10 minutes.... 50 minutes.... same difference.

Either way Bull Durham is an awesome movie.

It most certainly is, but after reading this in IMDb's trivia for Tim Robbins, I lost a little bit of respect for him. And no, it's nothing political:

Robbins considers himself the worlds biggest New York Rangers fan.

Come on! Who cheers for the Rangers?

I'm actually kinda impressed there's an American huge hockey fan. Sport could use a few million more of those.

http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/story/7957650
COMN

The Yankees have now officially begun their reshaping.

Felix Rodriguez is a nice pick-up. Presumably he'll bump Sturtze out of the 7th inning role. And I guess Stanton represents the last LOOGY Torre after trusted, for whatever that's worth.

Lofton's tank is close to empty and whether or not the Yanks land Beltran, he'd become much pretty much irrelevant to them. Presumably he'll platoon with Byrd in Philadelphia. After Byrd's huge regression in 2004, it's hard to imagine him still owning the CF job.

It's funny to see Ed Wade give up a reliever, so fond is he of them. I guess he can always backfill Rodriguez by signing some $3M per annum relievers, his favourite kind.

BP's Will Carroll indicated that there are rumours that Sheffield's surgery included repair of a torn labrum. If true he might not be available to start the season leaving the Yanks two positions to fill in the OF after the Lofton trade.

I'm a Ranger fan.

As if the Leafs are any better

1967

As there's little word on the Jays offering Delgado arbitration, it's looking the Jays have a little over 3 days to get a deal done. Since things are quiet on that front, it's not lookin' so good. Are their any reports out there that I've missed that say otherwise?

On Lofton/Beltran/etc., this today from Jamey Newberg:

George King writes in today's New York Post that if the Yankees, who traded Kenny Lofton to Philadelphia yesterday, don't end up with Carlos Beltran, they could sign J.D. Drew or revive efforts to trade for Alfonso Soriano and make him a center fielder.

I read in the USA Sports Weekly that the Washington turned down the Blue Jays offer of Alexis Rios for Nick Johnson. Personally, I like Rios on the Jays and am looking forward to watching him develop and become the outstanding player his skills indicate he will become.

Has anyone else heard this or is this USA Today trying to fill space in its paper?

Following up on Jamey's note, two observations:

- Sori has adamantly, publicly said he refuses to move from 2B. This led to Mike Young's ubersuccessful shift AND squelched at least two trades in which the other club wanted to move him to the OF; maybe he'd do it for the Yankees, maybe they'd be stuck trying to move Miguel Cairo to CF.

NOTE TO JOE TORRE: Your best lineup is Soriano at 2B, A-Rod at SS, Cairo at 3B (unless you sign Koskie) and Jeter in CF ... c'mon, you can sell him on being the heir to DiMaggio and Mantle and hope he turns into Bobby Murcer. Take it for the team!

- J.D. Drew in New York City? That has "Ed Whitson" written all over it.

No way, here's the 2005 New York Yankees starting lineup...

C: Jorge Posada
1B: Carlos Delgado
2B: Nomar Garciaparra
SS: A-Rod
3B: Adrian Beltre
LF: Derek Jeter
CF: Carlos Beltran
RF: Hideki Matsui
DH: Bernie Williams/Jason Giambi

Whats funny about this is that I was trying to be sarcastic but knowing the Yankees, It probably will happen.

I understand the fine line between sarcasm and reality while talking about the Yankees, but I can guaran-dam-tee you that Jeter would never play LF for the team; the only way I can see him moving to the OF is, as I noted above, if he can be sold on the idea that he would be both the greatest SS in team history AND the heir to Joe D. and Mickey.

I am certain that every player you list has been discussed by Cashman & Co. but they'd never even try to get all of them ... it doesn't address the Real Problem, lack of a LHSP.

We Want Milton!

I read in the USA Sports Weekly that the Washington turned down the Blue Jays offer of Alexis Rios for Nick Johnson.

Yup, I'd file that under USA Today space-filler. I can see it going the other way around: the Jays inquire about Johnson, Jim Bowden asks for Rios in return, and the call ends five seconds later. Washington would be insane to turn down that offer, and the Jays would be insane to make it.

the Yankees ... could sign J.D. Drew or revive efforts to trade for Alfonso Soriano and make him a center fielder.

