The New York Yankees are old. Who cares?

Cliff Lee is right. The New York Yankees are old. But who cares? They're not ancient and can still be very good.

It's not like the Yankees team is stacked with just old guys. At the top of the lineup, the Yankees will have the veteran Derek Jeter and a young speedster in Brett Gardner. Mariano Rivera is still the king of the hill, even at age 41, while his new set-up guy Rafael Soriano is a decade younger. Jorge Posada, who will turn 40 this summer, has been replaced at catcher by 28-year-old Russell Martin. And so on and so forth.

Can the Yankees’ “old guys” still perform? Mo is not a question mark, even at his advanced baseball age, as people continue to marvel at his superior conditioning and command. Jeter is dealing with some age questions only because he had a bad year (by his standards) in 2010 and plays a demanding position, but I expect his new swing will help him bounce back. The real question with Posada is if can adjust to being a full-time designated hitter, a move that should help him continue to be a productive hitter if he can manage the tedium associated with not playing on the field.

I don’t think the Yankees’ biggest question is age. It is really all about their rotation: trying to settle on who will start games after CC Sabathia, Phil Hughes and AJ Burnett and whether those new guys have what it takes to beat the Boston Red Sox and rest of the American League East. Hey, not all teams can be the Philadelphia Phillies with their Fantastic Four rotation (although they have some age on their team too) and Lee knows that. I wonder why he even felt the need to raise the age issue. Maybe his little dig will serve as motivation when the Yankees and Phillies meet again in the World Series.

Thanks to artolog and Fui in terra aliena via Wikipedia for the photo.

Can't let Andy Pettitte go

The four main candidates for the last two spots in the New York Yankees rotation are doing incredibly well so far this spring. So why can't I let Andy Pettitte go?

I can't bring myself to turn off my Andy Pettitte Google alert, even though it's pretty thin most days. The stories that do mention Pettitte usually refer to him in the context of which of the four candidates – Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia, Ivan Nova and Sergio Mitre – will replace him. But I think that’s the problem. I’m still not convinced any of these guys can truly replace him. I worry about Colon’s weight, Garcia’s injuries and Nova’s youth (I think Mitre will end up in the bullpen because Joe Girardi loves his flexibility).

Yes, they are all pitching well now, but the real test will come in April when one of those guys has to start against the speedy and powerful Boston Red Sox lineup. Sure, it will only be the second week of the baseball season, but Yankees/Red Sox games are epic battles, even in April. We all know how good Pettitte was in big games. Can one or two of these guys consistently step up to help the Yankees beat their archrivals and the other beasts of the American League East?

In my head, I know the chances of Pettitte coming back this year to help the Yankees are slim. But I can’t help wondering if the lefty will feel compelled to unretire if he turns on the television in May to find his team struggling because the guys chosen to replace him can’t do the job. Pettitte was pretty firm in stating he would not play again this year, but that could change if he feels he has to save his team from ruin, especially if his family gives him their blessing to head back to the baseball field.

Maybe one or two of the candidates for those spots will pitch so well that this all becomes a moot point. But the Google alert stays on for now, just in case.

Will Yankees ever stop disrespecting Jeter?

Will the New York Yankees please stop disrespecting Derek Jeter, especially if they are too gutless to attach their names to their quotes?

An unnamed source, obviously within the Yankees organization, felt the need to publicly intimate that the Opening Day lineup for the Bronx Bombers will feature Brett Gardner displacing the captain in the top spot because it would be better for the team.

The quote was rather tame compared to the anonymous comments about Jeter made during the offseason and the mansion comments directed at Jeter by Hank Steinbrenner, which he quickly tried to backpedal from. But it begs the question: why do people within the Yankees organization, including those at the top, feel the need to turn any little issue related to Jeter into a headline in the newspapers, especially knowing how the man hates anything remotely resembling a public spectacle? Maybe that’s the answer. Perhaps the Steinbrenners are still so annoyed at the deal they had to give Jeter that they are taking shots at him just to embarrass him or piss him off.

