Two curious decisions
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Aug 15, 2008 
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Tyler Kepner of the Times broke the news that RHP Gerrit Cole will spurn the Yankees and attend UCLA. We’ll know for sure later today. The Yankees, I’m told, are still working on it. But they’re also fine with the idea of getting a second first-round pick in 2009.
Cole was said before the draft to be immature. That he blew off a conference call the day of the draft to go golfing seemed like further evidence of that.
Last week came word that the player’s father was running the show instead of Scott Boras. That’s certainly the family’s right. But it’s usually best to leave such things to the pros.
The kid is taking a heck of a chance. Pitchers are fragile, especially high school pitchers. College coaches tend to abuse them and there are no guarantee the same money will be waiting three years from now. Beyond that, you have no control which team drafts you in three years. When you have a shot to play for the Yankees, you need to take it.
————
Then we have Chris Russo, who left WFAN and is apparently heading for satellite radio and a big-money deal. Russo can be very funny and what he and Mike Francesa did was basically invent sports-talk radio as we know it today.
But why would anybody, particularly outside of New York, listen to him on satellite radio? WFAN was smart enough to pair Russo with somebody who actually knew sports and knew the people involved in sports. Francesa is not the most charming fellow in the world but he’s willing to pick up the phone and do a little research. He has credibility.
Whatever credibility Russo had was because he was with Francesa and on WFAN, which reaches millions of people. People wanted to be on their show.
Russo alone? That’s why they invented the scan button.
Three years from now, you have to wonder whether Gerrit Cole and Mad Dog Russo will be on anybody’s radar. Everybody needs to be selfish to some degree. But don’t be stupid.
1st!
I still think Cole will sign, gotta be dum to turn down 5 mill.
Thanks god Russo is gone, he knows nothing about sports.
Cole’s agent situation reminds me of Jerry McGuire, the movie version lol.
Think it’s time to boycutt scott boras, think it was discussed by the owners meeting??
Who says Russo is going to satellite radio maybe he is getting a good contract with 1050?
“Cole was said before the draft to be immature. That he blew off a conference call the day of the draft to go golfing seemed like further evidence of that.”
This kid sounds like a spoiled turd, hope he blows that arm out.
When you have a chance to play for the Yankees you take it.
For New York centric folk, this is true. We do need to face it, though, that there are plenty of people out there who could care less about the Yankees or New York. I stayed in St. Louis for a while and the Cards-Cubs rivalry is the big thing. My friends couldn’t have cared less about the Yankees.
wasn’t cole the guy who wanted like 10 mil? wow.
Can you imagine what having the MAD DOG on 1050am will do for their ratings?
KILL THEIR NATIONAL SHOW NOW! BRING IN THE DOG!
Pete,
The father being involved is just a front. He has to be the frontman to keep the kids NCAA eligibilty in order.
The whole agent/advisor thing in baseball is very murky with the NCAA. You can’t sign anything or you lose your eligibility.
Unlike in football, you can have an “advisor”. You just have to follow the rules set forth in having one. One of them being, the agent/advisor doesn’t negotiate directly with the team. He “advises” the person (usually a family member) and that’s it.
Most teams just cut out the middleman and deal with the agent. Especially when its clear they are going to sign the player.
However, there are teams that won’t deal with the agent directly and only with the family member.
As I said, its murky and the NCAA has only suspended one player ever (for 3 games) for having an agent/advisor.
I have no doubt Boras is pulling the strings here. The kids father is be the front guy. He may feel strongly about their position. However, make no mistake, this is the MO of the Scott Boras Corporation.
They are just putting it on dad so the kid doesn’t have any eligibility issues with the NCAA should he end up at UCLA.
Cole played ball with Scott Borass’s son (who was drafted this year himself).
Borass has known Cole and his family for quite a while. That’s why they picked Borass to be his “adviser.”
Now all of a sudden his father is the one driving these negotiations instead of Borass?
I find that hard to believe.
Cole never much expressed a lot of interest in college before. UCLA does not have a big time program and high profile Southern California kids rarely sign there to play. UCLA plays in an awful park – just awful. Looks like a glorified little league field. That’s not the kind of program prospects like Cole make hard committments to.
Cole is a very bright kid. The kind of kid who would be good fit at Stanford or USC.
We’ll see at midnight tonight. But all of this stuff about college and his father feels like a smoke screen to me.
Borass did the same exact thing last year with Mike Moustakas – also from Orange County (played at Kennedy’s high school I believe). He went #2 in the draft last year.
Didn’t sign until 5 inutes to midnight or so. He also became very interested in college the closer it came to August 15.
If Cole doesn’t sign it won’t be because the Yankees weren’t reasonable. They never underpay anyone and don’t even play real hardball with the kids they draft. They’d rather sign them, get them into the system, and move on than haggle.
It’ll be intersting to see how things shake out tonight.
Either way – with or without Cole – the yankees will be fine.
If Cole doesn’t sign it’ll also be interesting to see how this affects the Yankees relationship with Borass. After the ARod fiasco and now Cole the yankees will not be happy.
Borass has a lot of leverage given the talent that’s with him (next years draft will be even worse for teams at the top of the draft – he already has 5 of the top 10 talents). But making an enemy of the yankees doesn’t seem like a prudent move either.
Dog having his own satellite show…painful. On the other hand Fat Mike on his lonesome maybe the most boring thing ever.
The Mad Dog thing is kind of sad. I have Sirius. I’ve heard the callers. They are either die hard Stern fans or Truckers on the road.
I’m not saying the caliber of WFAN callers is akin to NPR or anything, but it’s going to take Russo’s lowest common denominator act ever lower I’m afraid.
Hearing him talk national sports is going to be a challenge as he seems more interested in bashing the Yankees and Springsteen than what’s going on in the NBA, NFL, NHL outside of NY.
The money they are talking about giving him is outrageous and too tough to pass up. It’s basically double his salary from FAN and his own show.
I know why he had to do it, but I have a feeling it’s one of those be careful what you wish for situations.
As for Cole, I’ve been agented in the room in my chosen profession. Promises were sworn to me and the agents told me we’ll have the studios at their knees and in the end it was all talk.
If Cole’s family cares about the kid, they will take the 5 million and run at the last second.
If they don’t, he’ll be sitting here 2-3 years from now wondering how he let the moment to be part of the Yankees slip buy.
UCLA girls are hot, but they’re not 5 million dollars I’m a NY Yankee hot.
Its unclear to me what Cole would gain by going to UCLA. Is he going to be offered more $$ next year? Doubtful. Is he going to be on a team he likes more? Doubtful – he grew up a Yanks fan.
That’s why I have a hard time buying this. And that’s why I’m glad NYY has deep pockets…
No way WFAN will allow Russo to go to 1050. The contract must have a no-compete clause. Management at WFAN probably settled on letting him leave for Serius, but they would be crazy to allow him to just walk over 1050.
i think mikael Kay has a once in a life time opportunity to capture new york now,because mike him self is boring as hell no matter how inelegant he is ,bottom line he is boring. So if mikael Kay buckels up and stops talking non sence he will be the # 1 show in new york and YES network will take his show!
SJ,
If Strasburg goes #1 next year, those will be the negotiation for the ages, especially if its the padres picking.
I’d guess they are both hoping and dreading getting that pick.
Strasburg’s the local kid. And after all of the draft disaster’s they’ve had year after year (dykstra only being the latest) they’ll be under intense pressure to sign Strasburg. After the Matt Bush debacle when they went cheap they are in a tough spot.
Borass is going to torture them. I’d guess he’ll ask for a $15M deal for Strasburg. Maybe $20 to start with.
This year just keeps getting worse for the Yankees. If Cole does go to UCLA it’s a punch in the gut for the organization. The Royals just announced signing Tim Melville, the Pirates dropped $1 million on a 4th or 5th round pick, and as of this moment the Yankees have not signed their top 3 picks: Cole is allegedly going to college, Bleich has been off the radar, oh, and he’s represented by Scott Boras, too, and Bittle isn’t going to be signed because of a shoulder issue. When did we become the Pirates? Or the Astros?
