The Village Idiot

ESPN just reported a partially dislocated shoulder for Ellsbury, out a minimum of 6 weeks. Let the Cody Ross era begin. (Gulp.)

Ahhh...the high and mighty type. Anyone who calls themselves king, you've got to wonder. Have a nice off-season "king."

Bigoted? Ignorant? I wouldn't be offended in the least if Midwesterners or Southerners or West coasters or Sunbelters or Pacific NWesterners lightly referred to New Englanders or New Yorkers with one of the following blanket generalizations: that we're rude, stubborn, cold, unfriendly, arrogant, liberal, pompous, or any other stereotypes you want to throw out there. What makes this country great is that there actually are regional stereotypes/tendencies, and they ALL have their upsides, downsides, truths, exagerrations, character and all the rest of it. This country enjoys poking fun about itself, and we can celebrate the things that differentiate us. My mother's from Ireland, and my uncles all say the same thing: "What differentiates Americans from the rest of the world is that they can laugh at each other and criticize each other and themselves without going to war over it. They love each other. They love their differences." It's one thing to jokingly refer to a region as sappy and simple in a playful way. It's another to call another individual you've never met bigoted and ignorant. It's Cards baseball. Lighten up, king. We don't live in a monarchy!

Did you see the fake blonde hair and fireworks and prompts to the crowd to remember to make some noise in that stadium tonight? Sure there is.

I've never felt so conflicted at the end of a sporting event in my life. Difficult situation. Anything George W. Bush has ever touched HAS to be something you root against. Yet, Ryan Nolan's a class act, as are most of the players on the Rangers squad. But then, you take a step back. And you have Ron Washington, coke user. And Nelson Cruz who fails to crash into a wall and go all out for all the marbles, for the WORLD SERIES TITLE. And the state of Texas, for God's sakes, and even worse, the Dallas Fort Worth area. Which didn't know until about 2 years ago that the game of baseball even exists. On the other side of the coin, you've got St. Louis. Great fan base. A strong tradition. That sappy sweet, wholesome, simple, blonde, corn-fed Midwestern disposition and mentality. The city and fanbase that actually really took the high road when the Red Sox, thank Christ, swept the snot out of their birds to win our first World Series in 86 years. With hometown kid Freese, and Albert the Great, and the ace and NH native, Chris Carpeneter. Yet then, THEN, you've got Tony LaRussa. Tony LaRussa. Tony LaRussa. The overrated King of the Baseball Universe. It's really tough to get beyond LaRussa, and it's definitely not worth getting into all the things he does flat-out wrong. And his team still manages to win. I can tip my cap and congratulate the Cards, sure. But nothing is more inspiring for the next season than to feel like the team you root for -- when it's at its best -- could kick the s*** out of the current World Series Champs. That's how I feel tonight after Game 7. I'll take it. Go Sox.

I also think it's ******** that the Cubs are sticking it to us in these negotiations, because the claim that the Cubs hold all the leverage here is FALSE or this deal would have been locked up weeks ago. Theo is in mid-contract. He could absolutely come back to Boston. What is he going to do if the deal falls through? Completely sabotage his entire career over sour grapes from what his current employer and potential future employer either do or don't do in this negotiations process? Bull s***. The Sox have every right to look at past precedent in the league when something like this has occurred -- which means they SHOULD get value in return -- and stick to their guns. They are absolutely not coming out of this with a couple of BS, low-level prospects, which should be clear to everyone and which people here should be happy about. Not to mention, baseball won't let any announcement come out until the World Series is over anyway, so we're losing nothing here. Don't get panties in wads over the manager's search either. As predicted, the whole beer/chickengate has already practically blown over, and it's clear to everyone in the game that the Red Sox are a successsful, enticing organization in the game that will draw top managerial prospects to the table post-World Series. I for one am glad that we have Lucchino pulling the strings here, hopefully, because I think we're going to come away here with a better package than many of you all are now thinking we are. f*** the Cubs.

