The Daily Yankeeland - 10/25

Time to catch up a little on our favorite band of underachievers. You can end the speculation that Larry Bowa might return to the Yankees as third base coach. He'll be staying on in with Joe Torre in LA as will Don Mattingly and the rest of the staff. There's still talk about Milwaukee's interim manager Dale Sveum taking the job, but as we have pointed out before, Sveum held the position and Boston and did not do a good job in the eyes of Red Sox fans.

Speaking of Milwaukee, rumors has it that Willie Randolph is interviewing for the job. Good luck Willie!

Darryl Strawberry had some sage words of advice for Joba Chamberlain after the latter's DUI arrest. If anyone has learned from experienced, it's the Straw man.

Congress is reviewing allegations that the Yankees improperly received funding for additional expenses in building the new Stadium. Randy Levine told Congress that the Yankees would have left town if not for the funding they received. Sure, Randy, go work on your perm.

It may just be rumor, but word is that the Yankees and Cubs may play an exhibition game in the new Stadium before the official opener.

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Bobby Murcer, King George Immortalized in Paint

Bobby Murcer is now a permanent fixture in the Bronx as is George Steinbrenner. They are both now part of a commemorative mural that sits outside of Yankee Stadium. The portraits were unveiled this afternoon. Among the attendees were Bobby's widow, Kay, and their children, Todd and Tori, Joe Girardi, Rey Negron, Brian Cashman, and Willie Randolph. NY1 has some video of the event.

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The Daily Yankeeland - 6/18

We're still up against since we're off tomorrow. Where will be? Yankee Stadium for the first time this year. WOooooooooooooHOooooooooooooo.

Al Aceves is blipping on our radar like crazy. The lefty the Yankees plucked from the Mexican League was outstanding at Tampa and has brought his 'A' game to 'AA' in Trenton. Last night he threw 1-hit ball over 8 innings in a 7-0 win over the Harrisburg Senators. Between the two stops, he's 6-3, 1.88 with a 5.5:1 strikeout to walk ration. Austin Jackson is getting his bat going too. He's had a pair of 7 RBI games this year. Last night he had to settle for 4 RBI, 3 of them coming on his 7th home run of the season. He's not hitting .283 with 33 walks and 45 RBI.

Willie Randolph will always be a Yankee at heart and that's maybe why a lot of us are even angrier at how his firing was handled by the Mets. Omar Minaya's interview with Mike and the Mad Dog yesterday is a must listen.

We're in the midst of reading Bobby Murcer's "Yankee for Life: My 40-Year Journey in Pinstripes ". It's a good read to pick up. Some good stories about Thurman, Sweet Lou, and the Scooter, among others.

Chien-Ming Wang told Mike Puma of the NY Post that he's confident he'll be back by September. From the Wanger's mouth to God's ears.

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The Captain Feels Bad

Derek Jeter found out about Willie Randolph's firing this afternoon and told Mike and the Mad Dog that he was upset to hear about Randolph's manager.

"I feel bad for Willie," Jeter said today on WFAN's "Mike and the Mad Dog" program. "It's unfortunate. I know how much he cares about winning and how hard he works." "I don't pay attention to what goes on [with the Mets] because we have our own issues," Jeter said. "But I feel bad for him. Hopefully he gets another opportunity to manage."

The Captain even took a veiled shot at the cross-town team.

"I just found out about an hour ago," Jeter said. "I'm not awake at 3 o'clock in the morning."

Source: NY Post

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Mets Fire Willie, Disgrace Themselves

Imagine our surprise this morning when we woke up and found out that Willie Randolph was fired by the Mets. The last thnig we saw last night was the Mets clinging to an 8-6 lead in the 8th inning. They held on for a 9-6 win, but Willie along with pitching coach Rick Peterson and 1st base coach Tom Nieto were axed after the game. At 3:14 A.M. EST. After the newspapers had gone to bed on the East coast the Wilpons and Omar Minaya pulled the plug. In considerably gutless fashion.

