The news is unofficial, but it looks like Mike Mussina has decided to retire after an 18-year career. Mussina, who won 20 games for the first time this past season, will finish with a 270-153 record and a lifetime 3.68 ERA. He ranks 19th all-time with 2,813 career strikeouts.
The 2008 season was disappointing for the Bombers, but it would have been a nightmare without Mussina taking the hill every fifth day. There were highs (his near perfect game against the Boston Red Sox in 2001, his clutch relief performance in Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS) and lows (his flatline personality, getting bumped from the rotation for a time during his miserable 11-10, 5.15 ERA season in 2007) for Mussina during his eight years in New York, but overall it was a great signing for the Yanks following the 2000 season.
The news probably won't affect the Yankees pursuit of free-agent pitchers this offseason. The Bombers have already made an offer for CC Sabathia and it looks like A.J. Burnett and Derek Lowe are also on their radar. Is that good news or bad news? I guess time will tell. Mussina's retirement could also open the door for Andy Pettitte to return to the Bronx next season.
It would have been great if Mussina decided to come back for 2009, but the retirement rumor was floating around before the end of the 2008 season. It would have probably taken Moose three years to try and win 300 games for his career and I guess Mussina, who turns 40 in December, just didn't have it in him to go for it.
Maybe the reports aren't true, or maybe Mussina will have a change of heart, but if he doesn't, I'll give him one final call.
That was my response when the Yankees traded Wilson Betemit and minor league pitchers Jeff Marquez and Jhonny Nunez to the Chicago White Sox for Nick Swisher and right-handed pitcher Kanekoa Texeira.
The Bombers plan to play Swisher, who can also play all outfield positions, at first base.
"If the season started today, that's where he'd be," Cashman said.
And although Swisher can play first and the outfield, he doesn't exaclty play those positions well. Put it this way -- he won't have to clear space on his mantle for a Gold Glove Award anytime soon.
My brother "broke" the news through an e-mail while I was at work yesterday. Vinny from Kearny also chimed in and none of us liked or really understood the trade. Vinny said he sounds like another designated hitter. My brother said he sounds like a slimmer version of Jason Giambi.
Swisher's biggest attribute is that he walks a lot. Hey, that's great. But not when you bat .219 and hit only 24 homers as he did last season. He also strikes out a lot (135 times in 2008). It's not like he has Adam Dunn-like power. Hell, even Dunn hit .236 last year, and he blasted 40 home runs.
This probably takes Mark Teixeira off the Yankees wish list. I wasn't thrilled with the idea of giving Teixeira an Alex Rodriguez-like contract, but I would have accepted it. This seemed like a stop-gap move, until I read that Swisher's contract runs through 2011.
If you're looking for a silver lining, well, maybe this is it. Swisher is coming off an awful season, but posted better numbers during the two previous years in Oakland. Maybe 2008 was just an off year. Maybe.
I'm a little behind this trade so you could read a more comprehensive take on things from Brian and Rickhouse.
Speaking of late, I didn't comment on the Yankees re-signing Damaso Marte to a three-year, $12 million deal earlier in the week. Shame on me. I was surprised when the Yanks didn't pick up Marte's $6 million option for 2009. I thought he did a decent job for the Yanks last season. When he was used correctly, that is.
Then they locked him up for three years.
I guess it's surprising move. It saves them money in the short-term and paying $4 million a year for a solid lefty reliever isn't a terrible decision.
I've been overlooked once again. Mick Kelleher was named the first base coach for the 2009 season. The Yankees will move last year's bench coach Rob Thompson to third base and Tony Pena will take up the role as Joe Girardi's right-hand man.
Dave Eiland (pitching coach), Kevin Long (hitting coach) and Mike
Harkey (bullpen coach) will return in their respective roles next season.
The hiring of Kelleher was made after the Yanks jettisoned Bobby Meacham last month. Thompson didn't really distinguish himself as bench coach last year, but he'll make more of an impact at the hot corner. It'll be interesting to see if he's as much of a "gambler" as Meacham was last season.
