Since he's a lefty, I'm assuming he's very good/has a very high ceiling, or Cash$ would've passed.

Nick Green and Jim Leyritz, BFF? http://tinyurl.com/ylg3kr

This guy reminds me of "Rudy." I can't help but like him.

can't hurt to have some extra depth.

I found the a bit on Google in Spanish. I ran it through Babelfish to roughly translate.

"Present the fourth cienfueguero bat finished offensive Series 40 with average of 286, nothing badly slugger net like him, who has shown an extraordinary force in his batazos. Miranda, finished the 2001 with 304, projecting more like a potential multidimensional player, although of being able far from negligible as they show to his presents 7 bambinazos in a lapse of 13 games, after a drought of 24 parties without home run."

http://www.cubavision.cubaweb.cu/comentarios_detalles.asp?ID=43

7 bambinazos in 13 games is awesome. I think.

That would have been easier to read if you had left it in Spanish.

IIRC correctly, the Yanks have 4 or 5 open spots on the 40-man roster, so adding this guy shouldn't hurt them.

Ca$hmoney, wisely playing the free talent game again.

Cliff...we must have been posting at the same time. I wrote almost the same thing at COH just a while ago. I added the Spanish from joejoejoe's link in 4.

Check it out at COH.

Here's a guy's blog that was in DR watching Yankees camp. Juan Miguel Miranda was there and apparently hit a titanic home run a week ago against the D'Backs club.

http://tinyurl.com/yj4bh4

This guy thinks he projects to the Big Club next year! Sweet. Thanks Ca$h.

Sorry...that link may have been wrong. Try this one:

http://tinyurl.com/ya8lks

4Wow the most important offensive metric of all; "a drought of 24 parties without home run." That kind of offensive failure should not be minimized.

Sounds like Dude needs a new line: "Hi, what's your major" just doesn't seem to be getting it done. I'm sure the Captain can give him a tip or two.

10 In his defense, he was 18 that year, and most of us ain't got no game at 18. Even Jeter was still dating the runner up to the prom queen back then.

For God's sake Mike, stop making excuses for the boy; he's 23 years old. I hope he's at least roping a double or two into the gap; if only for the sake of family honor. :-)

I don't speak Spanish, so seeing "Bambinazos" made my morning. I only wish that some day, I can be immortalized when something I do very well is translated into another language simply as my nickname. It would be like if "mehmattskianos" was Spanish for "researching biology."

12 For what it's worth sporter, the link I put up there says he "hit a mammoth home run" against the T-backs....I mean D-backs.

That's gotta count for something.

4 Well I checked on "Bambinazos" and came up with a "weak infield popfly that gets shot down easier than Bambi's mother". No wonder that was '24 parties without a homerun'

11

Can we be honest here? jeter never dates a runner up.

Aww, and when I saw the headline, I figured that the Griddle was taking a diversion to mention the 2006 Cincinnati Bengals.

According to ESPNradio, Clemens said he would be "interested" in going to Boston as their closer if they signed Door-Mat.

"The Cardinals have asked to view Carl Pavano's expansive medical records, according to a report in yesterday's St. Louis Post-Dispatch, a sign that the Yankees might be able to get out from under that albatross of a contract."
-- Newsday

was there a conference to welcome andy pettitte yet?

He's not officially a Yankee yet. He was going hunting with his dad for 10 days and he won't do his physical until he gets back. They'll do something then.

21 Good...as long as Dick Cheney wasn't invited...

19 Dave Duncan has done wonders with other pitchers who needed help. My question is, what of value could the Cards offer to the Yanks, other than taking Pavano? IIRC, their farm system is pretty thin.

23 I'd take that Pujols guy . . . .

24 I wouldn't even listen unless their bid starts at Pujols and Carpenter.

24,25 Yo, whatever you guys are passing between you two, I got next. >;)

23 How about catcher Dan Moylan (.310/.420/.397 in 58 AB at AA Springfield)?

27 I was like: Yeah!

Then I saw: 27 yo catcher with less than 20 AB's lifetime in AAA. And those 58 AB's were the only ones of his 2006 season. As crazy as it is to believe, Meat may just be worth more than old and injured career minor league catcher.

