered this year in different ways because of the splintering. I think everyone involved wants it to be streamlined."

Under what the Yankees hope to be a revitalized plan of structure, Cashman said he is eyeing several changes, most notably a reduction in payroll.

As the Yankees showed by testing young players like Robinson Cano and Chien-Ming Wang this season, a high-end player may not be necessary at every position. Cashman said he plans to target a simple blueprint that places a re-emphasis on the club's Minor League player development -- which already hosts potential impact players at lower levels -- and international scouting.

In Cashman's description of the model, free agency and trades would be used to "finish off" a club, not serve as the bedrock of the organization.

"It's going to work closer to how the other 29 clubs work," Cashman said.

I can't imagine the Yankees ever working like the other 29 clubs. It's just not that easy when expectations of performance are constantly sky-high. However, it does sound like they're headed towards streamlining the crazy payroll.
A good load of money has come off that 2005 payroll so there is scope to trim it back. Now, how do they get rid of Womack...?
In the mean time, the bullpen situation needs fixing; the center field situation needs fixing; Matsui needs to be re-signed; there's a lot of stuff to look after.

Baseball Wraps Up for 2005

88 Years Since Shoeless Joe


The Chicago White Sox beat their 88 year hoodoo and won the World Series in a 4 game sweep of the Houston Astros. It's been a longtime between drinks, going back to a team that had such notable 'Black Sox as Shoeless Joe Jackson, Eddie Ciccote, and Buck Weaver.

HOUSTON, Oct. 26 - The baseball gods were merciless once, inflicting decades of sorrow on a franchise for one fateful mistake. They would sit in that mystical corner of sports heaven, firing thunderbolts at teams like the Chicago White Sox, who threw the World Series in 1919 and have defined mediocrity ever since.

All these years later, it turns out the gods have a heart, after all. How else to explain what happened at Minute Maid Park on Wednesday night, when the White Sox beat the Houston Astros, 1-0, in Game 4 of the World Series to clinch their first championship since 1917?

"I felt all 88 of those years," said the White Sox' owner, Jerry Reinsdorf. "I think I even felt the years that the Cubs haven't won on my shoulders."

The crosstown Cubs are more lovable and more popular than the White Sox have ever been, and they have gone 97 years and counting since their last championship. Maybe now their time will come.

Last October, the Boston Red Sox exorcised their demons in strikingly similar fashion to the White Sox. With no titles since 1918 - two years before they sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees - the Red Sox finally captured the World Series by winning their last eight postseason games.

Likewise, the White Sox followed four consecutive victories in the American League Championship Series with a four-game sweep of the Astros, whose anemic offense could hardly touch the White Sox' pitching.

You can't fault that. The way these things go, it'll be the Cubs who are 97 years and counting, moaning about he curse of the goat and poor Steven Bartman.

Bobby Valentine And The Chiba Lotte Marine Sweep Tigers


Okay, so 31 is much smaller than 88 or 86, but it's long enough to be a hoodoo of sorts.
Bobby V, former manager of the NY Mets who saw the Mets to the 2000 World Series (and lost to the Yanks) has been helming the Chiba Lotte Marines this year and has led them to their first Japan Series win in 31years. The Marines swept the Hanshin Tigers of Osaka.

ボビーが甲子園で舞った—。プロ野球の日本一を決める日本シリーズは２６日、甲子園球場で第４戦を行い、ロッテが１９７４年以来、３１年ぶりの日本一に輝いた。４戦４勝での日本一は０２年の巨人以来、史上５度目。米国人として初めて日本一の栄冠を手にしたボビー・バレンタイン監督（５５）は目に涙をためて「素晴らしいですね。このチームは一番です！」と力強く叫んだ。最高殊勲選手には８打席連続安打のシリーズ記録をマークした今江敏晃内野手が選ばれた。日本シリーズを制したロッテは、１１月１０日から東京ドームで開催される「アジアシリーズ２００５」でアジアの王者を目指す。