I like the promotion of Pena to bench coach. It was a bit of a waste to have him coaching first base, especially since he managed in the big leauges and earned Manager of the Year honors with the Kansas City Royals in 2003. Pena's experience should help Girardi during his sophomore season in the Bronx.
Still, it would have been nice if the Yanks considered me for the job.
Joba Chamberlain was arrested early Saturday morning in Nebraska for allegedly driving under the influence, speeding and having an open container of alcohol in
his vehicle.
I'm a pretty laid back kind of guy. Not many things bother me. But I have zero tolerance for drunk driving. It's beyond stupid. I just don't understand it.
This isn't going to affect Chamberlain's status on the Yanks (at least I don't think so), but he should know better. Yeah, it's easy to forget that he's still a "kid" (he just turned 23), but this type of thing is intolerable. He's got the Big Apple in the palm of his hand and he's making these kinds of decisions.
Not the kind of Bomber news I wanted to hear early in this offseason.
Bobby Meacham will not make baffling base-running decisions at third base for the Bombers in 2009. The word "fired" is being thrown around, but I think you need a multi-year deal in order to be terminated, right? Anyway, the Yanks parted ways with Meacham on Tuesday and speculation has already begun on his successor. Willie Randolph? Luis Sojo? Larry Bowa? Me? No word yet on where the Bombers are leaning.
The Yankees also waved good-bye to special pitching instructor Rich Monteleone. I wasn't sure what Monteleone's official title was after he was dismissed as the bullpen coach following the 2004 season. Now I know. Or knew, as it were.
Brian Cashman agreed to a three-year contract Tuesday to return as general manager of the New York Yankees. The deal is reportedly worth about $8 million.
There was speculation that Cashman would move on to Seattle or Philadelphia, but I was pretty confident that he was going to stay in The Big Apple. There has been a lot of finger pointing this season and Cashman received a fair share of it since the Yanks failed to make the playoffs for the first time in 13 years. A lot of fans and media were calling for his head, but I never really felt that Cashman was the only guy to blame.
Cashman's tenure as GM in the Bronx began in 1998 and there have been good times and bad times under his watch. The Bombers won championships in 1998, 1999 and 2000 and went to the World Series in 2001 and 2003. Cashman engineered the trade that brought Roger Clemens to New York in 1999, signed Mike Mussina as a free agent following the 2000 season and pulled the trigger on the Alex Rodriguez trade in 2004.
That was the good.
But Cashman was also responsible for bringing in Carl Pavano and Jared Wright in 2005, signing Kei Igawa in 2007 and failing to get Johan Santana this past offseason.
That was the bad.
I wasn't too keen on the Pavano, Wright or Igawa moves, but I sided with Cashman and the Yanks when they passed on Santana, albeit reluctantly. Here's what I wrote about it back in December. Obviously, that non-move turned out to be a disaster (for now) and I think that, combined with the Yankees poor 2008 season, contributed to the hate that grew for Cashman this season.
Still, give Cashman credit for not wanting to leave when things got tough.
"I've got a job to finish here," Cashman said in
a statement issued by the team. "That's the bottom line.
"I consider coming off a season where we didn't reach the playoffs for the
first time since 1993 as a personal challenge. I've never been one to run from a
challenge, and I look forward to having the chance to go after this thing
again."
I don't think the Mariners or Phillies or any other team was going to give Cashman the deal the Yanks gave him, so that may have had something to do with him staying, but I like his grit. He realized missing the postseason was embarrassing considering the Yankees payroll and yet that didn't scare him away.
This offseason will be big for the Yanks (when is it not?) and it will be interesting to see if Cashman continues to believe in the younger players or opts instead to go head-first and sign big-name free agents. Maybe a combination of both will do the trick.
Mike Mussina went six strong, Xavier Nady homered and drove in three and Mariano Rivera notched his 39th save of the season as the Yanks downed the Red Sox 6-2 in Game 1 at Fenway Park.
