Gom

The Yankees will be in on every big free agent. Not news, but it will help drive up the price. With Mussina all but set to retire, and Pettitte iffy, the Yankees have only two starters, both coming off injuries in Wang and Joba. Remember, if they don't bring back Pettitte and Mussina, that's an extra 27 million they can spend on pitching.

Jacobs for Nunez is official.

Dammit...I thought she was a midget black wearing a tuxedo. Oops.

Did Cashman trade Hughes or Kennedy yet? That would be just above waiver wire.

There are black people in New Zealand?

The very best the Yankees can do is to fool another team into thinking these players can be servicable major leaguers. Throw them in the minors, hope they have a good start, and trade them to some unsuspecting team at the trade deadline.

Look guys......it's going to be one of the craziest off-seasons we've ever had. To try to keep a little sanity here, just remember a few things, things we already know, but most of us will forget from time to time. The Yankees are going to be involved in every big name player. The Red Sox are going to be involved in every big name player. So will most teams, as a lot of teams have money to spend this year. Remember that the teams will enter the bidding just to drive up the price on the player for their opponents. The Yankees and the Red Sox are both going to kick the tires on Lowe, if only to drive up the price for not only the other, but for whatever team signs him. This also works the other way as well. Agents will come out and say certain things to try to increase the money their clients will get. Look at what CC's agent said [he's done a great job so far]...first he comes out and says his player wants to stay on the west coast, that he loves to hit [as if that's worth leaving millions on the table for 3 ABs or so every 5 days]....then he says he'd consider playing for the Yankees...the end result is that it is a foregone conclusion that IF he signs with the Yankees, then it will be for more money. So...take a deep breath...and relax. Remember that most serious negotiations DO NOT happen in the media and the newspaper. Look at Manny this year. Who foresaw the Brewers getting CC? Or Cashman getting Nady AND Marte? Both NY fans and Boston were floored when Damon came to NY. I don't remember much talk of the blockbuster deal of Beckett/Ramirez before it happened. Remember that this is a big cat and mouse game that is played out in the media. Both sides are jockeying for permission. It creates a generally high level of excitement for us as fans. When presented with information, please think about the following: 1) source 2) motivation. You'll find out that 95% of what you read, you already knew.

Hey Jacko...how come we don't have any more Hughes updates? Maybe because he's had two terrible starts? Or maybe because he got the s*** kicked out of him in the Rising Stars game? Rather than your meaningless minor league stats [his major league stats this year are pretty indicative, 0-4, 6.62 ERA], here is a scout's take on Hughes in the Rising Stars game: You should spend more time honing your skills as a doctor and forget about trying to analyze baseball players. The time you spend on baseball is obviously wasted.

My friends who are Mets fans are dying right now.

I hope both he and Phil Hughes burn. f*** them. The curse of Johan.

I guess they didn't expect the Red Sox to be eliminated, huh? Not much in the sense of backup programming. You know, now that I think about it, this was probably very well-planned. They figured the fan base would be pissed that the team got eliminated, and the first thing everyone would jump at is "If Manny was still here....". This would go a long way towards eliminating that sentiment.

Ortiz was booed this playoff. No one in Boston is teflon. Same as NY.

I seem to remember a game against the Angels.

Funny how a lot of the same people who said I didn't know what I was talking about in saying he wasn't finishing his pitches because his oblique was still bothering him are now claiming that I was "Master of the Obvious". I am destined to spend my life in the company of lesser intellects.

Yup.

Guess I was totally off in my analysis that his oblique was still bothering him against Tampa and that his pitches weren't where they should be. All this without anyting fancier than my knowledge of baseball and my own two eyes. No pitch f/x or spreadsheets. Just little ole' me. I can't believe I missed that. Wow...

Well, that's good. Thank you both for the clarification.

This is bad. I hope he recovers, and I hate the Patriots.

I do. My goodness, where did you find that?

Thank you. However, lets say that Abreu is offered arbitration and declines. Let's say the Yankees sign Tex and CC. Say the Tex signing costs them their original pick. Does CC cost them the Abreu pick, or does CC cost them their 2nd pick?

Terrible call by the umpire.

You're starting to frighten me.