　「あの感触は一生、忘れない」と話した歓喜の胴上げからわずか９日。一度経験を積んで心の準備ができていたボビー・バレンタイン監督（５５）は気持ちよさそうに３回、宙に舞った。プロ野球７１年の歴史で初めての米国人監督による日本一。静まりかえった甲子園に“チバ、ロッテ、マリーンズ”の大合唱が響いた。

　「スバラシイ、コノチームハ、イチバンデス」。たどたどしい日本語で、精いっぱいのメッセージを伝える。黄色一色で埋め尽くされた甲子園に「ここは世界の野球の聖地。阪神ファンが日本で一番多いことを実感させられた。でも、ロッテのファンが最高です」

　４試合での最多得点３３をはじめ、攻撃面で６個の新記録を樹立したシリーズ。毎日打線を組み替えた“ボビー・マジック”がさく裂した。その姿勢は日本一を目前にした第４戦でも変わらなかった。第３戦で５番に座らせたベニーを外して、李承ヨプ（イ・スンヨプ）を起用したことが当たった。

Indeed , the Marines simply thumped the Tigers in the first 3 games, scoring more than 10 runs in each (10-0; 10-1; 10-0) and then edged out a 3-2 win to close out the series.
They love the man over there, and as the MLB clubs looking for managers eye Bobby V once more, Lotte are trying to keep Bobby for the long term.

Cashman Stays
So after all that deliberation, Brian Cashman has decided he'll go another 3 years in the Yankee circus to a tune of 5.5million dollars. I'd do it too.

Cashman's current contract expires Monday, and the Yankees cannot announce the new deal until after the World Series, a high-ranking baseball official said yesterday in Houston, site of Game 4 of the World Series last night.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because baseball commissioner Bud Selig prohibits teams from making major announcements during the Series. The deal with Cashman still has not been finalized, the official added.
With the decisions of Cashman and manager Joe Torre to stay with the Yankees, New York can start on its offseason moves next week. It appears the Yankees' first priority will be to re-sign outfielder Hideki Matui, who is eligible for free agency.
New York also has a deal that is all-but-finalized with former San Diego and Philadelphia manager Larry Bowa, who would become third-base coach.

A lot has been said about Brian Cashman but one thing is clear, Yankee fans actually wanted him back and that says a great deal about the support he enjoys in the Big Apple.

The Northern Summer is well and truly done in deep October. I think it's time to seriously watch some Cricket now. :)

Empress of Japan

Mr. Hiroyuki Yoshikawa was the meeting chairman.

Turning Over Macarthur
There was a time when people were calling for the head of the late Emperor Showa (Hirohito) of Japan. Of course, that was straight after World War II finished and they were having a war crimes Tribunal in Japan. General Douglas Macarthur had other ideas about ruling Japan, so he let the Japanese keep the Imperial Family because he wanted the peace to be workable.

Many people have discussed the merits of that decision at great length but the fact remains, the occupation of Japan went very peacefully in contrast to what is going on Iraq today, and much of that was due to the fact that the Emperor stayed. Certainly, an Iraq-like outcome would have been disastrous for the allies, considering the outbreak of the Korean War only 5 years after WWII. Instead, Macarthur's GHQ figured that at some point the Imperial Family ought to be consigned to history and so, worked a clause into the New Constitution, a clause that said only a male could become Emperor of Japan.

Sure enough, the current Crown Prince and Princess have a girl and are not looking likely to issue more off-spring, so the Prime Minister has invited legal and history adivisers to review the clause, and surprise surprise, they have unanimously declared that there can indeed be an Empress of Japan.