I watched maybe six pitches of this game and it was after Mussina was out. Still, a big round of applause to The Moose for finally winning 20 games. At 39-years-old, Mussina became the oldest pitcher to record 20 victories for the first time. I don't know if Mussina is ready to call it a career, but if I were the Yanks, I'd bring him back for 2009. That said, Mussina will probably look for a three-year deal since he needs 30 wins for 300. It'll be interesting.
The Bombers had a chance at the sweep and a 90-win season, but couldn't get it done in the nightcap.
Sidney Ponson went six respectable innings, but Darrell Rasner allowed two runs in the eighth and Jose Veras gave up the game-winning hit with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning as the Red Sox edged the Yanks 4-3.
The final tallies are in and they're not good. The Yanks finished in third place at 89-73, eight games behind the AL East champion Tampa Bay Rays and six games back of the wild-card winner Boston Red Sox.
Next season will bring lots of change -- new ballpark, new players and a new attitude (Hank said so). Brian Cashman said he'll make his decision about coming back soon and I think he'll return. Once that happens, it's time to turn the page and look forward to next spring.
This will be the first October in a while where I won't be coordinating with friends and family about where to watch Yankee playoff games. It's going to be strange when the playoffs start and the Yanks aren't there. Still, it makes me realize how lucky I was to watch all those games in the past 13 years. Fans have been getting spoiled and maybe this year will make everyone hungry again.
The Yanks and Red Sox were rained out Saturday. OK, fine. Man can't control the weather (yet). But for some reason, Major League Baseball is making the teams make up the game. Why, oh why? It's not like either of these games have playoff implications. The Yankees are ready to waive good-bye to the disappointing season and the BoSox are set for the postseason. Again, I ask you -- why?
Anyway, Daisuke Matsuzaka (18-2, 2.80 ERA) will go against Mike Mussina (19-9, 3.47 ERA) in Game 1. Sidney Ponson (8-5, 5.21 ERA) will battle Tim Wakefield (10-11, 4.24 ERA) in the nightcap. Obviously, the one worth watching will be Game 1 as The Moose tries to win 20 games for the first time in his career. I'm not sure why anyone would tune in for Game 2.
Cody Ransom smacked two homers, Brett Gardner drove in four and Bobby Abreu collected his 100th RBI of the season as the Yanks thrashed the Red Sox 19-8 on a miserable, soggy night in Boston. Johnny Damon ripped his 17th dinger of the season and Robinson Cano finished with 5 ribbies. Alfredo Aceves started, but couldn't go the required five innings so the recipient of the offensive outburst was David Robertson. Robertson pitched two scoreless innings to improve to 4-0 on the year.
The Bombers win gave the Tampa Bay Rays their first-ever AL East Championship. Congrats guys, you deserved it.
Rain tried, tried and tried to end this game prematurely (two delays halted play for over two hours), but they got all nine innings in (eventually).
Derek Jeter was in the starting lineup for the first time since Sunday's Yankee Stadium finale, but left in the third inning with a sore hand. The Captain will most likely miss the final two games of the year.
And it turns out that Mariano Rivera was pitching with a bum right shoulder all season. The Sandman may opt for a minor arthroscopic procedure to relieve inflammation and calcification.
"If I don't get surgery, then I have to deal with what I've been doing for
the last two years," Rivera said. "It's a decision that I have to make. I'm the
one who is pitching. If the best thing for me is to get the surgery, then I
will."
Rivera could continue to take cortisone injections to alleviate the soreness, but the surgery seems very low-risk. The rehab time for the procedure is a few weeks so everything should be hunky-dory by the time spring training rolls around.
Sidney Ponson (8-5, 5.21 ERA) will go against Daisuke Matsuzaka (18-2, 2.80 ERA) Saturday afternoon, weather permitting. Dice-K was scheduled to pitch Friday night, but the rain delay canceled those plans. David Pauley took his place as the emergency starter and was lit up.
If the Yanks win their final two games it will give them 90 wins on the season.
