Baseball Toaster: Bronx Banter : Done...but no Details

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The Ugly Truth About the New Yankee Stadium
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Bronx Banter Interviews

Roger Angell
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Malcom Gladwell
Bill James
Pat Jordan
Chuck Korr: Part 1 Part 2
Jane Leavy
Michael Lewis
Tim Marchman
Marvin Miller
Rob Neyer: Part 1, Part 2
Buster Olney: April 2003, Sept. 2004
Buck O'Neil
Joe Posnanski
Alan Schwarz
Joel Sherman
Tom Verducci

Excerpts

Juicing the Game by Howard Bryant Part 1 Part 2
Forging Genius by Steven Goldman Part 1 Part 2
How About That! by Stephen Borelli
The Crowd Sounds Happy by Nicholas Dawidoff
The Last Nine Innings by Charles Euchner
Clemente by David Maraniss
The Soul of Baseball by Joe Posnanaski
Glenn Stout and Richard A. Johnson:
Yankee Century: Part 1 Part 2
Red Sox Century: 1 2 3 4
The Dodgers: 120 Years of Dodgers Baseball

Players

Major Leauge Roster:

Infielders:
J. Giambi BR BP E MLB
R. Cano BR BP E MLB
D. Jeter BR BP E MLB
A. Rodriguez BR BP E MLB
W. Betemit BR BP E MLB mi
C. Ransom BR BP E MLB mi
J. Miranda BR BC mi

Outfielders:
B. Abreu BR BP E MLB
J. Damon BR BP E MLB
X. Nady BR BP E MLB
H. Matsui BR BP E MLB mi
B. Gardner BR E MLB mi
M. Cabrera BR BP E MLB mi

Catchers:
I. Rodriguez BR BP E MLB
J. Molina BR BP E MLB
C. Moeller BR BP E MLB mi
F. Cervelli BR BC mi

Starting Pitchers:
M. Mussina BR BP BC E
A. Pettitte (L) BR BP BC E
P. Hughes BR BP BC E mi
C. Pavano BR BP BC E mi
A. Aceves BR E mi

Relief Pitchers:
M. Rivera BR BP BC E
J. Chamberlain BR BP BC E
D. Marte (L) BR BP BC E
J. Veras BR BP BC E mi
E. Ramirez BR BP BC E mi
B. Bruney BR BP BC E mi
D. Giese BR BP BC E mi
C. Britton BR BP BC E mi
P. Coke (L) BR BC E mi
D. Rasner BR BP BC E mi
S. Ponson BR BP BC E mi
D. Robertson BR BC E mi
H. Sanchez BC mi

15-day DL:
C. Wang BR BP BC E
60-day DL:
J. Posada BR BP E MLB
J. Albaladejo BR BP BC E mi
A. Brackman BC

Coaches:
J. Girardi (Mgr) BR BP BC
R. Thomson (Bench) BC
Kevin Long (Hit) BR
D. Eiland (Pitch) BR BP BC
B. Meacham (3B) BR BP BC
T. Peña (1B) BR BP BC
M. Harkey (Pen) BR BP BC

40-man Roster:
AAA
S. Duncan BR BP E MLB mi
J. Christian BR BP E MLB mi
I. Kennedy BR BP BC E mi
C. Wright (L) BR BP BC E mi
J. Marquez BR BC mi

Designated for Assignment:
B. Traber (L) BR BP BC E mi

Select Minor Leaguers:

AAA Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees:
B. Castro BR mi DL
C. Basak BR BP BC E MLB mi
E. Duncan BC mi
N. Green BR mi
B. Broussard BR mi
M. Carson BC mi
C. Stewart BR BP E MLB mi
J. Brown BC mi DL
K. Igawa (L) BR BP BC E JB mi
M. Melancon BC mi
J.B. Cox BC mi
S. Strickland BR BC mi
S. Jackson BC mi
E. Milton BR BC mi DL
V. Zambrano BR BC mi DL

