If you search for “#clifflee” on Twitter, you will find an ongoing slew of tweets as folks await his long overdue decision about where he’ll play in 2011. While Ranger fans are certainly interested and hopeful, some Yankee fans seem despondent at the thought of the left-hander not coming to the Bronx.
Here are five reasons the Yankee faithful should just—as my daughter would say—”chillax!”
The MLB winter meetings have a lot of fans glued to their technology of choice. Twitter, ESPN, XM Radio, the Internet in general are all being utilized to absorb every nugget of info on the dealings going on in Orlando.
So, lying in bed last night, with my headphones on pumping MLB Network Radio into my ears and my smart phone in my hand to comb tweets, I was made aware of the Red Sox stunning signing of Carl Crawford almost as soon as it happened.
The next thing I was aware of was that if there was a trophy for winter meeting dealings, the Sox would have it on a truck to Boston by sun-up.
Sleep would not come easily.
Even though the Yankees are about to sign Cliff Lee (after breaking their own promise to stay at six years or less by offering a seventh in response to the Crawford signing), the Red Sox have blown away the league with their two gigantic acquisitions of Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez.
A change in the years offered to Cliff Lee may come with an increase in the dollars, but that has not been mentioned so far.
Assuming Lee signs with the Yankees, he could conceivably be the highest paid number two rotation guy in the history of the sport—assuming that the Yanks do the smart thing and keep the incumbent CC Sabathia in the ace spot.
With a contract length of seven years, Cliff Lee will turn 39 in his last season. While it is certainly possible that he’ll still be a good starter by the time the contract nears its end, the likelihood that he will still be worth the $23 million plus that he’ll be getting is extremely small.
The Red Sox, on the other hand, assuming the seven year extension that has been mentioned to be in the works for A-Gon, would have him under contract until 2018 and Crawford until 2017, meaning that each would turn 36 in the last year of their respective deals.
The Yankees have pushed Lee’s offer to seven years in part to deal with the he two Red Sox acquisitions, who also happen to have a history of faring well against Cliff Lee. In ten at-bats, Gonzalez is hitting in impressive .700 with an OPS of 2.00. Crawford posts only a .222 career, but almost half of his at-bats Lee were in 2010 where otherwise he has a .364 average and a .909 OPS.
Some more statistical info: Cliff Lee, since 2008, posts an average 3.5 WAR (wins above replacement player). For the same time period, Crawford posts a 3.83 WAR and Gonzalez comes in with a 5.4 WAR.
Combine this with the idea that Lee (like most hurlers) is a bit less proficient in Fenway and Yankee Stadium and that Crawford and Gonzalez will, by most expert opinions, thrive in both of those southpaw friendly parks, the balance of power in the AL East has shifted toward Bean Town—at least on paper.
Reports say that there is a deal in principal with Gonzalez for a seven year extension worth about $154 million. There has been some conjecture that the Crawford signing might affect that plan, but it has also been reported that both Gonzalez and Boston have expressed great interest in making the relationship last.
Assuming that New York makes the playoffs, which is a safe bet, their having picked up Lee will be of more benefit. Lee’s performance in the post season has been markedly better than in the regular season—almost a full two runs lower in terms of ERA.
Rumors abounded that the Yankees back-up plan was to scoop up Crawford in the event they lost the Lee sweepstakes. Now that this “plan B” is gone, it is wonder that they have stepped up the offer to the left-hander.
Also left in the cold by the Red Sox late Wednesday move are the Anaheim Angels. They had been considered the front runner to get Crawford. With both he and Jason Werth signed, the Angels will now have to settle for some player that most consider a step or two down from Crawford—Adrian Beltre’s name has been mentioned.
It has been a good few days for Boston fans who had been sharpening pitchforks and lighting torches, ready to storm down Yawkey Way during Sunday evening’s hiccup in the Gonzalez negotiations. They are now ready to nominate Sox GM Theo Epstien for Man of the Year.
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If you’re going to write anything this month about Derek Jeter and his current negotiations with the New York Yankees, you need to begin by weighing in. So, for what it’s worth: No, Derek Jeter is not worth six years at $25 million a year. It is also fair to say that he is worth more than three years at $15 million per season.
