26 to 6

What a day it's gonna be for those poor innocent reporters who are gonna have to trek across town all day in this snow storm. Mitchell's conference is at the Grand Hyatt, Selig's is at the Waldorf, and Fehr's is at the Intercontinental. poor guys

Josh Towers, Akinori Otsuka, Aaron Miles, Brenden Donnely all servicable players who are now free agents. I think a guy like Otsuka is worth taking a chance on. Also, the Yankees did not tender contracts to T.J. Beam, Bronson Sardinha, Matt DeSalvo, and Darrell Rasner. Surprising to see them let Bronson go like that. He was DFA'd last week, and would have had no choice to accept a minor league outright assignment, but the Yankees chose to let him go all together.

Lol those are exactly all the reasons I didn't mind when we signed him (not that I was pushing for us to sign him). I have a feeling Pavano may accept this minor league contract. And even if he does, and is willing to waive his union rights, which trust me, I realize are very important and that no union protects it's workers like the MLBPA; he probably wouldn't be without them for too, too long. Chances are that if he rehabs well and look like he's on his way to providing servicable Major League starts, the Yankees would either bring him up when an injury occurs; and all of us know that those unsuspected and surprising injuries that just pop up out of nowhere occur, especially with the Yankees the past 4-5 years, or use him in a trade for a team in NEED of an experienced starter to fill out a weak rotation come June or July. I think Pavano has a realistic chance of pitching in the Major Leagues in 2008. And also keep in mind that it's not like he'd be getting screwed here. He is still getting all of that money he signed for, he's getting great rehabilitation staff and facilities, and an attempt to save some face.

C'mon man, it's more likely that David Ortiz would be namd than A-Rod. Let's just wait and see....another 16 hours. When I heard about Mitchell's reccomendations into a new testing policy, I was satisfied. At least there's gonna be more to this thing than just exploitng names of players, distributors, etc. MLB and the owners & executives are gonna probably get it in this thing. Glad to see that Mitchell is doing what Bud actually asked for, rather than what Bud probably wanted.

Mark Prior non-tendered by Cubs. http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071212&content_id=2324381&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc I think it'll be interesting to see how things play out with him. I have a strong feeling that the Yankees WILL be competitive in his negotiations. Steinbrenner (Big George, that is) has numerous times stated how much he regretted not being able to come to terms when the Yanks drafted him in '98.

Midnight tonight is the deadline to offer an arbitration-eligible player a contract. There are some potentially big names that may be non-tendered. Either way, much will be added to the Free agent market by tomorrow. Under the new CBA teams that non-tender a player can still negotiate with him, i believe. Right? As opposed to having to wait until May 1. Some point tonight I figure to see some names of non-tenders, so I figure it may be worth some discussion..

I see what you're saying, and I understand the thought process than not only you, but many would have..but in my eye it's just the principle of the thing. He was coming off his one above average year, got a huge contract from us, and did what? f***ED US! Be a man, Carl..go work out in Tampa until May-June when you're arms better (try not to get into any accidents with supermodels in your car..and if you do TELL SOMEONE), then go to Charleston/Scranton/Trenton/wherever and try to salvage a little bit of your image. Do the right thing.

I dont think at this point any of the named players will be punished. I can't say for sure why, but I do remember hearing some sort of explanation for it. When i'm not feeling like s*** i'll try to remember. But for now, as far as I know, no punishments will be handed down. I don't disagree with that either. None of the players failed a drug test administered by the league during a season, and therefore shouldn't be punished. I agree with everyone's reasopning of why they should be punished, but I dont think they will, or should be. There's still plenty of others who aren't named that would be getting away with it.

Way to cash in for Rowand. Gotta wonder what effect this may have on the Matsui discussions.

Honestly, while I understand their position, wanting to hold onto him to collect all of the insurance, I don't think it's necesarily a bad move. He WAS, at one point, a pretty servicable major league pitcher, and if he does well on rehab and in the Minors this season he could provide some insurance if need-be. At first it seemed he was willing to accept the deal, but in recent days i've read that he and his agent are considering exploring other options. If Carl Pavano has any integrity he will accept this minor league contract considering all the Yankees have given him without getting a damn thing in return.

Anyone have the terms of the contract? I'd look myself but not only am I lazy, i'm also running late for an appointment..

