Random Yankees thoughts: spring training sequel

Despite what Joel Sherman says, I don’t think the New York Yankees are tired of Joba Chamberlain. I think Sherman is tired of Joba Chamberlain. The New York Post columnist launched a bizarre public attack criticizing Joba for acting childlike, which is a silly argument to me considering these guys are playing a game for a living. So what if Joba is loud in the clubhouse or expresses his preference to start or close baseball games? He is well within his right to express his opinions, just like the Yankees are well within their rights to ignore them, just as Brian Cashman and Joe Girardi did.

Sherman is a columnist these days, but it still seems strange that he would take such a personal shot at a baseball player he has to cover. It’s more of an attack on his character, not his pitching, and for no other reason than Sherman doesn’t like want he perceives as Joba’s act. Opposing players have never liked Joba’s antics on the mound, but I haven’t heard any of his teammates or bosses complain so I’m going to disregard Sherman’s criticisms, as should Joba.

·         Alex Rodriguez is a constant magnet for criticism so it was no surprise to see all the coverage of the Boston Globe report that listed him as one of the professional athletes whose charity didn’t give as much money away as it should. These types of stories gain traction simply because people hate ARod, but some things are just unfair. Granted, his charity was not as efficient as it should be, but it’s not like he was pocketing the money for himself. And when he realized it wasn’t working out, he shut down the charity and gave millions directly to good organizations such as the Boys and Girls Club. He should get credit for realizing that running his own charity wasn’t the right path for him and finding other ways to give back to the community.

 
·         Derek Jeter is spending a lot of his time this spring training trying to reassure the world that he is healthy and will be ready for Opening Day. He was a guest on the Mike Francesa show this week and the very first question he got from MF was about his health. The Yankees Captain said he immediately knew the injury was bad and the ankle was broken last October. But he quickly moved on to reassuring all of Yankee land that he will ready to man shortstop come April 1. Jeter has an extreme tolerance for pain and supreme confidence in his own abilities so I’m going to take him at his word that he will be ready to go.

 

Clean players sick of baseball cheaters

Mark Teixeira gave voice to the sentiments of hundreds of his fellow clean colleagues all around baseball when he expressed his disdain for and frustration with the players who still try to cheat the system.

Tex is clearly not alone in this sentiment as union boss Michael Weiner admitted that he is hearing from players who are sick of talking about the use of PEDs in baseball. It seems that the Miami clinic scandal in which New York Yankees Alex Rodriguez and Francisco Cervelli have been embroiled in is the final straw for many players, who are now exercising their First Amendment rights to speak up in favor of stiffer punishment. Until recently, the players’ union was dead set against such penalties, but if the vast majority of baseball players say they want tougher testing and penalties, the union’s continued resistance will be futile.

I do disagree with Tex in the sense that I think baseball definitely needs stiffer penalties. Players are clearly not deterred enough by the 50-game suspension penalty. Look at Melky Cabrera. He sat out his 50 games, gave up any right to the National League batting title (which I give him some credit for) and had to watch his team win another World Series without him. And yet he was still rewarded with a solid, two-year contract from the Toronto Blue Jays. That, to me, is a joke and perhaps the Jays would not have been so eager to sign him if he was still under suspension.

I’d like to see players forced to sit out, without pay of course, half a season for a first offense, a full year for the second offense and keep the lifetime ban if they get caught a third time. Tex is right that cheaters will always try to figure out a way to game the system, no matter what changes are made. But there has to be a greater financial incentive to try to keep them honest. 

Who will replace Curtis Granderson?

For the record, I would be shocked if the New York Yankees took Johnny Damon up on his offer to cover for Curtis Granderson for the first month of the 2013 baseball season.

Nor do I believe we are primed for an Alfonso Soriano return to the Bronx, even if the Chicago Cubs decide to kick in some salary to move him. But the quest to replace Granderson is on, a mere two days after Grandy had the rotten luck of getting hit by a pitch and breaking his arm in his first spring training at-bat.