CB is 100% right. I can’t imagine anyone not taking the more then reasonable offer I’m certain the Yankees made. But it also would be foolish not to let the Yankees sweat and maybe make a panic move.
Very similar to the trade deadline. No one knows for sure, but everyone was saying the Manny deal was dead and at the last second it had life.
this is the nature of negotiations, why make an early move, wait until the last, best offer.
Pete: If you had to spend you entire workday with someone you hate, wouldn’t you get out?
Russo wasn’t so much taking the money and running, it was the fact that dealing with Francesa was insufferable for him.
Francesa, solo, for five days a week in drive time won’t last long. Mark my words.
re Cole: anybody who says he’s a spoiled turd (al from BK, brandon) for trying to get more money, i hope in your professions ypu always take the first salary offer you receive and dont negotiate for more money. otherwise you are a hypocrite. i dont care if he was offered millions, it’s his right to try to get as money as he can no matter how dumb you may think he is.
Is this Cole kid even that good for all of us to start wigging out about his contract status? I thought he had shoulder and maturity issues why be so distraught over a player like that.
Mike seems very sad, very gloomy day for the show.
Mike and the Mad Dog together (until the last 5-6 years) was a show that worked for both guys. The team was the show. Individually? Neither guy is talented enough or willing to work hard enough anymore, to carry a show. Especially one for 4-5 hours everyday.
This is a case where both their egos have gotten so big, they can’t fit in the same room and work together anymore.
Mel Karmizan will pay Russo a lot of money and he will get his show on Sirius. It won’t be good, nor will Francesa’s show. Its like Martin and Lewis. Better together than apart.
“they should pair up russo and stephen A”
Interesting they would have to have them in different locations during the show because that much arrogance and stupidity could not be contained in one studio.
Russo (to me) has always sounded like a “mentally challenged individual” doing a bad Jerry Lewis impression.
Anyone else?
mike is saying that he will have a partner but dosent know who now! He is sad that Dog left . Is talking now how great they were together as a show.
I haven’t listened to the show in like, forever, so I really don’t care, but I’ll bet that Russo’s sense of self worth was unrealistically inflated when he “authored” two books that sold pretty well.
“Mike seems very sad, very gloomy day for the show.”
Of course Mikes sad he just lost Robin.
CB,
Yeah, I bet the Padres are really looking forward to that “fun”. That will be a nightmare.
5 million bucks, a free college education, and a chance to play for the Yankees. If that’s not good enough for Cole, have fun in college.
They aren’t lowballing him. A Top 5 signing bonus isn’t lowballing.
He’s just not going to be the highest paid player in the draft. Life goes on.
Doing a sports talk radio show from my house for $2-3 million dollars a year even if only for a few years. Yeah that would be tough to take.
Cb Mosutakas is from Chatsowrth Cal. In the San fernando Valley. I went to Taft High in Woodland Hills a rival.. Robin Yount went to taft along wit Kapler, larry dierker, pete lacock, and steve smith of the NY giants to name a few.. Dominguez also went to Chatsworth with Moustakas, they both were big picks last year..
UCLA’s field is a joke but UCLA is a hell of a school. cole if he does go to UCLA is a fool. I know one of the UCLA pitchers, college coaches try to win games not look out for pitchers health…
“Interesting they would have to have them in different locations during the show because that much arrogance and stupidity could not be contained in one studio.”
Hahaha that’s good.
Fat Mike is sad today, he must have taken extra meds before the show. Probably low on Diet Coke too. Him solo for 5 hours might be as mind-numbing as it gets. Russo is a degenerate who is as mentally stable as Mike Tyson, he won’t be successful without a decent partner.
Cb Mosutakas is from Chatsowrth Cal. In the San fernando Valley. I went to Taft High in Woodland Hills a rival.. Robin Yount went to taft along wit Kapler, larry dierker,rick auerbach, pete lacock, jordan farmar, and steve smith of the NY giants to name a few.. Dominguez also went to Chatsworth with Moustakas, they both were big picks last year..
UCLA’s field is a joke but UCLA is a hell of a school. cole if he does go to UCLA is a fool. I know one of the UCLA pitchers, college coaches try to win games not look out for pitchers health…
Just from what I’ve read, since I obviously don’t have first hand knowledge…but anybody who signs on with Scott Boras already knows what they are in for and what they want – the most money possible. That’s OK, looking for the most money for yourself is the American way.
It doesn’t look like anyone signs on with Boras in order to take a pass and go to college. At least, not that I’ve read about.
“jim rome, russo, and stephen A! cmon espn make it happen”
Rome and Russo would spend the whole time crapping on the Yanks and Stephen A would just get very irritated and shout “quite frankly you know what I think!”
Cb Mosutakas is from Chatsowrth Cal. In the San fernando Valley. I went to Taft High in Woodland Hills a rival.. Robin Yount went to taft along wit Kapler, larry dierker,rick auerbach, pete lacock, jordan farmar, and Steve Smith of the NY giants to name a few.. Dominguez also went to Chatsworth with Moustakas, they both were big picks last year..
UCLA’s field is a joke but UCLA is a hell of a school. cole if he does go to UCLA is a fool. I know one of the UCLA pitchers, college coaches try to win games not look out for pitchers health…
I still think Cole will sign else he is a total fool..
Hmmmm, keeping your kid away from Scott Boras …. seems like Father of the Year material to me. If the kid is already a selfish bastid imagine the monster Boras could turn him into? (Fill in name here)
I think I heard some Kelly Clarkson “Breakaway” in the background…
WFAN lost lots of ad revenue after the Imus departure.
As with most things in life – it came down to money – they could afford to pay the ne big contract of Francesca but not for both.
If Imus was still on WFAN & pulling in the big ad $$ (which made up most of WFAN’s revenue) then they could afford to give both Mike and Mad Dog the money they wanted.
Don’t be surprised if they are reunited a few years down the road – Russo will be very weak solo – Mike will be alittle better but he will not be able to get away with mailing it in as he has done in past.
As bad as it would feel not to make the playoffs(I remember 82-93)sometimes a step back is neccesary to take 2 or 3 foward.Wang,Joba,Hughes maybe Moose Andy wants to come back.CC is on the radar.Maybe IPK grows up.Red Sox finished THIRD.What happened the next year?We’re becoming the Braves.
yeah, i see them back together in about 3-4 yrs.
HE said that he has a lot of presure to live up to the ratings!
SJ
I believe that Mike and Mad Dog would kill to have half the success that Martin and Lewis enjoyed in their solo careers.
Martin and Lewis together were great but they didn’t fade from the public consciousness as most likely may be the future of this duo.
“I think I heard some Kelly Clarkson “Breakaway†in the background…”
I lol’d so hard.
“Mike seems very sad, very gloomy day for the show.”
Hope they remember him during Oscar nominations.
Cole will sign tonight.
It is all posturing.
Once they changed the draft rules and teams get a draft choice next year if they do not sign first picks, the agents lost the leverage. Boras knows that and he is not stupid.
Russo will be live on 660 now after the break!
CB
Moustakas is from Chatsworth CA not OC.. Chatsworth is in the san fernando valley..
many great ball players from there I went to high school in the VALLEY.
ryan braun, kapler, saberhagen, decinces, yount,dierker, lovulo, and about 40 other players including matt dominguez and many many others..
I wonder if the kid can really turn down $5-6M.
Factor in 3 yrs of interest, a minor league salary (albeit pretty small), and the fact that he is likely to reach the bigs quicker if he is drafted than if he goes the college route (therefore getting into his service time earlier) and a $6M offer today really equates to a $7-8M offer in 3 yrs. Does he really think he’ll get so much more than that, that taking the risk of injury or a bad yr in college?
Remember last yr. Half the 1st round was saying they wouldn’t sign. I’ll believe it tomorrow.
I want to know if Lassiter and Dwyer will sign!
The waterworks have started for Dog…Fat Mike is desperately trying to avoid them but he can’t.
maddog crying like little girl.. make millions bash NY on a daily basis and quit on your own.. Deal with it…
this is his choice…
The leader of the crack commitee is crying….I never thought I’d hear the day he did that.
Russo on the phone w/ mike
again Cole’s chances to ever mounting to anything is max 40% max… If he is as good as all our scout experts on this blog say..