Ballplayers have been drinking beer and eating chicken since baseball was invented. Who wasn't doing their workouts? According to Henry today, and Dustin Pedroia, the pitchers were in fact doing all of their workouts--cardio, shoulder, legs--all season long. So unless Pedroia's lying, or unless all the trainers are lying to Henry/Tito/etc., it would appear that all the pitchers started underperforming at the same time. Is there a chance that's connected to their workout regimens? Yes there's absolutely that chance. That's why Henry said they're looking into everything, and they're going to get to the bottom of this. I believe him too. And as for the absolute witch hunt on many of the Sox players that fans on message boards have taken up torches for and gone on, frankly, I think YOUR (the collective your) argument(s) is/are a bit extreme. Seriously, do you guys honestly think that there was no beer, chicken, and/or video games in the clubhouses in '03, '04, '07, '08, '09, '10 and in '11 before the September collapse? That Beckett and Lackey and company dramatically changed their behavior in '11 that never ever existed before? I think that's an extremely stupid thing to think, because pitchers are some of the most regimented, superstitious, stubborn bastards on the planet. Are you honestly just falling hook, line and sinker for things that you're reading in THE BOSTON GLOBE, the paper that employs Dan Shaughnessy, Nick Cafardo and others? Now, the Sox higher ups may investigate all this stuff and determine that the pitching staff was drastically unregimented or out of their usual physical conditioning regimens or malnourished/overfed (really??? Did anyone but me see CC Sabathia pitch and grow in girth this year??) and that that resulted in the collapse. But I'm not believing any unnamed sources from the Globe. I'm going to wait until the real professionals who know what's going on here get to the real truth and the heart of the matter before I go nailing Jon Lester and Josh Beckett to the cross. But jump to as many conclusions as you want. Hope you're having fun.

The article came out on Wednesday. He stormed CBS studio on Friday. 48 hours is too long? Thank you, Ted Turner, for turning the world into this. Again, he did not disparage Carl Crawford at all. The example that he used was in response to a question about who was making the call regarding bringing players to the table within the organization for signing consideration , and the fact that the baseball ops guys were the ones who valued Carl as highly as they did is a credit to baseball ops, it WASN'T Henry claiming he had some great insights that the ops guys didn't, because he doesn't have those insights! There's no way that Crawford wouldn't listen to this interview and think it was pretty funny, actually, provided that Crawford has a sense of humor. Jesus, Henry is the owner and signs Carl's checks. This was not a Henry campaign to absolve himself of what people are jumping to the conclusion as being the Carl Crawford free agency disaster. Good God, the man had one bad year, and everyone wants to crucify him. It's ridiculous. Oh, and did you notice that Henry also said, a breath later, that Gonzalez (a full success for 90% of this year) was also a credit to the baseball ops guys too? Listen to what the man actually SAID, not what you're reading into. Look, it's pretty clear that Lucchino answered the question that whatever sleezy reporter asked him the question outside his office at Fenway about the Hohler article exactly like a lawyer would answer it. Using the words or phrase "interesting set of theories." Because the man answered a question the way that you wouldn't, or the way that Henry wouldn't--you automatically make the assessment that he orchestrated a smear campaign against the manager that had helped his team win 2 world series and make the playoffs 6 of 9 seasons? Also, Henry adamantly denied several times during today's CBS gig that none of the owners were the sources to Hohler. The Red Sox organization employs hundreds of people. For all we know, Henry and Lucchino have spent the past 48 hours trying to find out who spilled the beans about the Tito so they can hold those people accountable for such behavior. WE HAVE NO IDEA. Why assume a smear campaign? It's a very unfair thing of fans to assume. He didn't get the whole truth out sooner? Dude, the man didn't wait two weeks. Or a week. Or four days. Or three days. He "waited" TWO DAYS. None of us have any idea what must be going on behind the scenes at Red Sox headquarters with their manager for the past 8 years and their GM for the past 9 years essentially deciding to depart all within just a little over a week and the media doing this media frenzy scenario. Maybe he's spent the past day and a half on the phones and in meetings pleading with Theo to stay? I mean, we have no fricking clue. Two weeks would be unforgiveable. Two days? I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt to a man who's given me two World Series victories in less than a decade for two bloody days of "waiting." Let's be reasonable...for a change.

