Jeter Retirement Presser Wrap-Up

(Courtesy of Mark Feinsand)

Derek Jeter's press conference to discuss last week's announcement that he will retire after this season was held today.  I did not watch a second of it because I was at the bar watching the USA-Czech Republic hockey game, so if you were unable or otherwise preoccupied from viewing the presser live like me, here's what you missed:

- The first question was the obvious "why now?" one and Jeter answered it with the response you'd expect from a 20-year vet.  He said last season's injury struggles were a factor and made the decision easier, he cited the desire to move onto other things, and said it was just "the right time."

- One thing that didn't influence the decision was his health.  Jeter said he feels great and is "looking forward to playing the entire season" this year.

- If you were curious about how much of last week's announcement Jeter wrote himself, he said he wrote all of it and that there was a lot of other things he wrote down that didn't make it into the final cut.  Good to know that those were his words.

- Jeter said he wanted to make the announcement months ago but that his friends and family told him to wait, think about it, and make sure it was something he really wanted to do before making it official.  He did speak to Jorge Posada about it a few weeks back, but he didn't talk to Mo.

- When asked about playing time this season, Jeter said, "I want to play every day.  This year will be absolutely no different."  He also said he wants to be remembered as a great Yankee because, "the great thing about being a Yankee is you're always a Yankee."

- What moment from his 20-year career stood out the most?  “Every time we win. … If you ask me what stands out the most, it’s winning.”  Typical Jeter.

It's still a little weird to think about him not being around next year, just like it was with Mo last year.  But he came across like his mind was made up.  Here's hoping he stays healthy and we get to see him on the field as much as possible this year.

Tanaka Introductory Presser Wrap-Up

(Courtesy of Bryan Hoch)

This was it.  The one we've been waiting for.  The introductory press conference we all secretly hoped would happen this offseason, even if we didn't have the guts to say it out loud.  Masahiro Tanaka was introduced to the NY media at Yankee Stadium today and the spectacle did not disappoint.  Tanaka kicked things off by dropping 195 thou to charter a 787 for himself, his wife, a few buddies, and his pet poodle, which is the best possible thing he could have done to make me a bigger fan of his.  If you missed any of today's festivities, here are the highlights:

Looking Good, Ma-kun

(Courtesy of Mark Feinsand)

Is it me or does everybody just look sharper in a Yankee uniform?  Tanaka burning up the podium right now during his introductory presser.  Can't wait to see him on a mound.

P.S.- Yanks reportedly handed out 200+ press passes for this, more than double what they gave out for McCann, Ellsbury, or Beltran.  PR man said this was their biggest press conference since Hideki Matsui's introductory one in '03.  Crazy.

Tanaka Introductory Presser Set For Tuesday

Yankees announce @t_masahiro18 will be introduced in a press conference @ Yankee Stadium on Tuesday, 2/11 at 1pm, airing live on @YESNetwork
— Yankees PR Dept. (@YankeesPR) February 7, 2014

This was the last major offseason happening that needed to happen and we finally got confirmation this morning of when it will be happening.  If you thought the McCann, Ellsbury, and Beltran press conferences were something, you ain't seen nothing yet.  It's going to be an absolute zoo at The Stadium on Tuesday and I can't wait to try to sneaky watch it at the office.

P.S.- Via Andrew Marchand, here's an interesting little note from Cash during his ESPN Radio appearance.  He said the Yankees are looking at Tanaka as a "solid, consistent, number 3 starter."  Yeah, sure.  Keep trying to lower that bar, Cash.

Beltran Introductory Presser Wrap-Up

(Courtesy of the AP)

Carlos Beltran got to fulfill what had to at least be a small life goal yesterday when he became the latest, but hopefully not the last, Yankee free agent acquisition to meet the media.  As expected, flowers were presented to wives, pictures were taken, questions were asked.  Here are the highlights:

- Beltran said "I used to look up to this organization" when talking about his long standing desire to be a Yankee.  He confirmed that he grew up a Yankee fan and specifically mentioned Bernie Williams as a player he was a fan of.  That's pretty cool.

