The Yanks are still waiting on A. J. Burnett, as well as Pettitte. They are still trying to work out the Cameron deal.
In an article in the NY Post by King, George A. III and Joel Sherman, one Yankee said that A. J. Burnett informed him that they were going to be teammates. Indications are the Yanks will bag the other “initialed” pitcher. First CC now A. J. (I never heard of Derek Lowe going by D.L. or Ben Sheets by B.S., did you? Then again, who wants the D.L. or B.S.?)
Should Andy’s pride go before his fall, expect the Yanks to go after Sheets on the 2-year, $30M deal. After long-term deals to CC and A.J., they won’t want to go into another long-term deal (4 years) for Lowe.
Not only that, power arms. The “Truth” loves that. More strikeouts, and therefore less reliance on fielders to make plays. I wonder if the guys who did that Jeter analysis at Penn love that?
Say what you want about Swisher and Cameron, but they will improve the Yanks defensively. As for their bats…. Hopefully they can give better than .245 while hitting 20 HR.
The Red Sox are changing their logo. Marketing. They will be going with that hanging Sox logo. Maybe it can start a new “Curse.” Hanging Sox sometimes stink, you know.
Bernie Williams plans to go to Puerto Rico to get some winter ball in. He and Ivan Rodriguez hope to do so in order to play for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic this upcoming spring. I hope Bernie doesn’t embarrass himself. At 40, his last baseball action came two years ago in 2006.
The Phils have signed Raul Ibanez to a three-year deal. He’ll play LF for the Phils and FA Pat Burrell will have to look elsewhere. Ibanez, 36, was .293-23-110, OPS+ 124 for the Mariners in 2008 and the .286 career hitter has a career OPS+ of 113. You do wonder if the signing of the lefty makes the Phils too lefty-oriented. Ibanez, Utley, Howard…the power is mostly lefty (Rollins and Victorino are switch-hitters). Jayson Werth is a righty bat.
Horacio Ramirez, 29, LHP (1-4, 4.34, ERA+ 101 for KC and the White Sox in 2008) signed with KC, as did Doug Waechter, 27, RHP (4-2, 3.69 for Florida, ERA+ 115).
Felipe Lopez will replace Orlando Hudson (FA) as Arizona’s 2B. The Diamondbacks will lose some d. Lopez played with the Nats and Cards in 2008, overall .283-6-46, OPS+ 92. He’ll be 29 next year and is a .262 career hitter, OPS+ 89.
PSU backup QB Pat Devlin is transferring and won’t play in the Rose Bowl.
The Celtics 21-2 start is the best in franchise history. Better than the Cousy, Russell, Havlicek, Bird…you name it.
Busy for the next 31 or so hours. Will blog when (if?) I can.
3 responses so far ↓
1 Jason // Dec 12, 2008 at 8:32 pm
First and foremost Mike, our Celtics are ROOOOOOOLLING! KG has that team all fired up, working over the bench last week when a blowout after three got a bit closer during the fourth quarter. That’s leadership–relentlessly intense.
On Ibanez, it may be so that the Phillies will be lefty-heavy, but I’ve always loved Ibanez’s game. He’s got a good stick, always drives in runs, is an above-average outfielder, and has hurt the Yankees in the past. Very good, solid player.
Agreed with Josh the Yankee Truth about the power pitchers, too.
2 Jason // Dec 12, 2008 at 9:07 pm
For a different take on KG, see this ESPN piece:
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-37-45/Kevin-Garnett-s-Big-Mouth.html. KG does have a big mouth, and he does get carried away sometimes. He also sets a fierce tone and never lacks fire in the belly–a trade-off, to be sure.
3 Mike Sommer // Dec 12, 2008 at 10:41 pm
Jason: In my next post, I’ll point out what Rob Neyer says about Ibanez’ D. He hates it. I’ll link to it.
Celts are looking great!
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