MLB: Noble: Hernandez tutoring Murphy at first base

I won’t say that Murphy belongs in the dugout, but he doesn’t belong at first base!

But no less an authority than Hernandez senses that Murphy can be an asset on the right side of the infield and give the Mets one less reason for pause.

“The way he works and as aggressive as he is, I expect him to be more than adequate,” Hernandez said Tuesday evening from the East Coast of Florida, hours after he and Murphy had completed a second session. “Some of what he does already—playing aggressively and always trying to get the lead runners—that can’t be taught. So he’s ahead of the game. Other things he can learn. I’m more than happy to help.”

Hernandez’s assessment of Murphy’s performance at first base—Murphy started 97 games and played 849 1/3 innings there last season—was properly qualified.

“Under the circumstances—he had zero experience there—he was very decent. I like his hands; you can’t teach good hands. I like his aggressiveness. He played admirably.”

Murphy’s objective is to be an asset at first base, to exceed expectations that seem to overlook his surprisingly effective play last summer after his flawed attempts to play left field. Toward that goal, he enlisted Hernandez’s expertise in December. An illness in Murphy’s family made pre-holiday sessions impossible. But general manager Omar Minaya, aware of Murphy’s desire for tutoring from a master, contacted Hernandez last week. The former Mets captain and now SNY commentator agreed to help and reprise his role of spring 2000.

JS Online: Schoeneweis signs minor league deal with Brewers

I wondered if we’d ever hear this name again. Copy Editors may not be so thrilled.

Jacque Jones, Twins agree to deal

Jacque’s back to the blue and redwall!

The Minnesota Twins have reached agreement with outfielder Jacque Jones on a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training.

Jones, 34, broke into professional ball with Minnesota in 1996 as a second-round draft pick out of USC. He’s a career .277 hitter with 165 home runs in 10 big league seasons with the Twins, Cubs, Tigers and Marlins.

Jones’ best career season came in 2002, when he hit .300 with 27 homers and 85 RBIs for Minnesota. He hasn’t played in the major leagues since 2008.

Jones was released by Cincinnati at the end of spring training last April after hitting .089 in 45 Grapefruit League at-bats. After failing to land a job, he continued to train at Mike Easler’s hitting school in Las Vegas. In December, Jones traveled to the winter meetings in Indianapolis to meet with clubs and express his interest in a comeback.

Jones will compete for a spot off the bench at Minnesota’s spring camp. The Twins have Michael Cuddyer in right field, Denard Span in center and Delmon Young in left, with Jason Kubel as the primary designated hitter and Jim Thome expected to be a left-handed bat off the bench and occasional DH.

Joe Torre on “Castle”

Joe Torre appeared on the ABC “Goofy Guy, Hot Lady Cop” show Castle last night. If you want to watch the entire episode (involving the mysterious death of a defected Cuban ballplayer), hit the top link. If you just want to see Joe Torre on the same screen as Nathan “Firefly” Fillion, the isolated Hulu video that just has Joe Torre’s appearance is below.

Dodger Thoughts:  In search of truth about Frank McCourt and the Dodgers

Developments in development
McCourt feels his regime isn’t given enough credit for its investment on the player development front, whether for scouting or for Camelback Ranch, the team’s year-old spring training facility in Arizona. In addition to being a boon for those fans who couldn’t make the journey to venerable Vero Beach (albeit a disappointment to those who could), Camelback has boosted the organization’s development efforts.

“That went from vision to reality in like 15 months,” McCourt said, “literally from a napkin to the reality. It was tumbleweeds, flatland and nothing, and now it’s considered the single-finest spring training facility in all of baseball. We broke the Cactus League record for attendance in our first year. We’re gonna kill it this year because a lot of people didn’t even realize it was there ... and we have what is the state-of-the-art development operation there for this organization. So it’s really as much [about] our farm system as it is about spring training.