- Both Joe and Cash talked about the flexibility Beltran brings to the lineup as another switch hitter to add to the mix.  It'll be interesting to see how Joe decides to lay out the middle of the batting order with all these new faces.

- Apparently the wound from his time with the Mets hasn't fully healed.  Beltran said that he thought "it wasn't right" how the team portrayed him at times, especially when it came to leaks from within the organization.  He did later say that if he made the HOF he would strongly consider going in as a Met though, so he can't be too upset.

- We knew this already from a tweet of his weeks back, but Beltran will wear David Cone's old #36 next year.  And he will play right field.

- Beltran on the team's chances next year: "With the signings of Ellsbury, McCann, myself and the players that we have, I believe that we have a good (enough) team to go all the way. We still have to go out there on the field and perform, but most importantly, we feel that we have the players – the characters – to accomplish that.”

Ellsbury Introductory Presser Wrap-Up

(Courtesy of the AP)

The Yankee formally introduced their second big free agent acquisition yesterday, holding a press conference for new center fielder to be Jacoby Ellsbury.  As always, there were a few moments of note.  If you were stuck at work like I was and unable to watch, here are the highlights:

- Ellsbury will wear #22, the same as some pretty significant Yankees before him wore.  He said he decided on 22 because all his other previous numbers he wore in Boston and in college - 2, 46, 23 - were either taken, off limits, or retired. Yeah, that'll happen when you come to this team.

- As with Brian McCann, Ellsbury said he spoke to a few current players before making the decision to sign.  Specifically, he said Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira reached out to him to sell him on playing in New York.

- He played through a compression fracture in his foot in the postseason, but Ellsbury said he's fully healthy and able to have a normal offseason workout program.  When asked about his past injuries, Ellsbury said, "“I play the game hard.  I play the game, I feel like, the right way. That’s what I take pride in, going out there each and every day and giving everything I have. It was just two unfortunate things."

- Cash on the idea of Ellsbury's power playing up in YS3: “I’m not looking for that.  I certainly don’t want him to change his approach because of the ballpark."

- Joe's big comment to Ellsbury: "You're no longer a thorn in our side, you're a flower in our clubhouse."  Aaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwww!

There's 2 officially in the fold for next year.  Time to get that Beltran physical over with and get him introduced too.

Cue The Robbie Cano Smear Campaign

Via George King's report on the new Cano deal:

"According to three people who know Cano, he didn’t enjoy playing for manager Joe Girardi and that may have factored into the decision, though the Mariners giving him $60 million more than the Yankees offered ($175 million) likely had more to do with him leaving. ...

'He told me he didn’t want to play for [Girardi],' a friend of Cano’s said."

Come on, guys.  Do we really have to take the Boston route on this one and trash the guy now that he's on his way out of town?  Have a little class.  He was a great player while he was here, he did a lot of great things for the Yankees while he was in pinstripes, and he did exactly what any of us would have done if we had that kind of money on the table.  Like I said yesterday, it was strictly a business decision for both sides and there's nothing wrong with that.  Don't make it personal when it doesn't need to be.

McCann Introductory Presser Wrap-Up

Brian McCann's introductory press conference was held earlier today.  It was the typical Yankee affair, with all the head front office honchos out there, a million cameras, and the unveiling of the number a new player will wear when he's coming to a team with precious few good ones available.  If you weren't able to watch live, here's what you missed:

- McCann will wear #34 as a Yankee.  He said it was because his former teammate and good friend Eric O'Flaherty wears that number for the Braves.  Shouldn't be too hard to exceed what Freddy Garcia did in that number.

- Cash hooked his wife up with a bouquet of flowers and a pair of #34 onesies for his kids.  Gotta keep the wives happy.

- Joe said of McCann, "We think we've got the next great Yankee catcher right here."  He would know.  He played with the last one.

- McCann said he called Mark Teixeira before making the decision to sign to "pick his brain" about what it was like to play in New York.  Because nobody has their finger on the pulse of what it's like in NYC than painfully white, robotic humanoid Mark Teixeira.