For the record, I have no problem with people in the organization thinking that Jeter should shift to the #2 spot in favor of the speedy, young Gardner. There’s definitely a baseball case to be made for such a change. But I have a major problem with them trying to make the case in the media. Instead of whispering in a reporter’s ear, these officials should be discussing a lineup change with manager Joe Girardi behind closed doors.

I haven’t seen anything in the way of a response from Jeter, but I would imagine that he’s getting sick and tired of this whispering campaign (read this hilarious, expletive-laden column from the brilliant satirists at the Onion for the rant we all wish we could see Jeter have). But he’s likely to laugh it off publicly, even if he is privately wondering why the Yankees feel the need to constantly disrespect him.

Tampa Bay Rays need to spend some cash

The head of the baseball players' union is not happy with the Tampa Bay Rays for sharply reducing payroll. Neither am I.

Sure, I’m happy that the Rays are not as strong a team as the one that beat the New York Yankees out for the American League East title last year (not that it mattered since the Rays lost to the eventual AL champ Texas Rangers right before the Yankees did). And the Rays’ eagerness to cut payroll meant the Yankees could sign Rafael Soriano to be the set-up man for Mariano Rivera without the Rays trying to persuade him to continue closing games in Florida. But it also meant that the Rays let Carl Crawford run toward the Red Sox and that huge pile of cash without putting up any kind of a fight, tipping the AL East in Boston’s favor.

To a certain extent, I do understand the economic reasoning behind the payroll slash. The Rays couldn’t draw decent crowds to their decrepit stadium even with an exciting, young team that pounded the Yankees and Red Sox several times over the last two years. That has to be frustrating for ownership, which has been begging for a new stadium for years.

But what is infuriating about the Rays’ decision is that they will still get their share of the luxury tax dollars that the Yankees will pay out for continuing to reinvest their vast revenues in their baseball club. Hank Steinbrenner may be a total blowhard, but he’s absolutely right to be frustrated watching these other teams hoard the cash he has to send in their direction.

Major League Baseball is going to have to figure out a way to force these small-market teams to spend all the cash they receive from the big-city giants on players and compel them to pay administrative and other expenses out of their own pockets. It looks like they can count on the full support of the players’ union for any attempt to implement minimum payroll or spending levels during the next collective bargaining session. I’m sure there will be resistance from the Rays and other baseball clubs in similar predicaments, but baseball is a better game when there is parity on the field.

Big Bravo for BYU

In Weight Watchers, we get a Bravo sticker for accomplishments such as making smart food choices or not putting on too many pounds on vacation. I'd like to give Brigham Young University a big Bravo for what in this day and age is a rare and gutsy decision: declining to sacrifice its values in favor of sports glory.

The college benched starting center Brandon Davies for breaking the school’s honor code by having premarital sex with his girlfriend. It was not an insignificant decision from a sports perspective. BYU is the third-ranked basketball team in the country and has a legitimate shot at a #1 or #2 seed in the tournament. But benching their center is going to make it a lot more difficult for them to compete with teams in the major conferences, meaning they could easily go out in the first or second round. BYU officials knew this and chose to suspend Davies anyway. Good for them.

At a time when colleges are reluctant and often refuse to suspend players accused of heinous crimes as sexual assault, it’s refreshing to see a school willing to buck the trend and bench a player for what was a consensual activity simply because it violated the school’s standards.

As much as it pains me to admit, Syracuse University is not immune to this trend of protecting their student athletes. Jim Boeheim famously defended Eric Devendorf after he was suspended for harassing a female student who accused the then-Syracuse shooting guard of hitting her. Devendorf was a key player on SU’s run at a Big East title that year so of course Boeheim thought the suspension was too harsh. I doubt Devendorf’s victim agreed.