They had Willie fly to the West coast, manage one game, and then as if that game mattered, they fired him. The right thing would have been to fire him on Sunday. But the Mets front office clearly didn't want to face the press. Maybe they'll say they didn't want to fire him on Father's Day. What a load of crap. We'll find out more this afternoon when Minaya holds a press conference at 5:00 EST.

In the mean time, bench coach Jerry Manuel will take over. He compiled a 500-471 record in 6 seasons in Chicago as White Sox manager. It included a division title in 2000 and 4 second place finishes in the AL Central. Chris Russo will go on ad nauseum this afternoon on how Manuel was run out of town in Chicago. But he'll be right when he rips the Mets for doing wrong.

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Around the Horn - 6/11

From the injury front:

Braves pitcher John Smoltz's shoulder surgery revealed a torn labrum. It will be a long road back if he decides to return. The Braves got more bad news when starting pitcher Jair Jurrjens stumbled on a stairway and sprained his ankle. He's been scratched from his start today. And Tom Glavine has been put on the 15-day DL with a sore left elbow.

Mariners closers J.J. Putz had to leave this afternoon's game with the Blue Jays in the 9th inning due to a sore arm. Putz missed significant time earlier this season with a rib cage injury.

Blue Jays outfielder Shannon Stewart will be out at least a couple of weeks with a high ankle sprain.

The Padres will get Jake Peavy back from the DL tomorrow.

The Dodgers will be without Rafael Furcal for all of June due to a bad back.

Rockies SS Troy Tulowitzki is set to begin rehab at Single-A as part of his recovery from a torn quad muscle.

Game News

Hideki Okajima had a pretty easy time of it in his 2007 rookie campaign, but that has not been the case this year. Okajima lost his 2nd game of the season last night in a 10-6 Orioles win. More importantly he was credited with his 6th blown save of the season and 2nd in his last 4 games.

Orioles veteran pitcher Steve Trachsel was designated for assignment. It could spell the end of his 17-year career.

White Sox starter Jose Contreras was on the losing end of a 6-4 game with the Tigers last night. It was the first time in 8 starts that Contreras allowed more than 2 earned runs.

The Royals bullpen was at it again last night. This time they blew a 5-1 lead against the Rangers, who eventually won 6-5. Josh Hamilton drove in his major league leading 70th RBI in the game.

Willie Randolph could only watch in horror as his awful Mets pitching staff got pounded by the Diamondacks, 9-5. Four different Dbacks went deep in the game.

C.C. Sabathia moved down the Twins last evening with a complete game 5-hit shutout. After posting a 7.88 ERA in April, he's put up a 2.42 ERA since.

With the Rockies playing so poorly this year, Aaron Cook's season has gone mostly unnoticed. The right-hander improved to 9-3 last night in the Rockies 10-5 win over the Giants. Cook, who has a 3.21 ERA, has more than one-third of the team's 25 wins.

Hanley Ramirez continued his torrid June with a solo home run in the Marlins 5-4 win over the Phillies. In 10 games this month, Ramirez has slugged 6 home runs, drive in 9 runs, scored 11 runs, and stolen 3 bases. He's also hitting .350 for the month.

Lance Berkman's been on a tear all season, though he entered last night's game in a 2-14 skid that dropped his average to .372, the lowest it's been since May 8. He responded with 3 hits, including a home run, and drove in 5 runs. He's 3rd in the NL with 53 ribbies for the season.

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Around the Horn - 6/9

Tampa is still in a feisty mood even though they are no longer playing the Red Sox. During yesterday's game with the Rangers, catcher Dionner Navarro and starting pitcher Matt Garza had to be separated. Garza was then yanked from the game by manager Joe Maddon, who later downplayed the incident.

The Angels have very quietly put together a 7-game winning streak, which ended with their loss to Oakland on Sunday. They're still not hitting, but their pitching continues to stand out. Imagine if they get Kelvim Escobar back healthy.

Every team in the American League is playing .500 ball or better, but it doesn't seem to be very good ball for most of the teams.