Carl Pavano couldn't get out of the fourth, Vernon Wells homered and drove in four and Roy Halladay went the distance to earn his 20th win of the year as the Blue Jays crushed the Yanks 8-2 in Toronto. Robinson Cano's RBI-single in the third gave the Bombers a 1-0 lead, but the good times didn't last. The Jays scored two in the third, three in fourth and two more in the fifth to put the game away. The Yankees scratched out another run against Halladay (which is pretty good for them), but it wasn't nearly enough.
The loss ends the Bombers' winning streak at seven.
Brett Gardner was the offensive star of the game (for the Yanks), going 3 for 4 with a run scored. I didn't see the hits with my own eyes (who else's eyes would they be anyway?), but three hits against Halladay is pretty impressive. The Bombers used their "G" lineup again as Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Johnny Damon sat (Damon came in to pinch hit in the ninth, but grounded out to end the game). Francisco Cervelli, Wilson Betemit, Cody Ransom and old pal Melky Cabrera were some of the starters Thursday night.
The Yanks head to Boston for the final three-game set of the year. Alfredo Aceves (1-0, 1.38 ERA) will go against Daisuke Matsuzaka (18-2, 2.80 ERA) in Friday's opener.
A sweep would be meaningless, but it would still be nice to see.
The 2008 season was disappointing for the Bombers, but it would have been a nightmare without Mussina taking the hill every fifth day. There were highs (his near perfect game against the Boston Red Sox in 2001, his clutch relief performance in Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS) and lows (his flatline personality, getting bumped from the rotation for a time during his miserable 11-10, 5.15 ERA season in 2007) for Mussina during his eight years in New York, but overall it was a great signing for the Yanks following the 2000 season.
My brother "broke" the news through an e-mail while I was at work yesterday. Vinny from Kearny also chimed in and none of us liked or really understood the trade. Vinny said he sounds like another designated hitter. My brother said he sounds like a slimmer version of Jason Giambi.
Then they locked him up for three years.
The hiring of Kelleher was made after the Yanks jettisoned Bobby Meacham last month. Thompson didn't really distinguish himself as bench coach last year, but he'll make more of an impact at the hot corner. It'll be interesting to see if he's as much of a "gambler" as Meacham was last season.
This isn't going to affect Chamberlain's status on the Yanks (at least I don't think so), but he should know better. Yeah, it's easy to forget that he's still a "kid" (he just turned 23), but this type of thing is intolerable. He's got the Big Apple in the palm of his hand and he's making these kinds of decisions.
The Yankees also waved good-bye to special pitching instructor Rich Monteleone. I wasn't sure what Monteleone's official title was after he was dismissed as the bullpen coach following the 2004 season. Now I know. Or knew, as it were.
Cashman's tenure as GM in the Bronx began in 1998 and there have been good times and bad times under his watch. The Bombers won championships in 1998, 1999 and 2000 and went to the World Series in 2001 and 2003. Cashman engineered the trade that brought Roger Clemens to New York in 1999, signed Mike Mussina as a free agent following the 2000 season and pulled the trigger on the Alex Rodriguez trade in 2004.
I watched maybe six pitches of this game and it was after Mussina was out. Still, a big round of applause to The Moose for finally winning 20 games. At 39-years-old, Mussina became the oldest pitcher to record 20 victories for the first time. I don't know if Mussina is ready to call it a career, but if I were the Yanks, I'd bring him back for 2009. That said, Mussina will probably look for a three-year deal since he needs 30 wins for 300. It'll be interesting.
Anyway, Daisuke Matsuzaka (18-2, 2.80 ERA) will go against Mike Mussina (19-9, 3.47 ERA) in Game 1. Sidney Ponson (8-5, 5.21 ERA) will battle Tim Wakefield (10-11, 4.24 ERA) in the nightcap. Obviously, the one worth watching will be Game 1 as The Moose tries to win 20 games for the first time in his career. I'm not sure why anyone would tune in for Game 2.
The Bombers win gave the Tampa Bay Rays their first-ever AL East Championship. Congrats guys, you deserved it.
The loss ends the Bombers' winning streak at seven.