- When the topic of clubhouse leadership came up, McCann said "this is Derek Jeter's team" and added that he's looking forward to meeting the rest of the team and "falling in line."

So there you go.  Pretty standard stuff, although McCann most likely will become more of a clubhouse leader than he let on.  Welcome aboard, Brian.  Looking forward to doing this for Ellsbury next week.

P.S. Check out this picture that Feinsand got of the front office heads sitting down.  Levine, such a fucking tool.

Don't Get Worked Up About Joe's Contract Situation Either, People

I understand that Robbie Cano and Joe are very important parts to the Yankees' future plans, guys.  But can we not get overboard excited about what their contract "demands" are and what they may or may not do this early in the offseason game?  Please?

I'll admit, there were a lot of little things happening yesterday that could have made it appear as though Joe was jumping ship.  He wouldn't commit to coming back to the Yankees beyond saying he had to sit down and discuss it with his family, Buster Olney reported that it would take a significant raise from his current $3 million salary to bring him back to New York, his hometown Cubs fired Dale Sveum after 2 relatively unproductive seasons, and the roster he could be looking at in 2014 could be worse than what he just got done managing.  Still, if you think his decision is that simple to leave a potentially sinking ship to return home and become a hero, it's not.

Let's All Calm Down About The Reported Cano Contract Figures

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

With the season unofficially over as of last night, the focus has already shifted to the upcoming offseason and all the things the Yankees are going to have to address while building their 2014 roster.  The obvious number 1 topic of discussion on that list is Robinson Cano's free agency and what the Yankees will or won't be willing to pay to retain him.  That stayed quiet for the majority of the regular season, but business started picking up this morning when reports of a 10-year/$300 million proposal from Cano's camp came out.

Via Buster Olney (Insider only), the numbers are actually 10 years and $305 million, the total value of Alex Rodriguez's contract with the HR escalator bonuses included.  David Waldstein reported that the Yankees made an offer of 7 years/$161 mil earlier in the season and the distance between those 2 figures has set off a ton of talk around the Yankosphere about what it all means and what the Yankees should do.  Before things get too out of control, I'd like to offer a simple reminder to everyone who's concerned about the numbers.  Relax.  This is how it works.  It's each side making their first offer as part of a negotiation and there's no reason to get worked up.

Last Time On "As The Quad Strains"

Joseph accused Randy of sabotaging Alex's career:

"They rolled him out there like an invalid and made him look like he was finished as a ballplayer."

Randy called Alex out for hiding behind his lawyer, and challenged him to expose the truth:

"Alex should put up or shut up."

Alex tried to catch up on his reading:

"I've got to read the article first."

And Brian just didn't feel comfortable talking to Alex anymore:

"I don't feel comfortable talking to him. ... Hello, goodbye, and that’s it. Because anything else, I don’t want to be distorted, to be quite honest.”

What will happen next time?  Will Alex reveal his medical records?  Will Joseph expose Randy for his hurtful lies?  Will Alex get some time to check out that article??  And will Brian and Alex ever be able to repair their broken relationship???  Tune in next time to "As The Quad Strains."

Mike Francesa Boomsauces Bill Madden

Normally I'm not a Francesa guy.  Most times I find him smug, rude to too many callers who don't deserve it, and not nearly as knowledgeable about baseball or sports in general as he thinks he is.  But one thing Mike does better than anybody is on-air interviews, especially when he's trying to use that interview to steer the conversation somewhere else, and he killed it yesterday with Bill Madden on the A-Rod steroid story.

If you haven't had a chance to listen to it yet, you can check out the whole thing here.  It's pretty lengthy and the first 15 minutes or so are just recapping what's already happened.  It starts getting good in the middle and it was pretty obvious that Mike had an axe to grind with Madden and the NY MSM in general for how they've singled out A-Rod and outlandishly run him through the mud.  The continued questioning about Madden's comparison of A-Rod to Whitey Bulger without any real justification for that from Madden and the heated nature of their exchange about the other names on that unreleased list of 100 players were great.