“So that is an example I think of two things. One is execution on vision and finding a way to do that, but two, it’s also a way of being resourceful – taking a little bit of heat by the way, [because] there’s a lot of people who said ‘Don’t move from Vero,’ and I respected their viewpoint, but it turned out to be the right decision, and the organization is much better off in terms of our development, our ability to meet our goal to have the finest development system in the game by having Camelback Ranch. To me that’s much more tangible evidence of our commitment to [development] than not offering Randy Wolf arbitration.”

Sam Hutcheson’s Top 11 Sabrenerd Baseball Dork’s* Basements

7. Tom Tango blogs from a sphere of pure, crystalline mathematics, the complexity and perfection of which you could never hope understand.

2. Dan Szymborski inhabits a warren of catacombs that lead directly into the Baltimore sewer system, and thus eventually to the Mountains of Madness. Upon entering the upper levels, the visitor is inundated by cacophonous sensual overload. The tinkling of classical piano distracts the ear, while the eye struggles to find purchase upon the constantly shifting, shimmering reflective glaze of 12,000 old hubcaps stolen from passing motorists. The olfactory senses are overwhelmed by the intermingled scents of votive candles, burning frankincense and myrrh, and the stench of the Elder Gods that Lie Beneath. There is also an undertone of the piles and piles of chicken bones thrown across the floor. Contrary to popular belief, Dan does not use these in his voodoo-like ZIPS divinations. Rather, they’re just leftovers from the WingStreet deliveries last week.

Baseball Prospectus:  Introducing SIERA

Matt Swartz and Eric Seidman introduce another way of measuring pitcher effectiveness:

[W]e have invented a new statistic, Skill-Interactive Earned Run Average (SIERA), which corrects the problems with old estimators while adding a few more realistic assumptions. This was done first by un-foiling all of the individual components in QERA while making an adjustment for the issue with the ground-ball denominator issue, and testing to see which interactions and squared terms were relevant by using multiple linear regression analysis. Essentially, we changed the GB/BIP to (GB-FB-PU)/PA and evaluated all of the terms in the exponential regression, removing those with insignificant p-values; while the QERA formula only shows three variables, un-foiling the formula reveals several more. We identified two terms that were not useful: the squared term of walks, and the interaction between walk and strikeout rate. The squared terms on strikeout and ground-ball rates were both significant, and we also found important interactions between walks and grounders and between whiffs and grounders that have strong effects on run scoring.

As a result, SIERA accomplishes the following:

1.  Allows for the fact that a high ground-ball rate is more useful to pitchers who walk more batters, due to the potential that double plays wipe away runners.
2.  Allows for the fact that a low fly-ball rate (and therefore, a low HR rate) is less useful to pitchers who strike out a lot of batters (e.g. Johan Santana’s FIP tends to be higher than his ERA because the former treats all HR the same, even though Santana’s skill set portends this bombs allowed will usually be solo shots).
3.  Allows for the fact that adding strikeouts is more useful when you don’t strike out many guys to begin with, since more runners get stranded.
4.  Allows for the fact that adding ground balls is more useful when you already allow a lot of ground balls because there are frequently runners on first.
5.  Corrects for the fact that QERA used GB/BIP instead of GB/PA (e.g. Joel Pineiro is all contact, so increasing his ground-ball rate means more ground balls than if Oliver Perez had done it, given he’s not a high contact guy).
6.  Corrects for the fact that FIP and xFIP use IP as a denominator which means that luck on balls in play changes one’s FIP.

Part 2 of the introduction can be found here.

Orioles sign P Will Ohman to minor league deal

Oh man, Ohman becomes an “O” man.

The Orioles have signed two left-handed relievers, veteran Will Ohman and journeyman minor leaguer Will Startup, sources told FOXSports.com.

Ohman appeared in only 21 games with the Dodgers last year and posted a 5.84 ERA. Because of an injury, he didn’t pitch in the majors after the end of May.

Hardball Talk: Gleeman: Lenny Dykstra is back with some more can’t miss investment advice

Aaron sez:

All of which got me thinking about where “Lenny Dykstra on investing” ranks on the list of “people giving advice about things.” For instance, near the top of the list would probably be stuff like “Albert Pujols on hitting a baseball” or “Derek Jeter on attracting women.” Near the bottom of the list would be things like “Aaron Gleeman on dieting” or “Craig Calcaterra on hair styles.”

