The Daily News runs down the worst Big Apple baseball moves. A lot of what they picked were moves that seemed good at the time, like Rocket's return to the Bronx or trading for Kevin Brown, but failed to deliver a championship ring, which must be all that has ever mattered to their readers and obviously the only way to judge the quality of a player. Mattingly must have sucked.
Color me unimpressed, but of their 42 "bad moves" I support most of the Yanks'. 25 of the 42 are Yankee moves, and the News basically skips the reign of Omar for the Mets. (Maybe I'll put together my own list for the coming week).
Plus they got the facts wrong on Jared Wright: he was never great, but when Cashman traded him for Chris Britton the Orioles picked up his option, not the Yanks.
Typical Daily News (more on that later).
Over at LoHud, Sam Borden is asking the same question I am: who exactly is going to pay $12M for Ben Sheets. Add him to Holiday, Bay, Damon and all the other players who have overplayed their hands.
I smell collusion, but I also think prices could drop enough to justify a $2Mish bench player. Jim Thome to pinch hit? Chad Tracy to back up the infield corners? A Jerry Hairston Jr. reunion?
WasWatching marks the anniversary of Billy Martin's death. It seems like more than 20 years because of how different the Yankee machine is today than it was when the Boss was calling the shots.
Fangraphs briefly looks at the change in the AL East from 2008 to 2009. By 2008 WAR, the AL East boasted 4 of the top 5 teams. In 2009, the AL East had the top 3 teams in baseball- the Yankees, the Rays, and the Red Sox, respectively.
JoePoz is depressed, and rightly so, by Yankee fans' reactions to the Vazquez trade, which brings us back full circle to the Daily News. More accurately, he's depressed by the reaction of the kind of Yankee fans who read the Daily News and vote in polls there.
Javy Vazquez is more than just "the perfect No. 4," he's better (and cheaper) than Ben Sheets, and he's better than Melky.
Don't worry Joe, real Yankee fans know that Vazquez is a borderline ace. And when he performs for the Yanks the way he performed last time until his shoulder started to hurt, he will be hailed as such. Stop reading the Daily News.