Wednesday, November 20, 2013

The Decision

No, I'm not LeBron James.

But I am here tonight to formally announce that like most of my Greedy Pinstripes family, I am officially on board #TeamARod.

1) We've seen steroid users deny their use before? Remember Palmeiro? Remember Mark "I'm not here to talk about the past" McGwire? This guy is going out of his way to proclaim his innocence to anyone and everyone, especially Big Mike. They say you never have to make up the truth; he's got the same answer every time: "No." A guilty man finds new answers every time.

2) He says Bud, who I've found to be incompetent for almost his entire term, is out to ruin his legacy. His legacy's already been ruined; even if he's found innocent he's not getting in the Hall of Fame; Clemens was found innocent too, remember? He's out to save his life right now; he's a man on a mission.

3) You ever been so frustrated and know you're right that you just wanna curse out the arbitrator and storm out of the room? Rob Ford does...really? Not a chuckle? Ok, but A-Rod does.

4) I hate when the MAN (from Milwaukee) says he has a mountain of evidence but won't release it. Smells fishy. Sounds like there is no evidence...sounds like known criminal Tony Bosch has been fed the answers...and a salad. You know, green? Money? Man, no one's laughing.

These are all the same reasons everyone else is giving; I make light of it because that's what I do, but I am officially on board #TeamARod.

And Michael Kay...stop with the jealousy for Big Mikey...he's NEW YAWK'S NUMBAH 1! I wish I could be home for Francesa-con in February!

Till Next Time! (It's the offseason, God knows when that'll be...can we start Greedy Pinstripes: Football Edition?!)

Neil Dwyer @neildwyer1993


The Yankees Finalize 40 Man Roster


Okay get ready and try to keep up here because things just got crazy in Yankees land. The Yankees had until midnight tonight to finalize these rosters before players would be eligible for the Rule 5 draft next month.

The Yankees acquires infielder Dean Anna from the San Diego Padres for A ball pitcher Ben Paullus.

Anna has been added to the 40 man roster as well as Gary Sanchez, Slade Heathcott, Jose Campos, Bryan Mitchell, and Shane Greene.

More to come but right now the first roster cut is Corban Joseph who has been outrighted off the 40 man roster.

Josh Johnson Comes Off The Yankees Board


Josh Johnson is a guy that I have been clamoring for the Yankees to sign as a high risk but high reward kind of guy but he came off the board today when he signed with the San Diego Padres. Johnson is probably going to flourish at Yellowstone Petco Park in a huge pitcher friendly park. Johnson signed a one year deal worth $8 million with $1.25 million in incentives if he makes 26 starts. Johnson will likely be on the trade market once again in July if the Padres are not in contention.

Alex Rodriguez Interview On Mike Francesa

 
Here is Alex Rodriguez being interviewed on the Mike Francesa show on WFAN and on the YES Network.

Rant On Robinson Cano, Jay Z, & Free Agency Games



I have not written a rant in a very long time, probably since the September and October run of the 2012 Yankees, but it’s time… It’s beyond time. Robinson Cano, Jay Z, and this whole debacle have made it time. Here goes nothing.

The New York Yankees President Randy Levine said that they would not be willing to go $300 million on a deal for anyone or go 10 years on a contract, both of which Robinson Cano is asking for. Good for him and good for the Yankees if you ask me. Cano is not coming off of his demands for a major contract and thinks that his super-agent Jay Z is going to get him all the wealth he could ever want, and he will. Cano thinks he has the Yankees over a barrel much like Alex Rodriguez did in 2007 but he is wrong and here is why. In 2007 the Yankees were coming off of a postseason appearance and an American League East title, we had nowhere to go but down. What’s the worst that happens if we don’t sign Cano we finish in a tie for fourth place and miss the playoffs? Oh wait…

Jay Z thinks he is smarter than everyone else because he has built a MUSIC empire in Rockafella Records and even went as far as to “diss” Scott Boras in one of his songs but I have news for him, his posturing is working. Does anyone really think that the New York Mets have the money and the inclination to hand Cano his contract demands? They can barely afford what they have now regardless of the fact that they just got out from under, partially minus the buyout, the Johan Santana contract. The Mets are not spending that kind of money and if they are it will shock the hell out of me. If Jay Z really wants to scare the Yankees take Cano to go see a team with a real need at second base, a team that will be in contention next year and beyond, and a team that will actually spend the money. Go see the Detroit Tigers, go see the Los Angeles Dodgers, go see the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the Atlanta Braves (if they can trade Dan Uggla), etc. You’re bluffing and your poker face sucks Shawn Carter and if this is how we’re going to play then adios Cano. We don’t want you Robbie if you’re going to be a greedy prick, and I know that sounds funny coming from a guy who once started  a Yankees blog called The Greedy Pinstripes. And we don’t need you if you are going to be all about the money.

