Wrapping up the day in Tampa
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Feb 28, 2009 
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A few tidbits from today:
· Hideki Matsui ran the bases today before the game. The hope is that he will get into a game as the DH sometime in the coming week.
· Joba Chamberlain didn’t seem worried about giving up two rocket doubles. Of the 21 pitches he threw, all but three were four-seam fastballs. He threw two change-ups and one slider. All today was for him was a chance to build arm strength. “It felt good coming out of my hand,” he said. “Today was just establishing my fastball.”
· CC Sabathia will throw a simulated game on Sunday morning. His first start comes Friday.
· Alex Rodriguez was supposed to meet with the MLB investigators on Sunday in Tampa. But according to Joe Girardi, he’s trying to delay the meeting.
“I know he’s supposed to meet with them soon. I’m not exactly sure what the day is,” Girardi said. “I think Alex is hoping that it’s possibly not tomorrow. We talked a little bit about it.”
Rodriguez is scheduled to play in Sarasota tomorrow then continue on to Jupiter to join the Dominican team for the WBC. So perhaps the meeting will be on Monday or Tuesday. It’s unclear why Rodriguez is stalling.
“I’m not going there,” he said.
The meeting is not disciplinary in nature. But the Yankees are clearly concerned Rodriguez will say or do something that merits a suspension.
“I think you have to be a little bit concerned any time you go in front of Major League Baseball,” Girardi said. “The precedent has been set with how they’ve dealt with players but there’s still always a concern. I’m hoping it’s a fact-finding mission and that he’s set to go on April 6.”
Why must Alex be so high-maintenance?
why should A-Rod have to go? The test was supposed to remain anonymous and didn’t.
A-Rod continues to shoot himself in the foot.
From the previous thread – how can you not love Yogi? I’m sorry I never saw him play – one image I will always have of him is the scene (I think it was after the Yanks had just won a WS) where Dimaggio is rubbing Yogi’s head almost as if he’s a little brother and Yogi is just laughing it up. His comments are pricelessly funny, yet they make so much sense. I think I do like the “it’s so crowded, no one goes there anymore” best, but then there is “you can observe a lot by watching” or “it gets late early out there”.
Glad to see Hideki is healthy enough to run the bases and that Joba felt good. I can’t wait for CC’s first start – Pete, any idea when AJ will go?
As far as Alex, he should just keep saying “I’m not going there”. The less said, the better.
“But the Yankees are clearly concerned Rodriguez will say or do something that merits a suspension.”
I would share their concern. Arod loves to add the extra sentence when it is unnecessary. Don’t put him in front of MLB until he is prepped. Quite sad that ARod can’t even have a conversation with somebody without being coached.
It says on MLB that Arod is traveling with the team to play in the game against the Reds, his last game tuneup before the WBC. So good job making it seem like he is “stalling” for a negative reason..When it is not that reason. Also he doesn’t have to asnwer the media’s questions everyday.
I realize Girardi wants to forge a better relationship with the media, but there’s no need to do so at ARod’s expense.
Joba was just establishing his fastball? What was it doing going 88 mph?
Oh please, so he wants to delay the meeting – big deal.
Unless he is hiding something (which is entirely possible) or had involvement in steroids (directly or indirectly) after 2004— he has nothing to worry about, suspension wise.
The fact that he is so hesitant to meet with them and the Yankees are also concerned shows that there may be more skeletons in his closet.
It’s not just A-Rod. Baseball continues to shoot itself in the foot.
Time to grill and drink some wine.
Wow
The Yankees have such a low opinion on A-Rod’s communication skills that they are worried he will say something that will get him suspended for an anonymous test that occurred before steroids were banned. There is virtually nothing he can be suspended for based on the info we have, yet the Yankees are scared that A-Rod will screw it up.
arod is a disaster.
the yankees should trade him.
Even though this is pretty innocuous, its just another thing that people can use as ammunition against him. If he is 100% truthful about what he said, he should have no fear at all about this meeting. People will now be suspicious that he may be hiding something or trying to spin something. Why else would you delay the meeting? Just get it over with, you can’t be suspended for anything anyway regardless of the hot air that comes from Selig.
Did Jason Giambi or Andy Pettitte delay their meetings with MLB?
The guy just doesn’t get it. He was right when he said it would be 18-24 months for this thing to die down— atleast that is one thing he was truthful about.
Captain’s Corner, I think you have it:
http://bombersbeat.mlblogs.com/
– Alex Rodriguez isn’t talking like a guy who plans to meet with MLB investigators on Sunday. His name remains on the travel roster for the game against the Reds in Sarasota and he said he plans to be on the 9 a.m. bus. We’ll see. Seems likely that A-Rod could be a last-second scratch from that sheet.
**This blog entry links to the whole article by Hoch and it’s pretty clear why Alex wants to delay the meeting. He wants to play with the Yankees one last time before he’s off to the WBC – it’s as simple as that. If people want to harbor consipiracy theories, that’s up to them.
Right on cue, the haters come out of the woodwork. Just because Pete thinks the Yankees are “clearly worried” doesn’t mean he’s right. Go read Brian Hoch’s piece and the reason why Alex wants to delay the meeting is obvious……..and Joe’s comments are harmless. I can tell I’ll be skipping a lot of posts tonight if the last few are any indication.
Is A-Rod allowed to have Guy Richie in the room with him when he talks to MLB?
Oh, so ARod wasn’t “stalling” and he just wanted to play one more game before taking off. All of a sudden it’s not sinister and doesn’t allow us to try to spin more of our hypocritical aspersions onto this US Citizen with the cut rate rights.