BYU is getting a bit of grief in some circles, particularly from those who believe that the school’s values are stuck in a 1950s ideal of America. But I think school officials should be commended, not ridiculed for their decision. As they say, it’s easier to stick to our principles when there is nothing at stake. But for BYU to stick to its principles when a national title is within its grasp is admirable. I wish more schools, including Syracuse, would show the same courage.

Does baseball have a drinking problem?

We've been so consumed by the steroids/human growth hormone problem in baseball, that it's easy to overlook another problem that may be even more destructive: alcoholism.

Spring training is only a few weeks old, yet we have already seen several players busted for drinking and driving. Miguel Cabrera’s arrest has gotten the most attention because he is huge star and it was his second alcohol-related disturbance. But former New York Yankees outfielder Austin Kearns and Coco Crisp have also been identified as being arrested for DUI.

Does baseball have a drinking problem? According to the latest statistics, 17.6 million Americans out of about 311 million are alcoholics. We don’t know how many alcoholics there are in baseball, but given recent anecdotes the number probably is similar to the country as a whole.

In many ways, alcoholism is so much worse than steroids or HGH. With performance-enhancing drugs, the person is usually causing the most damage to himself. But as a person who has lived with alcoholism and drug abuse in the family while growing up, I know those conditions can have a devastating impact on everyone around that person, especially the children. Meanwhile, every time inebriated people get behind the wheel, they are risking not only their lives, but the lives of anyone unfortunate enough to share the same roads.

Whether baseball players like it or not, they are role models. For every Derek Jeter who embraces that responsibility and does everything he possibly can to keep kids away from drugs and alcohol, there are guys like Cabrera who continue to engage in destructive behavior. Commissioner Bud Selig firmly embraces guys like Jeter, who represents only the best in baseball. But now it’s past time for him to tackle the worst.

Selig needs to make coming up with an effective strategy to manage alcohol and drug addiction a top priority in the next round of baseball negotiations. Sure, the players’ union will balk and fight it as hard as they do against everything else, screaming about privacy. But if they truly had their players’ best interests at heart, they would work with the commissioner to try to come up with a program that focuses on the best treatments for their players, and ultimately punishment if that’s what’s needed.

These players are relatively young, healthy and successful in their careers. It’s not too late to help them deal with whatever issues are causing them to drink before they ruin their lives, or worse, hurt somebody in a way they can’t take back. Hopefully, baseball and the players’ union can intervene before tragedy strikes.

Thanks to shgmom56 via Wikipedia for the photo.

Mets desperately seeking lots of dough

Maybe we should start a collection for the Mets after all.

The bad situation for the Mets has gotten a lot worse. That $25 million loan they got from Major League Baseball won't be enough to meet their costs so they are begging for a new loan to tide them over until they find someone willing to spend a ridiculous sum of money for a minority stake in the team.

Good luck with that. It's hard to imagine anyone wanting to loan them money when it seems like they could go bankrupt any day now. But Wall Street is known for taking risks, including the one that got the world into the financial mess that it's still trying to climb out of. Maybe the big banks will overlook the massive lawsuit, the mounting debt and the team's dismal prospects to float the Mets some cash.

The Mets seem to be out of luck. They have tried portraying themselves as victims of Bernie Madoff, but Irving Picard, the trustee in the case, isn’t buying it. He has persuaded the bankruptcy judge that he should be able to go after Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz and their businesses for about $1 billion partly because they allegedly looked the other way during the Madoff scheme. The Mets officials have denied this, but unless they can convince a higher court to overturn the judge’s decision, they could potentially be on the hook for a judgment higher than the value of their team.

I feel sorry for the people that do business with the Mets or who work for them. Not the ballplayers because they will get paid, but all the other employees. Pretty soon the Mets are going to have to undertake a widespread effort to cut their costs and that could include layoffs since declining attendance means the Mets won’t need as many staffers as they used to. Jobs are tough to come by these days and I would hate to see the employees lose their jobs, but it’s probably inevitable.

The Mets are desperately seeking the cash they need to keep their operation going. For the sake of all the people whose livelihoods depend on the Mets, I hope they find someone willing to lend them some dough.