Maddux Wins 18th Gold Glove Award

Congratulations to Greg Maddux, who picked up his 18th career gold glove award today. This has to be one of the most respectable records in baseball, with Maddux winning the award the last five years in a row and 13 in a row from 1990 through 2002.

To be a 42 year old pitcher with the stats he has, and to consistently be the best fielding pitcher in your league puts Greg in a league of his own.

This last feat may all but close the great pitcher's 23 year hall of fame career since his agent, Scott Boras, stated he intends not to return next season and retire. If this is the end of the line Greg, thanks.

Other National League Gold Glove Winners:

C Yadier Molina STL

1B Adrian Gonzalez SD

2B Brandon Phillips CIN

3B David Wright NYM

SS Jimmy Rollins PHI

OF Carlos Beltran NYM

OF Nate McLouth PIT

OF Shane Victorino PHI

Elias Rankings

Elias Rankings are out and can be found at...

http://www.nypost.com/seven/11042008/sports/yankees/al_player_rankings_136998.htm (AL)

http://www.nypost.com/seven/11042008/sports/mets/nl_player_rankings_136999.htm (NL)

Let’s see, of notable interest in the NL...

John Smoltz loses his type A status- Probably irrelevant as the braves are his likely suitor next year

Oliver Perez gained type A status- this could definitely decrease interest in Olli if he is unable to resign with the Mets and declines arbitration. Rumors are he is seeking over 12 million a year. A high end Draft pick and over 12 million a year is a bit pricey for someone who logged an era of 4.22 with a WHIP of 1.402 this past year.

Rich Harden gained type B status- This should give the cubs a nice sandwich pick, if he does end up signing elsewhere.

Trevor Hoffman has maintained his type A status despite a mediocre year- It should be interesting to see what happens with this, as the padres are looking to cut payroll and Hoffman has not gotten back to the padres on the 4.5 million offer they have reportedly given him. If he doesn’t accept the deal I'm sure the padres will offer arbitration and look to pick up some nice draft picks.

And in the AL...

Andy Pettite still has type A status- With Rumors that Pettite is seeking a 2 year deal which the Yankees are unlikely to give, it is possible that they offer him arbitration and he signs elsewhere, most likely the Astros. (http://blogs.trb.com/sports/baseball/blog/2008/11/gms_meetings_mike_mussina_and.html)

Milton Bradley only obtains type B status- This should make it a lot easier for him to find the multi-year contract he's looking for.

Jason Varitek obtains type A status- If he fails to work out a deal with the Red Sox its going to be even more difficult for him to sign. His age, combined with his poor year offensively, his ridiculously high asking price as well as desire for a multi-year contract, in addition to teams needing to give up a first round draft pick if unprotected will make it ridiculously hard for Varitek to sign for what he's looking for.

Pudge falls to type B status- This isn't that unexpected, although it should be interesting to see if the Yankees do offer him arbitration, there is a risk of him accepting.

That’s about it for notable changes in the Elias rankings; it should be fun to see how things play out.

The American Idle...

...or the biggest Free Agent bust so far in the 21st century.

I remember the day the Yankees signed Carl Pavano, i was happy... (love the irony in the caption below Carl Pavano... "Could Wright be Wrong?" we didn't listen!!)

Then this happened...


Carl Pavano suffered every injury known to man ... he even is currently suffering from several diseases that have yet to be identified.

So.. what's this i hear about the Yankees wanting to bring back our Idle? What else has to go wrong where the Yankees will need to re sign Carl Pavano? CC Sabathia, Derek Lowe, AJ Burnett, Ben Sheets, Andy Pettite sign elsewhere, Mike Mussina retires, Joba Chamberlain gets arrested for yet another DUI and Chien Ming Wang Breaks his foot again while Jogging? I think i'd rather give Sidney Ponson another chance.

just kidding...

Seriously, there has to be an upside to this guy, so if they do sign him... maybe that won't be the worst thing in the world (again.. just kidding).

(American Idle joke via Peter Abraham)

Phil Dominant

Phils line going into Monday from the Arizona Fall League was not good. The Yankees hopes were to get him to eat up innings, and he's done everything but that logging only 12.2 innings.

Phil's stats in the AFL going into Monday night...