The link to the Newsday article ...

http://tinyurl.com/y6oy5j

... and, its "Pavanomas" (patent pending)

27 Without looking at the Cards' minor league system to see if they have any, I'd have to say a decent young catcher might be a great trade target. With Molina so young and signed for a while, and the Cards seemingly happy with him, you'd expect that any other promising catchers are thus blocked. Good idea, YiM, even if this Moylan guy isn't the right young catcher to get.

Here's what the Cards have to offer the Yanks: Taking Pavano and hopefully most if not all of what's left of his contract off their hands. Players in return are not required.

31 True, but since Yanks have to get something back, why not have that something be useful?

From looking at the Cards' minor league teams, the only catcher who seemed interesting was someone named Omar Falcon - but he was a Rule 5 pick from the Pirates* and has never played above High A ball. I don't think the Yanks would keep that kind of guy around as Posada's backup.

*Originally drafted by the Padres in 2000, taken by the Mariners in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft in 2003, waived by the M's after '06, and then picked up by the Pirates

32 I think we need to get Omar Falcon on this team. Not because I know anything about him, but simply because his name is awesome.

If only there was some catching equivalent of Vinnie Testaverde sitting at home on his couch waiting for a call to come warm the bench for a playoff team. Which begs the question, why not Todd Pratt? He'll only be 40 in February. Better late than never when Raul Chavez is being seriously considered. Right? Sheesh.

34 You know, when I was a kid I had a buddy who had one of those spring-loaded nets that sits at a 45 degree angle so that when you throw a baseball at it, it bounces back to you. It wouldn't be very good at throwing runners out or batting, but I really think we could get him to trade it for Carl Pavano. Straight across, even. He'd be taking a bit of a loss, but I don't think he really uses it anymore. That way we can give Jorgie a couple days off next season....

34 hasn't Leyritz made it known that he is working out and waiting for a call. By no means am I lobbying for the return of 'The Kind,' but he very well may be the baseball equivalent of old Vinnie Green Balls.

i think i'll continue my tradition of being late to the party and being the last comment that no one reads...

34was it orange? yeah, the official name was "Pitch Back" methinks. we had 2 of them growing up in Queens - 1 for me and 1 for my brother. they had a built in strike zone in the middle. they were super cool, i loved those things! they were always breaking though and my Pop would have to fix them up on a regular basis. of course, you could only throw tennis balls at 'em...

knowing my families' disease of not being able to throw ANYTHING out, i wouldn't be surprised if my dad still has one of 'em sitting around the garage for my nephews to play with...

oops, i meant to link 35. my bad.

35 & 37 Was it one like this:
http://tinyurl.com/ylza8u

Or maybe the more expensive model:
http://tinyurl.com/yexcn6

To get that $113.95 model, we might just have to throw in a bottle of that Jeter cologne along with Pavanomas...

it definitely wasn't the expensive one, lol! it was like the cheaper one, but slightly different. this was the late 70's. but yeah, pretty much the same thing. glad they're still makin' 'em!

it was more orange as opposed to red and there was a cool X in the strike zone. there wasn't that cool little built-in tilt on the frame, either. it was just a straight piece o' junk, haha! but it lasted years and sure was fun! : )

At this rate why not just bring back Fasano

37 "they were always breaking though and my Pop would have to fix them up on a regular basis"

Maybe we shouldn't trade. Do think that you're dad could just take a look and Pavanamas for us?

That thing was awesome! We had it for years. The frame broke at the base so we fitted it out with 2x4's and I recall it working better with the added weight.

There is no way I would have traded mine for anything so nearly devoid of utility as Pavanomas. We are definitely going to have to throw at least a bucket of balls in and someone who can both throw and catch them.

40 Was it the Hank Aaron model shown here:
http://tinyurl.com/y5q9zt

44Bama - you are a GOD! yup, that's the one! can't believe you found it, you have better eyes than abreu! i'm now "watching" it at ebay and will have to send the link to my brother. i'll find out if we still have one for his boys. i wish they had a better close up of it put together. from the package, it looks like there may not have been a "X" in the middle. if not, my Pop somehow sewd one in there.

43my dad did the same exact thing! a 2X4 on the bottom helped solidify the whole frame. you can tell from the picture, with all the different pieces and how skinny they are, how it would break down rather easily.