My challenge to you, the Circling the Bases/Hardball Talk reader, is to come up with some things that would actually rank below “Lenny Dykstra on investing.” Winner gets exactly zero dollars, which is more than you’d probably make listening to his advice. Have at it

Have at it, gang. 

UK alum pitches baseball to Moldova

One UK alumnus is taking America’s national pastime overseas in hopes of bettering people’s lives.

Patrick Boylan joined the Peace Corps after graduating from UK in 2006. Now he is requesting a grant to repair a baseball field and bring the sport to what he calls “the poorest country in Europe.”

Boylan said most people living in Moldova, a country bordering Romania and Ukraine, have never seen a baseball in their lives.

Spreading the gospel…

Borzi: Upbeat Twins owner Jim Pohlad has lots to say but stays mum on the Mauer issue

Minnesota Rocked! More info than a tour of Tommy Tourville’s records!

And Pohlad stressed that qualifying for postseason alone was no longer good enough for an organization that has lost five consecutive playoff series since 2002, three of them to the Yankees. He even appeared to guarantee a future world championship, without specifying when.

“I hear that we’ve got to do better, or get better, so that when we face the Yankees (we’re competitive),” he said. “I hope we’re not a team that’s intimidated by the Yankees. I don’t believe we are. I’m personally not intimidated by the Yankees or the Yankee organization. We just need to, every year, get better, so that whoever we face, that we will be able to advance.

“Teams mature. I don’t know where the core of our team is on the maturity level or the peak level, but I don’t think we’re at peak yet. Our core group of players is still very young. The future is very strong, and we will advance past the first round of the playoffs, into the World Series, and to the White House.”

About deferred compensation: St. Peter said the Twins last did it with Keith Atherton in the 1980s and Terry Steinbach in the 1990s. Pohlad, without addressing the Mauer contract directly, said he opposes it.

“There’s a whole bunch of examples in real life of that kind of stuff, that make you feel real good at the time, and later on you wish you hadn’t done that,” he said.

“You’re just kidding yourself. It’s either going to be somebody else’s problem, or we’ll worry about it later. At that point where you’ve got to worry about it, it affects your current operation. So it’s really not a good thing. You’ve got to pay the money no matter what. You might as well do it when the player’s playing for you.”

MLB, Granderson join anti-obesity effort

As much as his million-dollar smile and his impressive combination of speed and power, new Yankees outfielder Curtis Granderson is known for his active involvement in the community.

So it was no surprise when Commissioner Bud Selig said he “can think of no better MLB representative” to have been at the White House on Tuesday morning.

The reason for his latest visit to Washington, D.C.: Granderson joined first lady Michelle Obama to support the new White House Anti-Obesity Program, yet another venture that has Granderson’s full support.

The 28-year-old, a native of Illinois, was the son of a physical-education teacher, so the idea of getting kids active is especially important to Granderson.

Damn you Yankees, how dare you have such a Tzadik on your team?

P A A P F L Y: Dear Mr. Neukom, SOS.

“We may not be perfect, but heaven knows we try
Let’s drop the big one and see what happens”

What we can clearly see from this is that the Giants still appear to lack the ability to get on base at a league average rate and are by far the worst in the division. Exasperating that problem is the fact that when they do manage to sneak their way on base, they are going to have to go station to station to score runs.  While my method for examining their relative speed and OBP for 2010 isn’t exactly bullet proof, it does provide some pretty significant evidence that the Giants won’t be terribly swift.  After all, Bill James’ ( a pretty smart guy) projections are based on past performance. The Dodgers have the second worst average speed factor in the division and still have greater than a 20% advantage in that category. The back breaker of course is the fact that the Giants also have a serious power outage since the departure of Barry Bonds. A team that can’t get on base, runs like a team full of catchers and can’t play for the three run dinger probably isn’t going to score many runs. So if the Giants pitching staff felt they were carrying the load last year, they will probably feel more of the same this year and the defense behind them projects to do them a lot less good, too.

