Abreu Signs with Angels for 1 year, 5 Million

Wow, talk about a huge pay cut. 

Juice Box Nation

#1 Thank You Alex for telling the truth...

#2 I lost a hero over the weekend, I'd be lying if I said I still viewed him in the same light. That's hard for me to write...

2007 was no question the greatest accomplishment I have ever seen by an athlete with my own eyes. I was fortunate to attend a ton of games that year and 75% of the time this man did something incredible, all the way up until the final game I attended that season... September 22, the Stadium was shaking as he continued to bring us back, inning after inning. I've always felt that A-Rod was misunderstood, a man who truly cared about the game and wanted nothing more than to be the best. People thought this meant stats only, no doubt he's very good at that, but looking into his eyes after every disappointing post-season you could see he truly wanted a World Championship. The only problem was he wanted and had to be the man to hit the walk off grand slam to win it. He's always put way too much pressure on himself and apparently it drove him to PEDs. Here's a man who already had 252 million dollars no matter how he performed, something I'll probably never see, even in 10 lifetimes. Still he felt as though he owed it to people to be above everyone, The Babe, Mick, and so on. Remarkably I see this as a good thing, fans believe A-Rod only cares about the money, but here he is admitting he felt as though he needed something extra to complete the contract he'd signed. Steroids and all other PEDs are inexcusable, but if you can take ONE good thing from this admission it should be that Alex does care about living up to his contract, probably too much.

At the end of the day I will still be one of the fans who loves him. He is truly an amazing athlete even without the steroids (after watching the interview twice I do believe him when he says he's been clean since 03). However I will no longer be able to tell my children that Alex Rodriguez was my hero. Heros do not cheat, even if they are naive. One final note and lots of people will probably shun me for this... after this weekend if Derek Jeter were named one day in steroid talk I wouldn't even blink. No name can surprise me anymore.

Side Note: I've long believed that Posada took something and was shocked when Andy was mentioned in the Mitchell Report and not him. His comments today do not look promising when responding to a question about himself being worried if he were named... 

Posada said: "I think I've done things right. I don't think I've put anything in my body that could be positive on one of those tests."

YOU THINK, either you did or you didn't

My Point: A-Rod may be the biggest name, but there are lots more. Baseball was severely tainted from about 98-04

A-Rod

I have nothing to say about this story, as a huge fan I'm still in shock. This is no longer out fathers generation, we have no heros left.

More to come when he finally decides to speak. Quicker the better and please don't lie, it will just get worse like Roger & Barry...  

Boston Writers Need a History Lesson

From Claude R. Marx of the Boston Globe:

The article is titled, Sox Fans will love Torre's tell-all

In the piece Claude states: "Owner George Steinbrenner may have bought championships for the Bronx Bombers during a period when the Red Sox were relegated to lovable runners-up ... Rodriguez was a symptom of a larger problem that the Yankees have faced since 2002. The owners replaced a team made up of scrappy, hard-working players who had a real esprit de corps with one populated by mercenaries, many of whom failed to live up to their potential ... the Yankees all too often went star shopping".

         OK these comments and the other typical statement, "Yankees built from within during the championship years" are completely fabricated and misunderstood. You're trying to tell me the New York Yankees didn't have stars on those teams and they won everything built on pure grit? Wake up people, that is not the case, and let me also remind people that the years of 96-01 are over and have been over for a while! They are not coming back and we need to move on. 25 years from now will we still be saying, "oh I wish these players were like Scotty and Tino". Both of who were brought over from other teams not the Yankee organization. Can I also remind people that Tino was second in the league in HRs & RBIs during the 1997 campaign (44/141). That is not the so-called "gritty" player, those are all-star numbers, which Tino was in the 95 season before coming over to the Yankees!

         Here's a list of players not from the Yankee organization that were part of those championship years. Many are arguably All-Stars, well above your average MLB player...

Paul O'Neil

Tino Martinez

Jeff Nelson

Scott Brosius - Look at his stats after the 98 Season. Replace him with A-Rod today and we miss the playoffs a lot more than 1 year!

ROGER CLEMENS

David Wells - I love David and all his problems, but didn't he walk off the mound in the 03 WS??

David Justice

Chile Davis

Cecil Fielder

Chuck Knoblauch

Darryl Strawberry

David Cone - Amazing

Mike Stanton

Orlando Hernandez - Free Agent who came over on a raft

Dwight Gooden

Jose Canseco

Jason Grimsley

          Please understand I am not putting these teams down, just trying to point out that the Yankees bought and traded for players back than the same as they do today. MANY of these key players were indeed All-Star/MVP caliber players during their Yankee years or another point in their career. For whatever reason we were blessed with a modern day dynasty, something I will always get chills about. However that time is over, the AL east and American League as a whole has gotten better and caught up. Trust me A-Rod and this team of All-Stars will WIN! Please stop booing them on a regular basis and comparing them to those players of the past. You think that helps?

Side Note: The NY Yankees money is not your money, don’t complain how they spend it during these times. And for the family of 4 who complains they can no longer attend a game… it is not your god given right to attend anything, a baseball game is considered a LUXURY. Just because MLB has 81 home games, it doesn’t mean you need to attend 15 of them with your kids and sit right on top of the dugout. Parking $15, 4 bleacher seats at $14, get your kids 2 hot dogs and 2 sodas, $22. Total is roughly $100, I’m sure you and your wife can wait to eat after the game and you want to mention the beer? You’re bringing 7 year olds to the ballpark, LAY OFF THE BOOZE. Try taking your family to a football or basketball game and sitting close. Let me know how that one goes…

A true rip off = The Movies, go complain about that.