I'm reluctant to call any signing of a Japanese player coming over and getting more than $10 mil a year in his first contract a good signing. Not that I dont think they're talented players, because I do follow NPB to the best of my ability, but we've seen so many instances of stars coming over and doing NOTHING here. I understand that it's a gamble and you need to outbid the next guy behind you, but considering that Hideki Matsui, who before coming over was THE premiere player over there signed for (what seems like) a mere $7 mil. a year over 3 years in his first contract with the Yanks. IDK, although I admire the Japanese game VERY MUCH, I have a hard time with a guy who never stepped foot onto an American professional field (check that..WBC lol) getting that much money. I personally hope that it works out, espcially for the Cubs sake.

Yeah, the most significant inmormant they had for this investigation was Radomsky (sp), who was a clubhouse assistant with the Mets for over a decade. Per the terms of his plea agreement for his own criminal case for distributing steroids he had to cooperate and assist with the Mitchell investigation. In 2003 when they had the survey drug testing, about 100 players tested positive. The report is only expected to name between 60 and 80 throughout the whole duration of the "Steroid era." It just point out that while yes, there will be lots of names named, there are a lot of wrongdoers who won; be named here. This, from what i've heard the past day or so, wasn't the most well-done investigation. MLB spent $16 mil to just victimaze a select group of players who they were able to target, offering practically no background or reasons for why certain players were on the list. A few people who were asked to be interviewed stated that during the interview they were repeatedly asked to speculate, or guess, on which players they THINK may have been using, making it clear the the motive here was for Mitchell to just get names out there. Rather than hastily looking to expose x number of players, you would think that after so much time there would be more to this thing. I guess we just have to wait and see come tomorrow to find out what really went down with these millions over the past almost 2 years. I think, however, that if all we get from this report is between 60 and 80 names, and nothing more delving into background or explanations that the investigation was a failure, and only doen to present what looks like a strong effort to crack down and find out what went on.

Definately happy to get him out of the division, but I think the Astros are a little foolish to be making a move like this. Sending 5 players to Baltimore for a defensive downgrade who is on the decline still making a nice chunk of change... I expect him to put up some pretty nice nmbers there, but still a move I would have went without making if I were Purpura. It's no surprise though, the Astros have been mentioned with Tejada for like what, 3 seasons now? They were bound to get him eventually. I think it's a steal for the O's though, who get 5 young players to replenish their system with (probably 4, Scott will more than likely be on the big club) after 2-3 years of bad drafts.

The Mitchell report has reportedly been sent to the commissioner's office (agreement stated that the commissioner must recieve it at least 24 hours prior to the public release), and appearantly it will be released Thursday. Reportedly will name between 60-80 names. Mike & The Mad Dog spent a lot of time on this today and had some pretty interesting stuff, for those of us in the NY area or with YES access who happened to catch some of it. Certainly it will be a HOT topic for a while following it's release, so I figured I would start a thread now so we can speculate and discuss prior to and following the release. I expect it to be pretty revealinv and earth-shattering. Looking forward to Thursday.

The new ballpark isn't as pitcher friendly as RFK was. Left Field 336 ft Left Field 335 ft Left Center 377 ft Left Center 380 ft Center Field 403 ft Center Field 410 ft Right Center 370 ft Right Center 380 ft Right Field 335 ft Right Field 335 ft Still certainly not a hitters park, considering the comparable dimensions to RFK, but gives the hitters a little bit more of a break. The italicized numbers are the RFK dimensions. http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/was/ballpark/general.jsp

Way to go Kosuke! ...so now what happens to Pie? Right?

Yeah, I think he'll fit well there.

I'll take him. We need what we can get from the left side, and Marte, a former Yankee product, has a live arm and really good stuff.

With classes canceled today I took this morning to update the list. 5T and 5D stand for the Triple A and Double A phases of the Rule 5, respectively. Rather than put 5AAA or 5AA, which look funny and take p a chunk of the line I just decided to go with T & D. Also, just to make note, Colby Lewis has been released by the Royals (Signed 11/2) and Termell Sledge has been sold to the Nippon Ham Fighters. When I get a more complete list of players going abroad, particularily to NPB, I will find a way to incorporate them into the guide. For now, enjoy the fruits of a long, frustrating 45 minutes. I'm gonna go back to sleep now.....

It just dawned on m, but could he be one of the 11 "free agents" who are supposed to be named in the Mitchell report? I think the Yankees should wait a week or 2 before finalizing this one.

I've always liked Hawkins, but I remember a few years back his name being whispered regarding steroids/perfomance enhancers. I can't get too down if he does indeed sign, but I think I would still rather have Viz. Not today because of a lot of school work I have to catch up on, but sometime tomorrow or Tuesday at the LATEST i'll have made all of the updates, including all phases of the Rule 5. Appreciate everyone's patience.