So I am reading this headline aloud, in between gulps of Sunday morning coffee:

Derek Jeter and Minka Kelly Rumored to Be Planning Wedding in November

My six year old, from the other room, yells out:

“That’s why they call him Mr. November!”

Brilliant.

My truth: “You can’t complain unless you offer a solution.” Here’s mine…

As long as the BBWAA rules for election to the HOF remain as currently constucted and open for personal interpretation, there will be voting “mistakes”. This is not readily fixable but maybe that’s not the true problem. The problem is the electors themselves. As defined:

Only active and honorary members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, who have been active baseball writers for at least ten (10) years, shall be eligible to vote. They must have been active as baseball writers and members of the Association for a period beginning at least ten (10) years prior to the date of election in which they are voting.

Clearly, there are people still considered active members of the BBWAA who are no longer actively covering baseball, including some that probably never have (such as editors and the ilk). As Ken Rosenthal noted:

But one sports editor from each outlet also is eligible, and so are feature writers and current or former columnists who rarely attend games.

So what can we do to improve the voting pool? I have a few ideas:

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So are the Yanks IN or OUT of the Chapman sweepstakes? If the Yanks are still “in” on Aroldis Chapman and manage to win the bidding, a few things happen:

1. They cement themselves as the Evil Empire, coined when they outbid the Sox for Jose Contreras
2. They chew up much of their remaining budget (however arbitrary the line might be)

The Yanks and Sox, along with EVERY other MLB team can afford $15-20 million on a high profile prospect like Chapman. The difference, however, between the Sox/Yanks and everyone else is pretty simple, too: Only the Sox/Yanks can afford to have him flop. And according to reports, the Sox are still very much involved in the Chapman negotiations.

From what I have read/heard, the Yanks are either a) still involved, stealth-like or b) out of the bidding due to concerns that Chapman profiles only as a reliever. If they truly have bowed out of the bidding –whatever the reason they cite– I believe they are making a mistake. Be it “penny wise, pound foolish” orperhaps simply mis-scouting, I think this is precisely the type of acquisition the team needs to make.

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While reading Buster’s latest, this factoid blew my mind: Yogi Berra and Whitey Ford did not make the HOF on their first ballots, either.

What the heck was going on in 1971 and 1973, anyways? Let’s peek at the ballots, shall we?

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If this is an old phrase, I missed it, but I sure do like it(with apologies for the large blockquote):

Which begs the question – at least by some of my Tweeps – is Gardner nothing more than this year’s Bubba Crosby? Is this just a posture by Cashman to get Damon to lower his price?

I really, really don’t think so. Follow Cashman long enough, and you can start to get a feel for when he’s pulling a Bubba Bluff, and when he’s really serious about something.

When Cashman professed that he didn’t absolutely need a fourth veteran starting pitcher? A Bubba Bluff. The Yankees knew they had gotten lucky in winning the whole thing with just three starting pitchers. And along came Javier Vazquez.

Gardner, though? He’s hardly an established veteran, yet he has 3.2 Wins Above Replacement to his name already – not bad, given how little money he still makes.

We all saw that he plays good defense – all the more so, when you compare him to Damon – and that his speed can be a real weapon, and that he can work a count.

If his profile doesn’t fit the prototypical leftfielder…well, Curtis Granderson’s profile doesn’t fit the prototypical centerfielder. Besides, it’s still possible that the Yankees will wind up playing Gardner in center and Granderson in left.

Man, some of that stuff sounds exactly like what we’ve been saying here, doesn’t it?

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Very little true news, aside from the silly Hall Of Fame voting yesterday, to discuss these freezing cold days of early January, so let’s review some of the minor tidbits of the last day or so:

• Aroldis Chapman won’t be the next hyped Yankee prospect, at least according to Buster and his tweeter. Seems that the Yanks are viewing Chapman as an eventual reliever, not a starter, and you don’t pay upwards of $20 million for relievers.
• Our long nightmare of waiting is over: Sergio Mitre has re-signed for $850k. Sure, he had a lousy first year back from TJS (and his suspension; click here if you don’t remember why as it was a pretty interesting situation.).
• That door for Damon’s return is creaking ever closer to shut. Especially when Cashman says something like this: “I don’t need a left-handed bat for the outfield.” But we’ve touched on this probably way too much.
• Speaking of Damon, Jon Heyman thinks that a $6 million offer might fit for both Damon and the Yanks. I agree, only if Damon wrests control of his long-since runaway train.
• I hope Matt Holliday can still run out a grounder at age 49, for the Cardinals’ sake, because they’ll be paying him until he’s that old. Of course, Craig at CTB has an even better story involving Bobby Bo.

Personally speaking, my work calendar/responsibilities have ramped up significantly so it will be tough for me to get more than a posting or two done per day for the next week or three. I’ll do my best.

If there’s breaking news, we’ll cover it.

Today, Cooperstown made the call to its newest member, adding Andre Dawson to its club of Hall of Famers. While many expected Roberto Alomar to make it on his first time on the ballot, he narrowly missed with 73.7% of the vote. Bert Blyleven made a huge step towards the Hall on his thirteenth time on the ballot, getting 74.2% of the vote.