AA Trenton Thunder:
K. Russo BR mi
R. Peña BC mi DL
C. Malec BC mi
M. Vechionacci BC mi DL
A. Jackson BC mi
C. Curtis BC mi
E. Gonzalez BR mi
P.J. Pilittere BC mi
J. Jones BC mi
G. Kontos BC mi
J. Nuñez BC mi
B. Smith BC mi DL
A. Claggett BC mi
O. Perez BR BC mi
M. Gardner BC mi
K. Whelan BC mi
W. Arias (L) BC mi

A Tampa Yankees:
E. Nuñez BC mi
C.J. Henry BC mi DL
T. Battle BC mi
K. Anson BC mi
J. Gil BC mi
A. Horne BC mi DL
Z. McAllister BC mi
W. De La Rosa (L) BC mi
C. Garcia BC mi

Low-A Charleston RiverDogs:
J. Snyder BC mi
M. Cusick BC mi
B. Suttle BC mi
A. Romine BC mi
J. Montero BC mi
D. Betances BC mi
J. Heredia BC mi
J. Ortiz BC mi
C. Heyer BC mi

Low-A Staten Island Yankees:
D. Adams mi
P. Venditte mi

Rookie Gulf Coast Yankees:
C. Joseph mi
C. Smith mi
K. Higashioka mi

Key:
BR = Baseball-Reference
BP = Baseball Prospectus
BC = Baseball Cube (past mL stats)
mi = MiLB.com (current mL stats)
E = ESPN (current splits, game logs)
MLB = MLB.com hit charts
JB = Japanese Baseball.com

The Recently Departed

2008 Yankees:
R. Sexson BR BP E MLB
M. Ensberg BR BP E MLB CLE mL
A. Gonzalez BR BP E MLB mi WAS
K. Farnsworth BR BP BC E DET
L. Hawkins BR BP BC E HOU
S. Patterson BR BC mi SD

Nady/Marte Trade:
J. Tabata BC mi
J. Karstens BR BP BC E mi
R. Ohlendorf BR BP BC E
D. McCutchen BC mi

2008 Campers/mLers:
C. Woodward BR BP BC E MLB PHI mL
J. Lane BR mi BOS mL
G. Porter BC mi WAS mL
J.D. Closser BR mi SD mL
S. Henn (L) BR BP BC E mi SD
H. Phillips (L) BR BC mi TB mL
S. White BR BC mi

2007 Yankees:
J. Torre (Mgr) BR BP BC LAD
D. Mientkiewicz BR BP BC E MLB PIT
A. Phillips BR BP BC E MLB mi CIN
J. Phelps BR BP BC E MLB STL
M. Cairo BR BP BC E MLB SEA
K. Thompson BR BP BC E MLB mi PIT
B. Sardinha BC mi SEA mL
W. Nieves BR BP BC E MLB WAS
R. Clemens BR BP BC E mi
T. Clippard BR BP BC E mi WAS
L. Vizcaino BR BP BC E COL $7.5m/2yrs
M. DeSalvo BR BP BC E mi ATL mL
M. Myers (L) BR BP BC E LAD mL
R. Villone (L) BR BP BC E mi STL
S. Proctor BR BP BC E LAD
J. Brower BR BP BC E mi CIN mL
C. Bean BR BP BC E mi ATL mL

2007 Campers and mLers:
E. Durazo BR BP BC E MLB mi
A. Cannizaro BR BP BC E MLB mi TB mL
A. Chavez BR BP BC E MLB mi LAD mL
K. Reese BR BP BC E MLB mi
R. Chavez BR BP BC E MLB mi PIT mL
O. Santos BC mi BAL mL
T. Pratt BR BP BC E MLB
T.J. Beam BR BP BC E mi PIT mL
B. Kozlowski (L) BR BP BC E mi Japan

Molina Trade:
J. Kennard BC mi

Abreu Trade
M. Smith (L) BR BP BC E mi PHI
C. Monasterios BC mi PHI
J. Sanchez mi PHI

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Done...but no Details

2007-12-13 08:18

by Alex Belth

It's official. The Yankees announced this morning that they have signed Alex Rodriguez to a ten year contract. No specifics are available at this time. Word of the deal was first heard hours after the Barry Bonds fiasco went down, and now this, just hours before the release of the Mitchell Report. Man, the Yanks do move in mysterious ways sometimes. Then again, perhaps they anticipate having to deal with some unpleasentness later and want to have something encouraging to lean on.