“The leader of the crack commitee is crying….”
Russo and Mike for Oscar nominations!
I could have put money on it Brandon he is mentally unstable and the fact that he led the crack committee makes it even better.
This is real sad to listen to.
If this is true….well, wow!
after winning the claim on Washburn, the Twins offered the M’s Boof Bonser and the M’s passed, seeking instead Blackburn or Slowey. How effin’ stupid is that organization?
Bombshell it’s like slaying the witch
Stuart,
Thanks – for some reason I keep thinking Moustakas went to La Quinta.
What you said about college coaches is exactly right – their goal and what they are paid to do is to win. If they can help improve players along the way that’s great. But if not then so be it.
With pitcher’s there can be a real conflict of interest in college baseball between what’s best for the kids arm and winning.
I nominate “Jackie The Jokeman” as Mike’s new partner!
I don’t necessarily think Russo leaving is a dumb move. What most people seem to forget is that being a good sports talk radio host has nothing to do with your actual knowledge of sports, or willingness to do research. If he only said intelligent things, then it would get boring and people would stop listening. He has to have enough intelligent nuggets to keep people coming back, but also include enough stupidity to get listeners riled up.
after winning the claim on Washburn, the Twins offered the M’s Boof Bonser and the M’s passed, seeking instead Blackburn or Slowey. How effin’ stupid is that organization?
Incredibly stupid.
first of all, like all people, you follow the money
and now the biggest goat of all who gets on every one for taking more money, leaves the best real estate in sports talk radio for more money!!!!
“after winning the claim on Washburn, the Twins offered the M’s Boof Bonser and the M’s passed, seeking instead Blackburn or Slowey. How effin’ stupid is that organization?”
What a joke, they’re all on the rock up there. Screw them.
I am with Billy Beane – avoid high school pitchers. Brien Taylor Part Deux
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brien_Taylor
Melville signs w/ Royals. Good job by them. Scuttlebut was $1.5M, but nothing confirmed as far as that goes.
“Who says Russo is going to satellite radio maybe he is getting a good contract with 1050?”
Per his separation terms, Russo is not allowed to work for 1050.
Despite being annoying at times, the show was an institution. There’s a joke in there somewhere, right?
Kelly Clarkson break away is def. playing in the background right now.
I’ll spread my wings and Ill learn how to fly, I’ll do what it takes till I touch the sky…
i have to say that russo (who i’ve hated for almost half my life) was pretty classy in his goodbye.
“…the show was an institution. There’s a joke in there somewhere, right?”
So was Bellvue (there’s your joke – raise your hand if you saw it coming 10o miles away)
“after winning the claim on Washburn, the Twins offered the M’s Boof Bonser and the M’s passed, seeking instead Blackburn or Slowey. How effin’ stupid is that organization?â€
stupid enough to trade away their farm for erik bedard. so pretty, pretty PRETTTTTTY STUPID!
regarding russo and ESPN.FYI there was a new law passed last week and signed by Patterson that makes non compete clauses illegal. So he can go anywhere although sattelitte is where he can get the money with the merger with xm now approved they need some names.
I think that mike believe it or not may know renew his hunger and maybe work a bit harder than in the receent past. He will want to prove that he can do it. I would also suggest that sweeny be considered for one of those contributors he is not only really good on baseball but is smart about other sports
Fredo,
I think the ghost of bavasi is still running the M’s…
They are just clueless. That interim GM laid his cards out in way to public a fashion – he made it so public that they were going to get a “top prospect” and not pay washburn’s salary that I’m sure he’s finding it hard to step away from the ledge.
He overplayed his hand publicly and now he’s stuck. Funny to think about how all of those M’s fans thought the yankees were the arrogant ones.
I was hoping during the draft they yankees would take a shot at melville. Very, very nice job by the royals, especially if they get hosmer done. Moustakas has really started to hit in the midwestern league. That’s 3 nice high school players to add in a year. Dayton Moore is a very bright guy.
If they lose Cole not taking Melville will sting a bit more.
did dog say where he is going?
“did dog say where he is going?”
Yeah – going to get more kleenex!
Fat Mike is struggling already he is running low on Diet Coke. Gonna be a long 5 hours.
No really did he say thathe will go sattelite rdiao
““after winning the claim on Washburn, the Twins offered the M’s Boof Bonser and the M’s passed, seeking instead Blackburn or Slowey. How effin’ stupid is that organization?â€
stupid enough to trade away their farm for erik bedard. so pretty, pretty PRETTTTTTY STUPID!”
The M’s are one of the worst run franchises in sports.
Wow, this is an epic show so far. Mike is genuine and Dog was great.
It all came so abruptly, its strange.
“did dog say where he is going?”
surely you didnt think that the fan would allow russo to annouce his new gig on thier station!
mike said before he brought him on that he was really pushing it with the corporation to bring dog on in the first place. ill be the station manager was in the control room with his fingers on the mute button the whole time dog was on the show.
good riddance, i hope he goes to sirius so ill never hear him again!
why is michael kay on now? who the hell is going to listen to his show from 1 PM on the same day mike and the dog split?
Dog shouldn’t be all upset it was his choice, he smelled the cheese and he jumped. Mike loves FAN hes there to stay.
“Fat Mike is struggling already he is running low on Diet Coke.”
There’s a product placement I’m sure ‘Coke’ cringes at.
“why is michael kay on now? who the hell is going to listen to his show from 1 PM on the same day mike and the dog split?”
Ten big ones on Russo calling in within the hour.
1996 listening to mike and the mad dog during the Yankees run was almost as good as the the games.
Blackburn and Slowey are two amazing young pitchers who can throw strikes and pitch innings. Why in the hell would the Ms think they would give that up for a pitcher who costs a lot for similar production. Not an effing chance.
Cb.
I have a daughter in Agoura High School.. They won the CIF baseball championship here in so cal a few years ago. There are so many great players around here it is scary.. Dykstra’s son went to Westlake High about 3 miles from my home he was suppose to be a very good SS prospect I think but dropped in the draft.
Trevor Plouffe from Crespi high in Encino is in AAA I think for Minny. remember that name.. Jeff SUppan went to school in the area also.. So many good baseball players it is scary…
I have a nephew who played baseball in westchester county NY, they played like 25 games, he would train in doors half the year, kids out here have huge advantages..
Bret Saberhagen coach’s in Calabasas about 10 minutes from here.. Many former pro players help out in the high school in the area…Garret ANderson went to the same high school as Ryan Braun …
Dog will leave for 3 years make a lot of money and make a giant return. I like the way he says “I gotta feed my kids”
basically admitting it is about the money – good for him!
These guys were Icons – like it or not. They were so much better together than solo.
Good luck
NOW GET RID OF CARTON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chris ‘Cry Baby’ Russo on with Mike video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XD2C6o26w_c
Mike and Max?????????????
“Dog will leave for 3 years make a lot of money and make a giant return. I like the way he says “I gotta feed my kidsâ€
basically admitting it is about the money – good for him!”
He pulled a Sprewell.
“Dog will leave for 3 years make a lot of money and make a giant return.”
Agreed – the show will be called “Mike and the Cry Baby”!
Can’t Cole re-enter the draft next year after one year of college?
Some more draft news via Rotoworld:
If the Pirates don’t sign Alvarez they are nuts. This stuff happens with all the high profile picks.
I still think theres a good chance the Yanks will sign Cole and I’d be pretty ticked off if they don’t get it done but its not the end of the world.
Pete,
Are the completely unprofessional jabs at Russo in response to his on-air comment the other day about your credentials and asking if you work for the “Staten Island Times.”
Even Francesa concedes he would not be where he is without Russo. And likewise with Russo. So how can Pete Abraham say otherwise?
And since when is taking about a million dollar a year raise and a new challenge dismissed as stupid? Were the two going to live forever? The show was special, and now it’s over.
“Can’t Cole re-enter the draft next year after one year of college?”
Nope, he’d have to wait until he completed his Junior year. So basically a little under 3 years from now he would be eligible again.
#9
you are one tough customer.
Mike and Max?????????????