We have won a lot more World Series with guys like Scott Brosious, Jim Leyritz, Shane Spencer, and Chad Curtis then we have handing out 10 year maxed out deals to pre-Madonna’s like Alex Rodriguez. If Robbie doesn’t want to sign with us and meet in the middle, in the immortal words of the great Michael Kay, see ya! If Cano wants 10 years or even nine years, see ya. If Cano wants a dime over $200 million, see ya. We go out and we sign a Kelly Johnson or an Omar Infante, we take the hit and loss in production at second base, and we go upgrade elsewhere. We go sign a Jacoby Ellsbury to take over in right field and we sign a Brian McCann to give us an upgrade at catcher and we sign a Jhonny Peralta to replace the suspended Alex Rodriguez, we spend wisely on starting pitching, we upgrade the bench and the minors with depth, and we go out and we win in spite of it all. Robinson Cano is not irreplaceable, nobody is no matter what anyone says, and it may take a season or two but we will rebuild, we will re-tool, and we will reconquer Major League Baseball, with or without Cano.

Video Proof We Need To Forgive Steroid Users: Part 2


Yesterday I think we all saw me continue my journey in getting all steroid users forgiven by the fans, for the sake of the Yankees, with some video proof from the 2009 season. We all saw Alex Rodriguez come into the season after a hip surgery getting boo'd from fans and ended up capturing the hearts of the fans one walk off and game winning hit at a time. We saw Alex calm down at the plate and have fun with his teammates and actually be enjoyed from the fans. The fans came around first in my opinion and since 2013 was another season with a hip surgery and another season with a steroid allegation why not look at the video proof from this season?

Let's start this post off like we started the last one off with Alex Rodriguez's first at bat of the 2013 season. His first plate appearance was delayed due to yet another hip surgery and once again we had another steroid allegation, this time the Biogenesis scandal and fall out. Once again A Rod started his season on the road, this time in Chicago against the White Sox, and once again entered into a mixture of boo's and cheers. Once again in his first at bat Alex gets a hit, this time a single, and the rest is history. Here is his first at bat in it's entirety thanks to YES.

 

Alex faced harsh criticism from the fans in his first Yankee Stadium at bat as well in front of the home crowd.


The fan reaction to Alex passing Lou Gehrig on the all time grand slam list, which happened in Yankees Stadium, was not even as huge or special as it should have been. This is an individual achievement but it is also a career achievement that should have been celebrated. Instead everyone, fans, media, announcers, just acted like it was just another home run and moved on. These same people were the same ones to call what David Ortiz did in this World Series epic, special, and heroic. You might want to answer that phone, hypocrisy is calling you double standard. 

 

After hitting that grand slam and still getting shut out by the fans the production really began to fall off, which may have been because of his leg injuries or it may have been him giving up, we will never know. Alex's season ended the way it started, prematurely, as he looked defeated in the dugout. Now Alex is fighting Major League Baseball and the world for his spot in the game and his legacy. Alex will not ever be universally loved and he will never even be universally accepted but he can be accepted and forgave by his hometown Yankees fans. We must do it if we want anything near the results from the 2009 postseason and we must do it now. All karma believers and religious people should forgive him anyway because it is the right thing to do and for the rest of us we should do it simply to see the Yankees do well. A relaxed and focused Alex Rodriguez at the plate and in the middle of our lineup can only do good for us and for the team. So I have said it once and I will say it as many times as I have to, forgive Alex and all steroid users now. Do it because you want to, not because social media said you should, and start a trend. Start the movement, forgive all steroid users now before it's the trendy thing to do.


This is and will also be continued until the ultimate goal is achieved, a World Series championship ring. Would you forgive Robinson Cano if he failed a test? Would you forgive Derek Jeter? Mariano Rivera? Brett Gardner? CC Sabathia? There is a huge chance you said "YES" to one of these so if you can forgive one you can forgive them all so just do it already.