It's now snowing in earnest in New York City. The leaks are starting to leak...Bombs to be dropped shortly.

Update:

Pete Abe has audio from Alex Rodiguez.

Another Update:

I have seen a list of the names from the Mitchell report from three different people (it's the same one that is listed in the comments section below). It could be complete baloney. We shall shortly see. But it's close to the one that Will Leitch just posted at Deadspin.

Again, an Update:

Over at SI.com, Jon Heyman reports that Clemens, Pettitte, Mike Stanton, Chuck Knoblauch, Miguel Tejada, Brian Roberts are named in the Mitchell Report. Also, heard from a reliable source that Albert Pujols is not in the report.

Comments (190)

Show/Hide Comments 1-50

2007-12-13 08:27:04

1. RIYank

I predict they'll announce that he's waived all fees and will be playing for the pure joy of it.

2007-12-13 08:28:17

2. weeping for brunnhilde

Ten years.

Whoa.

He'll be what, then, 43?

Damn.

Welcome aboard, Alex, and remember your headphones!

2007-12-13 08:28:33

3. mehmattski

I took steroids for an ear infection once. I guess that means my GRE scores should have an asterisk.

2007-12-13 08:28:39

4. weeping for brunnhilde

1 :)

2007-12-13 08:28:56

5. Alex Belth

3, that is hilarious!

2007-12-13 08:29:00

6. weeping for brunnhilde

3 ha ha ha haha !

2007-12-13 08:30:48

7. JL25and3

3 Didn't anyone notice how big your ears got?

2007-12-13 08:31:37

8. RIYank

3 Excellent. I'm going to steal that and modify it for personal use.

2007-12-13 08:32:15

9. mehmattski

7 http://tinyurl.com/2vr9eq

2007-12-13 08:35:41

10. yankz

Comment 38 on the RLYW thread is a supposed leaked list.

2007-12-13 08:35:51

11. Yankee Fan In Boston

9 turturro (sp?) juiced for "the bronx is burning."

2007-12-13 08:36:31

12. Raf

10 my coworker just sent me a list of names...

2007-12-13 08:40:28

13. RIYank

10 12 Same list?

If that's right, we get off pretty easy.
Clemens, Pettitte, Giambi, Damon, and Farns.
Well, the first three are no surprise, for different reasons. Damon scorches the Sox as much as the Yanks. And Farns, whatev.

2007-12-13 08:41:18

14. RIYank

Neifi Perez.
Hmmmm.

2007-12-13 08:42:24

15. mehmattski

Isn't Juan Gonzalez listed twice on the list? And I think that I probably came up with quite a few of them in the previous thread. It's a bunch of names we already knew, plus maybe a few surprises (Pujols?).

And given that the report is supposedly a thousand pages long, it will be a week before anyone figures out the "evidence" leading to a player being on the list. Which, unfortunately, is more than enough time for someone's reputation to be irreversibly damaged. And that's the greatest shame out of all of this.

2007-12-13 08:43:19

16. mehmattski

14 Also not a surprise, since he's been suspended for failing two drug tests, one this year.

2007-12-13 08:44:14

17. mehmattski

Farnsworth wouldn't be a surprise either, given this:

http://reid.mlblogs.com/scoreboard_26_6/images/lg_fight_ap.jpg

2007-12-13 08:46:24

18. JoeInRI

Quite a few Sawx names on there . . .

2007-12-13 08:46:32

19. RIYank

16 I know, it's just that....
What does 'performance' mean? Or maybe it's 'enhancing' that I'm having trouble with.

Agree entirely on 15 .

2007-12-13 08:47:15

20. pistolpete

Where's this list everyone's looking at?

2007-12-13 08:47:24

21. wsporter

7 Yeah, but his ear lobes got really small.

There's only one name I couldn't live with on that list and I wont even mention it in this context.

