Rivera’s Cutter

Two things I hoped to never see again in the media: talk of Joba Chamberlain’s “celebration” and anything mentioning Goose Gossage’s opinion. Well, now they’ve been combined into one annoying non-story.

Goose doesn’t like Joba’s “antics.”

They aren’t antics. It’s a fist pump and a yell. Countless pitchers have done something to this effect and still do. Randy Johnson always yells. K-Rod jumps and screams. Papelbon does a stupid dance. You get the idea.

I’m not going to get into all the reasons why we shouldn’t care what Goose thinks. I’ve done that before.

But I have to ask: isn’t Goose the same guy who says you need to throw at opposing players? And always says how it was different in his day because you actually hated your opponent?

Right, but that Joba, he shouldn’t pump his fist to celebrate his own achievement. That’s just rude.

I don’t like the word clutch. Whether or not an athlete performs in the clutch is a difficult thing to ascertain concretely, yet most people throw the word around like it is tangible.

Jeter is clutch, A-Rod is not clutch. The grass is green, the sky is blue. Sometimes grass can be yellow, sometimes the sky is gray, sometimes Jeter hits into a game ending double play, sometimes A-Rod hits a walkoff homer.

But all that doesn’t change that Jeter IS clutch while A-Rod is not. Of course this is all a classic language game where the word itself has now taken precedent over the actions which the word supposedly describes. The doer has become more important than the deed, when in truth it’s the other way around. The big hit is what is clutch. The big strikeout is what is not clutch.

Alas, I fear we shall always use words like clutch though to describe players, even if it is often unfounded one way or the other, because we emblazon a few distinct moments in our mind and then forever associate them with that player.

What does all this have to do with the current Yankees? Well, they don’t seem to be very “clutch.” As in, they don’t often provide clutch hits or make comebacks late in the game. Once they’re behind… well it’s over.

That got me to thinking about great Yankee comeback teams. The first that comes to mind? The 2004 New York Yankees. Due to a couple of big moments, those Yankees will always be remembered as a bunch of “unclutch chokers,” but that’s not really the case. The ‘04 Yankees still hold the record for most comeback wins in a season.

Do you remember the game against David Wells and the Padres where the Yanks hit 2 homeruns off of Hoffman to tie it in the 9th, only to have Hitchcock give up 3 runs in extras? And then they came back and scored 4 in the bottom to win it on a Ruben Sierra sac fly? Well I do. There were countless games like that that season.

Those Yanks were all about the rally (and you could argue that they would have been better served being the team trying to come back from a deficit in the ALCS, but that’s neither here nor there).

What made that team so good at the comeback? It may just have been a fluke and perhaps that means the current Yankees will get better.

But right now, they seem lethargic. Their formula for winning is simple: get a good starting performance and enough offense to hand it over to the bullpen with a lead. The way things look now though, relying on that all year will keep this team around .500. They need comeback wins. They need wins where they simply outslug their opponents.

To do that, they need Cano to start hitting and they need A-Rod and Posada to get healthy. Also, as much as I dislike talking about intangibles, they need the confidence that they can win even when they’re down.

If you don’t think you can come back against Tampa Bay’s bullpen, then when do you think you can make a comeback?

Update: Just went to noMaas.org, and I see they also titled their post today “The comeback kids.” This was not intentional on my part.

The NY Knicks have agreed to terms with Mike D’Antoni to become the new head coach. This is easily the most exciting thing to happen to the Knicks in years.

Even if the Knicks don’t contend - and new GM Donnie Walsh has already said he’s willing to wait until 2010 and free cap space for LeBron James - the Knicks should be much more exciting to watch immediately. Naysayers point to the Knicks’ roster as being a “poor fit” for D’Antoni’s system because they don’t have the jump-shooters or court leader that Pheonix has. Also, they’ve mentioned that the Knicks need a defensive coach because they’ve been a poor defensive team.

Well, wouldn’t the Knicks be an even worse fit for a defensive coach, such as Avery Johnson? Bottom line, the Knicks current roster wouldn’t be good for any coach’s system because they’re terrible. Is there a coach out there who is good at winning games with a downright terrible team?

No matter who took over, the Knicks need to clean house, and now with D’Antoni on board that can begin with a plan in place. Before the season was over, everyone knew the Knicks would need to unload at least one of Curry and Randolph. Are things any different now? Robinson, Lee, Crawford, and Richardson can probably adapt to D’Antoni’s system. There could be hope for Jones and Balkman. Pretty much everyone else will likely be on the way out.

The Knicks tried bringing in a defensive “mastermind” before, in Larry Brown, and it was a failure as Brown hated all the players and didn’t agree with Isiah. Well, Donnie Walsh understands D’Antoni’s vision. According to Marc Stein at ESPN, Walsh even went through his entire roster with D’Antoni, discussing who will fit and who won’t.

