By now, due to my late start, you’ve heard everything about the new ARod allegations. It’s ugly, no matter if it’s true or not. Some of the lowlights:

• Alex Rodriguez may have bulked up with steroids as early as high school – and was suspected of juicing while playing for the Yankees

  …fellow Bombers nicknamed the third baseman “B—h T–s” in 2005.

  …an unnamed major-leaguer is quoted as saying Rodriguez and steroid-tainted pitcher Kevin Brown were seen together with human growth hormone – HGH – in 2004

  …Rodriguez’s long relationship with Angel Presinal, a Dominican trainer banned from clubhouses after a steroid incident in 2001

  Jose Canseco, an ex-teammate and friend of Rodriguez who accused him of steroid abuse even before last year, believes A-Rod was on ‘roids in pinstripes.

  “I absolutely think Alex is using HGH,” he said. “Probably a combination of growth and steroids.“

  Canseco said he believes Rodriguez’s steroid use goes back to his teens, when he was a high school standout in Miami.

  “Was he on steroids in high school?” he said. “I think probably so. I worked out with him when he was 18. He could lift almost as much as I could.”

  Rodriguez put on 25 pounds of muscle between his sophomore and junior years, and word was that his connection was a dog kennel owner.

  The 255-page book also chronicles A-Rod’s off-the-field escapades: his poker habit; his divorce from his wife, Cynthia; the relationship with Madonna, and dalliances with out-of-town floozies.

  He was even hated at Hooters, where he tipped the minimum 15%

OK, the nickname is absolutely hilarious, in a mocking way of a teammate. From A-Fraud to B*tch T*ts… incredible that he continued to act the same way. Way to miss the hints!

Just think: Another 8+ years of ARod fun.

Hank shoulda let him walk when he had the chance.

If you want a really solid view of this, particularly regarding Selena Roberts, click here for Shysterball’s take.

A visit to the dentist has thrown my morning into the blender. I’ll be back later….

One of the best parts of doing this is getting to hear/read others thoughts and opinions, even as they may vary from mine. Sometimes you guys are glib, othertimes angry and serious. Then, there are moments of beautiful clarity, like this amazing comment from loyal reader ditmars1929:

Lo and behold, those perched in the Yanks Ivory Tower has heard our cries… well, not MY cries since I’m not spending half of too much anyways, but they have at least offered the olive branch to the rich folk and those too embarrassed to use their already paid-for tickets:

This from Hal Steinbrenner via the Yankees:

A few weeks ago I indicated that in light of the economy we would review the pricing of a small number of our premium locations at Yankee Stadium; specifically, our Suite Seats. I mentioned a small number of locations because in excess of 3.4 million seats, including 37,000 full season equivalents as well as approximately 85% of all our premium locations have already been sold. Yet, there are a few hundred Suite Seats in our premium locations that have not been sold on a full season basis. As a result, and for many of our fans who have already purchased full season Suite Seats in such premium locations, the Yankees are announcing today a program that adjusts certain prices and benefits affecting such Suite Seats.”

There’s a lot of info at the link above, but what seems most evident is that in lieu of refunds, they are offering additional seats. The main exception being those who bought the infamous ridiculously priced $2500 seats and those right behind them in the $1000 seats.

From a business perspective, this is an interesting (and smart) approach. The team doesn’t have to give back much money and it almost ensures that more and more seats will be filled. The Stadium will look more crowded, concessions and parking will perk up, and there should be a limited negative cash flow impact due to the limited refunds being offered.

For the ticketholders, I’m not sure how they should feel. I’m guessing that the extra seat for a family purchase might not be something they want or need, but the discount would be better felt/appreciated in their wallet. Some, however, who use these tickets for business entertainment purposes, might embrace the idea of an extra ticket to lavish upon customers/clients.

The refund option for the priciest seats might be a nice “face saving” choice for the corporates and Wall Streeters.

No matter what, it’s wonderful that the team heard the cries and actually did something. I am guessing they had to have Randy Levine chained to a boiler with a bandana around his mouth until this hit the press. I could see him treating his office much like Paulie O’Neill used to treat a water cooler after a pop-up to first base.

A good FOTB Zach Sanders of MLB Notebook had a good idea: Interview a bunch of bloggers to give you an idea what it’s like and what’s required to be an active blogger. Zach was kind enough to ask me my thoughts on a few topics, so I will put my quotes below, but I’d strongly recommend a visit to his site for the whole read.

on Breaking News
“I wouldn’t call it pressure, but I think being timely is important. Otherwise, you get lost in the crush. Not to mention, if you have a good quick summary before others, there’s some measure of making your claim first that appeals to me,” says Jason Rosenberg of It Is About The Money, Stupid, a blog devoted to all things baseball. “I don’t want to post something that someone might read and think that I merely repackaged someone else’s opinion.”

on Attracting Readers
“I’m not a self-promoter by nature, so I have to try to fight against that nature. I started by being active in the comments of blogs that I frequented, testing my arguments, logic, etc,” said Rosenberg. “I also tried to befriend bloggers, gaining a level of dialogue “off site”. Whenever I create something that I know is better than a regular, derivative posting, I will send it to fellow bloggers for their review. If they like it, they can link to it, but I don’t ever like to ask someone to link to something I write.”