Max who ? Kellerman …LOL he’s on contract w/ ESPN. I guarantee fatboy Carlin or here’s a thought you want an annoying character like Russo Scott Farrel is out there. I really hope Stephen A. is not an option I’d literally break the dial, Brandon Tierney is a guy w/ energy too.
Tony Russo…
If the Pirates don’t sign Alvarez they are nuts. This stuff happens with all the high profile picks.
I would hope Pedro falls but he may go top 10 next year. Man I want that guy playing in his hometown not some place else.
If Carlin ever gets anywhere near the FAN I’ll bash the radio with my Louisville slugger.
“Brandon Tierney is a guy w/ energy too.”
I love BT but I think SNY and ESPN both have him under contract.
Stuart,
Southern California is probably the premier place for amateur baseball in the country (texas and florida as well). It’s really remarkable the level of competition all over the region, especially in OC and the Valley as you’ve pointed out.
That’s why you can’t make anything out of high school stats (especially for kids from cold weather regions) at draft time. Unless you’re playing in an area where there is high competition, year round baseball it’s hard to make anything from what a kid does in high school ball. They’re not mature physically, but the competition also varies incredibly. Kids who can play close to year round just tend to move onto a different level.
“#9
you are one tough customer.”
Just remember – Mad Dog has been wearing a Tampa Bay hat while hosting the show the past couple of months and bashing the Yanks constantly with a sinister giggle…
To hear him cry on air is pure gold!!
To hear him cry on air is pure gold!!
The thing about Cole. In 3 years, a lot can happen. TJS happens to everyone now and shoulder issues are much more common. Cole has a good chance of getting these and even if he is fine after TJS, he would get picked lower and get much less money. Right now, he has this much money guarenteed and has college paid for. If he does not succeed in a few years, he could just quit and go to college, still get a good job along with the 5 million or so and thus, wins if he signs.
Ferrell or Stephen A. would be the end of days.
Kellerman and Kenny should take over TMKS spot
“If Carlin ever gets anywhere near the FAN I’ll bash the radio with my Louisville slugger.”
Carlin is a more obnoxious and less intelligent version of fat Mike.
Horrible job by you Pete. Those are really unprofessional remarks about Russo. I wonder if they are in response to his on-air comments about you working for the “Staten Island Times.”
Francesa concedes he’d be no where without Russo, and vice-versa. So how can Peter Abraham say any different? The two made the show–together.
I’ve hammered the both of them plenty of times, but everyone knows the show was special.
And since when did taking about a million dollar a year raise and a new challenge be dismissed as something stupid?
#9 Can’t argue with ya on that.
I only wished there was a camera on Chris ‘Cry Baby’ Russo as the tears flowed…
Carlin is arrogant. cant stand him. same with BT.
I like listening to Kellerman, always have since his days with Around the Horn (notsomuch with that other show on FoxSports).
If i were starting a show to put up against Kay and Francessa, he’s who i’d go with… he’ll draw the 18-35 crowd, which drives the advertising revenue.
The other interesting thing to watch is what happens to the show vis a vis YES Network.
I believe that YES would be stupid not to renew their contract with the station. If they want to be known as a sports network they need to do something more than Yankee games, repeats, college games, Nets games etc. SNY has developed themselves into a network that you will watch for up to date NY sports news (I could do without the stupid Beer MOney show and the 3 other sports talk shows they have) but nonethless although YES will alway have the Yankees you need to be more than that IMO.
Good luck to both Mike and Chris. Listening to the show right now. If the Yankees make the playoffs, Chris better be ready to eat his words no matter what radio he is on.
The way this organization handles pitchers Cole will be in Scranton by June of 09 and the Bronx a week later. Then he will take his 8.66 ERA back to Scranton and everyone will wonder why he sucks
Carlin and/or Benigno are not the answer.
They will go out of market – maybe get an ex jock or two
“Good luck to both Mike and Chris. Listening to the show right now. If the Yankees make the playoffs, Chris better be ready to eat his words no matter what radio he is on.”
That wont happen so I guess doggys in the clear.
“but nonethless although YES will alway have the Yankees you need to be more than that IMO.”
i always thought they needed to include more programming from the farm system, and some fantasy sports programming.
if i remember correctly, didnt the Devils once have an agreement with YES, and then when the managing partners pulled out, they put all the Devils games on FoxSports and MSG?
Yankees in the summer and Nets in the winter covers the seasons, but unless the Nets get LeBron, those ratings will never amount to anything.
they need to come to an agreement with the Giants like SNY is kind of the Cable TV home of the Jets.
this cole kid is nuts. $5 million is more than most people make in a lifetime. An entire lifetime. His dad (Boras) may claim to have his best interests in mind, but Boras just wants a bigger fee. Let’s face it, all Cole has done is dominate high school hitters who will one day be reading blogs and posting like we do, aka not hitters of consequence. if ucla beckons academically, then do it. but if you want to be a baseball player, take the HUGE yankees offer and invest wisely because there’s about a 2% chance you’ll ever make league minimum in the bigs.
i know this sounds mean, and sure he could turn out to be the next roger clemens, but you gotta look at the odds. Boras did his job, he got cole a huge signing bonus. take the money and run.
Pete is exactly right… who in the world is going to listen to Russo on Satellite outside of NY? He doesn’t really have a high level of sports acumen and its his sadistic-goofy personality that got him notoriety. And he doesn’t even like any NY sports either, but he is a typical NY guy– his personality will not transcend national sports talk.
So what exactly is his target audience?
He is kind of a goofy character who needs someone stern and arrogant like Mike to mesh with. If he is alone, eventually he will wear people out. Similarly, Francessa will wear out his welcome by Thanksgiving as well.
Now, ESPN 1050 needs to move Tierney to the afternoon spot and take advantage of this.
jeez you guys take this stuff so seriously. So what he Rays hat on and was bagging on the Yanks. I love my Yankees but I wouldn’t get happy about hearing some guy cry.
Turntwo
The interesting thing is that YES used to have Giants programming, they used to have the Giants version of Yankees on deck, they used to have a roundtable on the Giants each week as well but those have left the building.
I think it’s a win-win for the Yankees. Sign him and Bam, you have a good pitcher in the minors. Let him walk, and you have 2 first-round picks next year (with a better draft-position than this year). There has been some rebuilding over the past couple of years, and this can only help.
Kay just mentioned Mike and the Mad Dog.
Wishing them well, how they’re the gold standard.
This is one time when I absolutely, completely agree with Pete. I didn’t know that Cole blew off a conference call. That’s irresponsible. It sounds like he has a lot of growing up to do. I realize that he’s only a high schooler, but he’s certainly old enough to know the difference between right and wrong. I’m not sure that I would want the Yankees to have to teach it too him. Cole is taking a huge risk, but it’s his life. Only he will live to regret it if he’s wrong.
I also agree about Russo’s schtick playing particularly well in NY. People might listen to him at first to see what the fuss is, but I wonder if he can carry a show by himself. I will concede that, being on a national stage, Chris might be more serious. He can’t spend half his show kicking the Yankees around because he’ll turn off his audience.
I love Brandon Tierney but I always thought it was sad how upset he got after Knicks losses(when he did the postgame for msg)he should be used to it. They are the frickin Knicks
the name itself is a punchline, nonetheless hes a good sportscaster.
You guys are ridiculous with the Mike and the Mad Dog bashing. They’re were a fantastic team and really engendered the entire sports radio talk program. They are both good guys, I have met them before and Mike actually attended the funeral of one of my closest friend’s father. Most of the Yankee critical comments they made were completely on par with Yankee bashing that goes on here during the games. Additionally, the charity work they have done along with Don Imus for the WFAN was incredible. I was not a huge fan of the Dog. However, Mike is one of the best and most informed Yankee fans on the Radio or TV and although i have not always agreed with his positions, particularly the Joba Chamberlain issue, his insight and knowledge about the team is extensive, probably a great deal better than any of you have here.
They should let Steve Phillips take dogs spot…:)
“Kay just mentioned Mike and the Mad Dog.
Wishing them well, how they’re the gold standard.”
Classy on Kay’s part.