Sabean is out of money for the upcoming season and he’s running out of time. He may have fooled the business man Neukom thus far, but it appears his days are numbered. Frankly, he was very lucky with the timing of Peter McGowan’s departure. Neukom probably didn’t want to make such a big splash, especially coming off of a very successful season with the huge turnaround from ’08 to ’09, but if Sabean’s rosters continue to be less than impressive despite the young infusion of talent provided to him by John Barr and Dick Tidrow, Neukom will show him the door and find a new CEO. If a man who once ran the very successful Microsoft can’t understand the benefit that is the wealth of statistical information currently available to evaluate players and which Sabean ignores, who can?

Jonah Keri: Ranking MLB Stadiums, Part 1

I’m reminded of the weekend I spent one night in the Untamed Youth touring van.

Chris Jaffe, an excellent writer for The Hardball Times and one of two Jaffes at the top of my recommended baseball reading list, has penned a fun feature ranking his favorite baseball stadiums. It’s such a good idea, I had to nick it for myself.

One advantage I have over Chris (and even the biggest baseball nerds) is a history of baseball road trips. The mid-to-late 90s were a blur of frantic 400-mile drives, TripTiks, ballpark beverages and pitcher heckling. Those trips enabled live baseball viewing in every major league market but one (that white whale will be revealed shortly).

...31 Riverfront Stadium (Cincinnati): Your basic, multi-use, cookie-cutter stadium, but it trails some other, similar parks for its lack of rabid fans (St. Louis) and its inferior waterfront location (the Ohio River is more pleasant when crossed with two others in Pittsburgh, for some reason). Food was lame, configuration stunk, crowd noise didn’t travel well, etc.

But the worst part, by far, was our encounter with stadium security. We visited Cincinnati the weekend of June 14-16, 1996. How do I remember the dates so clearly? First, June 16 was my buddy Andrew’s 22nd birthday, so we were psyched to hit the town, get hammered, then see the Expos battle the Reds. The Spos took the first two games of the series, much to our delight. On the Saturday night, we all went out drinking.

...Jagermeister turned out to be…not the best choice.

Former Lotte Giants catcher dies (after 10 years in a coma after collapsing during a game)

A former catcher who fell into a vegetative state in the prime of his career was pronounced dead early yesterday after spending the past decade in a persistent vegetative state. Former Lotte Giants catcher Lim Soo-hyuk, 40, was pronounced dead at the Kangdong Sacred Heart Hospital in eastern Seoul early yesterday.

....

Lim was drafted in 1994 and listed at 185 centimeters (6 feet 1 inch) and 90 kilograms (198 pounds), he was tabbed early on as a promising ball player with a lot of potential. However, soon after the start of his seventh season, Lim suddenly collapsed at the second base during an April, 18 2000 game against the LG Twins at the Jamsil Stadium in southern Seoul. According to the medical reports, Lim collapsed due to a heart arrhythmia or irregular heartbeat and failed to receive cardiopulmonary resuscitation on time. Although an emergency medical service vehicle arrived and transported Lim to a hospital, the brain damage he received from the incident was said to have resulted largely from the lack of first aid soon after Lim collapsed at the stadium.

Poor first aid and the ensuing brain damage resulting from lack of oxygen to the brain meant there wasn’t much the doctors at the hospital could do to help Lim once he was brought to the hospital. The former baseball player went onto spend the next decade in a vegetative state.

Sad story out of Korea.

Hall of Fame Classic making return

The Baseball Hall of Fame will hold a second annual Hall of Fame Classic on Father’s Day this year.

....

The Hall said Monday that this year’s seven-inning exhibition game will feature seven Hall of Famers: Rollie Fingers, Goose Gossage, Bob Feller, Phil Niekro, Gary Carter, Harmon Killebrew and Mike Schmidt.

Niekro’s knuckleball should should work well.

