Looks like the Yanks’ unwritten goal of collecting #4 OF types and reconstituting their 2002 team is almost a success, tweets Jon Heyman:

#yankees sign marcus thames, si.com has learned

Thames, as you might remember, broke into the league as a member of the 2002 Yankees, hitting a HR off Randy Johnson, then with the D’backs.

Thames tends to fare better against LHP than RHP, as you can see with his splits below:

All that’s missing are Raul Mondesi, Rondell White, Juan Rivera, Gerald Williams and Karim Garcia.

Football’s over; it’s time to get thinking about baseball again!

With that, I’m happy to debut the new and improved It’s About The Money, Stupid. I’d like to thank my incredibly talented design guru Brad (aka Bapak, etc.) for his time, effort and patience in getting this built.

I’d also like to thank the great folks at Bloguin for their efforts during my time with them.

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It’s been debated in plenty of places whether new stadiums actually are a boon for the surrounding communities or not. Do they help the people and small businesses that feed off the team and the stadium or do they really just enrich the already rich? The Village Voice seems to come down more than a little hard on the Yankees, seemingly blaming them for the serious poverty and hunger problems that exist in the district that also houses the 2009 World Series Champs:

Here’s new evidence of what the new Yankee Stadium has brought to The Bronx. Not only is the borough home to one of the poorest congressional districts in America — the home of the new, heavily-subsidized stadium and the current World Champs can also boast that their ‘hood is also the hungriest Congressional district in the nation!

As of the last census, in 2000, the 16th Congressional District was the poorest in the nation, with 42.2 percent of residents living below the poverty line. Now, nearly a decade later, a new Gallup poll finds that more than 36 percent of people in the 16th have reported that there are times when they have not had money to buy food for themselves or their family.

This compares to a hunger rate of “just” 16.5 percent in the greater New York/New Jersey/Long Island area.

C’mon…if anyone could realistically think, imagine, envision a new stadium turning around one of the poorest areas in the nation within a year of its opening, you’re fooling yourself. Yankee Stadium has been at essentially the same location for 80 odd years. That area of the Bronx didn’t suddenly become impoverished and if the “old” stadium wasn’t helpful, why would we think that the “new” one would change it overnight?

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And you thought The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim moniker was a joke. Count the sponsors in these two sentences:

The Florida Marlins are set to host the 15th Annual Jiffy Lube Marlins FanFest presented by TD Bank on Saturday, February 13 from noon to 6 P.M. at Sun Life Stadium. Attending fans will have the opportunity to join forces with the American Red Cross in their ongoing Haiti relief efforts.

I sprained my eye.

What’s the formula for boosting memorabilia values? How about:

$$$ = Big post-season - past post-season failures + big return after injury – forgotten PED admission + keeping mouth shut and saying the right things

We had heard earlier in the off-season that there was a spike in ARod’s memorabilia value and now we have the latest proof (proof there’s a bigger, richer idiot out there waiting, lurking):

A-Rod’s 500th home run ball is going, going, gone!

The ball smashed by the Yankee slugger on Aug. 4, 2007, to reach the historic milestone fetched $103,579 in an online auction that ended Thursday night.

Wonder how Todd McFarlane feels about the $3 million he paid for McGwire’s 70th HR ball way back when we were fat, dumb and stupid happy.

In other words, just like we are today, only older.

Two days after we were expecting him, Punxsutawney Hank showed up, made his presence known, saw his shadow. Of course, this means that there’s only two weeks more until pitchers and catchers report.

“The two trades that Brian did I was really pleased with and very proud of,” Steinbrenner. a team co-chairman, said Thursday. “I think that is going to make a big difference for us.”

He also rumbled his way into dissolving whatever measely leverage the Yanks had regarding paying Jeter by stating:

“We’ll get into all of that eventually, “ Steinbrenner said. “Jeter’s place in Yankee history is obvious, so I think you can pretty much assume from there.”

Somewhere in Arizona, or California, or wherever agent Casey Close resides, a smile creased broad and wide. Last time Hank weighed in on a major contract, he said all the right things about letting ARod leave, then proceeded to give him a 10 year, $275 million contract, a raise from his previous record-breaking deal. Way to hold firm, Hank!

Picture from the always fun TiricoSuave

Tell me something: If you read this comment and don’t wonder about San Diego’s ability to remain a going concern in MLB, well, what do you think?

I think the fairest description of our point of view is that we continue to be committed to doing what s best for the long-term interest of the organization, Padres CEO Jeff Moorad said yesterday. As a result, no player is untouchable. And while we’re mindful of players’ individual popularity, we won’t put one player ahead of the long-term interests of the club.