“It’s unclear why Rodriguez is stalling.
“I’m not going there,” he said.”
If the only real reason is because you want to play in the final exhibition game with your team before the WBC, then just say that. Whats so highly confidential about that? What Top Secret information is that? This guy reveals information when he shouldn’t, and doesn’t reveal information when he should. And he wonders by people are suspicious.
If that was the only reason, why didn’t Alex just come out and say that? Why dodge the question?
Of all the topics in Pete’s wrapup, the least important is getting the most hits,# 13…..No comments on Joba, CC or Matsui all very important issues that are baseball on the field subjects….Go wonder….
I agree Al
It would actually be a good gesture on ARod’s part if he said that he committed to his team and wants to get some ABs in tomorrow before leaving for the the DR team, rather than say ‘no comment’. It just looks bad.
And apparently given a reason, they still won’t accept it.
swish bat, because anything A-Rod says will be spun by the media anyway, so why say anything? He doesn’t owe the mediots anything
“If that was the only reason, why didn’t Alex just come out and say that? Why dodge the question?”
Because everything that Alex says is picked apart by the media (Pete posts every Alex comment with suspicious overtones) that it is best that he not say anything. I’m sure that’s what his advisers have told him and they are right. Stick to discussing baseball and say “No Comment” to everything else.
Well, they are following Pete like sheep, lol.
Pat M, take a look at my first post…..I would LOVE to talk only baseball, but the way Pete worded his Alex comments has led people to make ridiculous comments that it is hard not to respond to.
If people want to talk baseball, I’m here…….but I somehow doubt that some people want to do that.
“If people want to talk baseball, I’m here…….but I somehow doubt that some people want to do that.”
I think that people want to talk baseball, but as long as Pete is going to stir the pot with snarky comments and hints that Alex is lying or hiding something, people are going to get pulled off topic.
It’s a good sign Matsui is running the basis. Can’t wait to see him play. I’m slightly concerned about Jorge, but I don’t want to jump the gun – could be normal soreness after a lot of work, especially after a layoff. I, for one, wouldn’t want him to push it – I’m sure Yankees don’t either.
What happens if Joba has a really, really sucky spring training and Hughes and/or Kennedy are stellar?
(I don’t think Joba will have a bad spring – I don’t jump to conclusions after a guy’s first spring outing – I just thought it would be an interesting scenario.)
It’s incredible that nobody noticed that Melky was wearing No. 53 today rather than his familiar No. 28.
He may feel he’s on his way out the door like Abreu was.
People really aren’t under any obligation to comment on any Alex talk, whether they think Pete’s being snarky or not. It’s a choice.
There is nothing baseball-related to talk about. They looked awful for the 2nd straight day and most of the guys who are playing now are scrubs and A-AA prospects. For the next few weeks, we’ll be seeing Ransom, Berroa, and Nunez in the infield. The rotation won’t start until the 6th.
Hard to get excited about CC throwing a ‘simulated’ game. A-Rod is the big story until ST gets exciting. The games are actually painful to watch now. None of the pitchers’ arms are in shape yet
What happens if Joba has a really, really sucky spring training and Hughes and/or Kennedy are stellar?
————
Nothing will change.
Joba will still be a starter for the duration of 2009 and Hughes and Kennedy will begin the season in Scranton.
Joba the starter is a long term plan. They aren’t going to mess with that bullpen crap anymore.
betsy and laura well put. lets talk baseball. i think posada is in trouble
Finally, we can put all of the whiners crying for Juan Cruz. He’s signed a 2 year deal at 5.5 mil and a 4 mil team option with KC for one year with a 500,000 dollar buy-out.
A starter usually plays 3-4 innings in a exhibition game, about 90 minutes. Throw in an hour for BP and 2 hours of travel time and that’s 4.5 hours.
Last I checked there are 24 hours in a day. Seems like plenty of time to have the meeting and get it done.
A reasonable person would think — such as the Yankees do — that A-Rod would want to fully cooperate with MLB and move swiftly to get this behind him and behind the team. For some reason, he does not.
Now the story will follow him to Jupiter and the WBC.
Joe Girardi twice brought up the point that he’s concerned about what will happen. The Yankees just want this over with and Alex finds ways to keep it going. I have no idea why.
Sometimes you have to wonder if he likes it.
Time for the Yanks to sign Manny.
If ARod does get suspended, we’ll have a cleanup hitter that’s actually better than he is. If he doesn’t get suspended, Manny hitting behind ARod will make ARod invincible.
This is no longer a luxury, and mundane concerns about payroll must be set aside.
This is now a necessity.
In related news, ARod left the park in an SUV driven by Vince MacMahon.
It’s incredible that nobody noticed that Melky was wearing No. 53 today rather than his familiar No. 28.
He may feel he’s on his way out the door like Abreu was.
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Maybe because it’s old news and nobody cares.
There is absolutely no way Arod is getting suspended and Girardi needs to keep his concerns to himsef.
I don’t know why some of you even come here. Pete’s so-called “bias” only exists in your heads. All I see are the facts, fairly represented.
Pete isn’t the one who is snarky and biased, it’s some of you who think he is that bear that particular shame. You may want to look in the mirror before you accuse him of anything.
You may also want to find another blog to follow. You’d be more than welcome.
Joba may have built up his arm strength but the only thing joba established was that throwing nothing but fastballs in a game will result in him being rocked. Even joba cant get away with doing that.
Plain and simple. A-Rod thrives on publicity. No bigger attention getter in the game.