SoxSport, with all due respect, when you say that the "whole organization got soft," that is based on pure speculation. You're making the jump that because a pitching staff, and by an extension, a first place team, failed to perform for 4 critical weeks of a 6-month season that this means that the entire organization, from top to bottom, as you state above, got soft? How do you know they "got soft?" You don't know. Did you listen to Pedroia on EEI the other day? Did anything at all about Pedroia's comments, answers, demeanor/how he sounded in that radio interview give even an inkling of an impression that he or his teammates or coaches or coaching staff or upper level management "got soft?" The answer, of course, is no. The media LOVES the fact that so many fans/readers are buying into this very speculation that they're feeding you in order to--guess what--sell papers and increase readership/listeners. That is all. Do you really believe that 90% of the sports journalists are really that interested in getting to the so-called truth? And for the remaining 10% of the sports journalists who may care about the truth, it's probably fair to say that the ONLY one who reports with any degree of analytical ability and real understanding of what goes in the sport of baseball is Alex Speier (thank GOD for him). All the other yahoos with the Globe and EEI and the mainstream press (Edes is occasionally OK, but only occasionally when you're really honest with yourself)? They don't seem to know the first thing about baseball if you really read what their assessments are of this team on a regular basis. Look, everyone has a right to have their opinion. It is, after all, a free country (sort of). But just be careful about how quickly journalists go from reporting the facts to complete, utter and abject conjecture and manipulation of the facts to put forward their own personal and professional agendas.

Youk was the only Red Sox player who bothered to give me and two of my friends autographs during spring training a few years back when we had camped out at the edge of the players' parking lot in Ft. Myers well before the breakfast hours. He pulled over, opened his windows, his girlfriend Enza did the same, and we chatted with them for a couple of minutes while he took the time to sign 4 baseballs for us. Didn't seem like an ******* to me at all. I think we have to take all these personality accusations with a grain of salt. Can you imagine if someone camped out in your office interviewing you and your colleagues for 8 months of the year, analyzing your actions, interactions, relationships and squabbles? Jesus, Mary, I'd look like the biggest bitch on the face of the planet. Youk will stick around unless they can deal him and get starting top of the line pitching in return, which will only happen if they re-sign Papi at DH. Ellsbury will never re-sign with the Sox after 2013 since Boras is his agent. Unless under the Cherington administration the approach with signing free agents changes drastically, and the Sox start valuing their departing free agents more than they have during the Theo years. So yeah, theoretically, signing Ells could happen. But it won't have a thing to do with his and Youk's relationship. I mean, come on already. Right?

I say we got trouble. Right here in River City. With a capital C, and that rhymes with P, and that stands for pool! (Chorus: That stands for Pool!)

Everyone is taking Henry's Crawford comment the wrong way. He was trying to answer a question that Felger or Mazz asked about whether ownership makes the call about players or whether baseball ops does, and he was crystal clear that baseball ops is the team that analyzes and finds players and brings the proposal to the table, and then, after that point, the combination of ops and ownership either decide to make an offer/sign the player or not make an offer/not sign the player. In no way could someone listen to that interview and think that Henry was singling out Carl Crawford, or cutting him down, or what have you. Henry was talking about THE PROCESS. Like I posted in the Henry radio show thread, why did everyone in Boston turn into a completely irrational dickwad since the collapse. It was a collapse of players playing poorly on the field for about a 4 week period. Out of a 24-week season. If the Sox are smart, which they are, they will hyper-focus on getting a strong new manager this off-season, while figuring out how its entire starting rotation failed so miserably IN A FOUR WEEK PERIOD. Anyone who thinks this is because of chicken, beer, clubhouse leadership, Terry's pain pills, marriages, cancer, Lackey's ugly mug, or what have you IS ON GLUE. Jesus, people! Snap out of it!

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2011/10/14/felger-mazz-john-henry-invades-felger-and-massarotti/ Finally, we hear from the ownership group. This is the first time I'm posting in the middle of all this chaos, because I've known all along, for a fact, that all this hullaballoo from the media has been a bunch of shite. Let's just recap what's happened in the past month: (1) The Red Sox were in first place. (1a) The Red Sox STARTING PITCHING started sucking donkey balls. (1b) The Red Sox bullpen had its moments, and at times, the offense struggled too (which usually follows when your pitchers' ERA all of a sudden turns north of 6.0) (2) The Red Sox dropped to second place. (3) On the last day of the season, the Sox dropped to third place and don't make the playoffs. (4) The Boston media absolutely loses its s***, and there's scandal in river city within 3 days of the "epic collapse." Seriously, everybody needs to GET A GRIP. Now I know how Nazi Germany happened. PROPAGANDA. Listen to Henry, and feel better about the Sox team you love and are invested in. Go.