Drew would probably come a fair bit cheaper than Beltran, yet post very similar numbers -- not that "cheap" is an adjective that will apply to either of their eventual contracts. I like the Soriano rumour, though: think the Yanks would deal A-Rod back? Think the Rangers would take 'em up on it?

Well, rumours are that you'll get it. All that's pending is a physical.

Thomas, is your comment in regard to Milton? If so, where'd you see that? I hadn't heard that yet.

Mick: The Yankees continue to close in on a three-year contract with free-agent left-hander Eric Milton...

I wonder how much Milton will be signed for.

My guess is the deal is signed and physicals passed. The Yanks are just waiting until Weds to see if Philly offers Milton arb. They did the same dance last year with Sheffield and did't have to give up a draft pick for him...

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1102115410619&call_pageid=969907739730&col=970081600908
COMN for Thomas Boswell's take on the steroid scandal. Not that it is really important, but I think Boswell underrates Bonds' accomplishments prior to 1999. Bonds was the best player of the 1990s. At this first peak in the early 1990s, he was a better player than Hank Aaron or Ted Williams, in my view.

FWIW, Joe Jackson was the 4th best player of the teens, after Cobb, Speaker and Collins, in my view.

A few days late on this but I've been out of commission. Godfrey was on McCowan last Monday after the purchase of the Dome was announced. There were a couple of interesting things I heard. First, the final budget hasn't been set. I don't know why it's still an open question but a couple of things come to mind.
1) They don't know how much money they need to reno the Dome which might affect the jays budget
2) They plan on offering Delgado arbitration and are holding off on the budget in case he accepts and they have to have an increase in order to add more players which brings me to the next thing Godfrey said.

Godfrey said is he didn't expect anything on the Delgado front before the 7th. That means that Delgado likely won't be signed before arbitration has to be offered, yet it didn't sound like Godfrey had given up. Does this mean they will take the risk and offer arbitration and thus keep a dialogue open with Delgado?

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=rotowire-riciltonealwithankee&prov=rotowire&type=lgns
Mick, my comment was in regards to Milton. I used the link above, but it appears to come from the same source as the one Ryan linked.

The Jays can't afford to offer Delgado arbitration. If they did they could be stuck paying him around $18 million again since his performance hasn't degraded much over the course of his contract. I don't think even Godfrey wants Delgado back that badly.

Sadly if the Jays don't get something done by the 7th I don't see any way he will return. I'm sure the Mariners and maybe even the Yankees will be waiting contracts in hand once the clock rolls over midnight.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=rotowire-riciltonealwithankee&prov=rotowire&type=lgns
Yankees to sign Milton pending physical? COMN

Ahh forget it, I need to learn to read all the comments already in the thread before posting.

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/video/ibn.jsp
mlb.com is showing game 6 from the 1992 and 1993 World Series this afternoon. (COMN)

Well, if the Yankees can void Giambi's contrat they'll go after Delgado. According to the NY Post they've already displayed interest in signing him.

mlb.com is showing game 6 from the 1992 and 1993 World Series this afternoon. (COMN)

Gwyn, are these games free to watch, or do they require an MLB.com subscription?

I always found it strange that the Jays were World Series defending champs from 1992-1994, despite only winning it twice.

I've never seen the 1992 World Series (five years old at the time). This is great.

Devo just stole second off Steve Avery.

J.D. Drew in New York City? That has "Ed Whitson" written all over it.

Really? Isn't St. Louis arguably THE most baseball-intense city? Any expectations he'd have in NY would pale in comparison to what he had when he made his debut (after not signing with the Phillies), no? He was getting tremendous ovations as a Sept. callup at Busch at the games I saw there in '98...

If not for how he performed in the playoffs (in the spotlight for the first time), I'd think Beltran would be much more likely to be another Whitson...

It's on now and it's free, Fozzy -- just click on the link Gerry provided.

Beautiful, thanks Rob and Gwyn. I was a young buck when this game was on, great to see it again. Bless the Internet :)

http://retrosheet.org/boxesetc/B10240ATL1992.htm
I'll bet someone five bucks that Borders will single to center to begin the next inning. :)

McCarver made awful puns back then as well, eh?