I think the rest of MLB will go on strike if the Yanks signed Manny:) but it would make sense(1 year deal) if there was a chance at an AROD suspension
I don’t know why Alex doesn’t want to get this meeting under way ASAP. It’s in his best interests.
I’m sure MLB just wants to find out how an anonymous test was leaked and how Arod’s 4th amendment rights were violated.
oh wait, that’s right. No one cares about that.
How about this for Keith Law’s tweet today.
keithlawGerrit Cole’s first 11 pitches: 94 94 95 96 97 94 98 97 98 96 98.
Pete, I agree 100%
It is a shame that the A-Rod apologists just don’t get it. They can’t see what a mess the guy is and how much harder he is making it for himself and the organization. Hanging out with his steroid cousin? Stalling the MLB investigators?
Really not a good showing on Arod’s part. It’s like he doesn’t want it to go away
tampayank
February 28th, 2009 at 7:23 pm
I think the rest of MLB will go on strike if the Yanks signed Manny:) but it would make sense(1 year deal) if there was a chance at an AROD suspension.
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Yeah, well the rest of MLB can go fly a kite. We’re within the rules if we want to sign this guy and it’s our money.
I think its perfectly clear why arod is stalling – he realizes that every time he opens his mouth in front of people his life gets worse. Any one can see that – arod may be dumb but he knows enough that talking is only getting him into trouble at this point.
I dont understand why you guys continuously want him to talk and then, continue to say why you dont realize why arod keeps on opening his mouth. Umm.. because he is forced to do so. This isnt rocket science.
Pete – I think by his actions, he has made it pretty clear that he is enjoying this whole thing. It’s like he doesn’t even care and he isin’t interested in moving past this.
On the possible signing of manny by you guys.
Dodgers earlier offered a one year 25 million dollar contract.
Are some of you saying the Yankees would be willing to pay more than 25 for that one year??
What a headcase this guy is. I cringe to think about what Selena Roberts’ book contains. Only a matter of time before those leaks starts and another distraction is upon us.
jack
are you kidding me? Yea, I mean who doesnt enjoy seeing their entire life and reputation destroyed and in tatters? Doesnt everyone want that for themselves and their children? Is that the american dream? Arod is soo screwed he cant do anything except laugh about it at this point. I am shocked by the whole thing so I cant even imagine what he is feeling. It seems as though every one in the world is out to get him or just continues to destroy him. If you think he doesnt want to move past this and that he doesnt care about any of this, i dont know what the heck you are smoking but you are dead wrong. And no one in the world would enjoy what arod went through in the past few weeks. You have got to be joking.
darkmoonfire
February 28th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
I don’t know why some of you even come here. Pete’s so-called “bias” only exists in your heads. All I see are the facts, fairly represented.
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darkmoon, I agree 100%. I love the people spending countless hours on this media blog, always complaining about “mediots” and Pete writing about poor ARod.
I guess they just enjoy torturing themselves.
Clare:
You know what would be a good idea? The Yankees can have armed men stand in the manager’s office and shoot anybody who expresses the slightest bit of opinion or original thought. If Girardi strays from the script, he gets a slug in the leg. Would that work for you?
Baseball is played by people, not robots. While this may upset your twisted sense of right and wrong, be advised that people in camp are pretty annoyed at all of this. The press conference, the changing stories, having his cousin around and now delaying this meeting. They just want it done so they can get on with playing the season.
Clare,
What did Girardi say that was so offensive to you? He has this enormous headache on his hands and he has dealt with it fine. There have been numerous opportunities for him to get into a confrontation, avoid the topic, or throw A-Rod under the bus and he has passed. He’s taken a couple of shots here and there, but nothing too harmful. He handled this a heck of a lot better than I thought he would… certainly much better than Cashman has.
dave,
Certainly it has been unfair that Arod was singled out among the more than 100 guys who tested positive for steroids.
But much of what has happened to Arod the last few years and weeks is because of his own actions and choices. He is not some poor victim in this.
Oh, and Clare, Giambi was threatened with suspension if he didn’t cooperate with these same investigators last year. Selig has the power to suspend anybody for not cooperating. At some point, they’re going to get tired of waiting. It has been a week now.
Some of you are not putting yourself in the shoes of the Yankees organization. They have done everything to let the world know they are annoyed and angry. They have this headache and steroid user tied to them for the next 9 years. And he seems to have no interest in allowing this to go away.
The organization is sick of him and with good reason. If you owned a company and one of your employees did this to you, you would react the same way. Good for Cashman, Hank, Girardi etc. for not just kissing up to him and acting as if everything is fine. They are giving Alex tough love (if you can even call it that), just as they should. He embarrassed them, what does he expect?
I have a question maybe someone can answer. I totally agree that not meeting with the MLB people is stupid and he should do it and get it over with. But I recall that the union is also involved with this ie one of the lawyers who will be present will be a Union lawyer. Could they be the ones facilitating this stall??
When does this get the situation behind him come in? This happened over a half decade ago. Since the day selena’s article came out, the radio and blog cannot even got more than 24 hours without mentioning something about arod and roids. Then. there is the book coming out by good old Ms. Roberts just in time for the season. So when exactly will alex ever have the chance to put this behind him? The only thing that comes out of meeting with the MLB is either nothing at all, another meeting or a possible suspension if alex really says the wrong thing.