They should let Steve Phillips take dogs spot…:)
An absolutely a-hole I guess …
“but I wonder if he can carry a show by himself. I will concede that, being on a national stage, Chris might be more serious. He can’t spend half his show kicking the Yankees around because he’ll turn off his audience.”
one thing i realized from listening to XM before i ditched it was that you’ve got a lot of hick truckers who have satellite, and all they want to stumble thru a conversation about is the Atlanta Braves or the St. Louis Cardinals.
good luck with that, Maddog!
“They should let Steve Phillips take dogs spot…:)”
LOL. That guy is a double threat a crappy GM and crappier broadcaster. He hates the Yanks on another level far more seriously than doggy does.
Michael Kay asked by co-hosts:
“How about a MICHAEL and the Mad Dog?”
“Ohh, no chance! NO CHANCE! He’s going to satellite for alot of money. ALOO-HOTT of money!”
Or Buck Showalter, and the Yankee Brass could listen in on line-up’s, how to motivate a young talent..
Funny story by Kay about how Brian Cashman’s 5 yr old was singing the Kay 1050 jingle in the car and Cashman became irrate lol
The Rangers were willing to trade Gerald Laird and a solid prospect to the Marlins for Chris Volstad.
I’m scared of what the Nolan Ryan Rangers are building
You know maybe they could bring Torre back to NY the YES network. Mike and Joe…
If you have sirius radio when will you begin to get XM programming? baseball and such?
Anyone know
Tank did Crash smack Kay ?
Brandon:
Amen to that. Not sure what Nolan is up to, but I think the Ranger’s are going to turn the corner….and they already have OFFENSE……..
i thought the giants on deck show was still on YES? i’m pretty sure it was this past season…
I hope the Yanks drop 2 of 3 this weekend to the royals that pretty much seals the envelope.
nevermind, just checked yesnetwork.com and it just lists a ‘this week in football’ show, nothing Giants specific…
26 re: xm/sirius
its complicated. the recievers arent compatable and niether will be able to get all of the other’s stations. if/when the merger goes through, they will be coming out with new recievers but the process of designing and building new recievers has been complicated by the gov’t mandating stuff like hd radio and such .
not sure yet on whether there will be different tiers of programing (and pricing)
like i said, its complicated…
Brandon…. I like Brandon Tierney alot… I like the show hes on on SNY… he brings alot of energy and I think would fit in well with Mike whos knowledgable but sooo dull
My understanding is that they will start to combine the stations this fall (XM Sirius that is)
WFAN should rotate guest hosts for awhile to see who Mike plays best off of. I’d like to hear Maloose’s get a shot.
One thing to clear up. Cole can’t hire Boras as an agent or he’d lose eligibility for UCLA. Even if Boras is actually conducting the negotiations, they have to say it is his parents doing the work with Boras as an ‘advisor’.
Michael Kay has reported the Yankees are heavily considering putting Melky and Cano on waviers.
skeptic the merger went through 2 weeks ago
Mike and the Mad Dog it’s all over but the cryin, oops we already had that.
Bowa’s on Kay show now to do the autopsy on Cano.
I really dont understand why people are so upset about losing Cole. Look at his delivery closely, if that doesnt change he will suffer a devastating injury to his arm. As for Inoa, the A’s gave him potential ace type money. Inoa is not an ace, and at most will be a 4 or 5 starter, IMO. Im happy about losing Cole, because we wont be responsible for his injury, and we wont suffer. We also get an extra 1st rder. The only person I would be upset about losing is Jeremy Bleich.
Russo will be fine. He already hosted a solo show on FAN on Saturday mornings. He more than held his own. He knows his stuff on college sports which will play well nationally. Plus he knows when to poke fun at himself.
I have not seen much research from Francessa regarding the Yankees over the last few years unless you want to count regurgitating what was in the local papers on a given day.
Bronx Jeers please update on what he says should be interesting
I know Mike and Cano, then we could call in and rip him because his coaches won’t.
gayle
thanks, i got so bored with the ‘merger may got through any day’ stuff that i’v been reading since last november that i missed it.
No chance WFAN ever hires Tierney. Why? because he’s a Yankee fan. Follow the pattern. WFAN never hires host who are Yankee fans. The pattern there seems to be you either have to be a Met fan or anti-Yankee and Jet fan even though it’s the Giants flagship station.
They are going to replay the opening from 1:00 with Dog and Mike at 6:00 tonight for all of us who missed it!
Michael Kay just said the Yankees are heavily considering putting Cano and Melky on waviers.
I’d trade Melky for a box of baseballs
How about Mike and Manny..
Bowa is staying that Cano is a good kid who needs to have someone on him all the time. If not, he will drift.
Bowa is also talking about the times Cano blew off a workout and Bowa told him he’s not going it anymore because he is wasting his time. Cano was resistent in giving him respect, then came around, gave him respect, and they hit it off.
More to come……
“Michael Kay just said the Yankees are heavily considering putting Cano and Melky on waviers.”
thats nothing new. there are a ton of players put on waivers, you just dont hear about them because they either arent claimed, or claimed, and no deal ever comes of it.
“No chance WFAN ever hires Tierney. Why? because he’s a Yankee fan. Follow the pattern. WFAN never hires host who are Yankee fans. The pattern there seems to be you either have to be a Met fan or anti-Yankee and Jet fan even though it’s the Giants flagship station.”
Mike Francesa is a Yankee and Giants fan. So is Mark Malusis and its not like they dont offer equal time to the Yanks and Mets Sweeny Murti is on once a day at least.
How about Mike and Willie isn’t he looking for work.
Bowa also said that he would have stayed with the Yankees if he was asked.
Wow.
Boy do we really need him now.
Bowa said he would have stayed in NY if asked. Big mistake he wasn’t asked.
They should ask again in the off-season. He’s got a one year deal in LA. Sounds like he misses NY.
Bowa has talked to Cano 3-4 times this summer and told him he has to pick up his level of play.
How about Mike and Manny..
Ramirez ?
Gayle,
He’s talking about their relationship and how he would ride him for him . Highlight was when he said that Cano’s the type of guy that when you don’t stay on him he may drift into another world.
Nothing new there.
He said they’ve talked a few times so far this season.
“Michael Kay just said the Yankees are heavily considering putting Cano and Melky on waviers.â€
Good but no fair trade ever comes through waivers I would want a lot for Cano.
i can’t understand why there are people out there that like tierney and stephen a smith, these two are the worst things on radio since kars for kids and b and h commercials.
If what Bowa is saying is true – that he wanted to come back as a coach but Girardi didn’t ask him to… that’s hard to get over. It really is.
I understand the yankees wanted to give Girardi the call on his coaching staff for the most part.
But the idea that Girardi loved Bobby Meacham so much that he’d let Bowa go so the team could, “move in a different direction” is hard to get over.
Bowa is also talking about the times Cano blew off a workout and Bowa told him he’s not going it anymore because he is wasting his time. Cano was resistent in giving him respect, then came around, gave him respect, and they hit it off.
That’s a bad sign. The sign of a player that is lazy.
“They should ask again in the off-season. He’s got a one year deal in LA. Sounds like he misses NY.”
thats one condition where it makes sense to keep the faith in Cano. if Bowa is willing to come back and keep on top of him, you give him another chance.
Basically Girardi eff’d up with not wanting Bowa- that’s hubris
It was my understanding and maybe Pete can clarify this that Bowa was in fact asked to stay I recall reading some quotes from Cashman said they wanted him back maybe that was just a figment of my imagination.
For a change, you and I agree completely, Peter. I don’t see the satellite listeners across the nation embracing Russo, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see what kind of show they’re going to do with him, as well as what partner he’ll have, if any.
And I don’t understand how Cole can be so immature to think that he’ll ever have a better opportunity than he has now. Going to school would be the dumbest thing he could do. Does he think he’s going to go higher in the draft? I doubt it. He was taken in the first round…by the New York Yankees, a team with more money than God! You gotta figure they’re going to do right by you as a first round selection. Your career could be an abject failure, and yet you’d still make some good money with the organization and get a big signing bonus, not to mention you’d always be able to say you got drafted in the first round by the Yankees (he can still say that, obviously). He’s got nothing to gain by passing up this offer. He can only do worse, and when he wisens up someday down the line, he’ll regret it.