"Tonight at 2 am, we have to turn back the clocks, and the Atlanta Braves are hoping to turn back the clock tonight and do what Minnesota did to them last year, winning the World Series."

Losing Delgado with no compensation--first at the trade deadline, and now at the arbitration deadline, assuming he's gone--really stings. Especially if he goes to Seattle (because of the high draft pick) or the Yankees (for obvious reasons). Obviously there is nothing JP can do about this now, but I wonder whether a bit more GM finesse during the season could have resulted in a deal similar to the Beltran or Zambrano transactions. Well, hindsight is 20-20.

Seriously, this game has totally made my weekend.

Man, I hope I can experience this one day.

bird droppings:

Just wait until the next game comes on at about 4:00.

http://www.rotoworld.com/
Some comments from Delgado's agent and his anti-war stance on Rotoworld.

As well, Rios has started playing winter ball down in PR. He was 2-for -4 yesterday with a 2b.

Is it wrong that I'm watching a 12 year old game and getting really pumped when Pendelton strikes out with 2 men on and 2 out?

Ahahaha Nixon thrown out trying to steal 2nd. I've never seen this game before; it's exactly what I needed today.

Brandon League has been compared to Duane Ward. Time to see what the Punch-Out might become, eh?

3 outs to go, folks!

2 to go!

Yes, I know this game goes 11 innings.

Perhaps an elder Bauxite can fill me in here...

This was Henke's last appearance as a Jay and he doesn't look like the Tom Henke I've heard of. Was there anything else happening around this time (injury?) or was it just a bad day at the office?

I wonder if there's an Atlanta baseball blog watching this right now with us and getting very depressed.

Winfield!

I tuned in just as Winfield was at bat in the 11th. A nice way to start. :)

I suggest everyone start paying attention RIGHT NOW. ;)

McCarver actually called the bunt beforehand. Wow.

1993 World Series Game 6 starting right now!

This was Henke's last appearance as a Jay and he doesn't look like the Tom Henke I've heard of. Was there anything else happening around this time (injury?) or was it just a bad day at the office?

The second of those.

McCarver actually called the bunt beforehand. Wow.

Wasn't Otis Nixon known as a bunter? I don't remember his Toronto days, maybe he wasn't. It seems strange that McCarver got something right, but it was 12 years ago -- maybe he was better then. :)

According to Rotoworld, the Jays claimed RP Steve Andrade off of waivers from the Angels. Solid numbers in AA, with mediocre "stuff". He's put up huge strikeout numbers through the minors, but he's nearing 27 so this is probably as good as it gets with him. Definately worth a look in the spring though.

http://www.futureangels.com/columns/homeplate/1103_2.html
COMN for a scouting report of Steve Andrade. It is a year out of date but there is some video.

No news is not good news on the Delgado front.

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/profiles/AN/tbc4407.asp
Here are Andrade's #'s including last year. A bit of a blip in a low number of innings in AAA but awesome K/BB ratio's overall. Does he have to go on the 40 man?

I believe that he does have to go on the 40 man, and he has to stay on there for 1 year. Can anyone confirm? Or am I completely off?

All I want for Christmas baseball wise is for the Jays to offer Delgado arbitration and for him to not accept..... sigh...

Sad eh... I want those draft picks...

Braby21 you are close but no cigar.

That rules applies for the Rule 5 Draft you are thinking about.

Nice K/9 figures for Andrade. 12.87 K / 9 Very good no matter the level. Just his 5th year in 2005 and he was due to reach AAA this year (01 rookie, 02 mid A, 03 high A/AA, 04 AA/AAA). Good timing to grab him for Syracuse with a possible mid-season stint as a setup man in the Jays pen. 2.97 BB/9 is fairly decent. Not great but solid with those K numbers. Wild in AAA during his 14 innings there last year but I wouldn't put too much weight on 14 innings. A cheap pickup that could pay off and costs nothing if he doesn't pay off.

I think he does have to go on the 40 man roster because he didn't clear waivers. If the Jays want to take him off the 40 man he'd have to go thru waivers again. I think they did this earlier in the off season with another player...

I think Andrade has to stay on the 40-man or he goes back on waivers, like Seung Song did. So if nobody wants him, he can be dropped from the roster, but if anyone claims him, they get him just like the Jays did.