Despite a penchant for issuing walks, the Red Sox Justin Masterson is 3-0 after beating the Mariners yesterday. He'll get at least one more start until Dice-K comes back.

The White Sox have won 6 straight to take a 5.5 game lead on 2nd place Minnesota. Chicago is the only team over .500 in the AL Central.

The Tigers have probably lost Jeremy Bonderman for the season due to a blood clot in his right shoulder.

The Indians have definitely lost Jake Westbrook for the season after it was announced he'll undergo Tommy John surgery.



















The Padres turned up the heat again on Willie Randolph with a 4-game sweep. San Diego came into the series 13 games under .500. They won three straight 2-1 games and rallied on Sunday for an 8-6 victory.

In case you haven't checked Jay Bruce's stats lately - in 13 games he's hitting .429 with 3 home runs and 11 RBI, has 14 runs scored, and a 1.227 OPS. His teammate Ken Griffey Jr. still waits for that 600th home run.

Chipper Jones has a slight tear in his quad, but is only expected to miss a couple of games.

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Around the Horn - 5/27

Willie Randolph survived a Monday meeting with management, but for how long?. The verdict, "he's still manager, for now". That's not a rave. Then the Mets went out and looked flat against the NL East leading Marlins and lost 7-3. Luis Gonzalez drove in 3 runs to out do Jose Reyes who hit a pair of solo home runs. Mike Pelfrey was awful yet again in taking the loss. Perhaps he's been vastly overrated by Mets management.

Another manager hanging by a thread is Mariners skipper John McLaren. And you can understand how the front office would be upset with him after his handling of young gun Felix Hernandez yesterday. Hernandez and Bartolo Colon were locked in a great pitchers duel as the Mariners and Red Sox met. The game was tied 1-1 in the 8th when The King rang into trouble.

Sean Casey singled before Hernandez got 2 quick ground outs. It appeared he might escape trouble and maybe that's why McLaren left him in so long. Dustin Pedroia's ground rule double scored pinch-runner Julio Lugo to put the Sox up 2-1. The Mariners elected to walk David Ortiz and pitch to Manny Ramirez. That backfired when Ramirez singled to right. 3-1 Sox. Maybe a good time to take Hernandez out. No? An infield single by Mike Lowell made it 4-1. Okay, pull him now. No? A J.D. Drew single loaded the bases. You have to take him out now. NO???

McLaren finally pulled Hernandez after he walked Jason Varitek to force in a run. Great job taking a kid's great game and turning it into a fiasco. The Mariners scored twice in the bottom of the 9th, but it was too little too late at that point. Perhaps it might not have been had McLaren had the smarts to go to the bullpen about 4 batters earlier.

Clint Hurdle and the Rockies front office must be wondering what happened to their playoff team from a year ago. Granted the Rockies weren't much better at this time last year, just 3 games ahead of their current (20-31) pace. But the great pitching they got in '07 has not been there. Yesterday they were pounded by the Phillies 20-5. Chase Utley homered and drove in 6 runs and Chris Coste and Pedro Feliz knocked in 4 runs each. Jamie Moyer picked up career win #235.

No such outburst in Anaheim, where it took 12 innings before anyone scored. The Angels pulled out a 1-0 win over the Tigers when Garrett Anderson drew a bases loaded walk. Jose Arredondo picked up his first major league victory. Starters Kenny Rogers and John Garland both threw 7 scoreless innings. Gary Sheffield had to leave the game with an oblique injury and will be re-evaluated today.

Eric Hinske belted a 3-run home run to help boost the Rays to a 7-3 win over the Rangers. The victory moved the Rays to 11 games over .500. Scott Kazmir was dealing- 3 hits and 10 Ks over 7 innings. Meanwhile Sidney Ponson crashed back to earth with a 5 inning, 5 run, 12 hit performance.

Derek Lee and Aramis Ramirez homered and Ryan Dempster improved to 6-2 in the Cubs 3-1 win over the Dodgers. Kerry Wood picked up his 11th save.