Baseball Picture of the Day: YOUPPI post-Expos

It is now approximately 9 days until Pitchers and Catchers!

Today’s image shows us Youppi! Briefly out of work when the Expos split for DC, Youppi was able to quickly find a new home.

Youppi realized quickly that Canadians only care about Hockey, and so he would have to adapt. So he became the mascot for the Montreal Canadiens. But he still wears a Baseball Cap (albeit one with the Canadiens logo on it), showing his roots as the mascot of the late Les Expos.....

Creative Commons:

Tomorrow: Mascots are fun. Maybe I’ll do another mascot image.

Rosenthal: Looking back on race, Red Sox

I know they pulled a card on the heavily Zoe Graystoned Cylon robot...but Robothal?

I think back often to my column from ‘08. I know that for many, the topic was — and is — discomforting. But it’s important to keep talking about race, particularly in a sport that faces dwindling numbers of African-American players. It’s also important to remember that players choose teams for all sorts of reasons. Sometimes racial makeup is a factor; sometimes not.

Cameron says he cannot wait to play in a town where baseball is “deeply rooted.” In the end, he does not view the world in terms of black and white.

“I’ve never been a person like that, who viewed people in terms of color,” Cameron says. “I’ve never looked at it from that aspect. I try to treat everyone the same — my kids, parents, grandparents, the guy on the street.

“I believe the people in Boston will see it the same way, understand that all we do as players is put on the uniform and have a little bit of talent to play the game of baseball.

“I know the expectations are very high, and I’m looking forward to being part of our success, the team, the community and the fans.”

That’s a prominent African-American free agent talking. Maybe I should not have been so concerned in ‘08.

FanGraphs: Carruth: Fastball Losses

As Mrs. Delaviour (French for dicknose) said to me in high school..."You’re the most negative person I’ve ever met.” So...to answer that here’s the Fastball Gains.

Looking at the list from the other end, however – that is, from the pitchers that lost the most speed on average on their fastballs – produces more starters. Whether because starters will get more innings even when injured, a usual byproduct of diminished fastball speed, or some other cause is open for speculation, but the results are definitely interesting.

As promised, a list of the biggest drops in fastball speed from 2009 to 2008. A minimum of 50 innings pitched in each season was needed to qualify.

Joba Chamberlain, -2.5
Ervin Santana, -2.1
Ross Ohlendorf, -2
Jared Burton, -1.7
Tim Lincecum, -1.7
Daniel Cabrera, -1.7
Manny Delcarmen, -1.6
Chan Ho Park, -1.6
Brian Fuentes, -1.6
Jeremy Sowers, -1.5
Lance Cormier, -1.4
Chris Young, -1.4
Grant Balfour, -1.3
Mariano Rivera, -1.3
Tim Redding, -1.3
Oliver Perez, -1.2
Aaron Cook, -1.2
Kevin Gregg, -1.2
Kyle McClellan, -1.1
Aaron Heilman, -1

Cashman: No new pacts for big three

We’re not in Sloanville any more.

When Brian Cashman looks at Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Joe Girardi, the Yankees’ GM paints his shortstop, closer and manager with the same brush.

And with spring training opening next week in Tampa, Cashman has no plans to stray from his plan of not negotiating with them. All three contracts are in the final year.

“I don’t think you can separate one from the other,” Cashman explained. “I am not saying they are the same, but the questions will come, ‘If you did one, why didn’t you do the other?’ If this was Kansas City, it would be different — but it’s not.”

...“Everybody signed those contracts and there is a lot of money being made and people are comfortable,” said Cashman, who is signed through 2011 and never lobbied for an extension when he was in the final year of a deal.

Mets’ Citi Field to become more homer-friendly next season; center-field wall gets chopped to 8 feet

Good...gives the Marlon Anderson Hernandez’s something to shoot for.

The height of Citi Field’s center-field wall will be sliced in half, making the ballpark more homer-friendly, the Daily News has learned.