“Bowa said he would have stayed in NY if asked. Big mistake he wasn’t asked.
They should ask again in the off-season. He’s got a one year deal in LA. Sounds like he misses NY.
Bowa has talked to Cano 3-4 times this summer and told him he has to pick up his level of play.”
Sign Bowa to a 10 year deal as 3B coach then Cano will play up to his abilities into his mid 30′s.
No offense to GI Joe but come on you mean to tell me you chose Meachem over Bowa and he wanted to stay too ?
Bad decision #2
Can you imagine how guilty Girardi felt when he got himself fired from the Marlins for butting heads with the owner, having his staff terminated along with himself?
Girardi probably made a promise “Hey listen, we had something good going here, if I ever make manager again, I’ll give you guys a call.”
Brandon:
Manny Ramirez with Mike
If a player can’t get motivated to play without a certain coach, then he is a bum and should be dumped.
You’re getting $30 mil….grow up, be a man, and do what you are getting paid to do.
Like I said in the other post this morning I don’t believe Cano respects anyone in the dug-out. maybe Posada but he isn’t there.
Bowa said he called Robi twice this season and Robi called him twice. just sayin.
Bowa is the most non BS sports guy I’ve ever heard. He says what he means.
ANd thinking about it more if I recall there were stories out there that Bowa was going to Seattle and that a deal was even done.
Also you have to let the manager choose some of his coaches. Lets be hinest here Pena, Eiland, Long and Thompson were not his hires so he basicaly they gave him Harkey and Meechem. There was a huge back lash about the fact that Randolph when hired was not allowed to name any of his coaching staff
If a player can’t get motivated to play without a certain coach, then he is a bum and should be dumped.
You’re getting $30 mil….grow up, be a man, and do what you are getting paid to do.
I have to say I agree. Robi sounds like he wants to be remembered as a clown on the field instead of the most dangerous hitter in baseball.
I know Francesa been there awhile since the station started. Considering that that’s why he probably catches a break there even though he’s a Yankee fan. Maluses is a fair one. But the overwhelming majority of that station is Met centric. It’s Met’s talk 24-7.
That’s why I listen to 1050.
If the Yanks didn’t ask Bowa to stay knowing how well he worked with the infield in general and A-Rod and Cano in particular, shame on Cashman.
The Yankees chose Girardi’s entire staff, except third base and the bullpen. The rest of the jobs were filled by the Yankees.
You can’t choose the entire staff for a manager.
They should have let him hire his own coach at another position on the staff and kept Bowa.
As far as him coming back to “save” Cano, I’d rather have Bowa back on the staff because he’s a damn good coach. Cano has to grow up and save himself.
Coaching turnover is a fact of life in MLB. Cano just has to deal with it.
Judging by what Bowa is saying, everything was not always hunky dory with he and Cano. Sounds like they had their battles. Bowa has still talked to him several times during the year.
Clearly, that hasn’t worked.
Its up to the player to grow up and play hard. It can’t always come from a coach.
Larry Bowa was my favortie players growing up. Living in Delaware and being a rabid Phillies fan watching him play was a total thrill. He played hard every day and had an excitement about him. He was not the big name ie Schmidt or Luzinski or Carlton but in my opnion he was the spark the drove the car so to speak.
When he was names Philies manager it made everything exciting there again but alas it didnt work out. Pat the Bat certainly didnt help lol
perhaps Bowa accepted the first coaching offer… and Torre offered him a job before Girardi could ask?
just speculating.
I heard an interview with Bowa, during this past off-season, where he said he had no problem with leaving, the new manager has a right to his own coaching staff. Very understanding, and professional.
However, given what we’ve seen with Bobby Meacham (who’s supposed to be a topnotch guy himself), I wonder if the Yanks should make Bowa a “Kevin Long”-type of deal – you know, multiple years for bigger bucks than coaches usually get – to get him back. If they do, that might be a reason to hold on to Cano…
Just thinking.
SJ44:
I agree to a degree, but a coach has to hold them accountable for lazy playing, plate discipline and provide discipline/correction.
is cano on waviers? that should serve as a good wake-up call if he is infact.
cano and melky on waivers is not a big deal…
guys are put on waivers all the time…
99 % of the time nothing happens…
“Mike Francesa is a Yankee and Giants fan.”
pretty sure he’s a cowboys fan. he’s buds with tuna but he wasnt a giants fan this year.
Cano and Melky should go spend the rest of the year in Scranton.
“Also you have to let the manager choose some of his coaches. ”
This is true. But Girardi had one year of managing experience and was taking the Yankees job.
The one coach they needed to bring back was Bowa. Don’t know how that decision went down but I don’t think Bowa is lying about what happened.
Girardi loves meacham. He loves him. So I’d guess that was it.
There’s not excuse for Cano needing Bowa to motivate him. But that relationship worked. And it’s very possible that Cano would have grown out of needing Bowa over time.
If Cano was the player everyone agrees he could be – half this teams problems both this season and moving into the near future would be solved.
He’s got baseball talent falling out of his pockets. He is exactly the kind of player they need more of – but then there’s all of the mental mistakes and lack of concentration that kills him.
He’s a .320-.330 .900 OPS talent at second base.
Whatever practical issues needed to be done to get him to play that way needed to be done.
The Rangers have a coach literally following Josh Hamilton around day and night to make sure he doesn’t start using drugs again.
Keeping Bowa was the right thing to do. Bad decision by Girardi.
IMO the Yankee’s have no in your face type of coach, the Captain doesn’t even do it.
they probably let girardi pick meacham, but i doubt they’ll bring him back next year. and i doubt they’ll let joe g pick his replacement this time.
I think Giradi likes Meacham, because he’s a yes man…IMO I have more bad 3rd base coaching than good from him.
sorry should have added, “seen”
Maybe the Yankees should hire away Don Cooper, pitching coach and native NY’er, from White Sox, make Eiland BP coach.
Hire away Rudy Jaramillo, hitting coach for Texas, maybe could trade A-Rod back to Texas, for Josh Hamilton!!!!
Get Bowa back as assistant bench coach and Randolph as 3rd base coach.
BRANDON
Real question for Brandon:What happened to your interest in Nelson Cruz of AAA Texas for one of the outfield spots. Maybe the next Carlos Quentin????
“perhaps Bowa accepted the first coaching offer… and Torre offered him a job before Girardi could ask?”
That’s what basically happened – Bowa did not have luxury to wait while Yanks were still interviewing for Torre’s replacement – he indicated he wanted to stay in NY but it was not up to him.
You guys have to understand something, this is major league baseball. Not high school and not little league. You can’t babysit these guys.
These players work on an entirely different wavelengths.
They have guaranteed contracts. In Cano’s case, 7 million a season. A coach makes between $200-300,000.
As much as Larry Bowa can get on Cano’s, or anybody else’s case, about being responsible, professional, accountable, etc, the player can just as easily tune him out.
Sounds like that happened with Bowa during his time with Cano, as much as he helped him.
Jeter, Arod, Tino (who is gaining more power within the Yankees as a consultant to Cashman), Girardi, Arod, and Meachem have all, at different times of the year, had talks with Cano. Nothing has worked.
Simply put, if Cano is going to realize his potential, he has to grow up and put in the time and focus to get the job done. He can’t have a private coach.
This is not Winter League where he can have his father take care of him. This is major league baseball.
He’s shown enough for his employer to give him 30 million dollars guaranteed over the next 4+ years. The least he can do, is dedicate himself to being the best player he can be.
I think the bad decsion was assuming that Cano was capable of being a professional without someone constantly prodding him. Very immature.
Getting back to Cano… wasnt Arod trying to help him out a he blew him off as well. If you cant show respect to a player like Arod trying to help you out not sure a coach is going to do any better.
Wondered: Is Posada traveling with the team? Would be a good presence in the clubhouse plus aid preparation of our pitchers, while continuing rehab.
SJ44:
I do understand it is men playing a boy’s game and making millions doing it. The has to be some one to keep the trains on the track, everyone cannot be a corporate robot.