12.2 innings
12 hits
9 runs(8 earned)
8 BBs
11 SO

Here's Phils line for Monday: 5 innings. 1 hit. 0 BBs. 0 R. 8 Ks. 59 pitches (41 strikes)

That's a great sign from Phil, who missed his previous start because of a torn fingernail. I'll keep posting how Phil has done after his starts in the AFL.

Here's a list of some other notable Yankees and how they're doing so far in the AFL:

Kevin Whelan (P): 10 innings. 6 hits. 1 R. 6 BBs. 10 Ks.

Humberto Sanchez (P): 6.1 innings. 13 hits. 12 R (11 earned). 6BBs.3Ks

Jeffrey Marquez (P): 13 innings. 13 hits. 9 R (8 earned). 8 BBs.14Ks.

Juan Miranda (1B): (In 42 at-bats) 333. 14 hits. 1 HR. 7 RBI.429OBP.

Kevin Russo (2B): (In 61 at-bats) 361. 22 hits. 1 HR. 8 RBI.391 OBP.

Austin Jackson (CF): (in 69 at-bats) 246. 17 hits. 1 HR. 11 RBI. 284OBP.

Not exactly stats Yankee fans would enjoy to see from these guys.

I'll put up how the The Hawaii boys (Andrew Brackman, Austin Romine, Damon Sublett) are doing later.

"It's water, straight fucking water"

Please bare with the fact that the video quality is not excellent, the beginning the audio cuts off for 2 seconds, but trust me you didn't miss a thing.



I honestly hope everyone found that equally as hilarious and disturbing as i did.

Options...

Damaso Marte in my opinion is one of the best late inning lefty relievers in the game today, letting him slip away is a huge mistake.

George King of the New York Post says the Yankees are likely to pass on Marte's 6 million dollar option (250,000$ buyout) and are likely to offer him a deal worth less(http://www.nypost.com/seven/11022008/sports/yankees/no_option_for_marte_136408.htm).

Here is the one beef i have with this decision, what if Marte doesnt want to return to the Yankees for less? would you really want to risk losing this dominant lefty to another ballclub? I know the Yankees like LHP Phil Coke, but he has only appeared in the majors for a short period of time(though he was very impressive). Here's a thought, pick up Marte's option, and instead of having Coke in your bullpen, try him in your rotation.

Now i've had some problems with George King before, with his thoughts on Mike Cameron, and personally... i don't know where he gets his information from, but i'm not going to believe this until i see it.

Yankees, just a word of advice, you've regretted losing this guy once before, why would you wan't to regret losing him again?

Five Reasons Hank needs to shut the hell up!

(seriously, who would rather see a picture of Hank Steinbrenner smoking a cig up there? not me!)

1. Manny Ramirez is NOT going to be a Yankee next year, so why even make a statement saying he is considered. I know the Yankees are going to make big changes in this offseason, but come on, Manny Ramirez? Do you not forget that just 4 months ago, every single Yankee fan would have loved to stomp on his head! Yes, yes it would aggrivate all Red Sox fans, but is he really worth the money, when we have a surplus of outfielders right now? Hank should know, that if the Yankees are going to be a serious contender next year, their real priority should be acquiring CC Sabathia or Mark Tiexera. There are so many reasons why Manny Ramirez will not be a Yankee next year, i won't have enough time to post them all.

2. You give the Yankees a bad name, just because you're the son of George Steinbrenner, deffinately one of the greatest owners in Yankee History, does not give you the right to speak for the Yankees... (i.e give excuses for why we didn't make the playoffs). Every team goes through injuries Hank, the Yankees just didn't play good baseball at all last year, that's that.

3. Don't badmouth teams publically, Yes, every Yankee fan known to man despises that the Red Sox fans are called Red Sox Nation, but we aren't going to make brash statements against them to the world (actually, maybe we would, but you're soon going to be the co-owner of the Yankees! watch yo mouth) Hank, leave the trash talking to the fans.

4. Don't accuse the NL of being pre 21st century! Seriously, it wasn't the National Leagues fault for Chien Ming Wang's injury, you would think that the guy can atleast know how to run correctly... right?

5. You are a babbling idiot! Every person who watches baseball, makes fun of you and your idiotic comments! now please Hank Steinbrenner.... just shut the hell up!