Last season, the wall measured 16 feet in front of the sparsely used Home Run Apple. Now, with the second level of padding being removed, it will measure eight feet in the middle of the outfield.

Still, as the Daily News exclusively reported in September, the stadium’s spacious dimensions won’t be altered.

The Mets hit 95 homers last season, by far the fewest in the majors. San Francisco ranked 29th with 122.

Wright, whose home-run power is more to right-center than the left-field line, saw his power plummet as the Mets moved from Shea Stadium to Citi Field. He went from a career-high 33 homers in 2008 to 10 homers last season - five at home, and five on the road.

MLB: Mays’ life and legend transcend statistics

As Sammy Davis once said to Willie Mays on the Mike Douglas Show..."Willie, man, I must ask you, where did that saying about you “Willie don’t want that ball” come from?” Mays..."I have no idea what you are talking about, Sammy”

Then, after the Giants moved to San Francisco in 1958, he played home games for 12 full seasons (1960-71) at Candlestick Park, where the incessant winds muted drives pulled to left field by right-handed-hitting sluggers such as him.

Asked if Candlestick denied Mays batches of homers, former Giants broadcaster Lon Simmons responded without hesitation.

“No doubt about it,” said Simmons, who saw Mays’ best years in San Francisco.

Right-hander Bob Bolin recalled watching the gusts stifle dozens of Mays’ clouts when the Giants’ bullpen was situated down the left-field line in Candlestick’s early years.

“The ball would actually be out of the ballpark on those high drives, and the wind would push them back in,” said Bolin, who pitched for the Giants from 1961 to 1969.

Undaunted, Mays learned to stroke pitches to right-center field, where the breezes carried batted balls toward the fence. But if Candlestick frustrated him, he wouldn’t reveal it.

“It was miserable to play there, and he never, ever said how bad it was,” said shortstop Chris Speier, who began his 19-year career with the Giants in 1971.

freep: Johnny Damon likes Yzerman, Tigers

Yes...but will he like Rybarczyk’s line change?

“Johnny came to me about Detroit,” Boras said in a telephone interview. “He told me, ‘If I can’t play for the Yankees, I want you to let the Tigers know I want to play for them. I can make that team a winner.’ “

Although Damon, 36, has been a free agent since November, Boras said the market for him really didn’t develop until it became clear the Yankees wouldn’t re-sign him. Then, said Boras, “We got four or five offers right away.”

Boras declined to identify which clubs made offers or how much interest they have subsequently shown.

Boras addressed one aspect of Damon’s performance last season. According to Baseball-Reference.com, Damon hit 15 of his 24 homers to a place where the ball carried notoriously well, rightfield in the new Yankee Stadium.

“It’s no secret that Johnny Damon purposely hooks the ball in Yankee Stadium and changes his swing on the road,” Boras said. He added that Damon, a left-handed hitter, is a “strong guy” whose Yankee Stadium homers would have cleared the rightfield fence at Comerica Park.

Kansas City Kansan: Sloan: It’s time to trade Greinke, Soria

Wyandotte the land with unread newspapers...when you can have Nick Sloan!

The Royals’ two most popular and talented players, the trades would leave many fans disappointed.

However, it could also leave the Royals’ cupboard stacked with young talent and within five years, the Royals could be a prime-time contending team.

ESPN recently ranked the Royals farm system. It ranked ninth, the highest in years.

Consider trading Greinke.

Greinke has one of the friendliest contracts in baseball and any team – not just the Yankees, Red Sox or Mets – could afford him. A team like Tampa Bay, Texas or Anaheim, who might be just one piece away from a title, might not hesitate to dish out four or even five solid prospects.

Soria, a top notch closer, could generate two to even three prospects.

While the six to eight prospects all wouldn’t turn out, odds are that half of them would. And joining the highly ranked class already, the Royals could have the premier minor league system in baseball by making these two moves.

Tango:  Evaluating the 2009 forecasts - Chone/ZiPS + Fantistics win

[Chone and ZiPS lead the way.  Marcel is where it should be, whil PECOTA once again brings up the rear (just not so obvious this time). 