For many of us with a lot of Internet time and a lack of a social life (those two things go hand in hand) the story has another rather dark and surprising side. Looking over discussion boards and comment threads on the subject, you’ll find quite a number of Yankee fans who are ready to crucify the man who’s been their franchise for the past 15 seasons.
Sure, it bears mentioning that there is no group of sports fans that are more easily goaded into fits of rage than the fans of the New York Yankees. Part of this quality can be attributed to their feelings of superiority and their anger over having to pay for the YES network. Much of it too comes from the fact that since there are at least three times the amount of Yankee-haters out there, the fans have to spend a lot of time getting grief about their favorite team, its sometimes dastardly late owner, and it’s obese payroll.
The one thing that most Yankees fans have taken very little grief over in the past decade and a half, however, is their shortstop. Derek Jeter is the textbook example of ‘hard not to like’. He’s got lots of talent, a great smile and a winning personality. He dates the world’s most beautiful women and never gets in any hot water—on the field or off. Aside from the occasional barroom argument about whether his defense had been a bit overrated, Yankee faithful have gotten free passes where Jeter is concerned.
The fact that even a lot of Yankee-haters manage to find a compliment or two for Jeter makes some of the “fans” comments being posted and calls made to talk radio about the current negotiations all the more asinine.
Many Yankee fans have seemingly begun acting just like the hard-line Democrats and Republicans: they toe the party line, right or wrong, and as part of membership must obligatorily trash anyone who thinks differently. These “Stepford Fans” accuse Jeter of being everything from a “no talent hack” to a “gold digger”. One “fan” even compared him to Bernie Madoff, the investment guy who stole billions and billions of dollars from his clientele.
2010 was an off-year for Jeter, to be sure. Perhaps it is just bad luck (or good luck, if you’re Yankee GM Brian Cashman) that this slump came in his free agency year. No, Jeter will never play again like he did when he was 25. But perhaps the Yankees, and their fans, need to consider some other factors, as well.
Barring a major injury in the early season, Jeter will get his 3000th hit this coming season. He needs 74 hits and he’s never gotten less than double that in any full season.
Do you know how many of the 3000 hit club reached that milestone in Yankee pinstripes? Zero, not one of the 27 current holders of that record were Yankees at the time. Dave Winfield was a Yankee for quite a while (and we all remember how the front office treated him) but he reached his plateau while playing for Minnesota. Wade Boggs, also a Yankee for a time, got his 3000th with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
The Yankees have six monuments, 23 plaques, and 15 retired numbers in their franchise history. Their fans walk around with those “27” t-shirts on and give us all the impression that what happened to the franchise in the 20s and 30s matters to them and would somehow be relevant to the rest of us. But how are we, the non-Yankee-fans, supposed to embrace that sentiment when so much venom and hypocrisy is being spewed about the man who has been the Yankees for so long.
Let’s not forget that Derek Jeter is the Yankee captain. Some folks think that means nothing, that it is just sort of a public relations gimmick. Others believe that it does mean something, and that there is a reason why that “C” is not on A-Rod’s uniform, nor is it on that of Posada, Rivera, or Pettitte. If there are qualities that set Jeter above all else on the team, should those qualities be summarily ignored during negotiations?
For whatever reason, Derek Jeter and his agent have overshot on their estimation of his value—and overshot by quite a bit. Of course he’s not going to get a $200 million contract in his late 30s. But while the Yankees’ offer is practical from a management perspective, they should be prepared to come up a ways, too.
If the organization lowballs Jeter totally (with the fans’ support), you’re saying that history, tradition and sentiment mean nothing in the Bronx. If you’re willing to go that route, then you must be willing to admit that all the other stuff—the statues, the pompous references to the Yankees’ long-time success are just nonsense. It’s only right now that matters. On April 1st, no one has any rings.
The Yankees did not treat Joe Torre in a respectful fashion at the end of his tenure as their manager. The fact that he has not gotten to another World Series should not matter because what is really relevant (again, if you’re into history) is all the championships he brought to New York while there.
Derek Jeter was there for every one of those World Series wins, not to mention another in 2009. Doesn’t there have to be some place in a real Yankee fan’s heart for that guy? In the end, its a question of whether being a Yankee fan means anything more than just having something to brag about.