2007-12-13 08:47:56

22. Raf

13 Could be; the list he IM'ed me was as follows

Mark Prior, Neifi Perez, Rafael Palmiero, Albert Pujols, Brian Roberts, Juan Rincon, John Rocker, Pudge Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, Scott Schoenweiis, David Segui, Alex Sanchez, Gary Sheffield, Miguel Tejada, Julian Tavarez, Fernando Tatis, Maurice Vaughn, IJason Varitek, Ismael Valdez, Matt Williams and Kerry Wood, Brady Anderson, Manny Alexander, Rick Ankiel, Jeff Bagwell, Barry Bonds, Aaron Boone, Rafaeil Bettancourt, Bret Boone, Milton Bradley, David Bell, Dante Bichette, Albert Belle, Paul Byrd, Wil Cordero, Ken Caminiti, Mike Cameron, Ramon Castro, Jose and Ozzie Canseco, Roger Clemens, Paxton Crawford, Wilson Delgado, Lenny Dykstra, Johnny Damon, Carl Everett, Kyle Farnsoworth, Ryan Franklin, Troy Glaus, Rich Garces, Jason Grimsley, Troy Glaus, Juan Gonzalez, Eric Gagne, Nomar Garciaparra, Jason Giambi, Jeremy Giambi, Jose Guillen, Jay Gibbons, Juan Gonzalez, Clay Hensley, Jerry Hairston, Felix Heredia, Jr., Darren Holmes, Wally Joyner, Darryl Kile, Matt Lawton, Raul Mondesi, Mark McGwire, Guillermo Mota, Robert Machado, Damian Moss, Abraham Nunez, Trot Nixon, Jose Offerman, Andy Pettitte

2007-12-13 08:47:56

23. RIYank

18 There are, yeah. Esp. if you include the guys who have been on the Sox recently.

The snow has just begun here. Beautiful. I'll be heading home soon!

2007-12-13 08:49:09

24. RIYank

22 Hard to tell, since they're in a different order, but it looks like the same list.

Wow, I really do have to get going...

2007-12-13 08:49:13

25. Yankee Fan In Boston

21 "his ear lobes got really small"

brilliance.

2007-12-13 08:50:35

26. pistolpete

22 Oh no, Rich Garces?

Is he now called, "El HGHuapo?"

2007-12-13 08:51:46

27. Eric Stephen

The details:

2008: $29m ($27m salary + $2m bonus)
2009: $33m ($32m salary + $1m bonus)
2010: $33m ($32m salary + $1m bonus)
2011: $32m ($31m salary + $1m bonus)
2012: $30m ($29m salary + $1m bonus)
2013: $29m ($28m salary + $1m bonus)
2014: $28m ($25m salary + $3m bonus)
2015: $21m
2016: $20m
2017: $20m

Total: 10 yrs, $275m

Plus bonuses of $6m for each of HR 660, 714, 755, Bonds (currently 762), Bonds + 1 (763).

http://tinyurl.com/3awybk

2007-12-13 08:51:48

28. yankz

Raul Mondesi? IS THERE NOTHING SACRED

2007-12-13 08:52:09

29. dianagramr

and his partner therefore was never satisfied when she talked to him?

2007-12-13 08:53:39

30. mehmattski

To speculate only slightly more than those who composed this list in the first place, I'm guessing one of the Juan Gonzalezes is supposed to be Luis Gonzalez, who was named in the Grimsley statement.

"Kyle Farnsoworth" That's great.

The great legacy of Ishmael Valdez has been ruined!

2007-12-13 08:54:32

31. yankz

From some asshat at MLBTR: "I hope the MFY go 0-162 for the next decade"

So, they just punt nine years or something?

2007-12-13 08:55:42

32. JoeInRI

. . No Bernie!!!

2007-12-13 08:55:54

33. wsporter

Andy and Tek are bummers, that's depressing. Can't believe Wally World made the cut though; way to go dude!

2007-12-13 08:56:57

34. JoeInRI

30 There were two Troy Glaus' on RLYW's list too

2007-12-13 08:57:18

35. mehmattski

One of the known side effects of steroids is unchecked aggression, including failure to remove a face mask when fighting.