I expect the Yankees to turn to one of their internal candidates since his disabled list stint is only supposed to keep him out for the first five weeks of the regular season. None of the potential candidates – Juan Rivera, Melky Mesa or Matt Diaz – will put up Grandy-like numbers, but I’m sure one or a combination of them could hold down the fort for a month.  

The Yankees have been committed to reducing their payroll and adding another high-priced, aging player goes against that plan. But a recent report indicated that Hal Steinbrenner may be spooked by reaction to that plan and indifference toward the team shown by fans of late, as demonstrated by the empty seats in the ballpark in October. While I do believe he is willing to pay to keep Robinson Cano after this season, I don’t think this means Steinbrenner will open up his wallet to pursue another star outfielder to deal with what is essentially a short-term problem.

Bottom line, Yankees spring training games will be worth watching to see which outfielder can step up and replace Grandy, just for a little while.

Random Yankees thoughts: spring training edition

There can be only one Evil Empire.

I know the nickname was meant to insult the New York Yankees, but I have always loved it and many Yankee fans and the organization itself have embraced it. Now, even the law recognizes that the Yankees are in fact the Evil Empire and are entitled to legal protection for the nickname. I guess we should thank Boston Red Sox President Larry Lucchino for pinning the moniker on the Yankees (and for the profits that came with it).

·         I love Lady Gaga’s music although I’m not always crazy about her antics. Still, I was looking forward to going to her concert at the Barclays Center (my first time checking out the new arena) with my sister. Unfortunately, Gaga’s hip injury and subsequent surgery put the kibosh on those plans. Never to fear because Alex Rodriguez is on the case. The Yankees third baseman reportedly spoke to Gaga (an archenemy of ARod’s supposed one-time paramour Madonna) to reassure her about the procedure. I’m hoping Gaga makes a quick recovery and can resume her tour in 2013. But the best things come to those who wait. I attended a U2 concert almost exactly a year after it was first scheduled due to Bono’s back injury and it was definitely worth the wait.  

·         So a Core Four reunion is not in the cards. Jorge Posada has vowed that he will not pull an Andy Pettitte and un-retire after a year away from baseball. Not even the pull of another spring training with his best pal Derek Jeter could lure him away from the happy home life he is enjoying. If Posada was still capable of playing at his level, he would have a real shot at his old job with the Yankees, who will likely be desperate for offense and don’t really have a #1 catcher now that Russell Martin has joined AJ Burnett in Pittsburgh.   

 ·         I’m generally in favor of the planned switch of outfield positions for Curtis Granderson and Brett Gardner as Gardy has more speed and is clearly the better fielder. I do worry that Granderson, in having to learn how to play a notoriously difficult left field at Yankee Stadium, will let any defensive challenges affect him at the plate, where he will be counted on to produce for the often offensively challenged Yankees. However, Mike Cameron raised a potential safety issue in making the switch, with Granderson having to relinquish his take-charge mentality in the outfield to avoid a collision similar to the one Cameron experienced with New York Mets teammate Carlos Beltran. I distinctly remember that terrifying accident and pray nothing even remotely close to it happens to Granderson and Gardner.  

Disappointing early setback for Hughes

This is the year Phil Hughes was planning to take control of his own destiny, perhaps even finally becoming the #1 starter the New York Yankees once projected him to be. So I can only imagine how disappointed he must be that he has to sit out the next two weeks with a back injury.

His 2013 campaign got off to a very rocky start when he was diagnosed with a bulging disc, an injury he sustained during a routine training drill. Hughes has a history of injury problems and his manager Joe Girardi admitted that this latest injury is something to worry about. The righty is being counted on to provide youth and stability to a baseball rotation whose top three starters are either older or coming off surgery so the early setback for Hughes is not a good sign.

The timing for Hughes also couldn’t be any worse in the sense that he is one season away from free agency. He is one of the few Yankees that can be counted on for an honest answer so I wasn’t surprised to see him admit that he was watching the free agent market this past offseason and admiring the contracts other pitchers were getting. I’m sure he is looking forward toward a similar payout after the 2013 season (although his $7 million+ salary for this year is nothing to sniff at). Hughes has a solid resume and youth on his side, but his injury history would likely be a major question mark for teams considering long-term bids for his services.