Giving D’Antoni a 4-year deal hopefully means there will also be patience. In Pheonix they started by blowing up everything (and unloading their junk on Isiah). While there likely will be no Isiah out there to absorb the Knicks’ bad contracts, D’Antoni’s situation in Pheonix shows that it doesn’t always take that much to build a fun and competitive team.

The core of Pheonix was one holdover from the pre-D’Antoni days (Marion), one FA signing (Nash), and one good draft pick (Stoudemire). In his recent article, Bill Simmons goes through all the terrible moves the Suns otherwise made in the past few seasons that kept them from being a dynasty (or at least winning a championship) - and all were predicated on money.

Well money won’t be a problem anymore. The Knicks likely won’t add payroll until they’re ready to contend, since they want to develop cap space. But once they are ready, everyone knows they are willing to spend whatever it takes.

So what is the plan? Unload as many players and as much payroll as possible to start and draft wisely. I think Derrick Rose is the obvious #1 choice for the Knicks if they can be lucky enough to get a top 2 pick. So yeah, a lot of the Knicks’ current hope resides in those ping pong balls and maybe signing LeBron in a couple years. But that’s still hope- and in the meantime, at least maybe we’ll have a fast paced, likeable team to cheer for.

Another strong outing for Darrell Rasner, this time against a very daunting Tigers lineup.

Is Rasner really this good, or is he simply having a few lucky starts?

Only time will tell if Rasner is simply having an Aaron Small-style run, but I do believe there is reason for optimism if for no other reason than that Rasner is still a young guy. Many players (pitchers in particular) do not realize their potential until they are his age. Sure, the Ras doesn’t throw 96 and his strikeout rates suggest he’ll never be a top of the order type guy (of course, the same was said for Wang back in the day), but Derek Jeter’s Jon Leiber comparison could be somewhat appropriate. Sure, Leiber is terrible now, but he was a good pitcher for a number of years.

Ian Kennedy couldn’t have done better than 3IP, 6ER last night?

I understand why the Yankees have held on to Kei Igawa and he actually does have some value to the organization. That value will never be as a starting pitcher on the big league club, however. I think it’s obvious that eventually he will be traded to the National League for a B prospect to become some team’s 5th starter.

I still stick to my previous assertion: Kennedy was sent down too soon. There is a better chance of him “putting it together” and having a good start than Kei Igawa doing so.

And I can’t help but wonder, who is the biggest waste of money: Pavano for $40 million or Igawa for $46?

This isn’t Yankee related (though LeBron James is a Yankee fan) but I find it very funny: Papa John’s owner made T-Shirts calling LeBron a crybaby, so in an attempt to pacify angry fans, the pizza chain offered 23 cent pizzas yesterday.

Well, 1700 people showed up when the downtown location opened. Police had to be called in to monitor “line-jumpers.” Traffic slowed to a halt. Local stores lost customers because people couldn’t get past the lines.

The average wait was more than 3 hours. So essentially, the people of Cleveland are saying that over 3 hours of their time on a weekday is worth less than a plain pizza from Papa John’s.

This is the world we live in.

So apparently David Wells wants to be a Yankee again. My initial reaction to this was an immediate “No.” Then I thought about it some more.

Wells was terrible last year, pitching in the National League. The Yankees have a plethora of more viable arms in Triple-A.

So yeah, the answer is still no.

So I kept thinking and perhaps there IS a way the Yankees could use Wells (and I mean really use him on the baseball field; sending him to party with David Ortiz or having him eat all the junk food in the Yankee clubhouse, while both good ideas, are not the type of thing I’m talking about). What if Wells tried to redefine himself as a reliever/long man? Historically, he’s been good against lefties, he has a rubber arm, and he has been a reliever in the past (though it was long ago). So if Hank signed him to a minor league deal, would it be in the end of the world? As of right now, the Yankees don’t have anyone who profiles well as a long man or a lefty specialist. Wells could be both.

Well, with all that said, I still don’t want it to happen because the Yankees don’t really need it. But if it does happen, I just hope they don’t guarantee him a spot in the rotation.

Jon Heyman has a story up on the future of current Braves first baseman Mark Teixeira and the bidding war that should commence for his services in the offseason.

The teams that will be bidding are rumored to be the Yankees, Mets, Mariners, Orioles, and Red Sox.

I’ll go on record now: I can’t imagine the Yankees NOT signing Teixeira. They’ve refused to fill the first base spot with anything but stopgaps for the past two seasons (we all know if they had the choice, Giambi would be DH), seemingly in anticipation of Tex’s ensuing free agency.

