Seriously, if there is one thing Joe (at least used to) does well, its deal with crap like how the team responds to Pavano.

Anyone else notice how much love ESPN has been heaping on the Sox, its a new article like every day over there!

1 I've avoided ESPN for weeks until tonight, and the first thing I see is a 'Dice-K' fluff job. It's going to be long year...

And those are training caps are hideous...

Meanwhile, and I'm sure I'm in the minority on this, but I think Williams and Fainura-Wada (and their publisher) are also crooks for making a small fortune off that leaked grand jury testimony. Its one thing to expose corruption in government (Deep Throat and Woodward and Bernstein) and to make money off of that - at least you're doing the general public a service there. As far as I'm concerned, no public good was done by Game of Shadows, because Barry Bonds isn't important in the grand scheme of things - no matter how much certain commentators would like us to think otherwise.

1 2 I just don't watch ESPN at all anymore. Helps keep my blood pressure down.

His take on Pavano (and why we can't expect much from him):

http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/02/15/the-trials-of-carl-pavano/

Summary: It's never his fault.

Where some of last year's Yankees are:

http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/02/15/where-are-they-now/

Just don't look for Scott Erickson and Terrence Long on that list.

What Scott Erickson, Terrence Long, AND Kelly Stinnett are all out of baseball?

If that somehow boils down to Joe playing Giambi at first (maximizing his bat), and giving Bernie a couple hundred final at-bats, at the expense of Phillips/Phelps, so be it.

Good for Moose for not ignoring the 800 pound sloth (as perceived) in the room.

Too much drama swirling around Camp DeeWee right now. Hopefully, it will dissipate as the rhythms of the season take over -- but it probably won't.

The only other person I can remember who has put up a post like that here that I agreed with in total is Slice. As a member of the Bar (the other one) it makes my skin crawl when I think about leaking grand jury testimony. The mischief that could work on defendants, their families and witnesses is immeasurable. I hope that idiot's license to practice has already been revoked. I also agree that people have got to stop treating those two reporters as heroes and understand that their action cuts against one of the few protections citizens maintain within the grand jury process. It's true you can get a ham sandwich indicted at a Grand Jury. Privacy and not corrupting a potential pool are the few protections we are accorded in that regard. Should the government ever feel unconstrained in that regard our Federal Criminal Justice system will be turned on its ear; bad, very bad, a very bad thing.

And as if to validate all of my concerns the other day Derek and Joe are moving to Bring Back Bernie (Bernie to the 3rd power, get your TShirts now).

And my other concern that Giambi likes to play and it feeds his hitting. That will put Minky on the bench (good)or off the team (better). More playing time for Melky, (priceless).

Jason wins games with his bat. Keep him happy. When he screws up everyone tries harder to cover for him. This is a good thing. I say keep him in the field. He's a team player. PECOTA that.

I think this is Derek and Joe's last year and they plan to go out doing it their way. Too bad Cash didn't check with the team before making some of his moves; he should be doing a sizzle, heh?

And how do you get all that fucking money and not a shred of fucking brains: Our Man Swindal can't afford a designated driver? Or a limo? Or even a paltry cab, for that matter. Maybe they don't have cabs in Florida.

Steve, Steve, Steve. What is it with these guys? Is that why I'm poor? Cause I'm so smart? With my pro Bernie posts, I will only allow williams23 to answer that question.

Poor George. I heard Stevie had a RedSox cap on and mooned the cops during the straight line walk portion of the drunk test. It's a sad day.

"I'm upset at a lot of them... the son-in-law.."

selig was saying that it was was to be a farewell to a "cathedral of baseball," then goes on at length about how close he and steinbrenner are, closing with "it is also a goodbye to george."

ominous.

kay just moved along to the next topic without following up. (i don't think he was paying attention.)

i was instantly reminded of the discussion of george's health here a little while back.

side note: i enter a virtual waiting room for a chance to buy yankee tickets for fenway in less than 2 hours. i'm a little excited about that.

"Farnsworth, who appeared in 72 games (fifth in the Majors) and had 19 holds (eighth), joined Scott Proctor and Randy Villone as Yankees pitchers who pitched in more than 70 games."

Ouch...Randy Villone?

Those caps are garbage. The jerseys don't bother me as much.

First ST game is 2 weeks from yesterday. I'll be attending the Yanks' 2nd and 3rd tilts- looking fwd to some warm weather, and hoping for a Phil Hughes sighting...

I may be finally moving back to Jersey, and I must say I'm excited at the thought of being in my team's broadcast and media coverage territory again.

Gotta say, I'm happy to see actual players calling out Pavano, and pulling no punches in the process. Maybe now he'll get it thru his head that it's not just a media witch hunt. And if he's got any balls, he'll realize it's time to prove something.