YES!!! The Melk Man was just demoted to AAA. The yankees also waived their other automatic out Richie Sexson. I am going to enjoy yankee games so much more now that Melky is not in the lineup. Hopefully someone is stupid enough to trade for him. In lieu of the two moves, they called up Gardner and Cody Ransom.
DID YOU GUYS SEE THIS:
In a move designed to boost the YankeesNew York Yankees ‘ sagging offense, the team today will demote Melky CabreraMelky Cabrera to the minors, waive Richie Sexson, and promote Brett Gardner and Cody Ransom from Triple-A, The NEW YORK POST has learned.
Cabrera to minors and Sexson waived?
Real question for Brandon:What happened to your interest in Nelson Cruz of AAA Texas for one of the outfield spots. Maybe the next Carlos Quentin????
I talked to a few Rangers fans not good reviews, picture Franceour swinging at everything.
wow wake up calls coming
SJ44:
Maybe try “Benching him” he has cost more than he has helped.
“You can’t babysit these guys.”
This is true in the sense that you shouldn’t have to. There’s no reason to. It makes no sense.
But the rangers are literally – not just figuratively – babysitting josh hamilton. He is never allowed to be alone.
Cano should not need anyone to light a fire under him. But it appears that this is what may be needed for the team to play best.
It’s ridiculous. Cano is among the most frustrating players in baseball.
But teams make exceptions and do crazy, ridiculous things to accomodate talented players all of the time.
Melky to the minors
SJ44-
You would think Cabrera, Cano’s little buddy, would be trying to inprove, to reap some of the rewards of a long term deal. Might be best to split them up.
BREAKING NEWS !
melky to the minors, sexson waived
Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…Good Aftanoon everybody, how are you todaaay?
This is the Mike and the Mad dog radio program on a beautiful Tuesday in New York.
Chris: Hello Mikey and how are you?
Fatso:
Yeah, just heard Melky to the minors and Sexson waived.
“He’s shown enough for his employer to give him 30 million dollars guaranteed over the next 4+ years. The least he can do, is dedicate himself to being the best player he can be.”
Interesting that they went the way they did with Cano while not doing the same thing for Wang. I can understand the logic to a degree (a long term deal for a pitcher) but Wang just seems to be such a hard worker and Cano…well, not so much at times. Particularly disturbing with Cano is that he has now been dragging his batting woes with him to 2nd base.
Finally they did something………
cya melky.
Well – this is a shot across the bow of the team.
Shake things up a little – I LOVE it!
its funny with a $200 million + payroll, and Melky making less than $1 million, so many people on this blog think sending my namesake back to the minors is going to solve all of the Yankee problems. Interesting
I HAVE COME TO THE CONCLUSION AFTER READING SOME OF THESE COMMENTS THAT PART OF THE REASON FOR THE YANKEES DOWNFALL RIGHT NOW IS THE FACT THAT THERE ARE SO MANY IDIOTIC FANS. I THINK YOU ARE ALL MORONS AND AM EMBARRASSED THAT YOU ROOT FOR MY TEAM. GET A LIFE AND GO AWAY PEOPLE, LEAVE THE BASEBALL TO THE REAL FANS THAT GO TO THE GAMES AND LIVE AND DIE WITH THIS TEAM.
CB,
Its a little different with Josh Hamilton. Hamilton is a recovering drug addict. He has to have his sponsor with him. Cano is just a very immature kid.
I agree that Bowa should have been retained. I don’t agree that you pick a manager’s entire staff. That’s not the way to go, no matter how little experience Girardi has in the job.
They could have made Bowa the bench coach and kept Robbie Thompson in the behind the scenes role he had prior to this season.
If they want Bowa back, which I would love to see, they can get him back in the off-season.
I just don’t buy the whole notion that Cano is struggling because Bowa is gone. If that’s the case, that’s shows an amazing amount of immaturity in Cano.
You can’t turn the organization over to Robinson Cano.
I’d love to see Bowa back on the staff because he’s an excellent coach. I don’t want to see him back on the staff to be Robinson Cano’s personal Dr. Phil.
Remember, you heard it from me first!
Per Rotoworld and the NY Post: Melky demoted, Sexson waived for Ransom and Gardner.
I love both these guys with all my heart and was crying right along with them.
If you haven’t listened to sports talk in other cities, you don’t know just how spoiled you were. WEEI for example has some of the worst hosts I’ve ever heard. Like ‘em or hate ‘em, Mike and Chris were radio pros. I’m really sad today.
Gardner plays smart Melky has no clue out there. Maybe Cano will get his act together now
Well I am sure Cano may have an opinon on Melky being sent down….
wake up call…
good for them.. Melky work on things in the minors and see what happens…
Can Kevin Long be next.
Mr. Yankee M. Kay is talking about the Olympics.
good job
Yeah sure …. can anybody see Jim Rome teamed up with Francesca on WFAN ?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=dOVxitMy47c
CB
Granted the Rangers are “babysitting” Josh Hamilton, but the difference is that he is delivering big time for them.
It is interesting because this discussion about Cano was taking place two months ago. Several posters told me to come back here in two months and then compare Cano’s and Pedroia’s stats.
“You can’t babysit these guys.”
Sometimes muti-millionares playing a kids name need it.
sombody went crazy with the caps up there! i never read that crap it annoys my eyes!
so is Sexson gone, or just put on waivers? i’m getting confused, if he’s gone wouldn’t it be DFA’d?
Bowa made a number of comments showing that he was very loyal to Joe Torre around the time that things were falling apart between JT and the front office.
I would assume that Cashman and company thought that the idea of keeping Bowa and Pena on the staff would be a lot of pressure on Girardi due to their greater managing experience.
Hopefully with the passage of time – they can bring Bowa back into the fold, although I wouldn’t be shocked if he drew some interest for a head job somewhere.
Simple solutio for Cano/Bowa situation – trade Robbie to Dodgers…
Fredo,
I think Wang’s ability to stay healthy was the big reason why the Yankees have yet to do a long term deal with Wang.
I, too was surprised they gave Cano a long term deal. Its the first time the Yankees have ever done it with a player with his amount of service time in the game.
Look it’s a bird ! it’s a plane ! no IT’S CAPLOCKSMAN !
Brandon: Cruz with 84 strikeouts in 344 ab’s with 56 walks and .434 OBP-certainly better than Francouer, although we’re looking at AAA numbers, and texas outfield seems set with Byrd, Hamilton, Murphy.
I thought Milton Bradley used to be a good fielding outfielder. Who would you compare him to now?
Robbie for Kemp
That’s on Cashman for letting Bowa go… he made Girardi take Eliand, Long, and Pena, so he could have had him take Bowa too.
And wasn’t Rob Thompson Cashman’s choice as well for bench coach? What connection did he have with Girardi? I’m sure Joe would have understood that being the manager of the Yankees means he might not have full autonomy.
I remember as soon as Torre was fired, they offered Long the extension instantaneously. They also asked Pena to stay on the staff after he didn’t get the manager job.
They either didn’t want Bowa back or they were too slow. Bowa was in demand by the Mariners and then Torre asked him on the staff as soon as he was fired… we didn’t act quick enough.
If the Yankees are relying on Melky for offense they are in trouble. From what I have seen his defense and arm have been an asset, but hey we shall see.
Pete, you awake? newsflash, yanks made 2 moves
Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…Good Aftanoon everybody, how are you todaaay?
This is the Mike and the Mad dog radio program on a beautiful Tuesday in New York.
Chris: Hello Mikey and how are you?
Fatso: Hey Daaawg
Mad Dog: So the Yankees limp home after an awful, and I mean awful road trip. They are done Baby, put a fork in em,
Fatso: Dawg, its a long season…you play it in quartas. We are in the last quarta of the season. You wanna give me Tampa Bay, well they got a lot to prove, and the Yanks have been there before. However, the main cog behind that was Joe T. and now he’s in LA doin his thing.
Mad Dog: Yeah Mikey, you see that silly commercial with him on the surfboard? Next thing you know he will be growing his hair out like Manny’s! Haha ha ha ha
Fatso: Alright enough of the nonsense, c’mon Dog. Joe runs a tight ship and with Bowa there not gonna have it.