Boras has been throwing around the $200 million figure for Teixeira, but I figure he’ll probably get a contract in the 140-170 range. And for the Yankees, that’s a good investment. They’ve been paying Giambi over $20 million annually. With all the money coming off the books, Tex can be brought in with the Yankee payroll going down.

Teixeira is exactly what the Yankees need: he gets on base and has power from both sides of the plate and is an excellent fielder. It will probably take a seven year commitment, but he’s young and locking up Teixeira until he’s 35 probably isn’t that large of a risk.

Much less of a risk, in fact, that signing C.C. Sabathia to a long-term deal. Everyone assumes the Yankees will focus on pitching via free agency because of their struggles finding pitching in recent years. However, the Yankees are now loaded with young pitching talent which is cheap and versatile. They do not have much in the way of positional talent though, especially in the infield.

Pitchers are also more prone to injury and inconsistency. If Pettitte comes back for another season, the Yankees’ need for Sabathia will not be as great as most think. I expect them to be in the conversation and probably even make an offer. But much like the Damon negotiations a few years back, I think they’ll be aggressive only if it’s for the right price. I don’t think they’ll care that much if he goes elsewhere for more than they think he’s worth. After all, that just happened with Johan Santana.

With Teixeira though, I think the Yankees will do whatever it takes.

(Also of note- apparently Teixeira has ties to his hometown Baltimore and to New York. His NY ties are his sister who works in NYC, but lives in Hoboken, NJ, where I also reside. Perhaps I can start leaving Yankee merchandise on her front porch.)

Hat tip to RAB for this one: Steve Phillips tries to “fix” the Reds.

(Aside on Phillips: reading or listening to him on ESPN makes me angry. He has NO clue when it comes to baseball yet he has made himself rich making baseball decisions or talking about baseball. He is living proof that life is not fair and often does not make sense. Remember when he said the Yankees cost themselves a chance at the postseason by not trading “4th outfielder” Melky Cabrera for Eric Gagne? Well, I do.)

Well one of his “ideas” for the Reds involve the Yankees:

4. CALL HANK Have owner Bob Castellini ring Hank Steinbrenner and tell him you’ve got a way to move Joba Chamberlain into the Yankees’ rotation. Offer Jared Burton, who’s whiffing hitters in bunches, and Jeremy Affeldt for Phil Hughes. Sell Burton as Chamberlain’s eighth-inning replacement and Affeldt as the situational lefty the Yanks lack. Throw in Arroyo if they want. Make it an owners deal. Castellini and Hank will love it; GM Brian Cashman will hate it. The bottom line is that Aaron Harang, Johnny Cueto, Edinson Vólquez and Hughes would give Cincy four very different looks.

First things first: I know I don’t follow the NL that well, but I follow it more than the average person, for fantasy purposes if nothing else, and I don’t even know who Jared Burton is. Getting him will allow the Yankees to move Joba to the rotation? Will it make Joba’s innings limit suddenly increase by 50 innings? Because that’s why he’s not in the rotation. The Yankees have other options for the 8th inning (and sure maybe they’re not as good as Joba (few are) but they’re probably as good or better than Jared Burton). The Yankees decided not to trade Phil Hughes for Johan Santana. But sure, Hank will be happy to send him to Cincy for a couple of relievers.

Two of Phillips’ other trades:

Ken Griffey, Jr. to the White Sox for Josh Fields or Carlos Quentin. White Sox GM Ken Williams isn’t that dumb. Sure, talent wise this deal might make sense. But Griffey is old and makes a ton of money. Fields and Quentin are young and make very little and won’t make much in the near future.

Adam Dunn for Matt Cain, or Adam Lind and Dustin McGowan, or Cliff Lee and another useful player. Phillips clearly does not understand the value of youth. Maybe the Giants would be dumb enough to make this trade but I promise you no one else would be. Money Matters. Dunn is making the current market rate for a player of his ability while all the other players mentioned are on their initial deals (ie, are cheap). The fact that Phillips does not understand this simple idea is amazing (though it does explain a lot about his tenure with the Mets).

I wish the Yankees would hire Steve Phillips, maybe then he could trade Jason Giambi for Joe Saunders and then move Johnny Damon for Matt Kemp and James Loney.

Earlier in the season I wondered how Buster Olney could possibly consider the Indians to have the best 1-2-3 in baseball (instead arguing for Halladay, Burnett, and McGowan of Toronto). Well, Cleveland might indeed have the best 1-2-3, but it isn’t who I thought.

Originally I wondered who you would consider the number 3, Paul Byrd or Jake Westbrook.

Well, it is obvious to Yankee fans now that the number 3 is Cliff Lee.

Lee was simply masterful and when you combine him with Sabathia and Carmona, you have to think the Indians will contend by season’s end, even if their offense has helped put them in a hole early (along with a couple bad starts from Sabathia).