Yahoo Fantasy Baseball goes live today, FYI.

yeah. i'm worthless today at work.

They have good friend Aaron Small as well as Jim Parque trying to win jobs.

http://tinyurl.com/3bdfo6

I realize how much fun it is to play "Dogs Pile on the Wabbit" with Pavano, but I'm still astonished that Mussina's garnering such praise for publicly bad-mouthing a teammate. Even if everything he said is true, I think it's inappropriate - bordering on unprofessional - to air dirty laundry in the papers. But in the last year there seems to have been a major shift in Yankee clubhouse culture, and I don't think it's a good thing.

For the last dozen years or so - dating back into the Showalter years, I think - the Yankees have specialized in presenting a bland, united facade. There's been the occasional David Wells or Gary Sheffield, but they've stuck out glaringly, green plaid jackets in a room full of gray flannel; and the team has generally reacted to them with a chuckle. (That darn Boomer!) BklynBmr sees
this as "a little 'Paulie'" in Mussina, but when did O'Neill - or anyone else - call out a teammate publicly like this?

Put this together with the SI article on ARod, and Jeter's pointed comments (as I see them, others disagree), and it looks like a sea change. I'm not a big "chemistry" guy, but I remember the 80s well enough to think that a fractious clubhouse can get ugly.

I don't care how big a dirtbag Pavano is, I don't see the upside of Moose's (second) tirade. Why is it better said to the papers than behind closed doors? Go to Torre, go to Cashman, separately or in a group; hell, get Farnworth and Bruney to beat the crap out of him. That's all fair game.

What's gained by this? Think ahead - let's say Pavano does pitch this year (I know, science fiction). After every single start, reporters will be descending on Mussina: Has Pavano proven himself yet? How many starts will it take before you accept him? That 3-1 slider he threw to Manny - does that show he's still afraid to challenge major league hitters? And on. And on. And on.

And then...let's see, it's fair to badmouth Pavano, because he's a goldbricker. Moose ripped ARod, too, but that was OK because ARod made errors and was slumping. Who gets to rip whom, and under what circumstances? Bottom line is, it's becoming established that this is acceptable; it's the kind of thing that can get pretty ugly if the team hits a rough stretch.

Finally, there's a commonly-held attitude that I don't get. On the one hand, Pavano is a weak, selfish coward who's sold out his team for close to two years, exaggerating injuries and punting his rehab because he's too scared to pitch but wants to collect his paycheck. That's a damn serious indictment, one step this side of Sheffield's Milwaukee act. Well, you know how I feel about that one...so I don't get people saying that if he pitches will a few times, all will be forgiven and we'll root for him. I've tried my best to withhold judgment, because once I'm convinced that he did those things, there's no way I'll ever root for him, no matter whose laundry he's wearing. He could win the Cy Young - I say trade him to Kansas City for two fungo bats and a Buddy Biancalana autograph and let him win it there. I just can't understand how people
can make such damning judgments about his character and then say, well, win a few games and it's OK.

Phew.

i've been saying for a while that comeback carl should be given a chance. i was beginning to think that i was the only one who thought so.

he might actually put up relatively decent numbers. that would be easier without everyone scrutinizing his every move.

i've been disappointed with moose's remarks, but i'm hoping that he has some kind of insight into carl's personality and is saying these things because he feels it will light a fire under him or something...

The guy doesn't take his job seriously. And in a clubhouse of proefessionals, when's the last time they've seen that? Especially from a guy who's now making the same amount oas Moose?

That's fine when you're either a Wells-type who knows how to put everything aside and perform when it's required.

But as far as the guys in the Yankee clubhouse are concerned, Meat hasn't proven anything - YET. And he can't act like he has or that it's the media's fault.

The message wasn't getting through that: It's all on his shoulders. That, I thought, was Moose's point. Just do it - biatch. Now step up and pitch.

I can't get worked up over Pavano one way or the other.

Moose was just speaking his mind, and I'd rather he did instead of offering bland pabulum.

Moose isn't the type to stir up trouble, and the way I see it his remarks could actually help Pavano in the long run.

Disagreements? work 'em out.

as much as i would love to see comeback carl spin a gem in fenway that night, i'd be just as happy to witness kei "quest" igawa do his thang.

honestly, i feel like a kid on christmas morning.

(i've already been offered $325 FOR 2 OF MY $27 tickets, by the way. i love this town for their baseball passion, as misdirected as it may be.)

And to be clear: I'm really not defending Pavano, I really don't care that much about him either. But I am concerned about badmouthing teammmates, no matter what the circumstances. We haven't seen it here in amnay years, and when we did it wasn't pretty.

Careful, or Carl will come down with tendinitis in his shoulder.

Maybe Carl just needs his ass kicked a bit. It can do wonders at times.