There are so many things swirling around in my brain right now, I barely know where to begin. But I think the only way for Theo to begin to dissect this is to recognize that when you pick it apart, what we had here this fall was just a snowball effect of failure. That's what it was. It's actually not even that complicated. Here's what shook down: (1) Our starting pitching literally collapses, via serious enough injury in a couple of cases, and via other guys just not stepping up and executing pitches. Matsuzaka, Buchholz, Lackey, Wakefield and Weiland. Ladies and gentlemen, that is 5/7 of the rotation at the start of the season. 5/7. That were hurt and/or simply failed to perform. At the same time, Beckett suffered his temporary injury. At the same time, Lester suffered one of his classic months, where he can't locate and get out of innings, but rather than that hitting in April--it hit in September. What you have when that there happens, folks, is a team that can't count on its core starting rotation. I don't know if the pitching coach is to blame or not for this. He may be. He may not be to blame. Who knows? But the core pitching s***ing the bed then contributes to the next downfall on a baseball team... (2) Aspects of the bullpen getting gassed/tired/worn out/injured, thereby impacting their effectiveness down the stretch. Bard, Albers, Atchison, to name the biggest offenders. When you take #1 and #2 combined, then you have the next situation... (3) Not all, but many of the position players playing tight. Pressing at the plate. Making key errors in the field. Also, when the pitching collapses, a team is more prone to committing errors. Things are getting hit all over the field. The ball's getting hit harder. You press more. You make more mistakes. More mental miscues. If you're a rookie and/or a newcomer to the team/Fenway Park, that increases your likelihood of making mistakes all the more. What else happens? You lose two veteran producers/leaders to injury: Drew and Youkilis. Youk doesn't make mental errors in the field. Not many of them. Drew almost never does. Huge gap there. Absolutely massive. Again, snowball effect. Then you have the next situation... (4) In a clubhouse where there aren't a LOT of loose players, where there is enough players who carry themselves more introspectively, more seriously, more (dare I say it) religious in a preachy and public way (Adrian) than past teams, then perhaps a core group of players fail to step forth as leaders? Perhaps they stop having fun (unless they're Ellsbury having the season of his life)? We are not in the clubhouse. So we will never know. But I have personally heard reports from cameramen and heard things mentioned in other places that this Sox team was the most sour group of complainers/whiners ever. That has to count for something. And I can't help but wonder and hate if this culture of complaining about s***** umpiring, which I swear has grown in the past 5 years of watching the Sox, isn't a reflection of the team not having the right attitude? Who knows. (5) Final points: The newcomers and their inability to come through in the clutch. Where was Carl Crawford this season? Where was Adrian Gonzalez? I think Theo thought he was getting two leaders in these guys. Two people who would put a team on their backs and carry them, in the same way that that's what Theo got when he acquired Ortiz and Millar and Schilling during his tenure. But it's not working out that way. Crawford looks like a defeated man. Gonzalez blames "God's plans" for a baseball team's inability to play quality ball down the stretch. Something is really, really wrong with that. I don't have the answer, but do the men on Yawkey Way have the balls and emotional sensitivities to address it and solve the problem(s)? I don't know. Finally, the only bright spot about this week was the following, at least for me: Ryan Lavarnway. He struck out in a huge spot in the 9th inning last night, sure. But his 2 homeruns the other night were things of legend. And he said all the right things to the media and seemed to really take care of his pitchers the last couple of nights. If that's the future of the Boston Red Sox, I'm staying signed up. Because that's a team I want to root for. But the team we saw choke in the clutch this past month? Not so much. Here are the players that I know are really, really talented, but who make me squirm and quake as soon as I want to trust them but find myself doubting myself as a fan: Crawford Reddick Gonzalez Saltalamacchia Lowrie Lackey Papelbon Bard Tim Bogar Curt Young I trust everyone else. Including Theo and Tito. But I don't trust these guys. Fix it, Theo. Find a way to fix it all.