And apparently, Alex never says the right thing anymore so while I dont really see how a suspension could ever happen, if anyone could say the wrong thing enough to make it happen, its alex. The way I see it, throughout this entire off season, the only thing alex did that was really wrong in my mind was lie about the primbolan being over the counter in the DR. Either thats what alex’s cousin told him or he was trying to cover for him or his cousin. All this other junk is just that – garbage to continue to make arod look horrible.
“Time for the Yanks to sign Manny.
If ARod does get suspended, we’ll have a cleanup hitter that’s actually better than he is. If he doesn’t get suspended, Manny hitting behind ARod will make ARod invincible.
This is no longer a luxury, and mundane concerns about payroll must be set aside.
This is now a necessity.”
lol whatta joke…funny..good sense of humor
Maybe there is a reason why he can’t have the meeting tomorrow. Maybe his lawyer can’t be there…No one knows the full story. The only person Arod has to answer to is the team not the media. He is not going to keep answering questions about his every move 100 times a day. Then get killed because he didn’t answer the question or answered it but people didn’t think he gave the right answer. He can’t win…
Maybe I am biased towards arod but I am a yankee fan and alex is the best hitter on the yankees. Shouldnt a good yankee fan be a little bias in favor of arod? Of course, I realize that alex did wrong and I also realize that he is not very good at speaking to the public at times. But I think a ton of people who are not THAT well educated would make the same dumb mistakes arod has made and I think almost any other player would get away with most of the mistakes arod is crucified for.
The main story is just that alex used PEDs in his time in texas. Everything else is just the media trying to blow the story way out of proportion to sell papers or fill air time or it is alex being stupid and nervous and being forced to explain every little detail. At this point, I think the best route for alex is to say as little as possible about this or anything and just play the best baseball he possibly can. If I were him, I would also try to get out of this meeting because he shouldnt be forced to do so and nothing good can come of this for him or the yankees.
ray (sox fan)
February 28th, 2009 at 7:29 pm
On the possible signing of manny by you guys.
Dodgers earlier offered a one year 25 million dollar contract.
Are some of you saying the Yankees would be willing to pay more than 25 for that one year??
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I have no idea whether the Yankees are being coy or earnest about their self-imposed salary cap, but I imagine Manny would love to come here. He’d probably be more accepting of a less traditional contract from the Yankees. First of all, he’s not winning any championship with the Dodgers, even if he is pushing .500 again.
Secondly, Manny has much greater earning potential if he comes here, outside the lines. Thirdly, he can DH in the AL, which will prolong his career. He also appears to be hypnotized by the thought of “revenge” against Boston. I believe he’s also expressed a desire to play in his hometown before his career is over.
If the Yankees want this over and done with, why hasn’t Girardi just taken him off the travel roster?
That seems simple enough to do and eliminates the game as an excuse.
Captainscorner -
I agree completely. The problem I have is that the media calls alex out about every single little thing asking alex to explain himself and then, criticizes him when he doesnt give every answer the media wants to hear. On the complete other side of the spectrum, some reporters ask why alex is so stupid to continue to open his mouth and how he should just stop talking because whatever he says gets him in trouble. I actually agree with the latter statement but the two together are complete contradictions. If alex is not forced to go to this meeting, then, why shouldnt he decide when he goes and try to put it off. I think he knows he should stop talking about this and talking about it with mlb execs is the last thing he should be doing after everything he has said has gotten him into trouble.
Either, nothing comes out of this or alex hurts himself and his team. Either way, its not good for him and i think he is tired of hurting the yankees. So i say he should put the meeting off all he wants. And pete saying he should meet with them and put this behind him is kind of a joke. You know meeting with the mlb will not put this behind him – nothing will be behind him after this. This thing is going to go on forever.
lol whatta joke…funny..good sense of humor
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What exactly is so amusing?
A-Rod’s admission of getting “Boli” from the DR has dried up the availability of it across the country. In a strange way, his admission has done more to stop the ease of distribution of Primobolan than MLB and the DR government has done in the last decade- at least in the short run.
http://www.google.com/hostedne.....wD96KRPS80
Pete – You wrote in a post earlier today, while discussing Johan Santana’s elbow pain, that Hank Steinbrenner should write 1,000 times on a blackboard “I will listen to Brian Cashman”. Well, the same thing could be said for his wanting to re-up Alex after the opt-out.
I’ve had times in my life where I’ve been really frustrated by somethings – but this must really take the cake.
I love when people say, ‘trade him’, like even if they wanted to they could just snap their fingers and make it happen.
Who will take on the 10/275 and 30 extra???
Stop saying trade him, it isnt going to happen!!!
I hate to give Steve Phillips any credit– but he was 100% right when he said that we needed to trade A-Rod in 2006 and we can’t win with him because he is such a distraction and brings attention to himself. He was also right in 2000 when he referred to him as 24 and 1.
Phillips has had some idiotic remark to make ever since the day he screwed up trying to sign Rodriguez as a FA in the winter of 2000. He has the IQ of a bologna sandwich.
Cant the Yankees just make him get it over with?
Outlaw Pete Abraham,
I agree with you 100% regarding ARod. He truly is an enigma.
Betsy,
I am also too young to have ever seen Yoga play, however, I did see him play at an Old Timers game(I believe it was 1981). I was sitting in the first row behind home plate. There was a pop up near the screen. Yogi threw off his mask and made a spectacular sliding catch right in front of the stands. Not bad for a guy approaching 60.
Deal with today,,
Joba looked horrible,,, why?!?