2007-12-13 08:57:47

36. dianagramr

Brady Anderson .... what a shock!

2007-12-13 08:58:21

37. standuptriple

Damn you, Run Fairy!

2007-12-13 08:59:29

38. pistolpete

You know who I'm shocked isn't on there? Pudge Rodriguez - remember how much he slimmed down before going to the Tigers?

Damon kinda bums me out and so does Andy, but I'm not really shocked seeing as how much he was hanging around the Rocket.

"Rocket Fuel" is the headline in tomorrow's Post. I bet money on it.

2007-12-13 08:59:51

39. mehmattski

34 Perhaps it's Troy Percival, or Troy Tulowitski?

2007-12-13 09:00:40

40. yankz

38 Damon doesn't bum me too much. I haven't forgotten game 7.

All in all, I think that if that list is accurate, it could have been a lot worse.

2007-12-13 09:00:47

41. mehmattski

38 Don't forget Damon was in Oakland too, with both Giambis in 2001.

2007-12-13 09:01:45

42. rsmith51

If Tek is on the list, is he no longer the captain???

2007-12-13 09:01:52

43. dianagramr

or .... Troy McClure ...

"You may know me from such teams as the 2004 Boston Red Sox"

2007-12-13 09:01:54

44. Yankee Fan In Boston

38 i read the list three times looking for his name. that can't be the full list.

eckstein and his GEDs are on their way to toronto for one year.

2007-12-13 09:02:29

45. Shaun P

Where's the beef? Err . . . the corroborating evidence? This is going to be a huge mess. I wonder if Don Fehr's head will explode.

2007-12-13 09:03:07

46. JoeInRI

39 Beautiful . . .

2007-12-13 09:03:36

47. mehmattski

43 According to BR.com, Adam Dunn's middle name is Troy. And his nickname is... Big Donkey?

You know who I bet's on steroids? Guisseppe Franco.

2007-12-13 09:03:52

48. dianagramr

Given the type of recent injury history, I'm not THAT surprised by Damon possibly being on that list.

2007-12-13 09:03:54

49. JoeInRI

Sorry, I meant 43

2007-12-13 09:05:33

50. pistolpete

44 Here's one I found:

http://tinyurl.com/2gjt74

Pudge is on that one.

I don't think anyone has the right to spout off about this list at all. Every team basically gets killed here.

Show/Hide Comments 51-100

2007-12-13 09:06:28

51. pistolpete

"Maurice Vaughn" - had to stop on that one for a couple seconds...

2007-12-13 09:08:21

52. JoeInRI

Can't believe Juan Pierre's not on the list . . .

2007-12-13 09:08:30

53. mehmattski

Of course, there's also new Yankees pitcher La*Troy* Hawkins...

2007-12-13 09:08:47

54. williamnyy23

50 Newschannel 4's Jonathan Dienst has obtained names of baseball players expected to be on George Mitchell's list of players linked to performance enhancing drugs in major league baseball. Baseball officials are refuting several names on the list.

A high-ranking MLB official said there are several errors in the list provided to WNBC.com by two sources. Original sources are standing by the preliminary list provided to WNBC.com. Therefore, we working to clarify the list at this time.

2007-12-13 09:08:58

55. standuptriple

They couldn't leave Daryl Kile off could they? Somebody should tell Sen. Mitchell that he's no longer with us and dragging his name out does nothing for the report.

2007-12-13 09:09:33

56. yankz

44 Might as well crown them champions right now.

2007-12-13 09:10:49

57. Bob B

No Red Sox except Damon on the list? How can that be? Big Papi wasn't so big when he was with the Twins and didn't hit that many homers either. Brady Anderson.Hah. He was Cal's big Pal and everyone knew those 52 Home Runs were from the Steroids. What's so weird is I assumed certain guys were doing Steroids but It never bothered me since there was no policy against it in MLB. Pudge is on the list BTW.

2007-12-13 09:11:24

58. JoeInRI

ESPN First Take has a graphic saying Prominent Yankees Named as one of the key points of the report.