Now, since he was claimed from the Angels, the Jays only had to wait for KC and Seattle to pass on Andrade, so any other of the 26 teams could, conceivably, want him as well. He could slide through waivers again, but I think he'll be kept on the roster.

Okay, Boxers, do you have any interest in bolstering the rotation with a veteran left-handed starter, former 20-game winner, 124-92 lifetime, just 36 years old ... well, one's available, as of now.

Yeah he has to stay on the 40 man roster for as long as they Jays want to keep him without taking the chance of losing him. My brain is out to lunch and dinner tonight.

I thought he was taken in the Rule 5 draft, sorry.

When is that draft?

http://www.mathesond.mindsay.com
There was a time when I thought Neagle would have been a good pickup for the Jays - back in his NL Central days, pre-$50MM+ contract. Now, well, if he works hard and keeps his nose clean, he could be the next Jon Lieber. But what are the odds of that?

Rob: "Craig, I just picked up the THT Annual -- "2004 Editon" -- from the mailbox and it looks pretty good..."

I just thought I'd mention that I also got my copy a couple days ago. Thank you, Craig. I've read a bit of it and it looks great, but I do wish there was a bit more "new" content in there. I had already read a lot of those articles on tht.com.

Still, there's enough new stuff in there that I'm satisfied, and I will enjoy re-reading those articles in the future, I'm sure.

So, yeah, thumbs up. Although I must say: the first thing I notice everytime I pick up the book is the "2004 Editon" typo. Oops! :)

I'm going to go out on a limb here and predict that Neagle wins the inevitable grievance. Someone over at Primer made the point that the Rockies had a guy who held a loaded gun to his wife's head and threatened to kill her. They didn't invoke the moral clause there. Not only that, but they apparently signed him after it happened.

Of course, he was coming off a better performance than Neagle. So I guess morals are less important if your elbow is healthy.

A SERIOUS POST....

Now that it appears that Delgado's days with the Jays could be over in 26 hours, is there any last minute petition, demonstration, etc. that could be done through da box to save this unfortunate event?

I'm counting down the hours...in a sombre mood, yet gleeful that Godfrey hasn't overruled JP.

Is a Delgado vigil thread on the site neccessary?

Is a Delgado vigil thread on the site neccessary?

Yes.

Neagle? On a minor league contract, with absolutely no responsibility and after he's slain a few demons of his own. Maybe.

Do most of the clubs always wait this close to the arbitration date? Or will we hear a lot of noise tomorrow? It seems weird that all the big free agents haven't been offered arbitration, so therefore they probably won't be back w/ their collective teams. WHY?

The Primer thread on the Neagle thing should cheer up anyone saddened about Carlos' imminent departure.

I'll be pretty disappointed if Delgado walks, Clement signs elsewhere, Hinske proves untradable, and JP signs battered Koskie and some filler free agents...

Re Neagle: Is "consulting" a prostitute illegal in the States?

As of now, Delgado can now sign elsewhere with the Jays getting nothing in return.

If he does sign elsewhere, I hope its in the NL. I couldn't stomach seeing him playing against us on a regular basis at the Dome.

Isn't the arbitration deadline midnight Tuesday night?

Yes, Jim. I am a moron.

Nice job by Scott Carson addressing the Bonds scandal on sportsnet.ca

I'd read it, but I absolutely refuse to go to that site until they fix it.

Nice job by Scott Carson addressing the Bonds scandal on sportsnet.ca

Is that a Score employee shilling for a rival sports channel? Tsk tsk :)

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/gammons/story?id=1940044
New Gammons with lots of rumours, COMN.
Nothing that interesting, but he repeats the Rios Johnson rumour.

Rios-Johnson = bad, right?

I'm not sold on Rios, based on his mediocre performance in Syracuse and lack of power in Toronto, but he still seems like he'll have a better career than Johnson. Unless the Jays are buying low with Johnson, and think his power will come back this year, I'm not sure why they make this deal. Add the fact that Johnson will make more and be a FA sooner and it becomes clear this just isn't the best move. Unless it forshadows a move to get Kearns for Hinske plus prospects,

JP was on the Fan this morning. Chances of them offering arbitration to Delgado are "slim". The hosts asked if Hinske was the thirdbaseman, JP answered "he is now". They asked if Hinske would be 3B next year, and JP replied that he is the 3B now, doesn't sound like JP wants to keep him.