A recap of the past 24 hours, not in precise chronological order, but close: (1) Sox think they could have lost their primary catcher of the season from a foul tick off the collarbone, to learn a bit later that the x-ray is negative, however, hours later, the catcher can't throw comfortably and thus a rookie has to make his MLB catching debut in what turns out to be a must win game. (2) Sox lose said game (9/26 game) with their #1/#2 ace on the mound a few innings after their MVP caliber center fielder slams into the wall making what would have been an outstanding catch if his shoulder hit the outfield wall instead of his forearm resulting in a 3-run, inside the park homer that could've been the third out. (3) Sox send mid-season FA acquisition Erik Bedard to the mound for their umpteenth must win game of the season, but he pitches only into the 4th inning after the aforementioned rookie catcher gives him a four-run lead on his first major league homer of his career, because Bedard coughs up a couple runs shrinking the lead to...less. (Since I've suffered 7 strokes tonight, I'm not looking it up for accuracy.) Tito then pulls Bedard and sends in Aceves, pitching his third straight night in, yet again, the umpteenth must win game of the season. (4) Aceves steps forth with honey badger-like efficiency, fortitude, and don't-give-a-s***-ness lasting through 7, while said rookie catcher proceeds to hit yet another homerun, a solo shot this time. (4b) Yankees, with the bases loaded and no outs, hit into a TRIPLE PLAY, no less the Sox-hating Russell Martin being the assassin to do it, allowing the Rays to escape unscathed with the Yankees leading the game only 3-2 instead of what it could have been. The Rays follow in a future inning with a 3-run dinger to go ahead and stay ahead 5-2. Girardi, with all locked up, enters Mo in the 8th inning--to get his work in pre-playoffs but surely have tomorrow night off. (5) Umpire Wally Bell has a strike zone wider than the Mississippi River...but late in the game then fails to call what should have been the final strike of the game in the 9th inning, innings later (see below), inducing hundreds of strokes across New England and hundreds of once-recovering alcoholics who simultaneously fell off the wagon with that one pitch call. (6) In the 7th or 8th (who the f*** knows anymore??) the Sox load the bases with two outs as the rookie comes to the plate yet again. He slices a Jeterian blooping pop that in any other circumstance other than September 2011 through 9/27 (today's a new day!) would be a 3-run double, but in this f***ing year is a Markakis full-on stretch it out catch--nearly a trap--sending dickwad no-name Oriole 44th relief pitcher back to the dugout with a smirk. Half-inning over, O's up. (7) Daniel Bard gives up 2 runs for a two-run game, and then proceeds to induce a pop fly couldabeenahomer that the now unanimously hated across New England Andino almost strokes for a homerun that would've tied the game. (8) Enter Pap, who gives up a lead-off single by Hardy that darts by Lowrie who stretches out for it. (9) Enter Markakis, who finally grounds out, but in the attempt at the double-play from Gonzo, the ball bounces off the runner's head. No out at second. One out. Man on second. Vladdy up at bat. Entire season continues to be on the line, with the tying run at the plate. (10) Vladdy hits a Youk/Lowell/Beltre-grabbable bouncing liner past Lowrie into left field. Hardy to third. (11) Pinch runner for Vladdy. (12) Wieters up. Grounds out to catcher, Hardy scores, pinch runner to second. 8-7. Winning run--which would have practically eliminated Boston's playoff chances--steps up to the plate in Adam Jones, the Orioles' best hitter. (13) Jones hits a solid grounder to Lowrie. Lowrie throws to Gonzalez for the final out. (14) This doesn't even mention the controversial calls, ghost tage of Ellsbury by the incompetent O's first basemen, and Lowrie nearly getting tossed for balls and strikes early on. Nor does it mention the 8,259 singles that have darted just out of Pedey's reach in the past 3 games alone, singles that any other game in the season from May through August, he gets to. Did that all just happen? Have I died and entered the gray area between purgatory and heaven or hell? Step away from the light, Caroline! Or is it INTO the light? I don't know where to step anymore except for in front the television for tomorrow night's game. Jesus Christ on a cracker. Go Sox. Time to fill my Xanax prescription for tomorrow...