小泉純一郎首相の私的諮問機関「皇室典範に関する有識者会議」（座長・吉川弘之元東大学長）は２５日、首相官邸で開いた会合で、最大の焦点だった皇位継承資格をめぐり、現行では男系男子に限っている資格を拡大し、女性・女系天皇を容認することを全会一致で決めた。１１月末までにまとめる最終報告に明記する。

　小泉首相は２５日夜、来年の通常国会に皇室典範改正案を提出する準備を進めていることを記者団に明らかにした。改正が実現すれば、皇室の在り方に大きな影響を与えることになる。

　有識者会議は、現行制度のまま安定的な皇位継承が実現できるかどうかを検証。男系男子の後継者が非常に少なくなりつつあることから「将来必ず後継者不足が生じる」との見方で一致し、皇位継承資格を女性や女系皇族にまで広げることにした。

　吉川座長は会合後の記者会見で「女性天皇は国民に受け入れられると思う」と述べた。

　有識者会議は（１）皇位継承順位は直系の長子（第一子）優先とするのか、男子優先とするのか（２）女性皇族が皇族以外の男性と結婚して皇籍を持ち続けるとした場合、増えすぎる皇族の数をどう調整するか−の点も協議し、最終報告に盛り込むことにしている。

　　女性・女系天皇　　女性天皇は文字通り女性皇族が天皇に即位すること。一方、母方からのみ天皇の血統を引き継ぐ皇族が皇位に就くケースが女系天皇で、いずれも皇位継承者を「男系男子」に限る現行の皇室典範では認められていない。

　女性天皇は歴史上十代８人の例があるが、いずれも男系女子で、皇后を経て即位したか生涯独身を通しており、女系天皇は皇室史上例がない。政府の「皇室典範に関する有識者会議」は、皇位継承の安定を図るため、女性・女系天皇を容認することで一致。政府は皇室典範改正案を次期通常国会に提出する方針だ。

Prime Minister Koizumi will be putting forward a bill to amend the Constitution on that clause. So much for GHQ's great plan.

Waiting On Brian Cashman Update
I know it's kind of weird sticking this in here, but I just saw it.

HOUSTON - If you believe the scuttlebutt from the GMs at the World Series, Brian Cashman's prolonged negotiation with Yankees general partner Steve Swindal is directly related to Theo Epstein's holdout in Boston.
"They're pals," said one GM, "and I'm sure they're both holding out as long as they can, if nothing else, to give Theo additional leverage so he gets what he wants from the Red Sox. In any case, Brian's going to get his money."

That's been pretty much a given. Money is not the issue with Cashman and the Yankees; mutual cooperation and understanding with the Tampa faction of the Yankee front office is. It's been generally assumed Cashman will command a raise from his present $1.15 million to a three-year deal somewhere in the neighborhood of $1.7 mil per year, which would put him slightly above the Braves' John Schuerholz as the highest-paid GM in the game. (The Tigers' Dave Dombrowski makes $2 million but he is also the team president.)

Schuerholz's contract is up after '06, at which time he undoubtedly will get a bump to $2million or more. Epstein, meanwhile, is looking for what Cashman is getting, or maybe a tad more. Last week, he rejected a Red Sox offer of three years, $3 million and has vowed to walk if a deal isn't reached by Monday, when his contract (at $400,000 per year) expires.

Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino is trying desperately to hold the line with his third-year GM - and there have been reports that commissioner Bud Selig has been monitoring the process behind the scenes out of concern for an escalation of the GM salary scale. But stuck in Epstein's craw is the five-year, $12.5 million deal Lucchino offered Oakland's Billy Beane three years ago. Lucchino has shrugged that off as "a mistake" - which, indeed, it has come to be if only because of the predicament it has caused the Red Sox. If Epstein walks, the Red Sox will come out looking like cheapskates, unless they up their offer to $1.2 million or so - which they can then justify as "Cashman money."

Meanwhile, it seems clear that Cashman intends to stay, although he is undoubtedly waiting to see what accommodations are made to Gene Michael down in Tampa. Michael, who had all of his scouting duties and player personnel input diminished this year, is seeking to either have them restored or be given the okay to talk to other teams.

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays, in particular, are interested in talking to him about being a VP of Player Personnel and mentor to 28-year old Andrew Friedman, a baseball neophyte who is expected to assume the GM duties for new owner Stuart Sternberg. In addition, Phillies CEO Dave Montgomery is holding off on interviewing anyone for his GM job until Cashman makes his decision to stay with the Yankees official.