Team meetings don't always work. Royals manager Trey Hillman tried it before yesterday's game with the Blue Jays. But a few hours later the Royals had lost their 8th straight, 7-2. Marco Scutaro and Greg Zaun homered to help Shaun Marcum improve to 5-3, 2.64.

Gabe Kapler's 11th inning single gave the Brewers a 4-3 win over the Nationals.

The Indians and White Sox went 12 innings before the Chisox scored 3 times for a 6-3 win. Starters Javier Vazquez and Paul Byrd each allowed 3 runs in 6 innings. The Indians had to know they were in trouble when they put Scott Elarton into the game to start the 12th.

The Braves beat the Diamondbacks 7-3 to hand Brandon Webb his second consecutive loss. The right-hander allowed 7 runs, 4 of them earned, in just 4.1 innings pitched. Jair Jurrjens couldn't go 5 to get the win, but the Braves bullpen did an excellent job over the final 4.1 innings. Mark Texeira lead the offense with 4 RBI and Brian McCann homered.

News and Notes

Mets outfielder Ryan Church will be examined by a neurologist today due to lingering effects from the concussion he suffered last week.

The Reds are reportedly calling up top prospect Jay Bruce today which could mean the end of Scott Hatteberg's days in Cincy.

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Around the Horn - 5/22

The Cardinals beat the Padres 11-3 last night, but the Padres are less concerned about the game itself. Albert Pujols was literally a one man wrecking crew. No, Pujols didn't hit 3 home runs or drive in a 7 runs. He just injured the Padres starting pitcher and catcher within a matter of minutes.

The Padres had a 2-0 lead in the 3rd inning when Pujols hit a line drive off of the face of Padres starter Chris Young. The 6'10" right hander was bleeding profusely and was obviously a bit dazed. He ended up with a broken nose and a cut. Pujols was visibly shaken and prayed with Padres 1st Baseman Adrian Gonzalez while Young was tended to. But Pujols wasn't done yet. Two batters later there was a play at the plate. Pujols slid into catcher Josh Bard who was blocking the plate with his left leg. Nowhere good to go, right? Bard was down for the count for several minutes and had to be helped off the feel with a badly sprained ankle. Thanks to the Big Lead for finding video of the Pads rough night.

The heat is getting hotter and hotter in the Mets dugout. While Willie Randolph continues to back track from his racially motivated comments from the other day, his team went out and lost to the Braves for the 3rd straight game. Atlanta clobbered Mike Pelfrey and the Mets 11-4 behind Jeff Francoeur's 4 RBI. Chipper Jones hit career home run number 398.

Ben Sheets (5-1, 2.92) pitched an 11-hit complete game. Not a stat that you see to often. He allowed only 1 run in the Brewers 4-1 win over the Pirates. Ryan Braun drove in his 19th run in 19 games in May.

The Giants were very happy to see Rockies starter Ubaldo Jiminez leave after 7 innings. The 2nd year man limited the Giants to 3 hits and no runs over 7 innings, but the Giants rallied for a pair in the 9th against closer Brian Fuentes and then won it in the 10th on Omar Vizquel's sacrifice fly, 3-2.

It took Shawn Chacon 10 starts, but he finally got a decision. He's now 1-0 after the Astros beat the Cubs 5-3. Carlos Lee's 3rd inning 3-run home run put the Astros ahead for good. Early MVP candidate Lance Berkman stole his 9th base, already tying his career high.

Ryan Howard homered twice and drove in 4 in the Phillies 12-2 rout of the Nationals. Jamie Moyer threw 6 shutout innings for his 234th career win. With the start in Nationals Park, Moyer has now pitched in 46 ball parks.

Brandon Webb is human after all. He got out pitched by Ricky Nolasco last night as the Marlins won their 2nd straight from the Diamondbacks, 3-1. No starter has begun the season 10-0 in 90 years and it will remain that way for now.