Incredible.

2007-12-13 09:11:30

59. dianagramr

Well .... isn't there a connection between PEDs abuse and heart disease? I mean I know he died from drugs, but if PEDs had compromised his heart to begin with ...

2007-12-13 09:11:42

60. yankz

I can't believe the Astros traded for Tejada a day before this bomb dropped.

2007-12-13 09:11:46

61. williamnyy23

If these circulated lists are correct, man does Arod coming out smelling like a rose. Not only does he ink a $275mn deal, but he escapes being tainted along with several other high profile sluggers. Knowing Arod, something embarrasing has to happen...I think he'll be found guilty of shredding those CIA tapes.

2007-12-13 09:12:53

62. JoeInRI

57 Nomar, Nixon, Varitek, Garces, Vaughn are all on the list.

2007-12-13 09:13:36

63. rsmith51

57 List I saw has Varitek and Trot Nixon.

2007-12-13 09:13:57

64. yankz

57 Varitek + Damon? That's huge for the cursebreaker year.

2007-12-13 09:13:58

65. pistolpete

61 My guess is someone in the Yankees FO got a peek at the list as well, pulled the trigger on the A-Rod announcement.

Puts Alex in a better light in comparison to all this ugly stuff coming out today...

2007-12-13 09:14:44

66. williamnyy23

57 Nixon, Nomar and Varitek are also rumored to be on the list, as well as secondary type guys liek Manny Alexander and Rich Garces. The Sox definitely don't get off easy on this one.

2007-12-13 09:15:19

67. yankz

I love this idea from the BTF thread:

"we should flood the blogosphere with totally random bogus lists, right at 1:00 :)
It would take the media a good 6 hours till they caught up .."

2007-12-13 09:15:56

68. williamnyy23

65 I also think they didn't want the Arod Press Conference being about the Yankees on the list.

The Pettitte press conference is more curious because it seems designed to shield him from questions.

2007-12-13 09:15:58

69. JoeInRI

Is Clemens as big a deal as Bonds?

2007-12-13 09:17:48

70. rbj

When I first saw the deadspin list, I saw Manny Alexander. For a second I thought it was the other Manny.

Oh well.

2007-12-13 09:17:59

71. yankz

69 I think so. As I posted on the last thread, I can easily see Mitchell going after Clemens specifically. Who's the one guy in baseball who, if brought down, would put all the racism claims to rest? Rocket.

2007-12-13 09:18:38

72. dianagramr

I hear its actually Kellen Clemens named in the report ...

2007-12-13 09:18:47

73. JL25and3

26 I hear Garces weighed 165 before he started juicing.

2007-12-13 09:19:33

74. dianagramr

Nomar would be no big surprise, given the types of injuries he has sustained ...

2007-12-13 09:20:17

75. dianagramr

you mean 165 kilograms, right? :-P

2007-12-13 09:25:29

76. williamnyy23

69 On a scale of baseball prominence...absolutely. It all comes down to what evidence backs up the claim. If it is only McNamee's word, then I am not sure if the stigma will be the same. Bonds, after all, has had a book and a federal case authored against him.

2007-12-13 09:28:42

77. yankz

Somewhere, Ed Wade is looking for a reset button.

2007-12-13 09:30:29

78. williamnyy23

Because Mitchell is relying on the source of the steroids, I think Latin America guys will escape discovery more easily because they often get the products in their home country (where, in some, it is available OTC).

2007-12-13 09:31:00

79. JL25and3

77 If Ed Wade didn't see this coming, he's even more of an idiot than I thought.

2007-12-13 09:35:11

80. Sliced Bread

No Bernie, correct?
I can now resume not giving a shit about this list.

2007-12-13 09:39:11

81. standuptriple

65 Upstaging Boras again? If that was the intention, I love it. Telegram for Scotty: You and the people you represent are not bigger than the game. Stop.

2007-12-13 09:39:36

82. yankz

Pete: "Rodriguez said that he didn't fire Boras because this will be his last contract. But he claimed only to have spoken to him once since and that the agent was not involved in ne