Well that would explain the lo-o-o-ong delay.

Waiting For Brian Cashman

The World' Best Job? ...With The World's Worst-Behaved Boss, Of Course
Brian Cashman's contract runs out at the end of October. George Steinbrenner wants him back. The speculation is still rife but the smart money is on Brian Cashman to resume his tenure as the GM of the New York Yankees. He's keeping awfully quiet about it in the process, though.

Steinbrenner's willingness to express his feelings directly to Cashman is viewed within the organization as a positive move toward convincing Cashman to re-up. Cashman has told friends he wants greater autonomy in decision-making. Hearing the pledge from Steinbrenner, not from an underling, carries more meaning.

Nevertheless, another executive close to Cashman recently said he would not be surprised if Cashman asked to have any promises about the scope of his authority or how the Yankees' chain of command works put into official contract language. The friend said Cashman may request that if his authority or the chain of command is violated, he automatically can opt out of his contract and/or receive a large penalty payment.

Interestingly, Cashman is, to some degree, trying to resolve similar issues with Steinbrenner that Torre was. The Yankees' manager said he needed to be assured The Boss still wanted him as manager after a tumultuous season. Torre asked for and received a sit-down meeting in Tampa with Steinbrenner last Monday that Torre described positively as "more than cordial."

Torre met with the media the next day and said he wanted to stay as Yankees manager, citing the meeting with Steinbrenner as integral to that choice.

Similarly, Cashman "wants to know his opinion counts and that his input is important," an ally of the GM said. Cashman has grown intolerant of having to defend organizational moves (the signings of Jaret Wright and Tony Womack, for example) that he had little or nothing to do with. He has some leverage now to ask for a larger say in such matters with his contract expiring Oct. 31 and the potential to go someplace else, such as Philadelphia to be the GM.

There are a lot of Yankee fans who want him back, if nothing but as the voice of judicious sanity within a crazy organisation we love so much.

There's Excellent And Then There's God-like
White Sock 3B man Joe Crede made some snazzy plays in a World Series and suddenly people are talking about Graig Nettles.
The man himself was very cocky when he got interviewed Mr. Nettles, that is, not Mr. Crede:

"He made some nice plays," he said of Crede. "They were nice plays, but they weren't anything spectacular."

Nettles was implying that the plays he had made were spectacular and, of course, they were. He made four superb ones in Game 3 against the Dodgers. Tommy Lasorda, the Los Angeles manager, has said those plays were paramount in helping transform a series that his team was dominating.

Nettles, 61, has always been confident about his defensive abilities and has usually been candid with his opinions, and this case was no different. He was adamant about separating what Crede did and what he had done.

If Nettles's plays were a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10, maybe Crede scored an 8.

"He made all the plays he needed to make," Nettles said in a telephone interview Sunday. "It was nothing extraordinary. He went one step for them. He went down to a knee. I appreciate the announcers mentioning me, but my plays were different."

Indeed, I saw those plays and have never forgotten them. As I pointed out only a few weeks ago when I put up that old photo I found of him flying sideways through the air like Superman.

Twenty-seven years ago, the Yankees were trailing the Dodgers, two games to none, when Nettles was in the right spot. With two outs and one on in the third, Nettles made a terrific diving play on a Reggie Smith laser down the line to begin an unforgettable sequence.

Then, with men on first and second and two outs in the fifth, Nettles smothered another blast by Smith and limited him to a single. Steve Garvey followed by scorching a ball to third; Nettles corralled it and flipped to second for a forceout, stranding three Dodgers.

The Dodgers loaded the bases again in the sixth, but Nettles vacuumed up Davey Lopes's smash and the Yankees exhaled. The Yankees won, 5-1, and won the next three games to win their second consecutive title. Nettles said fans still reminded him of the acrobatic plays and how they ignited the Yankees.

Those plays are an important part of my life experiences. That is how I will always remember those 1970s Yankees, tough in the clutch. Still, well done Joe Crede, and go go White Sox! The entire city of Chicago needs you.