There are some very interesting takes from some talented bloggers and I was honored to be included.

Thanks, Zach!

I don’t do daily game recaps; you can get them everywhere else. Not to mention, I don’t get to watch every inning of every game.

But, I did watch much of the game last night and wow did Phil Hughes look sharp. I’ll try to temper my enthusiasm as I’d be beyond excited to see one of our own emerge again. It was a long time between Pettitte to Wang and Joba and the expectations have hounded Hughes for years. It’s hard to remember that Hughes is just 23 years old.

Phil Hughes wasn’t just good tonight, he was great. Six scoreless innings, two hits, two walks, six strikeouts. He threw 59 of 99 pitches for strikes and never cracked in a scoreless duel with Edwin Jackson.

If you were watching closely, Hughes had to fight to get command of his curveball. It was all over the place in the first few innings, even when he threw it for strikes. When he struck out Placido Polanco in the first inning, it was on a curve that wasn’t where he wanted it.

I saw that curve and Polanco’s knees buckled. I thought that pitch was perfect, but what do I know?

Here’s to hoping Hughes develops into everything we want him to be. Of course, that will only mean that the cries to “move Joba back to the pen” will get louder.

Pete Abe, our LoHud of the Rings beat writer, has some pretty honest opinions about this Yanks team:

But bringing back a 33-year-old former steroids user with a bad hip isn’t going to solve the problem of the Yankees looking like a company softball team at times. When you see Jacoby Ellsbury steal home or Curtis Granderson lay down a perfect bunt to start a rally, it’s a reminder of how old and slow the Yankees can look.

This team has good pitching and over time, that pitching will produce. Even the bullpen. But already we’re seeing sore knees (Hideki Matsui), sore shoulders (Johnny Damon) and Jorge Posada running down to first base like he’s pulling U-Haul trailer behind him. Derek Jeter let a groundball up the middle score a run today. By now you’re used to that.

Their “young and athletic” guys are Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera. Cano is 13 of 27 on stolen bases in his career and Melky was benched last summer.

Other teams can make things happen at the plate or in the field. The Yankees seem to have no choice but to wait and hope something does. Their roster is so top heavy with aging and expensive players that an injury or two throws everything off.

Yeah, so that’s not good, right?

It’s remarkably captivating and I was unable to turn away. Some people really do have too much time on their hands:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWRyj5cHIQA&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1]
Thanks Hot Clicks.

Got a very brief window due to a delayed meeting this morning, so I flipped open my handy reference for MLB contracts signed this past off-season. I love the ways teams and player representatives get creative for incentives, particularly with oft-injured players.

Today, I present: Mike Hampton, Houston Astros

• Signed: 12/3/08.
• Base salary: $2,000,000
• Plus: $100,000 for 12gs;
• $100,000 for 14gs;
• $100,000 for 16gs;
• $100,000 for 18gs;
• $100,000 for 20gs;
• $100,000 for 22gs;
• $100,000 for 24gs;
• $100,000 for 26gs;
• $100,000 for 28gs;
• $100,000 for 30gs;
• $100,000 for 100ip;
• $100,000 for 110ip;
• $100,000 for 120ip;
• $100,000 for 130ip;
• $100,000 for 140ip;
• $100,000 for 150ip;
• $100,000 for 160ip;
• $100,000 for 170ip;
• $100,000 for 180ip;
• $100,000 for 190ip.
• Plus: $250,000 for All Star;
• $1,000,000 for Cy Young ($250,000-2nd; $100,000-3rd);
• $250,000 for Comeback Player of the Year;
• $500,000 for WS/MVP;
• $250,000 for LCS/MVP;
• $100,000 for Gold Glove;
• $100,000 for Silver Slugger

Interesting that Hampton will effectively receive $50k for each start he makes after his first twelve, plus $50k for each 5 innings after the first 100. Of course, to get to 100 IP in 12 games, he has to average 8.1IP/game, which we know ain’t happenin’.

For you guys: How many/much of these potential incentives will Hampton earn this year? Place your bets in the comments below. Winner at year’s end gets to brag….assuming we can remember that we actually did this.

I’m not a Twitterer, yet. I don’t really have much desire to become one and frankly, if anyone really has an interest in following what I’m doing, I’d suggest going outside and getting some fresh air. There has GOTTA be something better out there than following me… it’s not the glamorous life you are all imagining.

That said, Brian Wilson (Giants closer) was Twittering Saturday night around 1am and subsequently blew the save (and I had Cain’s win all but in my score, damn him). There’s been some fall-out as a result:

Wilson’s response to Baggerly’s question about Saturday night and the tweets: