• Some things the Mets need to remember as they pass on Manny:

    No one is arguing with the multitude of reasons the Mets are
passing on Manny Ramirez. They don’t want to pay him; they don’t want
to risk Manny showing up on a Monday and deciding on Tuesday that he’s
not happy for whatever reason and starts causing trouble immediately;
they don’t like the way he shoehorned his way out of Boston; and after
the way they’ve been torched with players upon whom they rolled the
dice like Mo Vaughn, they don’t want to sell their souls as NFL teams
have with a guy like Terrell Owens. No matter how many times Manny says
that he’s going to behave himself, be a team player and act
accordingly, there’s a very good chance that that’s going to be
conveniently forgotten once some petty thing upsets him, then the Mets
are going to have to deal with the “Manny package” and pay handsomely
for it.
    On the other hand, they also have to realize that they have a
massive hole in their lineup that Manny would fill perfectly; he’s out
there and waiting for someone to ante up the cash for him to sign; he’d
probably behave himself for at least the first season of the contract;
he’d hit and hit and hit and hit; the combination of GM Omar Minaya and
Jerry Manuel, along with the presence of Carlos Delgado would keep
Manny in line as much as anyone can keep Manny in line; right now, even
if they re-sign Oliver Perez, they’re the third best team in the NL
East; and most importantly, they’d win the World Series if they brought
him in.
    The risk is massive, but then so is the reward; and if the Mets are
more willing to stand on their principles and are afraid of having to
deal with Dark Manny instead of Hall of Fame Manny, then they should
pass on him; but if they are determined to win this year to erase the
collapses of 2007 and 2008; put behind them the ridicule they endure
throughout baseball for one gaffe after another (some not their fault
like the Citi Field name and that Citicorp is in disarray; some their
fault like that patch on their uniforms to commemorate the first year
in the new stadium); and win BIG, they should put their fears aside and make a drastic and bold move for Manny Ramirez because the risk may be worth the reward.

• Hello? Hello? Anybody home? Huh? Think, McFly:

    Sometimes I feel the urge to find Buster Olney, grab him in a headlock a la Biff Tannen from Back to the Future,
start tapping feverishly on his head to try to knock some sense into
him. Here’s one of the paragraphs from his blog today as he wonders why
certain players have gotten long-term contracts and other, seemingly
superior players, haven’t:

Derek Lowe is 35 years old and in good condition and has been
durable, which explains why he got $60 million. Ben Sheets, on the
other hand, is five years younger than Lowe, has been an elite pitcher
when healthy, and is coming off a season in which he started the NL
All-Star Game — and he apparently can’t get much of a sniff of
multi-year offers.

The reason, you say, is that Sheets is injury prone and Lowe is not. OK, if durability is valued, then explain how it is that Milton Bradley
got a multi-year deal worth about $10 million per season, having lasted
100 games in the outfield in just one season in his career — and Bobby Abreu, who has appeared in 151 or more games in 11 consecutive seasons is apparently going to have to settle for a one-year deal.

    Is it really that hard to figure out why this is
happening? Lowe got his money because: A) the Braves were completely
and hopelessly desperate after whiffing in each and every one of their
attempts to upgrade their pitching staff from signing A.J. Burnett to
trading for Jake Peavy; B) Lowe was the best choice available to—-at
the very least—-get out there and pitch; Sheets wants a multi-year deal
while no one knows how many starts and innings they’re going to get out
of him; Sheets would be a good risk for a team like the Yankees who
have the depth and money to withstand a gamble on Sheets even if he
does get hurt and the Braves don’t.
    With Abreu, he, like Adam Dunn, is waiting. Waiting to see where Manny ends up and picking from the remains of the teams that need a bat; waiting to see if the dominoes start to fall after Manny’s signed and someone—-the Dodgers, the Giants, the Braves, the Mets, the Nationals, the Mariners—-are willing to give Abreu something close to what he expected to get before the financial collapse began. Sure, he could do what Milton Bradley and Raul Ibanez did and accept $10 million a year, but why should he? Why shouldn’t he wait and see if he can squeeze the $12-15 million he thought he’d get from another team after Manny signs? In the worst case scenario, Abreu and Dunn are going to get at least $10 million from someone even if it’s on a one-year deal, so at this point they may as well wait for Manny, then make their move. Think McFly; good grief.

• The concern of trust in the Dodgers clubhouse in the aftermath of Joe Torre’s book:

    I can’t judge how bad things are going to be perceived with Torre and his players until I read the book, but I can’t believe that the young players in the Dodgers clubhouse are even going to be interested enough to read the book in its entire context, let alone sit and worry about whether Torre’s airing dirty laundry about their “in-clubhouse” activities. It’s not like he outed guys who were cheating on their wives or doing other things in their own lives that are neither anyone’s business, nor affected their on-field play. Young players tend to resist the overt authority figures anyway and aren’t going to worry about what their manager might write in a book ten years from now. I don’t think it needs to be written down for most players to know that they don’t want to act like the guys who were supposedly ripped like David Wells, Carl Pavano and Kevin Brown; and if they don’t know that, then any dirty laundry that might be aired is the least of their problems.

• More on those Captain Morgan ads:

    The newest one with these four idiots putting posters of themselves all over town referring to themselves as the “Four Guys” and getting into nightclubs free as they bypass the line; not paying for drinks and having hot chicks come up and talk to them makes me wonder how they find the actors for the commercials. In each and every one of them, the guys are pretty much the most putrid group of losers anyone would (or wouldn’t) want to meet. Is this done intentionally? Did the ad agency say, “let’s have a casting call for the commercial and pick the biggest losers we can find” because plying women with copious amounts of Captain Morgan until they couldn’t think or see straight may be the only way those guys could get the time of day out of them, let alone any kind of genuine, worthwhile attention.

• Super Bowl XHAHDJDAJDLKSAJGJGDKSAGA-90210-FAHSDJNMISHJE,JHLSJDALJDNDSO%%$#@!:

     I’m tempted to pick the Cardinals, but I don’t think they’ll win. The ride ends here in a close game until the fourth quarter when the Steelers will win comfortably.
PITTSBURGH STEELERS 36
ARIZONA CARDINALS 24

• The automakers and the Lions aren’t the only Detroit institutions with issues to deal with:
  

    The Tigers signing of Brandon Lyon with the intent of giving him a chance to be their closer is a perfect example of their problems heading into the 2009 season. After last winter’s Yankee-like display of trophy collection as they acquired one big name after another only to see the season turn into one long nightmare, the Tigers have taken a different approach this winter, and while they’ll certainly be different, are they going to be any better?
    Their defense will be much improved with Adam Everett at shortstop; Gerald Laird behind the plate; and Brandon Inge playing third base every day; but Everett has never been anything more than a defense-first player who is also an offensive liability; Laird was hitting in the batter’s paradise known as Rangers Ballpark in Arlington and his numbers are just about identical (and poor) home and away. The Tigers offense, which scored 821 runs last season (good for fourth in the AL) is going to get much worse; and this is going to put even more pressure on a rebuilt and rebounding pitching staff.
    Justin Verlander was atrocious last season. His velocity was down and his stuff lacked bite; he and the Tigers insist that he’s healthy and if that’s the case, then his problems may have been nothing more than mechanical and it’s going to be up to new pitching coach Rick Knapp to straighten Verlander out. Then there’s Jeremy Bonderman, returning from rib surgery and having had some arm issues in the past; will he be able to return to form? No one’s going to know what to expect out of Dontrelle Willis until he gets out on the mound; if his mechanics can’t be straightened out or he physically can’t throw strikes, he could be the next in the long line of pitchers who’ve been shifted to the outfield; Nate Robertson has to be better than last because he can’t possibly be any worse; and Armando Galarraga was a heretofore underwhelming, journeyman prospect who came into his own at age 26 and won 13 games, saving the Tigers from a 66 win season; is he going to repeat that level of work?
    Fernando Rodney is either unhittable or all over the place with his control; the Tigers obviously know this or they wouldn’t have signed Lyon with the idea that he’ll compete for the closer’s job; Lyon gives up a lot of hits and a lot of home runs. This is also a bad sign for the future of Joel Zumaya since he’s no longer even being discussed as anything more than a “maybe”; it seems so long ago that all-time greats like Alex Rodriguez looked clueless and helpless at the hand of Zumaya’s 103-mph fastball.
    This could all be rectified if the new pitching coach is able to prevail upon the staff that the defense is there to help them. Knapp was the longtime minor league pitching coordinator for the Twins and their objective with their young pitchers is to get them to throw strikes first and foremost; the Tigers improved defense could make that a winning strategy and all their moves to shore up that aspect could, in hindsight, be seen as astute; but if it doesn’t work immediately, there could be huge bloodletting in Detroit sooner rather than later.
    Manager Jim Leyland’s contract is up after this season (as I mentioned last week) and if the team gets off to a bad start, that issue and others with GM Dave Dombrowski could come to a head fast. This situation is similar to others with veteran managers (specifically Charlie Manuel with the Indians and Don Zimmer with the Cubs) who’d had some success and felt they were worthy of contract extensions; both wanted their situations settled and they were—-they got fired in the middle of the season. 
    This isn’t going to be a case of a slow downward spiral, if the Tigers fall, they’re going to plummet; their destiny for 2009 will be known quickly; if they get off to a bad start, Leyland could be gone by the end of April and they could be heading for close to 100 losses. If they get out of the blocks well; if Verlander regains his form; if Bonderman’s healthy; if either Lyon or Rodney can handle the closing duties and Miguel Cabrera carries the team, they should contend.
    If, if, if…
    Just like last season the greatness of the team on paper had little to do with how they wind up performing; this club doesn’t look like they’re going to win many more games than last season’s team of All Stars did; maybe that strategy will work, but it’s more likely that it won’t.

• Strange machinations and a managerial merry-go-round:

    If Leyland gets axed, the Tigers are going to be in such a sorry state by that point that it won’t make any sense to bring in a veteran manager to take over and try to rescue the sinking ship; what they’d probably end up doing is installing one of the current coaches like Lloyd McClendon or Gene Lamont in the manager’s office; or clearing out the entire staff and putting Triple A Toledo manager Larry Parrish in as manager for the rest of the season.
    Strangely, if the Yankees get off to a bad start and Joe Girardi is dismissed, Girardi would probably be a good choice for the Tigers to get a younger, more discipline-oriented manager in place. The Girardi situation is going to be fascinating to watch because if the Yankees get off to a bad start, there are a couple of ways this can go: Brian Cashman could be reticent to fire his hand-picked manager and have his hand forced by Hank and Hal Steinbrenner; Cashman could accept the inevitable and replace Girardi (presumably with a laid back veteran manager like Davey Johnson or Jim Fregosi, both solid choices for a veteran team); or the front office will hold it’s fire and see if the situation corrects itself as the season moves along until Derek Jeter goes to Cashman and the Steinbrenners and tells them that enough’s enough with Girardi.
    All things being equal, it would behoove both Leyland and Girardi to get their teams off to good starts.

• Was this staged at a carnival?

    Buster Olney linked the following article—-Seattle Times Article—-about a “boxing match” between…Jose Canseco and Danny Bonaduce. What the point of this was I don’t know, but it’s pretty embarrassing. The thing is that Bonaduce is very small, but is a multiple black belt in various forms of karate. There aren’t many people I’d say out of the box, “I would not mess around with that guy,” but Bonaduce’s one of them. Not only does he have the training to really hurt someone, but judging from one of the few reality shows that I actually found interesting (Breaking Bonaduce) he’s not all there in the head.
    It reminds me of a story Stephen King once told in an interview about seeing a picture of the 1950s spree killer Charles Starkweather, looking into his eyes and seeing nothing more than a “double zero” as if there was no reason, no compassion, no nothing behind those eyes that would keep him from killing anyone and anything that got in his way. King said he memorized the look and steered away from people he encountered that had that trait. I’ve seen it as well in people and done my best to avoid them. I wouldn’t put Bonaduce in that class, but he’s not that far out of that arena.
    As for Canseco, I mean, good grief!! Vince McMahon must be dialing him up right now and Canseco might take him up on an offer if this spectacle is any indication of how far he’s fallen.

• So now Tom Glavine doesn’t necessarily need to pitch at home in Atlanta to continue his career?

    This could be a negotiating ploy to get the Braves to give Tom Glavine a guaranteed contract for 2009, but it could also be a prime example of why things most players say should go in one ear and out the other. When he left the Mets to go back to the Braves, Glavine was open in his desire to be near his home, family and children; it was either the Braves or retirement; now the news is coming out that Glavine is considering the Nationals—-MLB.com Story—-because of his “close” relationship with Nats president Stan Kasten. What that has to do with anything is anyone’s guess; are they that close that Glavine wants to lose 90 games and be near Kasten at the expense of time with his family?
    I’m sure if he’s truly committed to pitching, a better team like the Yankees, Cardinals or Phillies would consider him as a back of the rotation starter at a reasonable rate and short-term deal. It seems like Glavine’s trying to take advantage of the way the Braves are reeling from the John Smoltz mess and is looking quite disingenuous in the process. Washington isn’t much closer to Atlanta than New York (about 100 miles difference), so is he going to be near his family pitching for the Nats? In one ear and out the other…

• Mirror images:

    I know I said when the Jets hired Eric Mangini that he wasn’t just going to be a winner, but he was going to be a big winner (in true Jets fashion, he may still do it—-coaching the Browns), but their new coach Rex Ryan reminded me of one guy—-Bill Parcells.
    It wasn’t just the way he carried himself and his prodigious girth, but the way he sounded so sure of himself; bantered with the press; made outrageous statements that Mangini probably wouldn’t say in private (the Jets are going to win multiple Super Bowls?!?); and charmed the crowd while making sure that he was clearly the guy in charge. That he’s Buddy Ryan’s son means that he’ll be able to build a defense and a hard-hitting team, but that personality is going to play well in New York as long as he wins, and I think he will.

• That’s a book I intend to read:

    If Joe Torre is going to dish the dirt in his upcoming book, The Yankee Years, written with Tom Verducci, then it’s on my list, along with Confessions of a She-Fan of course.