There hasn't been nearly enough of this in the New York media, so kudos to Francesa for taking Madden and really the rest of the MSM A-Rod haters with him to task yesterday.  Sorry, Bill.  You got roasted, bro.

Next Time On "As The Quads Strain"...

(Previously, tensions rose in Yankeeland.  Courtesy of USA Today)

Brian reveals Alex's betrayal to the agreement:

"Contrary to the Basic Agreement, Mr. Rodriguez did not notify us at any time that he was seeking a second opinion from any doctor with regard to his quad strain."

While Alex tries to smooth things over with his once supportive organization:

“I think the Yankees and I crossed signals. I don’t want any more mixups. I’m excited and ready to play and help this team win a championship I feel great and I’m ready and want to be in the lineup Fri night. Enough doctors, let’s play."

Does anybody mean what they say?  Are they just looking to stab each other in the back again?  Will the threat of a lifetime ban force Alex to make a deal with the devil?  And just what the hell is going on with Derek's legs?  Tune in next time to "As The Quads Strain."

The NY Spring Training Double Standard

Lost in all the talk about Ivan Nova's command, Andy Pettitte's return, and Michael Pineda's velocity is the rather pedestrian spring being had by another Yankee starting pitcher. This pitcher has made only 4 official starts this spring and in those 4 starts has thrown 14.0 total innings. In those 14 innings, he has allowed 7 earned runs on 19 combined hits and walks while striking only 10. As a back-of-the-rotation candidate, these numbers could be acceptable. For a guy being paid top dollar who is expected to anchor the starting rotation of the New York Yankees they are hardly encouraging and yet there hasn't been a peep from anybody in the media about him or his performance this spring.

As you probably guessed, the pitcher in question here is CC Sabathia. CC has reached almost Mo-like levels of media non-coverage this spring, as the only time his name has been mentioned is on the days he's scheduled to pitch. His ST stat line suggests that he's had problems commanding his stuff and locating his pitches during his outings, and Sabathia himself has admitted that he had issues with his changeup earlier in camp and his 2-seamer still isn't where he wants it to be. On the surface, these should probably be just as important as MSM talking points as Pineda's velocity is. A team's ace, who also happens to be the highest paid pitcher in baseball, giving up more hits and runs than you'd like to see and heading into his final start of the spring before Opening Day without full command of his pitches should be a big story, especially with the New York sports media involved. They normally can't jump all over a story like this fast enough.

What prevents that from happening in this situation is track record. CC has spent 3 seasons in New York and has been a beast in all 3 of them. He's made 101 starts in a Yankee uniform, won 59 of them, pitched over 230 innings in each of his 3 seasons, and finished top 4 in the Cy Young voting in each of his 3 seasons. Oh, he's also got a World Series ring on his finger too. All things being equal, CC probably deserves to have his ST performance dissected just as much as Pineda's if not more given his role on the team. After all, Pineda has given up fewer runs and struck out more batters per 9 innings in his ST outings than CC has. But when you've got the kind of resume in New York that CC has, that pretty much takes equality out of the equation.

In a perfect world, Michael Pineda would probably be getting a little more credit for how well he's pitched this spring without his top-shelf velocity and CC would probably have a few more stories written about him and his command issues. That would be fair. But things are hardly ever fair in the world of the New York sports media and this is just the latest example. They've seen CC get the job done on a consistent basis over the past 3 seasons, they expect him to do the same this season regardless of how well or how poorly he pitches in Spring Training, and so he gets the free pass from them. Pineda doesn't have the track record in New York to fall back on, so he gets put through the meat grinder.

Perhaps we in the blogosphere, even those of us going to bat for Pineda, are just as guilty of feeding this double standard by writing about Pineda and not about Sabathia. I know I'm not concerned at all about CC based on his ST performance and fully expect him to deliver this season just like he has the past 3. For better or worse, this is how it is in New York and Michael Pineda is finding that out firsthand. At least he can take solace in the fact that if he follows CC's path in his first couple years here, he'll never have to hear any griping about his fastball velocity in March ever again.