With all due respect, a lot of you are really being a bunch of Maries here. This is why other cities/regions hate us. New England fans have seen championships from all four major sports teams in the past ten years, and we're all complaining about one collapse at the end of a season? Screw that! Look, this team has royally sucked, but grow a pair, strap on the boozebag, and giddy up for the last two regular season games of the season with a stoic realization that this here is baseball, or don't call yourself a Sox fan. Call yourself a Rays fan, one of the 10,000-15,000 who showed up at home to cheer your team on in one of the most unlikely and uncertain ends of the season in years, the turds. Seriously people, it ain't over till it's over, and if you can't handle the heat, get out of the fricking kitchen. Win tomorrow. And Wednesday. Go Sox.

I think the Sox will package Ellsbury in a trade then. To get what in return, I'm not sure, but I just don't see them carrying that many lefties on the roster given the makeup of the AL East competition's starting pitchers. Thoughts?

Wow, I think Hoyer's and Theo's great relationship is the main reason this deal ever happened. Hoyer knows the young prospects' talent and trust it; Theo knows that the Sox are in a position where Gonzalez will really help them compete in the AL East in the next three season especially -- and Theo's also confident in the core of pitchers and Gonzalez which makes losing Kelly and Rizzo palatable, at least to a degree. I thought the deal would take more off the farm, and the fact it hasn't has me supporting it. Sorry to ask the obvious question, but this mean Youk moves over to third? That's the only part of this I don't like at all, but you can't have everything...

If there was a way to have this be your lineup, rotation, bench and bullpen next year, I think the Sox would be unstoppable if they're not ravaged by injuries once more. LF Carl Crawford CF Jacoby Ellsbury RF J.D. Drew 3B Jed Lowrie SS Jose Reyes 2B Dustin Pedroia 1B Kevin Youkilis C Jarrod Saltalamacchia/Rod Barajas/Jason Varitek DH David Ortiz LP Jon Lester RP Clay Buchholz RP Josh Beckett RP John Lackey RP Daisuke Matsuzaka RP Tim Wakefield Jonathan Papelbon Daniel Bard Scott Atchison Michael Bowden Felix Doubront Bullpen acquisition 1 (Putz?) Bullpen acquisition 2 (Balfour?) Bench Mike Cameron Darnell McDonald X Y What would it take to get this done?

Even if you guys aren't falling all over Jeter now, you once did. For the better part of, what, well over ten to twelve years or so? That's twice as long as Sox fans got to enjoy Pedro, Papi, Manny and Tek in their primes. All of Derek Jeter's so-called/touted milestones or championships have been plastered all over Yankee Stadium with a pomp and circumstance and ostentatiousness that would make any fan of any other team puke if they happened to find themselves within a 1-mile radius of the stadium when these things were happening. The fact that this very franchise and fan base that has put this guy on the ultimate pedestal for the better part of two decades is now questioning and nickel and diming him about his last, relatively short-term contract in a long line of ridiculously over the top Yankee free agent contracts is absolutely laughable, fun, and just completely and totally ironic. There can't be one New York Yankees fan worth her or his salt who wouldn't have wanted this negotiation to end with both parties feeling content, respected and adequately compensated/understood, and with the Captain coming back with the terms of a reasonable contract that the Yanks can afford and that leave Jeter feeling adequately respected for his past, current, and potentially future contributions. The fact that this hasn't happened is just scrumptious if you're a fan who's known for a very long time that all the Jeter saintdome hype has been nothing but hype. It all comes out in the wash, eventually, doesn't it?