Jeter’s not going to get what he wants, but does that mean it’s appropriate to belittle everything he’s meant to the Yankees? If you don’t believe he warrants what he’s asking, so be it. But trashing his career, and disparaging his character at this stage of the game seems petty and hypocritical.
I wonder if the faces on those monuments and plaques could talk what they’d have to say about the legacy of Derek Jeter?
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Last week, Doug Glanville of ESPN.com posted a piece about Barry Bonds new opportunity to be an ambassador for Major League Baseball.
Glanville basically discusses the idea that with the Giants having won the World Series, the stage is set for Bonds, to rise to the spot light. The man who holds the two most notable baseball records—home runs in a season and career home runs—could now use his presence to do good things.
The problem is that Barry Bonds is positioned about as well to be an ambassador for baseball as Don Imus is to be the spokesperson for NOW.
Here are five reasons why the canonization of Barry Bonds won’t happen:
1. The league doesn’t like Barry Bonds
There are two ways to define “the league”. There is the franchises that make up Major League Baseball. Then there is that face and voice of the league as a business entity; Bud Selig. Whichever you use, the truth is the same—Barry Bonds is not well liked.
The league basically ignored him the season after he left San Francisco. He was a free agent with not just a big bat, but the biggest bat ever, who got zero job offers. Even from an AL team who could have used him as a DH.
Selig has looked upon bonds the way Ford Frick looked upon Roger Maris, only Selig had much better arguments. Selig despised the idea that Bonds was the one to beat the career home run record of Hank Aaron, a man that Selig is close to.
Also, whether deserved or not, Bonds represent the steroid era more succinctly than perhaps any player other than Mark McGuire. Baseball should and will pick its own ambassadors and Selig won’t pick Barry Bonds.
2. Bonds has a court case looming
Whether innocent or guilty, Bonds is about to be embroiled in a federal perjury trial, the outcome of which could require jail time.
Bonds’ testimony in 2007 regarding BALCO is in question and a guilty verdict will not only cement Bonds’ reputation as a juicer, but also define him legally and practically as a liar.
Perhaps if he comes out on the other end of the court case with a verdict of innocent there might be a chance of his personal marketability, but certainly not before.
3. Barry Bonds and the press don’t get along
Over the time that Bonds was a Major League baseball player, he developed a relationship with the press that was tense at best, venomous and vitriolic at worse. Barry treated the press like the villains in his romantic biography, a group of liars and connivers whose only goal was to destroy Bonds.
It would be safe to assume that a baseball ambassador would not only have to open himself up to the press, but actually embrace them as a tool to accomplish… well, whatever he wished to accomplish as the poster boy.
4. No Hall of Fame, no ambassador status
For the man holds the career home run record, if you are not in the hall of fame, if you are still only a visitor when you show up, you are not the spokesperson you want to be. Now, if after his obligatory five years, if Bonds is inducted, it will be a different story.
The idea is not that you must be a HOF member to be a face for the sport. The issue is more that Barry Bonds should be in the HOF, based on his on-the-field exploits. More than that, if you only look at his play, he should be a first ballot hall-of-famer. The fact is he will not get in on his first ballot. Perhaps because of his off-the-field exploits, he’ll never get in at all. It’s a sticking point standing in the way of his public relations standing.
5. Barry Bonds is the ultimate anti-spokesperson
Take away the steroid allegations. Pretend for a moment that there is no such thing as “The Clear” or BALCO, and that there is no upcoming perjury trial as a result.
Without that large elephant in the room, you still do not have a persona worthy of what Glanville suggests.
Bonds has a history of distrust with the media. He has been accused of tax fraud. There have been stories of his having been an adulterer. For as big a star as he was at one point, he never did things to bring his fans closer (One example being his disallowing use of his name in any video games that the players association endorsed.)
Once Bonds focused on statistics and stopped just being a great player, his play suffered. There were no allegations of slackening play early in his career, but in the late years in San Francisco, Bonds was one of the new group of prima donna players who didn’t need to run hard to first if they didn’t feel like it.
If you think of all these things like pieces of a collage, it’s hard to imagine an arrangement that would look appealing to the world at large—especially one that is skeptical of Major League Baseball. Isn’t that, after all, why the game might need an ambassador in the first place.
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