Joe from Long Island
February 28th, 2009 at 8:16 pm
Pete – You wrote in a post earlier today, while discussing Johan Santana’s elbow pain, that Hank Steinbrenner should write 1,000 times on a blackboard “I will listen to Brian Cashman”. Well, the same thing could be said for his wanting to re-up Alex after the opt-out.
I’ve had times in my life where I’ve been really frustrated by somethings – but this must really take the cake.
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I wouldn’t trade ARod even if I could (unless someone wants to give me Hanley Ramirez or Albert Pujols).
Pete, I agree with you 100% regarding ARod. The guy truly is an enigma.
Betsy, I am also too young to have ever seen Yogi play, however, I did watch him play in an Old Timers Day game back in 1981. I was sitting right behind the plate. There was a high pop up near the net. Yogi threw off his mask and made a spectacular sliding catch in front of the stands. Not bad for a guy approaching 60 years old!
U-Turn
February 28th, 2009 at 8:18 pm
I hate to give Steve Phillips any credit—but he was 100% right when he said that we needed to trade A-Rod in 2006 and we can’t win with him because he is such a distraction and brings attention to himself. He was also right in 2000 when he referred to him as 24 and 1.
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LMAO. The irony is we will win THIS year, because the thing that kept ARod from being a “winner” was the fact that we had no pitching. Steve Phillips is an imbecile.
Forget all the off the field stuff. It doesn’t matter. From a baseball point of view, A-Rod does nothing but help the Yankees win games. He’s a great baseball player. The 24 and 1 idea isn’t why the Yankees haven’t won a World Series with him on the team. The reason we haven’t won with him on the team is because our rotation and bullpen weren’t good enough. They are now.
The Yankees should have resigned A-Rod. It sucked that he opted out and let the Rangers off the hook for all that money, but that’s over. Nothing you can do about it now. Up until he opted out, the Yankees had him at a huge bargain. The Yankees shouldn’t trade A-Rod. He’s the best 3rd baseman in the game and the Yankees wouldn’t get nearly as much back for him.
If you agree with ANYTHING that Steve Phillips has to say about ANYTHING you are wrong. He’s a joke.
Yogi has become such a cuddly figure, people don’t realize he’s in a very select group of greatest all-time Yankees.
no.27
February 28th, 2009 at 8:56 pm
Forget all the off the field stuff. It doesn’t matter. From a baseball point of view, A-Rod does nothing but help the Yankees win games. He’s a great baseball player. The 24 and 1 idea isn’t why the Yankees haven’t won a World Series with him on the team. The reason we haven’t won with him on the team is because our rotation and bullpen weren’t good enough. They are now.
The Yankees should have resigned A-Rod. It sucked that he opted out and let the Rangers off the hook for all that money, but that’s over. Nothing you can do about it now. Up until he opted out, the Yankees had him at a huge bargain. The Yankees shouldn’t trade A-Rod. He’s the best 3rd baseman in the game and the Yankees wouldn’t get nearly as much back for him.
If you agree with ANYTHING that Steve Phillips has to say about ANYTHING you are wrong. He’s a joke.
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Right, my friend, but I think you might be wasting your time in here.
.
Yankee fans should cheer Arod the same way Giant fans cheered steroid head, arrogant Bonds. Yeah, right.
Arod has “foot in mouth disease.” Always says the wrong thing at the right time and the right thing at the wrong time.
Meet with mlb, and get it over with.
PAT M, if you’re out there, just wanted to let you know that I have snuck into a Mexican drug lord’s rec room to watch the Cal-UCLA game, good stuff so far. I’ll try to check back into during the second half, if I can survive that long. Go OSOS!
Why does A-Rod want to delay the meeting? I don’t believe it’s about playing baseball one more time with his team.
First off, “team” means nothing to this guy. Second, and more to the point, this is a strategic stall.
A-Rod has at least two criminal defense attorneys on his team and they are not being paid to stand around and look pretty. I’m sure they have hired some private investigators and are doing their own investigation, trying to dig up any dirt that’s out there so they know realistically what cards the Feds, Congress or MLB are holding BEFORE Alex sits down with any of them.
Alex is on the record twice: the first interview was all softballs. The second time was a monologue with a few questions that he dodged. So far so good. But MLB is under pressure to be tough on Alex to show Congress and the Feds they can police themselves. Thus they are less likely to let him dodge and they aren’t going to ask easy questions. Any Q&A after MLB (with the Feds, Congress, etc) will just be tougher and he’ll have to keep his answers consistent. Alex needs as much time as he can get to complete his own private investigation and feel confident that going into the MLB interview he’ll know as much as he possibly can, even if the MLB investigators know a little more. It’s all about lowering the number of surprises and testimonial inconsistencies. That’s why he’s trying to buy more time before the MLB interview.
Peter,
What is up with the talk about violence when you respond to my comments? You must be projecting. I thing that type of rhetoric is inappropriate.
As to the substance of your comment, I know you root for controversy, but aside from making reporters happy, what is the upside of Girardi or anyone else in the organization publicizing their feelings about Arod? It just prolongs the story, which is not in the team’s best interest.
Bodhivista, A-Rod is not getting suspended and the Yankees (fortunately) will not be pursing Manny.
Franky, I posted a link in another thread, but you can click on it directly here (it’s Pete Caldera’s blog) – Jorge is just experiencing soreness due to doing some kind of shoulder excercise that he shouldn’t have been doing yet……Neither he nor the team are concerned.
Not for nothing, Clare, but isn’t Arod’s decsion to have his 3rd rail of a cousin/butler pick him up at the ballyard and then delay his conversation with the MLB people prolong the story moreso than Joe G expressing his thoughts?