Perhaps Hughes will sit out the next two weeks and fully recover in time to slot into the Yankees rotation as planned. He is definitely helped by the fact that the injury occurred very early in spring training and that he came into camp in pretty good shape. But I can’t help but wonder if Hughes is destined to suffer these strange injuries throughout his career. I hope that’s not the case because he has shown us flashes of brilliance. Hopefully, this is just a disappointing setback for him, one to be quickly overcome.   

Jeter’s recovery top baseball story for Yankees

Put aside the salacious revelations of the potential connections of Alex Rodriguez and Francisco Cervelli to a Miami clinic suspected of dispensing performance-enhancing drugs. Never mind the feud and subsequent burying of the hatchet between Joba Chamberlain and his new teammate Kevin Youkilis. The most important baseball story so far this spring training by far for the New York Yankees has been the recovery of Derek Jeter.

I can understand why the media is obsessing with the Yankee Captain’s every move on the field. With ARod down for at least half a season, Nick Swisher playing the outfield for the Cleveland Indians and Russell Martin catching his old pal AJ Burnett in Pittsburgh, the Yankees are going to have to squeeze offense out of every position. The Yankees will desperately need Jeter to have a season like he had last year before getting hurt, the kind of season in which he carries the team with his clutch hitting and defense while his teammates struggle mightily, which will no doubt happen again this year. Jeter has to be healthy and he has to be Derek Jeter or the Yankees don’t have a chance in 2013.

But I really worry about his health. I hope Derek learned a valuable lesson about not pushing himself too hard. He admitted he played the last two months of the 2012 regular season and into the playoffs on an injured ankle even though he probably shouldn’t have. Jeter is, in a sense, a hostage to his own toughness because he firmly believes that if a baseball player can walk, he should be out on the field. I’ve long admired his ability to ignore pain and man the shortstop position every day, but I think it leads to too many situations where he plays baseball when he shouldn’t. It finally cost him last October.

Jeter’s rehabilitation has gotten even more attention than Mariano Rivera’s comeback, perhaps because Mo’s injury happened way back in May of last year while the image of Jeter writhing on the ground in unbearable pain is fresh in our minds. Whatever the reason, no one on the Yankees is being watched more closely than Derek Jeter.

Chamberlain-Youkilis feud overblown

I’m so glad Joba Chamberlain and Kevin Youkilis are now best buds. Now the New York Yankees can steamroll their way to the World Series championship that’s rightfully theirs.

Seriously, I don’t doubt that there was genuine bad blood between Joba and Youkilis. The Yankees-Red Sox rivalry has gotten nasty at times, despite the fact that some of the players actually enjoy each other’s company (see Derek Jeter and Dustin Pedroia after being teammates during the last World Baseball Classic). Now, I don’t expect Joba and Youkilis to really become friends and they don’t need to be—seriously, who likes all of their coworkers? But I never thought that there was going to be tension between Joba and the Yankees new third baseman to the point where it was going to wreak havoc with the team’s chemistry.

But perhaps Youkilis could benefit from the Yankees’ superior media operation. If he had only returned Joba’s call in the offseason when the Yankees pitcher called to make peace, the story wouldn’t have blown up the way it did. And Yankee fans shouldn’t overreact to Youkilis’ stated love for Boston and the Red Sox. He played there for eight years and we can’t expect him to start bleeding pinstripes just because he signed with the Yankees. All we should expect is that he will bring the same fire and clutch hitting to the Yankees that he did before his time in Boston came to an ugly end.

But teammates do not have to love each other for a team to win. I distinctly remember that Derek Jeter was no Roger Clemens fan when the Rocket was throwing 95mph fastballs at his head. But spring training started in 1999 and Jeter and Chuck Knoblauch pranked their new colleague by showing up in the batter’s box with full catcher’s gear, getting a big laugh out of the notoriously intense Clemens. The prank lightened the mood in spring training and the Yankees never looked back.

I’m not saying that the Yankees are going to win another title if Joba comes up with a similarly hilarious prank to pull on his new teammate. The Yankees have plenty of problems that are a lot worse than any feud between Joba and Youkilis and that’s where the focus should be.