Baseball is always full of controversy (some good, some bad) and the Hall of Fame votes always garner their fair share. This year has definitely given us plenty to talk about. So, with that it mind, let’s take a look at who made it, who got snubbed and who will join Andre Dawson someday soon.

New Member:
Andre Dawson:
This was Dawson’s ninth appearance on the HOF ballot, and he has crept closer to the Hall over the last few years, getting 67 percent of the vote last time around. Dawson won eight Gold Gloves, four Silver Sluggers, was an eight time All-Star, the NL Rookie of the Year in 1977 and the 1987 NL MVP. He drove in 438 home runs, 1,591 RBIs, 2,774 hits and 314 stolen bases. He owned a career .279 average and a .482 slugging percentage. He joins Barry Bonds and Willie Mays as the only members of the 400-300 club. Some writers had held back their votes due to his relatively low on base percentage (.323). Dawson gained another 10% of the vote this year and became the only member of the Class of 2010. While he said he couldn’t fully explain the “elation” he also said it was the “greatest feeling in the world.”

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We’ve been watching the Damon situation closely all off-season:

• We noted his outrageous early off-season demands
• We noted his alternate-reality
• We noted his home/away, 1H/2H splits
• We noted the changes in the roster without Damon & Matsui
• We showered Gardner with love, but recognize Damon’s track record
• We noted the DeRosa contract and it’s implications on Damon’s price

Needless to say, we would like –or would have liked– to have Damon back for one more year. But barring a major about-face, humble pie chow-down, Damon won’t be back in pinstripes for a fifth season:

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I read this last night and wanted to link to it as it’s an excellent analysis about Javy Vazquez and his “unclutchness”:

It’s tempting to use these stats to claim that Vazquez can’t handle pitching in New York. His data seem to trend very uniformly (remarkably so) from good to poor as the leverage increases. However, why didn’t he cripple under the weight of the New York media in the first half of 2004 when he had a 3.56 ERA in 118 2/3 IP and won 10 games?

To say that he can’t handle New York not only gives too much weight to a small sample size but requires a jump that conflates the pressure of in-game situations to be analogous to the demands of pitching for one franchise or another. Does the weight of overall expectations have the same effect on performance that increases in in-game leverage do?

Just go have a read. Trust me, it will make you think a bit.

So the RedSox are going to sign Adrian Beltre and find a way to punt Mike Lowell (and his $12.5 million) to some other team. The Sox are getting Beltre for a one year audition, essentially, for $10 million ($9 million in 2010, $1 million buyout). Unless Beltre somehow falls through the floor and becomes completely useless, there’s no way he plays in 2011 for $5 million (net of $4 million as he wouldn’t be using/getting the buyout). Financially speaking, this is a reasonable deal, in a vacuum.

However, when you have to add the ~$9 million cost to jettison Lowell to Texas (who, according to an insider I spoke with yesterday, remains very interested), that’s alot to tie into a third baseman who isn’t the same offensive threat he was in 2004. This is the beauty of being the RedSox or Yankees; you can eat your own mistakes, or take on others’ mistakes. Heck, that’s how the Sox got Lowell in the first place (“If you want Beckett, you have to take Lowell and his contract, too“), remember? The Sox were able to dump Julio Lugo, along with $13.5 million, to the Cardinals. Add that to the eventual Lowell “go away” money and the Sox are paying close to $20 million for a left side of the infield to play for other teams.

Theo is being lauded as a genius again, yet it’s so convenient to forget his (and Cashman’s; he’s not immune, either) more expensive mistakes.

Now, onto Beltre and what his arrival and Lowell’s departure means to the 2010 RedSox:

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One of the things I try to bring to you here at IIATMS is a chance to hear from some of the various players in the industry. We’ve been fortunate since our initial interview with agent Matt Sosnick to bring you interviews with players, prospects, authors, entrepreneurs, former managers, and current front office executives.

Today, to kick of 2010, I’m happy to share my Q&A with MLB Network (on XM/Sirius) talk show host Casey Stern. That’s him, to the left in the picture, next to Buck Martinez (center), with Houston Astros Manager Brad Mills (right). Casey was good enough to field a barrage of questions over the holiday break.

IIATMS: What’s your current hosting/show lineup?

• “INSIDE PITCH” MLB HOMEPLATE – Myself and Kevin Kennedy 1-4pm EST Mon-Fri
• “WEEKEND PLAYBOOK” MAD DOG RADIO – Solo – 10a-1p EST Sunday Mornings

IIATMS: How long have you been with XM?

• Been with XM for a little over a year

IIATMS: What’s your daily schedule?

• My schedule is usually much heavier off the air to be honest. I usually am up by about 8 in the morning talking to people, reading, getting in the know on the latest news around the league. Then at Noon we have our pre-show conference call/meeting to discuss the show, its guests, etc. At four when I get off the air, I have a call with my producers to discuss what I’d like to do the next day, how the show went, other ideas and thoughts I may have. Then I usually to be honest will detox from baseball until about 9 or 10 o’clock, when I begin to put together my rundown for the show, which has become kind of a running joke at XM because of its detail. I am one to mess around a ton on the air, but I put a ton of effort into trying to make the show fun for the listeners behind the scenes.

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