“Jorge is just experiencing soreness due to doing some kind of shoulder excercise that he shouldn’t have been doing yet……Neither he nor the team are concerned.”
What is they’re not concerned about? The soreness? Or the fact he’s doing exercises he shouldn’t be doing?
Maybe someone should be concerned about at least one of these.
Regarding this MLB meeting…None of the details of it will be made public, correct?
MLB’s hand was forced. They *have* to give the appearance that they are “investigating” it by making a big show of calling ARod in to talk.
I assume that will ask him nothing except whether there is anything else they should know. He will say “nope”. It will be over after 5 minutes, and then Selig’s office will release a statement saying “we are satisfied with ARod’s responses”.
If MLB didn’t at least give the illusion they were checking it out, that would increase the likelihood of Congress getting involved again.
MLB has no interest in checking this out, it’s a sham. They want it to go away more than ARod does.
Why he’s stalling is anyone’s guess. Probably to give his flacks time to get his story straight, and/or the fact that he lives for being the center of attention.
Clay, I wish I could have been at that game! I’m just glad that Suzyn Waldman got the reconciliation process started between Yogi and the Yankees. It would have been a real shame had they not come to terms before Yogi passed. He’s just such a wonderful guy – I can’t stand it when Francesca interviews him (or any old-timer) because he always interrupts……I hope Michael Kay will have Yogi on at some point – he’s a pleasure to listen to.
murphydog – are you a trial lawyer in your day job?
You present a logical scenario. The thing that bothers me, simple, honest soul that I am, is the need to keep the story straight. Wasn’t it Shakespeare who wrote “O what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive”? (I forget the play.) It doesn’t take much preparation to tell the truth. It only takes a lot of work if you’re trying to memorize a script.
As a Yankee fan, I want this whole thing to be over, and for Alex to move on, for the good of the team (and my gastric lining). But Alex sure makes it difficult for a fan.
Steve, the guy just had major surgery – I think it’s expected that he would experience a little soreness before the end of camp.
Here’s the link:
http://njmg.typepad.com/yankeesblog/
“MLB has no interest in checking this out, it’s a sham. They want it to go away more than ARod does.
Why he’s stalling is anyone’s guess. Probably to give his flacks time to get his story straight, and/or the fact that he lives for being the center of attention.”
Two sort of contradictory thoughts. If Arod’s “brains” thought that MLB was going to lie down, why would they delay to get his story straight?
Betsy:
I’m with you. My point isn’t that he should not expect some soreness. My point is that if it’s a result of Jorge engaging in exercises he was not supposed to be doing, then somebody’s screwing up.
So-Igawa today. That went way better than I thought it would.
Joe G is just speaking for management (and for most fans) when he says that a) he hopes this is just a fact finding mission – meaning that he hopes that nothing worse is about to come out; and b) that A-Rod shows up when requested and doesn’t jerk MLB around.
If I were A-Rod, I’d take those two thoughts as hints from ownership as to what they expect of him. He can ignore such hints at his own risk.
I am more concerned about Jorge’s “scratch” from today. Yeah he says he isn’t concerned. But I am. I thought it was a little much, him playing so many games in a row. Hopefully it is just soreness just from getting the muscle moving again.
Than again Johan was only experiencing “normal” soreness, and now has the start of the season in doubt.
Steve B
Two sort of contradictory thoughts. If Arod’s “brains” thought that MLB was going to lie down, why would they delay to get his story straight?
===
ARod has an army of handlers, lawyers, and spin doctors. He pays them a LOT of money. They need to make sure that his story is straight before he talks to MLB. That’s their job. ARod just does what they say at this point. It’s due diligence.
MLB’s job is to pay lip service to checking this out. I guarantee that the MLB announcement after this meeting will be “We are satisfied with ARod’s answers to our questions, and no further meetings are planned.”
If MLB was going to play hard ball, they wouldn’t allow ARod to drag this out and stroll in whenever he feels like it.
i like the comment the twins mage said the yanks need one more player i believe if we sign manny we are in a great position to win i wouldnt mind abit haviong johnny iin center and swisher in right an nady backing up ill try to package melky and nadu if we have to for a few prospect and a bullpen arm but manny in this lineup makee the lineup way better and u sae that last season with the dodgers how he caryy and help this team
wow the knicks suck.
anyway, i wish a-rod would just get the meeting over with. they can’t really suspend him for anything.
Steve, agreed – it was Jorge that screwed up. He’s just talking about that stretching his arms over his head excercise that he typically does – I really don’t know how he forgot that he shouldn’t be doing that, but I guess he’s been feeling so good……..
iv been away. the arod thing continues to get worse and the sign manny people are back, yeshhhhh…
i think girardi’s doing a great job handling this so far, but its only spring training.
if joba feels good tomorrow, then today was a great outing.
Why would he want it to go away? Read the comments from some of the fans and the reactions from them during games so far. He’s getting the biggest applause and the most support ever. It’s such a crock. I’m a Yankees fan but can still see ARod for the self-involved, attention seeking moron he is. Unfortunately I have to hope he becomes a moron with a ring. I’ll cheer for him inside the lines but outside he can KMA. I won’t boo him but I certainly won’t go to the mat for him.
Pete, congrats and blog on brother. You tell it like it is and that’s why they keep coming back. It’s either that or they’re a bunch of gluttons for punishment. Either way, your blog rocks. Keep up the amazing work!!
Betsy- I guess he unconsciously could have done it, like you said cause he was feeling so good. Hopefully nothing got screwed up becuase of it. Maybe just a few days of rest and he’ll be fine.