42my dad can fix just about anything. the Rajah of Rehab might be just outside his realm of 'fixidness'

45 Thanks, glad I could help out. I had one of those things too when I was a kid back in the 70's. It was pretty cool.

Here's a vintage ad for the Pitch Back:
http://tinyurl.com/u68hr

Hey All-

New here. I have a question that is off topic. I was wondering if anyone knew if Cashman and Co. are Bill James guys or more of the old guard "this guy 'looks' like a player" school. Or are they more of a combo of both?

The reason I bring this up and I would love to discuss this with you all, is that I feel that the Yankees are more flexable when guaging the free agent market than a team like the BoSox. What I mean is, I feel the Red Sox slot a player for specific dollars and if the market changes so be it they let that player walk, i.e. Johnny Damon. But the Yankees seem more flexable and if they see an opportunity to get a guy they think works, they don't mind overpaying a bit. Is this where the Yankees money printing machine takes over?

What got me thinking about all this, is what if the Yankees won the Dice-K bid, would they be at a stalemate at this point?

I would love to hear eveyone's thoughts on this. Thanks!

47 I think they're a mix. I think Cash is definitely tuned into advanced stats (he's quoted OPS in interviews before, overrated though that stat might be, it's a far cry from batting average). Seriously, the Yankees front office is incredibly dangerous right now. They've always been the richest team, but have shot themselves in the foot left and right. Now they're both rich and smart and organized. It may take Cash a couple of years to fix past damage, but the rest of the league should be scared.

Cliff I agree, it always boggled my mind that they didn't throw tons of money signing everyone from Latin America and drafting smarter. What really got me scared was a couple of years ago when they passed on Craig Hansen. If I recall the reports were the Yankees didn't want to pay his signing bonus. I am very encouraged with what Cashman has done the last couple of years. I also seem to recall the Yankees drafted for a while trying to get the best college players who have the lowest ceilings, i.e. career minor leaguers, so the minor leauge teams would have better records to keep Big Stein happy and winning.

Andy Pettite had a .333 BABIP last year, which bodes well, no?

It was a ridiculous .352 in the first half when he struggled, and a still-high .306 in the second half when he pitched very well.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/psplit.cgi?n1=pettian01&year=2006

Actually, he's a career .313 BABIP, so maybe he's just one of those guys.

Cliff, If Cash is talking about OPS in the media I'll bet that he talks about RCAA behind closed doors.

Anyone else having as much fun with the DM negotiations as I am?

Few thoughts on that:

1) How can the Sox throw money in the air to sign Drew and Lugo but then nickel and dime DM? It's just a weird bookend on their "we stand by our valuation" mission statement. Either they're going to make a committment to signing the guy, and cut expenses elsewhere, or they don't bid. But you can't drop over a 100 mil in one off-season then expect undermarket prices because you bid a ton.

2) Seth Mnookin points this out: Is the fact that the Sux FO is consistently in the middle of things like this a reflection of how they think they're smarter than everyone else? They can try but they still have to work with other baseball people. In this off-season alone there's been the Drew "tampering", Manny, and now DM. Past years included Millar to Japan, Manny, A-Rod.

3) Forget all this talk about the "Japanese people". DM is going to make this decision based on one simple fact: Is the contract fair? If it is, he'll sign. If it's not, he'll go home and explain he was treated well. Boras'job is to explain what a fair contract would be this off-season (see Schmidt, Jason and Pettitte, Andy). The Sox job is to pony one up.

Good times all around! I love this game! (And glad the Yanks aren't involved.)

In the preview of yesterday's Gammons there's this:

Now Matsuzaka, Boras, Jeff Musselman, et al. all ask the same resounding question: Why should Japanese players be treated differently than American players? "Ichiro [Suzuki] came over, was MVP in his first season," says Boras, "and got paid one-third of what he's worth."

Boras has always stated that he knows Matsuzaka has always wanted to play in the United States. But Boras has also explained what he sees as the rules of the road, and the 26-year old pitcher seems to have bought into the concepts that argue in the face of US-Japanese postings and signings histories."

If DM doesn't get signed, they've perfectly laid the groundwork for explaining why - Japenese players are not second class and shouldn't be treated as such.

Boras is an amazing example of his species.