PNC Field Wins New Ballpark of the Year Award


Ballpark Digest has named the best new ballpark of the year and the Scranton Wilkes Barre RailRiders $43 million renovated PNC Field has won the award this season. Here is the press release from the RailRiders:

PNC Field Honored by Ballpark Digest as Best Ballpark of 2013
A creative renovation plan that kept the International League in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in one of the most scenic sites in baseball earned recognition from Ballpark Digest for Best Ballpark of the 2013 season.
Building a new ballpark on the base of an old one is an enormous challenge: what made sense in the 1980s may not make sense for a modern ballpark. And doing it all during a single season – demolition, reconstruction while building around retained features – is even more of a challenge. For these reasons, PNC Field is the choice as Best New Ballpark of 2013 by Ballpark Digest, the leading guide to baseball and ballparks on the Internet.
“Going down to the concrete and building anew is quite the architectural and engineering challenge,” said Kevin Reichard, publisher of Ballpark Digest. “We’re not talking mere renovation here: we’re talking dramatic makeover – basically, a new ballpark. That’s why we’re honoring PNC Field as our best new ballpark of the year.”
Home of the International League’s Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees, PNC Field reopened this season after the SWB franchise spent the 2012 season on the road. Opening in 1989, the original Lackawanna County Stadium was a two-deck monstrosity seating nearly 11,000, built at a time when the goal was to fill as many seats as possible and not worry about the amenities fans expect today.
“What a tremendous honor,” said RailRiders president/GM Rob Crain. “So many people made this dream a reality and on behalf of everyone that was involved and our fans here in Northeast Pennsylvania, sincere thanks to Kevin Reichard and Ballpark Digest. We believed the reconstructed PNC Field ranked among the best in baseball. This award cements that status.”
“We are delighted for PNC Field to have received this recognition,” said Mandalay Baseball CEO Art Martin. “We are extremely excited about what the new ballpark and the team mean to the community of Northeast Pennsylvania and appreciate the collaborative efforts of everyone who helped turn this dream into a reality for the great baseball fans across this region.”
The challenge, as undertaken by Philadelphia firm EwingCole, was to take a hulking pile of concrete and turn it into a fan-friendly venue. The plan was dramatic: take down the second deck, put in a 360-degree concourse, install new comfortable seating and second-level suites and club, add group spaces to outfield areas and spruce up virtually everything else, from concessions to restrooms. Again: it would have been easier to just bulldoze the old ballpark and put up a new one, but the decision was made to reuse where possible – so the end result was a new ballpark built on the base of the old one. The total cost of the renovations, as constructed by Alvin H. Butz, Inc., was $43.3 million. With new Triple-A ballparks now costing $60-million plus, there was a definite cost savings to the new ballpark/renovation plan.
In the end, the fans responded: the RailRiders drew 435,839 fans to PNC Field this season, the best year at the gate since 2008.
“The easy path would have been to bulldoze PNC Field and build somewhere else,” Reichard said. “The PNC Field site is one of the most scenic – and challenging – in all of baseball. Keeping the ballpark in its present spot and reusing what was appropriate is a welcome trend in architecture, and PNC Field is a prime example of building new on top of the old in a cost-effective manner.”
“We are delighted that the transformative renovation of PNC Field has been recognized as Ballpark of the Year,” said Craig Schmitt, RA, principal at EwingCole. “One of the main goals for both the county and the team was to design an intimate and fan-friendly ballpark. There is a legacy of baseball in this region and this ballpark will carry that forward for generations to come.”
ABOUT THE BALLPARK DIGEST AWARDS
Each year Ballpark Digest honors noteworthy accomplishments in the baseball world, whether it be Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball, independent baseball, summer-collegiate baseball or college baseball. Readers are asked to submit nominations for awards in specific categories; Ballpark Digest editors then go though the submissions (numbering some 300 pages of documentation last year). The awards cover both individual accomplishments as well as team accomplishments. This is the fifth season for the Ballpark Digest Awards. A complete listing of Ballpark Digest Awards can be found at www.ballparkdigest.com/awards.



30 in 30- The House of Steinbrenner

 
30 in 30 presents The House of Steinbrenner. Enjoy!

This Day In New York Yankees History 11/20


On this day in 2008 the 35 year run of George Steinbrenner being the owner of the New York Yankees officially ended as the MLB owners unanimously approved of his sons, Hank and Hal Steinbrenner, taking over the Yankees. George, with his failing health, appointed his sons as the chairmen of the team in 2007 before this was made official.


Also on this day in 2008  Mike Mussina officially announced his retirement following his first 20 game winning season. Moose spent 10 years with the Baltimore Orioles before spending his last eight seasons with New York. Moose finished with a 270-153 record with a 3.68 ERA combined in his soon to be Hall of Fame career.