Its all speculation. It could be that ARod wants to do this just prior to leaving so he isn’t around as much to be pestered about it. It could be that he has a date lined up. It could be that he needs more rehearsal with his handlers. It could be that he wants to get in another game with the Yankees.
It could also be that MLB doesn’t want his lawyers there and he does.
Does it really matter that much? What will happen will happen and life will go on.
Arod sucks.
ill bet the yankees cant wait till he’s out of camp. i know i cant.
And so does Pete’s Double standard
I mean.. Joba delays a first offense-non jury dui trial twice.. no mention on this blog.. Arod delays a MLB meeting that really means nothing.. and we gotta hear about it after weeks of Arod talk.
‘wow the knicks suck’
They do but lets be honest they had the game won, Miami coach gets T’d, Dwayne Wade gets elbowed twice in the mouth goes into the lockerroom comes out and proceeds to whoop dat a_ _. That guy tonight reminded me of #23 from Chicago.
Ham Fighters
February 28th, 2009 at 10:17 pm
ill bet the yankees cant wait till he’s out of camp. i know i cant.
===
Ham, Amen to that. The real victims here are his teammates who have to put up with his circus. It’s got to be bliss when he leaves for the WBC.
Watching the replay of today’s game and it seems that Joba wasn’t quite following through on his delivery-almost standing up on his pitches. It seems as though this could cause the arm to drag through and cause the pitches to stay up in the zone.
5:32pm: Twins manager Ron Gardenhire revealed a hunch to Phil Miller of the St. Paul Pioneer Press on Saturday. He thinks the Yankees could make another splash:
“I still don’t think they’re done, I really don’t. I think there’s one more guy out there that eventually, someone’s going to say (sign him),” Gardenhire said. Miller suggests that he could be referring to Manny.
——–
Go ahead, make my day
‘Watching the replay of today’s game and it seems that Joba wasn’t quite following through on his delivery-almost standing up on his pitches. It seems as though this could cause the arm to drag through and cause the pitches to stay up in the zone.’
It’s game 1 there is nothing technical it just game 1 ! MY GOD !
ray, you’re still in the game!
All I know is that I’m looking forward to watching CC pitch.
“It’s game 1 there is nothing technical it just game 1 ! MY GOD !”
Following through is basic pitching mechanics. I was merely making an observation. No need for you to be an idiot about things…but after all, you do have that tendency to overreact.
The Manny rumors never stop now it’s 55 million from the Dodgers.
Ham, been laying in the weeds. Still think it’s the move but after my concession speech I couldn’t say anything.
Arods not going to get suspended but I still say our lineup is not good enough to walk through the east.
Cf is still shaky, Posadas no lock to produce, RF is still a question and Matsui hasn’t shown he can run.
Just saying.
‘Following through is basic pitching mechanics. I was merely making an observation. No need for you to be an idiot about things…but after all, you do have that tendency to overreact.’
No morons like you that if they don’t see the radar gun hit 93 mph today overreact. It’s nothing about his mechanics, it’s day one vs an opponent on a mound, Pelfrey of the Mets is hitting 89 mph no one saids anything..meanwhile I bet he hits 97 mph in his 2nd start of the reg. season and over analyzers like you and other people can zip it.
Just a little funny story from Taiwan media about Wang.
Few days ago pitchers went through their regular bunt practice. Gator was the pitcher and Wang did pretty well. When Taiwanese reporters asked about his improvement, he said the ball was a bit slow and that’s why he was almost making contact on all pitches. The next bunt practice was pitched by Gossage and Wang missed a few pitches. When reporter went back and checked with Gator and relay Wang’s comment, Gator replied “What, that guy said that? I’m going to kill him.”
And hour later, Gator told the reporter that he talked to Wang and told him that he will be the one pitching the bunt practice the next day, and since Gator himself was getting old, don’t be surprise if he MIGHT just miss a few pitches inside when Wang’s turn comes up.
Was anything said about the radar gun? Nope. So why is there a need to bring that into your post? Also, nice comparison between Joba and Pelfrey. I’m pretty sure you’re the only one mentioning them in the same sentence. Maybe you should take your own advice.
‘Was anything said about the radar gun? Nope. So why is there a need to bring that into your post? Also, nice comparison between Joba and Pelfrey. I’m pretty sure you’re the only one mentioning them in the same sentence. Maybe you should take your own advice.’
It’s amazing to me w/ every pitching coach from Harkey, to Eiland to Contreras yet yankeenate thinks Joba’s mechanics are off. No it can’t be that it’s just rust and that it’s ST game #1 for him. Let it go man.
That’s all I was saying….it looked like his mechanics were off a little bit. Nothing more. You are the one who can’t let it go. And I’m certain Eiland won’t have the same approach you do–to just blow it off as the first game of ST. They’ll break it down and work on it.
I just made an observation. I’m not flying off the handle like you are. Calm down man…
Congrats PAT M and Bruins fans. Totally bogus call to change the complextion of the game, but what are ya’ gonna do. UCLA executed at the end, Cal didn’t. Gotta dodge narco-bullets, later!
I have no expectations for the Knicks anymore, so that loss didn’t bother me at all. But man, you can’t have a more brutal loss. That’s like the Yanks blowing a 7 run lead in the final 2 innings.
the only thing that would be worse than the knicks loss tonight was if it was if this game was against the celtics and marbury was the one who scored the 24 points in the 4th quarter in the garden
Hey everyone, if anybody missed out on one of the fantasy baseball leagues that were setup, I started a new one on Yahoo. It’s free, and has spots for up to 20 teams. It is rotisserie scoring (not head-to-head). The link is above, or you can click here:
http://baseball.fantasysports......ohudleague
The password is: hidekiirabu
Oh, and I forgot, the LIVE ONLINE DRAFT is this Monday at 6 PM EST.