From a marketing/branding standpoint you're wrong that Derek Jeter is not synonymous with the New York Yankees. This is why I completely understand why Jeter isn't falling for their offer. This is not any other aging free agent player and any other team. This is Derek Jeter, the captain of the New York Yankees. He and the Yankees are the statistical outlier of contract negotiations processes in MLB for several reasons: Jeter has been the poster boy for everything that franchise supposedly stands for. What's more, the team and its leadership has essentially said that over and over and over again for his entire career with the team. This isn't my opinion, I'm reporting on everything I've seen on YES, in the media, in the papers, on jumbotrons, and in Jeter's endorsements and work with the New York Yankees on and off the field since about 1997. And this has been a close-up perspective I have had from the heart of Manhattan, where I live, and trust me I've been paying close attention to this stuff because YOU CAN'T FREAKING MISS IT. Jeter does define their brand and always has, and when a successful team (business, organization, whatever) decides to question or dramatically alter its brand identity, it doesn't matter if we're talking about a baseball team or a soup company...it is a very big and controversial deal for that company. I should clarify that I'm not saying that Derek Jeter "the player" deserves 3 or 4 years at $20-$25million per year. He most certainly does NOT. I'm saying that Jeter and his agent have a very, very strong business argument that Derek Jeter the combination player-brand absolutely deserves this contract to be one that is very fat, and that lasts several years, and that goes into Derek's fourth decade on this planet given his role -- that the Yankees have always overhyped massively -- in helping the Yankees to bring in the kind of money they have over the years thanks to (1) the team's product/accomplishments on the field, and (2) because of its Jeter-led brand identity and how fans fall for it. I would bet my entire life savings that if the Yankees had sat down with Derek Jeter and said, "Derek, you're without question the most valuable player this franchise has had over the past two decades along with Mariano. But the reality is that giving you 4-5 years now, at age almost-37, can't work for this team for X,Y,Z reasons. However, we do want to acknowledge you for what we've always touted you as being -- one of the 5 best Yankees ever -- and for everything you've done for this team on the field and for our piggy banks as well, we should add, for going on fifteen years now, and for helping to turn the franchise around at a pivotal time in its history. How's three years at $27M per with a club option for a fourth, after which you can ride off into the sunset and retire as a Yankee. Jeter thinks this is the respect that he deserves after everything this team has done while he's captained it. Jeter would have signed that deal in a NY minute, and the Yankees would have this behind them and be able to move on like they always do. They'd find a creative way to use Jeter despite his declining skills. And again, I would completely disagree with my points in the paragraph above if Jeter had built his career with any team other than the New York Yankees. But he didn't, he built it with the Yankees while helping build the powerful Yankee brand that exists today. Suggesting otherwise isn't seeing what's gone on in New York for the past fifteen years. Plain and simple, the Yankees just can't conduct themselves one way with all the free agents that they have for a period of ten to twelve years and then shift gears with the face of the franchise and expect him to accept it and "take the high road." And Jeter's calling them on their total ******** now, and that's pretty awesome. Lastly, it's awesome that so many Yankee fans are now all purporting to agree with the concept of the importance of being fiscally responsible. Without realizing it, they are basically saying that the way the Boston Red Sox have built a successful team is the way to go...not by pandering to obnoxious fading free agents like Slappy, Teixeira and AJ Burnett, which has been the Yankee way forever. Wicked awesome stuff if you're a Sox fan, no question.

228, this is one of the most revered, recognizable, respected players in the history of your franchise who was always, always, always held up as the team-first, selfless, heralded leader of this franchise and everything it purports to stand for. He is now being challenged publicly, in a negotiations dispute (and it is a dispute), with just a few years left in his first ballot Hall of Fame career with the only team he has ever played for. Hate to break it to you, but this is a pretty BFD for the New York Yankees machine. You just can't write this off as just another ho-hum free agency situation with an aging player. Derek Jeter is the brand. He is the New York Yankees. And they are the ones that have created this and created him, so it is no surprise that he would want this second payday, if you will. I am not some crazed Sox fan with an agenda who's trying to make a mountain out of a molehill. This is Mount Freaking Everest here as far as it being a sports and business story goes. What's most fascinating about all of this is that the Yankees are suddenly turning on the person who has been this team's brand identity for most of my adult life. Seeing negotiations turn sour isn't uncommon in sports, but it is certainly the polar opposite of how I and Derek Jeter and I'll bet the Yankees players (past and present) and I guarantee you millions of other Jeter fans and people working in sports expected this particular negotiation to go. If the Yankees were smart, they'd have figured out a way to structure a final contract with the face of the franchise in a way that secured the team's and the player's mutual love-fest from here to eternity, because that would result in a hell of a lot more dollars and good will and fan love and Yankee-esque, revenue generating ******** than mucking this situation up is going to get them in the end. Given how much money the Yankees have at their disposal to NOT f*** a situation like this up, it is nothing short of incredible and the perfect irony that this situation is happening to this player at this point in time given how baseball has been over the past ten years for that team and the teams around them. It's just awesome no matter how it turns out, because if/when Jeter signs, things will never be the same again (for him, the Yankees, the fans) in terms of that player-team relationship. And if Jeter leaves, his whole Yankee legacy changes forever, because the biggest part of Jeter's legacy was that he would be a Yankee for life...and that's what every Yankee fan has always not just hoped for but expected. That's what makes this situation different from any recent negotiation in MLB history, I think. Now holy s*** I've got to go to bed.