(...)

It looks to me like we found our secret recipe: Chone/ZiPS forecasts for rate, with Fantistics for playing time.

So, my question is, what did Nate do with PECOTA that hasn’t been done by the rest of the BP guys since Nate became a politometric dork?  This is the second year that PECOTA got trounced and it also was bottom of the barrel in Tango’s Simulated Draft experiment.

AP: Foot surgery to limit Cliff Lee

SEATTLE—The Seattle Mariners say left-hander Cliff Lee is recovering from minor left foot surgery and will be limited when pitchers and catchers report to spring training this month.

The team announced Monday that its biggest offseason acquisition had surgery Friday in his native Arkansas to remove a bone spur that broke loose and was floating in his left foot.

MLB: Kielty hopes to try his hand at pitching

The only thing Kielty knows about pitching is...how to sell burgers.

In the course of baseball history, numerous strong-armed position players have reinvented themselves as pitchers.

Outfielder Bobby Kielty—a veteran of seven Major League seasons who last appeared in the bigs with the Red Sox in 2007—hopes to do it in a more creative way than most.

In an e-mail message to MLBTradeRumors.com, which on Saturday first reported the 33-year-old’s plans, Kielty indicated he would ideally like to be a pinch-hitter also able to work in relief.

Or, presumably, a relief pitcher also available to pinch-hit.

Kielty, a switch-hitter who throws right-handed, has never appeared on a professional mound—not even for mop-up duty in blowouts, as position players do occasionally.

SNY: Salfino: Yanks prove money does equal winning

Yes, certainly a tom gray area.

The Yankees were really set back when the current draft rules were implemented in 1965. But free agency saved them and now many premium players (like current top Yankees prospect Jesus Montero) are not U.S. residents and therefore not subjected to the draft. These players can be signed by the Yankees in the manner that existed before 1947, de facto free agency. Inevitably, this team with even only competent management was going to rise to power—playoff appearances in 14 of the last 15 years. During this time, they’ve won “only” five championships.

So, is this the best of both worlds for baseball—having a great New York team that usually is not the champion? The ever-growing legion of Yankees haters would take satisfaction from the team either losing (sub-.500 record) or at least failing to make the playoffs (like in 2008). From 2001 to 2007, Yankees fans got to strut their stuff for six full months before being ultimately thwarted. That gave their haters a brief rush of pleasure, but then it’s on to football.

The best thing for baseball right now is that the Yankees are in the same division as the Red Sox. This means that they either have to beat Boston or the field of non-division winning teams. It’s easy for them to do this. It should be expected. But it’s not a slam dunk in the way their recent playoff streak implies.

Bodley: Zduriencik builds winner in Seattle

And all without sabermetrics! Way to go, Bods!

Jack Zduriencik reminds me of a movie star discovered in a Hollywood drug store who goes on to win an Academy Award.

Those who celebrate these kinds of successes are unaware of all the years of hard work, waiting on tables, daily struggles, toiling in the Minor Leagues, etc., for that defining moment at the drug store.

Baseball people are gawking at Zduriencik’s success since becoming Seattle’s general manager and even calling him an overnight success.

Don’t mention that to the 59-year-old Zduriencik (zur-EN-sik). The Z-man, as he’s called in Seattle, has more than paid his dues. For years he’s been anything but baseball’s best-kept secret.

“I got my chance, but I’m not doing anything differently than I’ve ever done,” he says. “I just try to be who I am. I want to be good; there are 30 clubs out there who want to be good.”

Report: Yankees sign OF Marcus Thames

Jon Heyman of SI.com reports that the Yankees have signed outfielder Marcus Thames.

Terms of the contract are not yet known. Thames could enter a left field platoon with Randy Winn. Generally considered a poor defensive outfielder, Thames has value in his .845 career OPS against left-handed pitching. The Yankees will also benefit from having an extra right-handed bat in the outfield. Thames, originally drafted by the Yankees in 1996, batted .252/.323/.453 with 13 home runs in 258 at-bats last season.