Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Yanks, Manchester City awarded MLS expansion team
(mlb.mlb.com)
posted 10 hours ago by Gamingboy to other sports, soccer, the empire's alliances, yankees
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19 comment(s)
Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber announced today that a partnership of global sports powers, Manchester City Football Club and the New York Yankees, has acquired the League’s 20th expansion club. The new team will be named New York City Football Club (NYCFC) and expects to begin play in 2015.
Wait, I thought Manchester United was the Yankees’ fellow member of the Legion of Doom, not Manchester City!
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1 2 >Gardner: You, my lord.
"Who am I?"
Gardner: You are my lord and king. You are Jeter.
"Have you found the secret that I have lost? "
Gardner: Yes, you and the land are one.
The media love narratives, and Jeter's got a great one. You just notice it more because the Yankees are on national TV so much more than any other team, and he's been an everyday presence in the lineup for the past 17 years, and in the postseason in 16 of them. Cal Ripken used to get the exact same treatment every time the Orioles were on FOX or ESPN. Mo gets it just as much today, in proportion to the number of innings he appears on the screen.
Isn't this ARod's story too?
Isn't this ARod's story too?
Except that people see Jeter as having done things the right way, and ARod - very often - has been seen as doing things the wrong way.
I'm not fan of ARod, but even I'll have to acknowledge what a remarkable talent he's been. He's just really hard to like.
Was there some particular reason this guy needed anonymity?
I hope Raissman isn't a hypocrite. If he sneers at someone bringing their sick mother to Lourdes or venerating an image of the virgin Mary that seems to appear in a piece of toast he should be reminded that his near worship of Jeter is barely any less silly.
I agree. I'm a Yankee fan, have watched him since he came up, and I don't care for Jeter.
It was Evil ARod who moved to third, and Sheffield - not The Captain - who offered.
It was Evil ARod who moved to third, and Sheffield - not The Captain - who offered.
Exactly. Some "Captain"
And ultimately to "yeah, society has accepted growth hormone and these other substances for health/anti-aging purposes, so we don't care about this stuff anymore."
A-Rod's lower-body may have fallen apart even quicker if he continued playing shortstop.
I've never thought this situation was as black and white as many of the posters on BTF construed. Rodriguez was a much better athlete than Jeter back in '04, and the transition to third-base may have been easier for him. Jeter has a slow first step, and the Yankees may have taken that into consideration and not even broached the idea of him switching positions. So, what then? Should the Yankees have moved Jeter to second-base, where he had no experience? Would they risk him getting injured learning the pivot? What else? Move him to center? Lofton and Bernie were competing for the position that Spring Training.
The idea that Jeter had some kind of moral failing because he didn't want to give up his position is ridiculous. The Yankees had won five pennants and four World Series titles with Jeter playing short. I think he could be forgiven for thinking he had something to do with it.
I think it would be more "Baseball is doooooomed"...and actually I think attendance would take a hit.
"The Yankees" should have moved Jeter to CF for A-Rod. But I can't blame that on Jeter unless someone in the know reports that that's how it went down. It's entirely possible that one or both of A-Rod and the front office thought Jeter at SS would be best, and thus Jeter was never asked to move. If you do want to blame one entity, I guess you can blame the front office -- it's not really either A-Rod's job to insist that the guy move, or Jeter's to volunteer. I do think moving Jeter would have been better, not only on the field, but to put a bullet into the True Yankee/"Torre's guys" vs. False Yankee thing, which ended up blossoming into a humongous problem. I'd be quite curious to know what exactly was said during the A-Rod negotiations. But I've certainly never seen anything to challenge the notion that, at least by the time A-Rod got to NY, he knew he was playing 3B and was fine with it.
Jeffy Delta would beg to differ.
Exactly. Some "Captain"
A captain never abandons his ship.
I've never thought this situation was as black and white as many of the posters on BTF construed.
Of course it wasn't. The fact that Jeter is still contributing at SS while A-Rod can't stay on the field ought to be vindication for the front office's foresight in playing them where their bodies and skills were best suited. But so many people here made up their mind in 2004 and 9(!) seasons of evidence (including two MVPs for A-Rod, a surprisingly productive decline phase from Jeter, 8 out of 9 years winning 94 games or more with this alignment, A-rod's gradual loss of mobility) that the Yanks made a good call won't convince them otherwise.