I'll preface this by saying that since Derek Jeter's skills are now...where they are...I am really, really hoping that he's on the Yankees for 4 more years at as much money per year as possible. That being said, a nifty recap of what's really going on these days here in Yankeeville, because it is a really deeeeeeelightful moment here in Lower Manhattan this week with all this. (1) Yanks decide to play hardball with their "5-ring" Captain, their leader, the almighty and all-powerful and forever to be loved face of the franchise, all after having doled out epic contracts totaling hundreds of millions to the likes of the Sheffields, Giambis, Pavanos, Browns, Wrights, Johnsons and Vazquezes (i.e. the undeserving)...and to the Jeters (in '00), A-Rods, Sabathias, Posadas, Burnetts and Teixeiras (i.e. the somewhat more deserving, arguably) over the past ten years. (2) Yanks don't project that this maneuver reflects their playing hardball, but rather, that it's an example of their sound, sabermetrically-based baseball decision-making! The team's PR/stance on this matter is this: a three-year $45M offer to Jeter is approximately double what Jeter would be able to make from another team. They're right in that regard. But it doesn't change the fact that... (3) ...Jeter and his agent will surely see this whole scenario as the Yankees playing hardball with Jeter. And here's the kicker: they're right in that assessment too. For with countless opportunities to have played hardball with other, unproven, lesser players in the extremely recent past -- the entire time during which the Yanks have had the same GM -- the Yankees chose not to play their cards this way at those times. Instead, they overspent on almost every occasion SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY COULD. And they still can. And Jeter knows they still can, but the Yankees are not budging. They are not budging for HIM -- for their leader and saint and captain. And Jeter has to be royally pissed off at this. Royally, royally pissed off, because... (4) It won't matter that technically, given his skills and age, he's only worth $45M for three years when he looks to his right and across the infield to first and to the pitcher's mound and sees a handful of teammates making far more than he does, even though they have only contributed to 1 World Series ring/win versus Jeter's 5. After all, if you're a Yankee fan, all you care about is World Championship rings, right? And if so, who deserved and deserves more than your franchise leader in the almighty rings race? (5) Yankee fans, after spending the past 15 years putting Jeter, their beloved Captain, on the same pedestal as Ruth, Gehrig, Dimaggio, Berra and Mantle -- AND rationalizing every gargantuan Yankee free agent contract paid out during Jetes' tenure as a reflection of the most storied franchise in all sports simply puting their money where their mouth is for the sake of Yankee fans and greats everywhere to retain their legacy/greatness when other teams just don't care enough about winning to do the same thing -- these very same Yankee fans have now suddenly decided that no way, Jose...the Yankees and Jeter are really just like everyone else! That they actually don't have to overpay Jeter, because he's 36 and turning 37 soon and has declining skills and production and numbers, so good for them for sticking to their guns. Suddenly, Yankees fans have decided that fiscal responsibility is to be practiced.......................WITH DEREK JETER'S FINAL CONTRACT IN PINSTRIPES? Talk about the definition of irony. The best part here is that no matter what happens here, Sox fans win. Because if Jeter stays, then the Yanks have an aging superstar in each of their left side of the infield positions, which is a weakness. If Jeter goes elsewhere or retires out of spite for this process, it tarnishes his reputation as a selfless, team first Yankee great forever as well as the Yankees' reputation for taking care of their franchise players. You gotta love it regardless of what happens as the rest of December unfolds. Good times.

This is a worst case scenario preparation situation. Worst case being, if the Sox can't sign Beltre, which is likely their number one off-season priority. If Beltre goes elsewhere, there's a chance the Sox sign Pena to play first, have Youk at third, Pena at first, Lowrie at SS, Pedey at 2nd, and some combo of three of Werth or Crawford, Ells, Cameron and/or Drew in the OF, with Victor their signed catcher and Papi DH'ing. Everyone thinks the Sox are going to shake things up in a huge way this year, but I just don't see it. I think everything flows from whether or not they can sign Beltre. If they can't then things could look interesting/different, but if they do, this team's going to look a lot like last year's team. And it damned well should.