Hiroki Kuroda tossed 5-hit ball for the Dodgers in their 5-2 win over the Reds. Rookie sensation Johnny Cueto took the loss after allowed 4 runs, 2 earned, in 5 innings.

Vlad Guerrero was the Angels offense in their 4-3 win over the Blue Jays. Big Vladdy hit a pair of home runs, but just as his teammates are, he's below his norm - .266-6-27 - in offensive production.

Jack Cust homered twice and drove in 4 runs, and Dana Eveland threw his first career complete game in the A's 9-1 thumping of the Rays. Jonny Gomes spoiled Eveland's shut out bid with an 8th inning home run. Rays closer Troy Percival was unavailable and is day-to-day with a strained hamstring.

Bartolo Colon made a triumphant return to the big leagues, picking up the win after allowing 2 runs in 5 innings. The Red Sox topped the Royals 6-3 behind Jacob Ellsbury, who homered and scored 3 runs. The Royals announced the signing of pitcher Horacio Ramirez to a minor league deal.

Paul Byrd was breezing along with a 1-hitter into the 6th inning last night when he ran smack dab into Jermaine Dye. Moments later the White Sox had the lead on Dye's 3-run blast. The right fielder later added solo shot and the White Sox topped the Indians 7-2. Jim Thome also added his 516th career blast.

3-0, 2.95 ERA. Pretty good pitching stats, huh? Believe it or not they belong to Sidney Ponson. The portly right-hander threw a complete game last night in the Rangers 10-1 drubbing of the Twins. It was his first 9 inning performance in over 3 years.

Marcus Thames 5th career grand slam highlighted a 7-run 3rd inning as the Tigers beat up the Mariners 9-4. Kenny Rogers was ineffective, but picked up the win to even his record at 4-4.

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And Then the Sun Shone Brightly

Beautiful day in the neighborhood after last night's monsoon. The Yankees fucked over their fans again by not calling the game until around 7 p.m.. That's NOT how you treat your customers. The game will be made up sometime in June, possibly as part of a day-night, two stadium doubleheader when the teams have a series at Shea.

Darrell Rasner's turn will be skipped so it will be Andy Pettitte facing fellow lefty Johan Santana this afternoon. Sunday night will now have Oliver Perez against Chien-Ming Wang, which is unfortunate because a John Maine vs. Wang match up would be a lot more exciting. Throw in the fact that the Yankees aren't getting any production against left-handers and you would rather face Maine even though he's a lot better pitcher than Perez.

Jorge Posada, Bobby Abreu, and Mets catcher Brian Schneider were at Mickey Mantle's restaurant yesterday to promote their charity driven wine labels. Posada is making good progress, but will not rush himself back even though the Yankees are hurting as much as he was.

"I'm going to be smart about it. ... I want to be back and I want to be healthy for the long run," said Posada..."

"I'm getting there," he added. "I'm really eager to get back. I feel good. I'm progressing. Every day is a different thing and so far it's been good."

Posada also had no problem with Boss Jr.'s recent outburst.

"He's saying the truth," Posada said. "He wants to win. There's nothing wrong of your owner wanting to win. So it's a matter of us really coming through and performing the way we need to."

Abreu agreed.

"We just have to go out there and do it," said Abreu. "You always have pressure. You just have to go out, do your job and help the team win."

Though the fans still get pumped up for the series, the impact isn't quite the same, especially for the Yankees that have been around a while. Andy Pettitte is one such player.

"Am I excited about it anymore? Not really, no," Pettitte said. "It's exciting for the fans, you get great crowds and the fans are into it. But as far as for me, it's not that exciting anymore."

Pettitte's more concerned about his poor pitching of late.

"Obviously I'm not happy at all with the way I pitched in my last start," said Pettitte, who left that game trailing 5-0. "And I'm definitely not happy working only four innings. Really, for me, that's unacceptable."

Here's to turning things around starting today.

Pettitte and Derek Jeter were among the players who praised Willie Randolph and hoped he survives the recent firing rumors.