I’m confident that (General Manager) Jed (Hoyer) and John Boggs will have a discussion at some point about Adrian and his future. While I’d be thrilled to have him part of the organization for the long term, the early signals indicate his cost will be greater than our ability to pay.

[...]

I don’t ever want to speak for ownership because I have no knowledge of what they have and what they don’t, Boggs said. (But) the feeling we’re getting is more than likely (the Padres) are going to have to trade Adrian Gonzalez because (they) can’t afford him.

In 2009, the Padres ranked 28th in total payroll with a miniscule $37.8m in total payroll. Jon Garland was the highest paid at $6.25m. Adrian Gonzalez was #3 with $3.125m.

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For those of you who hate the Yanks, or merely root against them, this one is for you. I think NYaT’s Andrew Katz does a great job presenting the Yanks’ 2010 “worst case scenarios”, however much it makes me uncomfortable. I saw Part I yesterday and waited until today to link to Parts I & II. The scary part about these “worst case scenarios” is that some of Andrew’s cases are eminently possible:

1. The Yankees Worst Case Scenario, Part 1 (position players)
   Derek Jeter - What it would look like: A worse version of 2008. I don’t think we’ve truly ever seen BAD Derek Jeter. He’s had some times he’s struggles and times he’s looked awful in the field, but he hasn’t looked awful. But as he turns 36 next season, there is the chance that decline could hit. I can imagine a nightmare scenario where he’s slipped offensively and defensively to the point the Yankees have no interest in signing him in the off-season leading to a battle colder than the Cold War itself. The only thing worse for Yankees/Jeter is if he was tied to PED rumors. Since all of that is ridiculous (trying to quickly put it out of my head) a serious Jeter injury like 2003 could also hurt the Yankees.

2. The Yankees Worst Case Scenario, Part II (rotation)
   Javier Vazquez: What it would look like: 2004 ALCS Game 7. The worst thing that Javy Vazquez can do is remind Yankee fans at all of what he looked like during his last game in the Bronx. Many Yankee fans (including me) are taking a leap of faith that his being back in Pinstripes won’t bring back those memories. We hope his season in the Bronx wasn’t as bad as it seemed, that he was injured during the second half, and that it was a statistical anomaly in an otherwise consistent career. We’re hoping that a trip back to the American League and to the best hitting division and one of the best hitting home parks isn’t going to make Vazquez turn into a homerun machine. We’re also hoping that Ozzie Guillen is wrong that Vazquez isn’t a big game pitcher. But if we’re wrong, it could be real trouble. I can’t see the Yankee Stadium faithful having a large amount of tolerance for a slow start from Vazquez and I doubt he’ll be much good for the Yankees if that becomes the case. And if any of the three players that the Yankees traded for Vazquez turn out to be stars, it could look like quite a bad trade, considering that Vazquez already had a spotty track record in the Bronx.

Ugh. Blech.

As much as I was hoping (earlier in the off-season, with the slimmest of hopes) that the Tigers’ payroll purge would force them to deal Verlander, it appears that he signed a sizeable extension:

Justin Verlander and the Detroit Tigers have agreed to an $80 million, five-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press.

What I was thinking about around Thanksgiving:

If King Felix is the apple of everyone’s eye, shouldn’t Verlander at least be a close second?

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In what is becomming a Wezen-ball staple, Lar takes on something that no one else thought of but everyone flat out loves. Today’s posting is no different:

But what would a list like this be without a little personal taste thrown in? I’ve listed the thirty ballclubs and their roster of statues below, in order of my most favorite collection of statues to my least favorite (based solely on their pictures, of course). This is in no way scientific, so I can’t say that the factors involved in each club’s rank are perfectly consistent across the league. However, the factors did tend to focus on uniqueness, execution, and number (I tend not to like too many statues). I’ll explain my choices as I list them. And if there’s anything the internet has taught me, it’s that most of you will disagree with me in some way. Which is fine. We’re only talking about team statues, after all.

Just incredible, Lar.

And his Yanks’ rank:

15. Yankees: Don Larsen, Yogi Berra. The monuments in Monument Park don’t fit the scope of this post. Are these the only two statues in Yankee Stadium? It’s a good design, with Larsen pitching to Yogi, but a little too simple.

Now, I am biased but I love how the exhibit (hundreds of autographed baseballs under the flight of the pitch from Larsen to Berra) just flows.

You can see it in the picture to the right. Larsen (out of shot) is on the other end. Notice the home plate and batters boxes, too. It’s really neat.

The virtual path of the ball acts as the line below which contains a ridiculous display of autographed baseballs (below)