Fatso: Anyway, back on track with my beloved Yanks. We need to get back Jober, Huuze and hopefully Matsui back real soon to lengthen out that line-up.
Mad Dog: Well Mikey, there is bigga news today…I have an announcement. After dealing with you for 19 years, enough is enough, I am moving the family down to Tampa where I can cover the Rays and do some golfing year round. I’m tired of getting you your diet cokes and watch you go through knee replacement afta knee replacement beacause you can’t keep the weight off. I mean, enough is enough, c’mon, this is a big spot for you.
Fatso: Well, good riddance Dawg. It’s been a remarkable ride, but all good things have to come to an end.
Mad Dog: Hahaha, just like your beloved Yankees, Let’s go TB!
ESPN / TMKS are horrible!!!!!!!!!
Instead of just saying the news about Melky – they have to tease it “big Yankee news coming up”
So with Sexson gone, Betemit is the back-up 1B and 2B and Ransom backs up SS and 3B? If Matsui comes back before 9/1, Gardner goes bye-bye again.
Melky to the minors and bye bye Sexy?
Wow, they did something
I’m not sure Brett’s ready to come back up, but he did some good things when he came up the first time. I hope he takes advantage of this chance.
One benefit is that you break up the Melky/Cano reggaeton party. Hopefully, Robi takes notice of what’s going on as the Yankees were willing to demote a key player from the last 2 seasons. Of course getting Nady helps ease the pain, but you know what I mean.
O/T Congrats to all of the women who rocked yesterday in gymnastics, swimming, soccer (Natasha Kai!), basketball, softball, fencing, beach volleyball, and volleyball. Great day for the American women.
Too little to late ? . . .
http://www.nypost.com/seven/08.....124621.htm
I thought Milton Bradley used to be a good fielding outfielder. Who would you compare him to now?
I still like Milton Bradley. He’s a better OF than a Sheffield, Milton fielding wise at times reminds me of Trot Nixon in RF. But that’s just me.
I hope Melky’s demotion means the Yankees plan to use Damon every day in CF. Replacing Melky with Gardner doesn’t add much offensively. The could have accomplished as much with Justin Christian.
What’s the deal with Matsui anyway? He didn’t play last night because the game was cancelled? How many rehab games does have to play before the Yankees promote him, if his knee doesn’t swell?
SJ,
You’re right in everything you’re saying. Cano should not need outside forces motivating him. I also agree that the yankees should never have even considered picking Girardi’s entire staff. It’s also easy to overestimate cano’s problems and say they’re caused by bowa’s departure.
That said I do think Cano got lost in a fog this year and the bottom line is that it hurt this team.
He may be a player that some allowances have to be made to keep him focused. I see that analagous to Hamilton or a Manny Ramirez.
Now after this year if the yankees determined they didn’t want to continue making allowances for Cano in that way that’s fine – they could trade him.
But in a year of transition it would have been a good move to try to maximize the probability of Cano playing well.
You hit on the mistake – they should have kept Bowa as the bench coach and let Thompson continue in a different role.
None of this is good in any way. Cano has been garbage this year. The one decent thing about his year was how he was continuing to play good defense despite not hitting. But over the past month he’s fallen off a cliff defensively as well. It’s hard to get over how bad he’s been. Even his defensive statistics over the past month are horrendous.
It’s a real problem – and it’s a problem that is holding the franchise hostage over what to do.
He should be the 3 hole hitter. He should be hitting in front of Alex for the next 5 years. Instead he’s only been lost Robinson Cano we’ve seen all year.
Whoa Mekly sent down. whoa whoa whoa. Brett called up.
any guesses on how many more people are gonna come on here and ‘announce’ the demotion?
I’m not sure if Gardner is ready but he’s tearing up AAA right now so its the right time to call him up. I hope he realizes that he can’t work walks in the majors until he demonstrates the ability to get hits.
And all you Scranton fans, can you give me some info on Cody Ransom. I remember him from Spring Training, some guy who the Yankees signed from the Astros farm system, if I recall who hit for power in the minors and can play a bunch of positions. Other than that, I don’t recall much.
Sexson waived per article. Melky to minors. Was Girardi involved in that decision? Ransom has 22 homers.
i hate to see melky’s defense go, but he wasn’t hitting
.242 doesn’t cut it in NY, but do you see all the players on other teams hitting the same?
gardner can’t do that much worse and he has lots of speed
bit of a shake-up which i dont mind right now
maybe this will help both melky and nyy
i think ransom being here means jeter is hurting alot. maybe a few more days to rest the hand and the foot (and whatever else) so he’s ready to go for the last month?
Doubt Gardner will be more than a defensive replacement and/or pinch runner. Can Ransom play 1st, or does Betemit take over 1st when Christian/Gardner come in to pinch run for Giambi?
Wow I wonder what that conversation was like. Melky has become so bigheaded, it must have been fun.
Good Move here by Cash getting these guys off the team now. Sexon was a bad move to begin with..A player released from the worst team in baseball-You could see this coming a mile away.
As far as Melky goes, I believe this will be a wake-up call to Robbie. Now he has no-one to go to lunch with and nobody to drive to the ballpark with him. Maybe this will give him time to think more about his play.
I want Bowa back not for Cano, but because he’s a way superior 3rd base coach than Meacham.
Hopefully Gardner is not as out matched like he was the last time around.
Demoting Cano’s best bud had to send a wake up call
WAKE UP CANO
if he hits we win it’s that simple
“I, too was surprised they gave Cano a long term deal. Its the first time the Yankees have ever done it with a player with his amount of service time in the game.”
And it was so unnecessary. These aren’t the Rays where buying out arbitration years and maybe an FA season or two is a necessary evil. You have to assume off of what Bowa says, that the organization knew he could be a bit flakey. You always make that type sing for his supper.
“Ransom and Gardner.”
Gardner sucks nice to see Ransom though.
Maybe Russo can get in good with Oprah and then he could go on “Oprah & Friends” on XM.
Russo wondered who pete was, and then quipped “who does he work for…the staten island advance?!”
Russo said it in a condescending way, which is funny for two reasons. How does he not know who pete is? Did russo get so big that he doesn’t read bylines, appreciate excellence or recognize a yankee beat writer? That’s scary. Secondly, I work for the staten island advance, a daily which belongs to the same newspaper group as the star ledger and our sports alum includes harvey araton and rich eisen…our news reporters usually go straight to the post or news..
it’s an example of how out of touch russo became with the other working media in new york
I would give up my next to paychecks for a 10 game winning streak starting tonight followed by 6 more in a row
Record 64-57. If we finish 28-13, we end up 92-70, which should get us into playoffs. I hope.
Coolstandings puts us at 7.5% chance
Our blog has 548 yes out of 2871 votes.
To get 28 more wins need to :
Sweep KC and Seattle: 6 wins
Toronto- win 6 of 9
Baltimore- win 4 of 6
Boston win 4 of 6
Tampa Bay win 4 of 6
Detroit win 1 of 1
Chicago win 2 of 4
Anaheim win 1 of 3
Is this FEASIBLE OR FANTASY?
I’d love to know what Melky is thinking, cleaning out his locker, getting on the bus and after being demoted. Now he has to play with some of the Kids. I liked Melky, but lets be honest, he was always a 4th outfielder forced into the Starting Line-up. It almost isn’t his fault he’s suffered in the line-up, he was never that good to begin with.
Sexson sucked, he won’t be missed.
The Front office woke up and realized that Melky was an AUTOMATIC out every single time, killed rallies, ground into double plays routinely and generally was lost at the plate. I think removing an automatic out completely is always a good thing, maybe an Addition by Subtraction thing. I like Gardner, he is sort of the player Brandon is talking about. He can be gritty, he takes pitches, he runs hard, he runs fast, and if he hits the ball he hits it hard (mostly at someones glove, but sometimes you can’t control those things).
I wonder if the Yankees wished they had Alberto Gonzalez still….
it is fantasy
over .667 the rest of the way for this team
not going to happen
I remember the ‘squeeze box’ reference on this
OPEN Sports blog. It really was irritating enough that I wanted to throw my radio through the wall too!