Ultimately the main reason why people complain about baseball prices? The history, it’s like apple pie and people will always cherish Americas Past Time. That is why I love baseball.

Giambi Supports A-Rod

From Lisa Guerrero of the LA Times:

"Alex is the best player in the game," Giambi said. "People gravitate towards negativity with him because that's the only way you hold somebody down who's that good."

On Torre referring to him as a defensive Liability:

"I'm OK with it. I knew what my job was. I came to New York to drive in runs."

"Look he's a great manager, he really is. I haven't talked to Joe about the book yet... someday." 

Jones Says NO

Andruw Jones has turned down the Yankees offer of a non-roster invite to Spring Training according to Jon Heyman.

"Texas seems like the best bet right now"  

For All Who Thought Ben Sheets Was a Great Idea...

From: Adam McCalvy & T.R. Sullivan

All I have to say is THANK GOD 

Michael Kay is ALWAYS Correct

As many people know Michael Kay hosts a local show every weekday, 2-7 on 1050 ESPN Radio. Listeners of the show are well aware of the relationships he had with Mike Mussina and Joe Torre: distant. Michael has been saying for years that Torre and himself rarely communicated, often telling his listeners that "Saint Joe" is hardly the man the media makes him out to be. I for one completely agree with Kay. Don't get me wrong; I love Joe and everything he brought the Yankees, especially the joy that was brought to me during the 96-01 seasons. However its time to wake up and realize Joe stepped way out of bounds on this one. Here's a man who preached clubhouse sanctity for 12 years and suddenly it's fine to throw that all away? It's not as if he wrote this book 5-10 years after retiring, the team he left still employs several of his past players. Saint Joe? I think not.

    Mike Mussina and Michael Kay, after the first interview Kay told Mussina, "Don't worry I'll never bother you again". The reason, Mussina would act like the interview was a huge ordeal and the questions were never good enough. Kay points out that Mussina truly believed he was more intelligent than everyone else in the room, a graduate of Stanford and he would make you well aware of that. YouTube videos of Mussina being interviewed and one will quickly notice his facial expressions and tone of voice when answering reporter's questions. Mussina truly believed he was above everyone and his quotes in "The Yankee Years" are no different. Mussina can issue statements trying to clarify his thoughts in the book, but at the end of the day why even say it? Here's a man who hasn't won anything and he's calling out the great Mariano Rivera, the man who was ultimately responsible for the run of the championships. People want to get on A-Rod and question his ring count, what about Mussina where's his ring? Since coming over from Baltimore the Yankees didn't win a single championship and Mussina's postseason record is 7-8 with a 3.42 ERA. According to Mussina though it's Rivera who let every opportunity slip away.

When the book hit stores Tuesday not a single person should have been surprised to read these comments. These were two men that most of the media and all fans adored. There true colors are flying now and Michael was right from the beginning. As I stated I love Joe and all that he brought NYC, as for Mussina, I was happy for him when he won 20 games. Today I couldn't be happier knowing that he's sitting on a tractor in Pennsylvania.  

Cashman's Dream Come True

From the Stamford ADVOCATE

Brian speaks at a volunteer organization about growing up in the Yankee system as an intern and his rise to the top. Hopefully we can turn the page today and look forward to Spring Training next week. NO MORE Torre news. 

Yankee Favorites

   The day was April 7, 2007 a day that would propel A-Rod towards his 3^rd MVP. My first game of the 2007 season, 39 degrees and a special day: Calendar Day. My friend had invited me the night before and how could I say no? It would also be Kei Igawa’s MLB debut (hopefully we never see his face again) and as we all know that did not go according to plan. The 2^nd inning was exciting some typical Mets fan decided he’d boo A-Rod (at first trying to claim he was a Yankee fan and all Yankee fans hated Alex) having no clue about the man’s true greatness. Along with his fellow friends they would continue to laugh like idiots. Moving on.

 After 5 innings the joke of a pitcher had us down 7-3, and this was supposed to be our answer to Dice-K?? The next time someone tells us in Spring Training that the ball feels different and the grip is not the same, we might want to eat the money and move on. Thankfully the day was not over and the Yanks would mount an unforgettable comeback.

 The 8^th inning would bring us the Giambino who connected for a long 3 run drive and cut the lead down to 1. So here comes the 9^th inning and the crowd that remained on this chilly April day was about to be treated to something very special. In the back of everyone’s mind they knew Alex was due to bat 4^th in the inning and one way or another the whole afternoon would rest on his shoulders. Cano singled, Jeter walked, and of course Bobby would be drilled in the knee. A-Rod walks to the plate accompanied by a thunderous ovation. The crowd wants this and demands it. Obviously A-Rod runs the count to 1-2, there’s no way he’d make this easy. Soooo here comes the pitch…smashed to deep center, outfielders stop running, and the ball lands in the black. The crowd goes insane and my friend throws my other friend down the upper decks… A-RODDDDDD!

 Oh yeah, the guy from the 2^nd inning had already left.