"Obviously, I know him well and I wish him nothing but the best, so you never want to hear somebody might lose their job," Pettitte said yesterday before the Subway Series opener was rained out. "I hope that nothing like that would happen to him or his family."

"It's always tough on the manager. He doesn't pitch. He doesn't hit," Posada said. "The same lineup is going to be put out there by the next manager and every five days it's the same starting pitcher. It's tough to do the job. People take him for granted."

Jeter who has been buds with Randolph for a long time was even more emphatic in his backing of Willie.

"I don't see how people make such a big deal out of teams 40 games into a season. That always baffles me," Jeter said. "It's always baffled me how people write how a team's underachieving and this and that and you have 120 games left in a season. I guess that's my reaction to it. Not just 'cause it's Willie. It's 'cause it's anybody."

Said Jeter, "Willie was fun to be around. He likes to work. He's easy to talk to. He's played here in New York. He's managed in New York. He's coached in New York. He's been in the front office in New York. So he's pretty much been doing everything, so in terms of experience, you really can't get any more experience, especially in New York City, than Willie."

Unfortunately, Randolph has gotten the ill-fated "Vote of Confidence" from GM Omar Minaya.

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Joe Girardi is an All-Star

The Yankees aren't playing All-Star baseball, but Joe Girardi will be working on July 15. With the All-Stargame being played at Yankee Stadium, Girardi was invited, along with Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland, to join AL manager Terry Francona's staff for the big game.

Rockies and NL manager Clint Hurdle as invited the Mets' Willie Randolph and the Padres' Bud Black to join his staff.

Source: MLB.com

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Our Fave 9

Here's some good food for thought. Figure out your favorite team of all-time. No, not just any Yankees. Don't pick the Babe unless you're well into your eighties. We're talking about your favorite team from the time you can really remember. So we really can't pick Mickey Mantle since his last year was when we were only 7 (coincidence?).

1st Base - Donnie Baseball. Don Mattingly was the guy who got us through those win less 1980s. Tino Martinez and Chris Chambliss get honorable mentions.

2nd Base - Willie Randolph. No question about it. Is there even a guy to get an honorable mention? Steve Sax, Knobby, Horace Clarke...we don't think so.

Shortstop - Derek Jeter. We were big Chicken Stanley fans, but this is a no-brainer.

3rd Base - Graig Nettles. Doesn't matter that A-Rod might be the greatest player off all-time. Nettles was the man back in the day.

Left Field - Dave Winfield. If only he hadn't clashed with King George the Unreasonable. Honorable mention to Roy White.

Center Field - Bobby Murcer. Bet you thought we were going to say Bernie Williams. Wait for that one. Honorable mention to Bernie, Mickey Rivers, and Elliot Maddox.

Right Field - Paul O'Neill. Reggie was never one of our faves.

Catcher - Thurman Munson. Sigh. Honorable mention to Jake Gibbs, Joe Girardi, and Jorge Posada.

DH - Bernie Williams. Okay, Bernie didn't do a whole lot of DH'ing, but he had to be on this team.

Starting Pitcher - Ron Guidry. This was a tough call between Gator and Catfish Hunter.

Closer - Mariano Rivera. Honorable mention to Sparky Lyle and Dave Righetti. We won't say Goose Gossage so this way he'll campaign and complain about the list.

Manager - Before choosing lets go through the list. We had Ralph Houk, Bill Virdon, Billy Martin, Bob Lemon, Billy Martin, Dick Howser, Gene Michael, Bob Lemon, Gene Michael, Clyde King, Billy Martin, Yogi Berra, Billy Martin, Lou Piniella, Billy Martin, Lou Piniella, Dallas Green, Bucky Dent, Stump Merrill, Bucky Dent, Buck Showalter, Joe Torre, Joe Girardi. Phew...quite amazing when you consider that Buck Showalter's first year was 1992. That's a lot of turnover.