I don’t understand why people keep lecturing others (and Pete) to talk baseball and ignore A-Rod.
Would you rather Pete talk about Chamberlain throwing 88 MPH and Dan Giese giving up moon shots? Or would you like to highlight Kei Igawa’s 2 scoreless innings?
A-Rod is far, far more interesting than anything that’s happening on the field.
Hymm, I don’t know what happened but here was my original post:
Hey everyone, if anybody missed out on one of the fantasy baseball leagues that were setup, I started a new one on Yahoo. It’s free, and has spots for up to 20 teams. It is rotisserie scoring (not head-to-head). The link is above, or you can click here:
http://baseball.fantasysports......ohudleague
The password is: hidekiirabu
Hymm, I don’t know what happened but here was my original post:
Hey everyone, if anybody missed out on one of the fantasy baseball leagues that were setup, I started a new one on Yahoo. It’s free, and has spots for up to 20 teams. It is rotisserie scoring (not head-to-head). Click my name above for the link.
The password is: hidekiirabu
‘I have no expectations for the Knicks anymore, so that loss didn’t bother me at all. But man, you can’t have a more brutal loss. That’s like the Yanks blowing a 7 run lead in the final 2 innings.’
It shouldn’t, that was just a legendary player taking over, and I diss the Knicks alot but it’s not thier fault tonight, this was like Heats/Knicks of the 90′s but somewhere in the 4th qtr. Pat Riley gave Dwayne Wade a Jordan jersey.
Oh BTW Otish but any J-E-T-S fans there is a QB on the market, question ..What are you willing to give ? Because the Broncos are trying to deal Jay Cutler.
Nick in SF,,,,I’m not certain as to where you watched the game, however UCLA pulled it out…The way they’ve played lately they’ll be lucky to make it to the Sweet 16…Huskies will run out of gas by the time the NCAA tourney gets up and running…..Jets should have drafted Cuttler when they had the chance……Yanks win 100 games this year, just booked it…Win 175.00 for a 100.00 investment….
How the MLB Investigative Unit has worked in the past
http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2009/0.....oid-battl/
‘Jets should have drafted Cuttler when they had the chance……’
Who did they draft again ?
D’Brick
Good post. Can’t wait to see what happens to Rodriguez and his meeting… I follow it on http://newsnuts.com/mlb/newyorkyankees.aspx
Kellum Clemens from Oregon, I think that’s where he went..I know it was a Pac 10 School….
Yeah… trade a 25 yr old kid who threw for 4,526 yards (3rd most in the league), 26 TDs, and a 86 QB rating in his 2nd full-season— franchise QBs with cannon arms like his grow on trees.
Is the Broncos GM drunk? Sure, the guy is a hot-head, has some medical problems, and doesn’t know when to shut up but arms like his don’t come around often.
I never knew Yankee players could turn down playing assignments. (sarcasm!)
Correct me if I’m wrong but EVERYONE knew he was leaving for the DR and WBC today. Why would MLB wait until the last min to speak to him and if the Yankees were really concerned about get the meeting out of the way why would they assign him to an away game on the day that MLB says they want to meet with him?
Seems to me there were a couple of other parties in this picture that aren’t thinking to clearly either.
But those don’t make headlines do they Pete…..
Has Dantoni called timeout yet?
“It is a shame that the A-Rod apologists just don’t get it.”
———————————————————
I’m sorry Tom… it’s a shame that you don’t get it. ARod is ALWAYS under a microscope. If player A beats his wife, and ARod is caught picking his nose, the story is about ARod.
The bottom line is it doesn’t matter what ARod says or does… because the stories don’t really matter… as long as AROD is in them. Any headline that says: ARod __________________ (fill in the blank) SELLS. It sells hits and papers.
Granted… ARod has his foot in his mouth more then most. But if you follow ANY player around ALL THE TIME, you can always get some ‘National Equirer’ type news. Imagine if you were followed by dozens of reporters just waiting for ANYTHING. Say or do ANYTHING questionable, selfish, thoughtless, stupid or whatever… and you’re the headline.
Look how Pete made a story about ARod (Who simply wanted to play his last game before the WBC), with connotations of ARod dodging or hiding something. Look at all the moralistic posts just Pete alone has made.
ARod will get much more press then the guy who STOLE $50 BILLION dollars. ARod (has and) will get more press then the criminal conspiracy that ran our contry for 8 years.
“ARod” is simply a cheap, thoughtless, exploitive way to generate ‘news’. Pete gets PAID to do what he does. Pete has access to the Yankees clubhouse. Is ARod putting off this meeting the absolute best story we can get from him?
Brittany doesn’t wear panties and ARod (fill in the blank).
That’s what ‘news’ has degraded to these days.
This is the best our highly paid professionals in the media can come up with.
In the 1960-1963 era, many in the press knew Kennedy was sleeping with Marilyn and other women. But nobody reported it. Before the Internet and 6,000 TV and radio ‘news’ channels, reporters could afford to have a little integrity and exercise some judgement. No more.
No news might be good news… but it doesn’t generate sales.
It’s been said that we get the type of government we deserve. And a long as readers buy into the garbage that the MSM continues to produce, we will also get the type of media we deserve.