I’ll say this: I’m really digging ESPN’s new TMI blog “network”. It’s a deeper dive than we would usually expect from ESPN and they deserve credit for making the effort and getting good writers to headline it. This is not some script that the ESPN suits fed me; it’s worth bookmarking and making it part of your daily read. Tom Tango, folks from BP, ESPN’s stat-heads, etc.

Today, Katie Sharp has some good data on Gardner and his speed:

Just how fast is Brett Gardner? Bill James developed a metric called Speed Score, which factors in frequencies and percentages of stolen bases and attempts, triples, and runs scored. In 2009, Gardner had the highest Speed Score among players with at least 250 PA.

Better than that was this interesting tidbit:

(click “view full post” to read more)

Not much fanfare, but a great gesture from the kid:

Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain has paid for another Lincoln student’s family trip to Disney World.

Each year, Chamberlain selects a student from one of his former elementary schools — Belmont or Clinton — who demonstrates hard work and good character. This is the third year he’s done so.

Belmont fifth-grader Riley Ressen, his mother and his little sister benefited this year. They were in Orlando, Fla., for four days and spent time with the baseball player.

The boy says he had fun.

His mother, Donna Cossette, says her family had never been to Disney World and never could have afforded it.

Nice move, Joba.

(note, pictures shown are from a Christmas party, not from the story above)

This is a whopper of a debate so here’s the setup:

Editors Note: Even with steroids at the forefront, there has been perhaps no bigger topic debated by baseball fans across the country these past few years than that of the prospects for a MLB Salary Cap.

While it’s virtually universally agreed upon that a Salary Cap will never be put in place because the MLBPA will never allow it as part of its CBA, that doesn’t stop supporters of a cap (especially those from small market teams) from lobbying for it.

There are legitimate arguments for both sides and more than anything, that’s what fuels the debate.

Just be forewarned, it’s a mega-posting. Clear your schedule.

We can hope this idle chatter and postulating about Jeter’s next contract will die down once the season starts for real.

The Yankees generally have treated their own big stars very well. But six years for a shortstop who’s 35 now is seen as a stretch, even by the execs who say they expect that to be the asking price. “Casey Close is a good agent. You don’t get if you don’t ask,” one executive said. Close declined comment.

Six years may seem extreme. But there is logic to it. Jeter saw his famous frenemy Alex Rodriguez get a 10-year, $275-million deal from the Yankees two winters ago that will take him to age 42. Jeter will be 36 by the end of the year, so six more years would take him to 42, same as A-Rod.

After seeing A-Rod get a contract taking him until he’s 42, why wouldn’t Jeter want the same? A case could be made that Rodriguez is a more natural fit as the DH, so playing into his 40s might be easier. But both are hard workers, extremely fit and without injury history. And Jeter’s the one who’s a Yankees legend.

I discussed this a bit earlier this week, and several other times (here’s another), so I don’t want to continue to spend countless cycles on it, but some quick thoughts:

• Is it really necessary to knock ARod, yet again? I know he’s an easy target, but c’mon.
• Jeter’s pride is well-documented. Will he demand:
  • Same AAV as ARod (or $1 more)
  • Extension to age 42
• Will he be “reasonable” in his demands, both in terms of AAV and term?

(click “view full post” to read more)

I am part of a loosely-knit network of bloggers called the BBA (Baseball Bloggers Alliance). In short, “The Baseball Bloggers Alliance was formed in 2009 to foster communication and collaboration between bloggers across baseball.” Daniel Shoptaw, head BBA guy and owner of C70 At The Bat, a Cardinals blog, is interviewing the hundred-plus members of the BBA and today he published my interview. So if you’re interest in learning a bit about my glitzy life or my puddle-deep thoughts on the Yanks, by all means, click on thru!

Question 1: How and why did you get into blogging?

I sort of fell into it, almost by accident. I used to write a lot of summaries for my fantasy baseball league and then did some free-lance fantasy writing in the early ’00’s. I let that die after a while. I had been itching to start writing again as most of my days are filled with numbers, the using the other side of my brain thing helps me. I started my blog around Christmas 2007, with an ode to Schilling. It was pretty terrible, but I didn’t much care.

When I started the blog, I had a very simple goal: To see if I could get 10 people I don’t know to read me regularly. That’s it. I did it for the discussion, the banter, the love of all aspects of the game. I was (and still are) fascinated with the way the ‘net works, driving people to read my site, where they come from, what they read, etc. [...]

Now step back or I’ll start talking in 3rd person.