So we would have to go with Joe Torre. No one else was there long enough. We really like Ralph Houk, but we were quite young. And the managerial ins and outs of the '80s or the Billy Martin eras (plural on purpose) was mind bending. Especially when you realize all those changes were basically the same core group of people.

If we had to put a lineup together, it would go like this:

2B Randolph
SS Jeter
C Munson
1B Mattingly
LF Winfield
RF O'Neill
CF Murcer
DH Williams
3B Nettles

We could switch that lineup many different ways, but boy would it score runs. Leave your Fave 9 in the comments section.

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Real Baseball

It's here this week...at last! Players begin reporting to camps this week. We'll be taking a look at each of the teams, but in a piecemeal fashion. First up, tomorrow will be the AL East rotations and then we'll go from there.

Joe Girardi is preparing for his 1st spring training as Yankees manager (and only the 2nd of his managerial career). Girardi had the unenviable task of replacing Mike Stanley when he came here as a player and now he's replacing the man who lead the Yankees to 4 World Series championships in his first 5 years as manager.

Girardi learned some valuable lessons when he replaced Stanley, and he will use it as he replaces Joe Torre.

Mike Piazza is still looking for a team as pitchers and catchers get ready to report. The former Met has looked into Japan, and may still opt for retirement.

With Johan Santana now in a Mets uniform, Willie Randolph will be under extra pressure to - at the very least - deliver a World Series appearance.

Rich Harden has been throwing and the A's pitcher is feeling good...for now. As baseball fans, we can only hope he returns to his dominant form. The same goes for Mark Prior in San Diego.

Manny Ramirez is entering what could be his final season in Boston. The Red Sox hold $20 million annual options for 2009 and 2010, but we can't imagine the Sox wanting to pay Manny 20 mill at ages 37 and 38. Manny will probably get a new restructured contract that will pay him less over a longer period of time.

Nothing is imminent, but the Cubs are still expected to deal for the Orioles' Brian Roberts.

The Denver Post reports that the Billy Beane is asking for Andre Ethier, Andy LaRoche and a prospect from the Dodgers for Joe Blanton.

The Orioles are expecting to have Adam Loewen ready for spring training. The O's are talking to free agent Steve Trachsel about a deal.

The Royals and Rangers have joined the Yankees in showing interest in Kevin Mench. Mench was a member of the Rangers from 2002-2005.

The Reds have signed Craig Wilson to a minor league deal and invited him to spring training.

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Cano Looking to Future

The Yankees have not had a long-term 2nd Baseman since Mets' manager Willie Randolph manned the position in the 1970's and 1980's. (Pat Kelly only played more than 100 games twice in his 7 years in the pinstripes, and Chuck Knoblauch lasted only 4, mentally challenged years in the Bronx.) But Robinson Cano would like to change all of that. Entering his 4th full season in the majors, the native Dominican would like to sign a long term deal with the Yankees, and avoid arbitration.

In his first year of arbitration eligibility, Cano's reps a proposal of $4.55 million. The Yankees' proposal is well below that at $3.2 million. Cano started out poorly in '07, but finished with career highs in home runs and RBI, and has a lifetime batting average of .314. With help from former coach Larry Bowa, Cano's defense has also improved greatly and he is blossoming into one of the better defensive 2nd Baseman in the AL.

Cano's agent Bobby Barad told Newsday's Kat O'Brien that no negotiations have begun with the Yankees. But Barad said that Cano would be open to have his status locked up early, as the crosstown Mets did with David Wright and Jose Reyes.

"Could it get done? That's more complicated", said Barad. "It depends on, there's so many factors that would determine that."

With large salaries already being paid to a number of older veterans and others, such as Derek Jeter, having contracts coming up for renewal sooner rather than later, it's understandable that the Yankees may not want to throw too much money at Cano too soon. Then again they may want to learn a lesson from their previous contract negotiations with Jeter, who made much more money after the Yankees decided not to initially offer him a long term deal.

As Don Mattingly once said, referring to contract status, "This year they (the Yankees) have the hammer. Next year I will.".

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