53 54 I don't really get this. It's not a matter of whether Japanese players are second clas citizens, or whether the RS are trying to 'nickel and dime' DM (in any case, isn't it the team's job to pay as little as possible, just as much as it is the player's/agant's job to get as much as possible?).

He's NOT a free agent. The RS paid lotsa money to negotiatee exclusively with the player precisely because they figured to pay him 'under market value', and they can do this because DM is not part of the normal market.

This is not slavery; DM is not forced to take the RS offer if he doesn't want to. He has to balance how much $$ he will make in Boston v. how much he will if he stays in Japan for another year or two (whenever he does become a free agent) v. the reality that his value MAY be at its highest now (he could get injured; his value at age 27 or 28 may decline, etc.).

And Boras' argument about Ichiro is BS. It doesn't matter if he won an MVP--no one is claiming that Japanese players can't play. But if a minor leaguer came up and won the MVP (a la Fred Lynn), he would still be paid the league minimum if he was under the six year term when his team owns his exclusive rights.

55 Who said it was rational? That's why I'm glad the Yanks aren't involved.

Boras is trying to break the posting system. Either he gets "fair market value" for his client or he doesn't play the game.

If Gammons is saying it's time for the Sox to pay, then either that's what will happen or he'll return as a "second class citizen".

How fun is this!?

Maybe I have watched too many old grade 'B' movies, and I'd like to get Mike P's opinion on this, but I think the Japanese take being 'insulted' very seriously.

If this best player they've ever produced, the 'God' of a man, is returned to Japan unsigned, I think it bodes very poorly for all of baseball, on both continents. I simply can NOT see a deal not getting done. Too much bad PR, and mucho eggo on the face of the Sox.

We do expect to get a japanese player UNDER market value. There is the posting fee, as well as the player being unproven in MLB. But a discount is different then a steal.

The Sox paid way too high a posting fee... they know it, and now they are dicking around trying to make up for it. The rumors all over the Net, BEFORE the posting fees were made, talked about a 12-15$m salary for DM, after the posting fee. It was rumored the posting fee 'might' be as high as 30$m.... bring DM's total cost to 20$m or so annually. Everyone knew this when they made their bid.

This year, because of FA insanity, if DM were a FA, he could probably get 18-20$m... unproven and all. In a 'normal' year, maybe 13-15$m. So 7-8$m is a little silly.

Boras and the Sox are both posturing. I have to believe a deal will get done. I still say in the range of 4/44 or 5/52.

56 I don't see how Boras is going to break the posting system, or why he would even want to. There is no incentive, really, for the Japanese teams to give up the posting system--what is their option? Suddenly allow all of their star players to become free agents? Their league is highly protectionist (limits on US players, for example), as is the Canadian Football League here where I watch baseball games. In such systems there are both economic and political/nationalistic reasons not to change the system. So, if Boras breaks the posting system at all, what he will probably do is guarantee that Japanese teams will simply never again 'post' players early, so we will never see Ichiro or DM or whomever until their nine years (or whatever it is) has ended.

Second, why would Boras want to break this system anyway? Sure, he makes more money on the super-studs that he represents. But wouldn't a much more open system run the risk of flooding the market with a whole bunch of (at least) replacement level players? Wouldn't that suddenly frive down the value of the Julio Lugo's and Gil Meche's who are cashing in on the currently inflated market?

And why would players union go for this (I mean come on, what is more protectionists than a union)? Knowing the way these things work out, the players union will exert pressure to protect Gil Meche, et al, from the potential influx of foreign players. But how? 1 million dollar minimum salaries? 30 man rosters? DHs for up to three positions? Great.

"There is no incentive, really, for the Japanese teams to give up the posting system--what is their option?"

Well, what is their option if MLB says, screw it, our teams can go ahead and sign anyone they want? Will Seibu sue the D-Backs in the Supreme Court? Will they sue their own players? Both sides need an agreement; if there's something wrong with the current posting system, then both sides have an incentive to fix it.

This is an old post, so I do not expect a response, but yes, Seibu (or more likely the Japanese Leagues) would sue, and probably through something like the WTO. MLB does not want to get involved in some legal battle, and the US is not going to look good if it appears that rich Americans are poaching some 'poor' industry abroad.