JP has tried to make some deals but "hit stone walls", free agents hitters are not that plentiful and free agent pitchers look like the price is going up. They will look at bullpen guys are the non-tender deadline.

BTW a lot of tema sappear to be upset with the Benson deal, they feel it has driven prices for starters up.

I sure don't like a Rios for Johnson deal. Nick the Stick is most often replaced by Nick the Sick - he is too brittle to count on.

Just listening to the JP interview again via the Hot Audio at the Fan site, and if there was any chance at all about Delgado remaining a Blue Jay, it was killed with this exchange between Ricciardi and Gord Stellick, which Gwyn alluded to earlier:

Q: What are his chances of being a Toronto Blue Jay?
A: I think "very slim."
(awkward pause)
Q: Like "none", or "very slim?"
A: I think "very slim."

Nomar re-signed -- for only one year -- with the Cubbies.

If anybody's interested tsn is doing a segment on "Greatest BlueJay Ever" later on in the show.

http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/tor/ballpark/seating_pricing.jsp
The 2005 seating and pricing for individual game tickets has been released. Not alot of change, just some section swapping.

VBF, what was the verdict on "Greatest Blue Jay ever"? Is this worth a followup QOTD debate?

I'm siding with Doug Ault, personally.

Mick,

It was Robbie Alomar.

Their basis was the gold gloves, bat, WS contributions, all round greatness.

Delgado finished 3rd I believe. Correct me if I'm wrong. My memory is poor.

I imagine that it wold be on tomorrow's morning show if anybody missed it today.

I beleive it went something like this. 5 though 8 maybe be mixed around a bit but most of the should be correct.

1) Alomar
2) Steib
3) Delgado
4) Carter
5) Bell
6) Henke
7) Fernandez
8) Hentgen
9) Olerud
10) Clemens

Apparently the Yankees have reached a preliminary agreement on a 2-year $2 million contract with Tony Womack.

Good news!
COMN
Womack *and* Wright!

My crazy idea of the day.

It looks like, for reasons known to on one, the Yankees want to trade Vazquez, and they may be willing to eat some of his salary.

Think they'd trade him within the division?

What about Lightenberg and a prospect for him? (I'd say Hinske, but that makes no sense, instead of just little sense... maybe they'd take Batista though). Forget signing a free agent pitcher, I don't even think any of them are as good as Vazquez. Halladay, Lilly, Vazquez, Bush and Towers seems fine to me.

No chance, Paul. If he's not going to Arizona for Johnson, the Yankees can certainly get better than anything J.P. would offer for him.

http://www.athleticsnation.com/story/2004/12/8/15149/9561
There's a JP interview up at Athletic Nation. COMN.

People keep suggesting that the Jays trade off Ligtenberg, but no one is going to take him in a trade with his injury concerns. He'll have to prove in Spring Training that he's OK before anyone will even consider him.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/survey.cgi
Baseball-Refence is taking a survey on what new features you'd like to see there. You can help make the internet's best baseball reference site even better, and earn $2 in sponsorship credit while you're at it. Do it!

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041123/SPORTS0101/411230315/1007/SPORTS
Apparently, Sean Douglass signed with Detroit; a minor-league deal. I was looking at his stats at ESPN and noticed the "Detroit Tigers" next to his name.

Nothing on Rotoworld about it, but I found an article from the Democrat & Chronicle (COMN), which must be a Rochester newspaper. It mentions two Blue Jays, in fact:
Former Red Wings who recently signed with new teams as six-year minor-league free agents include...infielder-outfielder Howie Clark (Pittsburgh for Indianapolis), and pitchers Sean Douglass (Detroit for Toledo)

MLB.com doesn't mention these signings either.

Apparently, these happened November 23 (the date on the referenced article). I had no idea these players had already signed elsewhere. Did anyone?

How is this for a hijack? I'm curious to know whether anyone has heard anything about the old Peter Gammons Diamond Notes Generator. I've been trying to find it for some winter meetings humor, but it appears that the old one has been replaced with one that just randomly does it by itself. It looks to me and my law degree as if someone went after the guy who created it and forced him to list it as parody on their website for copyright reasons. Anyone know anything about it?