Moving A-Rod to third and keeping Jeter at SS has worked out extremely well for the Yanks, and it more than justifies the Jeter staying put without needing to delve into the player's involvement in management's decision. But in some people's minds, Jeter playing SS is an affront to the game (or something equally silly) and the decision to move A-rod is just something they use to affirm theories they want to believe anyway.
"The Yankees" should have moved Jeter to CF for A-Rod.
Can you make even a semi-plausible argument to support this? Are the Yanks really better off in 2007 with an aging Jeter in CF, A-rod getting moved to third anyway, Damon still on the Red Sox and a gaping hole at SS? SS is one of, if not the hardest position to fill through free agency (maybe catcher is harder?).
There is no way A-rod would have stuck at SS and the free agent/trade market for SS's hasn't been all that impressive since the trade (other than Reyes' availability last year). And I don't remember the Yanks trading away any stud SS prospects over the last nine years. The problem with the argument that the Yanks should have done something different is that the decision didn't take place in a vacuum, the Yanks had to make decisions regarding acquiring the 9 best position players they could. Picking up quality CFers has proved to be much easier over the last decade than picking up quality shortstops.
Yeah, he looked really bad out there last year and I doubt destroying his ankle will make him better out there. But 9 years after the trade, that's besides the point of the original decision. He still put up 2.1 BWar and 3.2 FWar last year, so he's still contributing.
Lofton ended up being the 4th OFer and wasn't happy. He even implied that Torre was a racist afterwards.
Most modern "journalists" are lazy cowards. This is not a new thing.
Plenty of the teenage girls who swooned for rookie Jeter are moms now. Some even have teenage kids of their own.
But did their mothers also get gift baskets? ;)
Sure, the writer didn't want us to know that it was the assistant vice president for hair shellac.
Anyway, to the topic ... Centering it all around Jeter's comeback takes the rather substantial risk that Jeter's comeback is a total flop. 39, coming off a broken ankle, his first season under 10 steals, struggling to keep the ISO over 100. Suppose he starts out like 2011 -- 270/330/353 in the first half? Even the O's stopped trotting Cal out there every day.
Granted, Jeter might be the only thing they've got left (other than "hey, we're still a damn good team") but "only the Jeter can save us" is asking an awful lot from the guy.
IIRC Candy Maldonado was the Yankee who had a thing for teenage girls. "Hey little girl, want some candy?"
And A-Rod.
The FO's failure to move Rodriguez off 3B while his body crumbled to dust is condemnation of the FO's lack of foresight. No idea what they could have been thinking.
???
They managed to brutally misjudge Rodriguez's durability, to the point where there's a good chance they'll be punting $100m plus. You're omitting something rather serious. I'm hard-pressed to call the FO's handling of the situation anything other than an incredibly expensive failure.
You're thinking of Luis Polonia.
Candy Maldonado never played for the Yankees, and was generally considered a stand-up guy.
(I'm a Jays fan who remembered his contributions in 1992.)
They can cleanse any muck surrounding the organization.
Pulitzer.
So do you agree it is good thing they moved him off of SS? I can't imagine staying at short would have helped him age more gracefully.
They managed to brutally misjudge Rodriguez's durability, to the point where there's a good chance they'll be punting $100m plus. You're omitting something rather serious. I'm hard-pressed to call the FO's handling of the situation anything other than an incredibly expensive failure.
If you want to argue that signing him until 42 was a mistake, be my guest. But that's not what I was talking about. The question as I understand it is whether the decision to move A-rod off of SS was as bad a decision as some primates make it out to be. If your argument is that A-rod can't stay healthy at 3rd 7 years later, then it's a good thing they didn't keep him at SS. I'd rather have my team bet on Kevin Youkilis contributing for a huge chunk of time this year than Eduardo Nunez. And I bet A-rod would have gotten more money if he was still at SS in 2007.
Pretty sure the bloom has been off that particular rose since, oh, 2009.
CP--I have zero problem with the idea that Arod at 3B and Jeter at SS, initially, was a perfectly cromulent move. And, yes, as quickly as he broke down at 3B I shudder to think what would have happened to him at SS. It's just that when you depict the FO's handling of Arod's positioning as exemplary that I have to call foul. Given how quickly he's fallen apart while they've kept him at 3B rather than moved him to DH, I think it's fair to say 'dumb luck' rather than 'foresight' wrt to the 3B/SS situation was what really was operating.
edit: sorry if that came across as nitpicking, or as stretching your claims further than you intended them to go; it's just that I've been appalled for a while now at how badly and obviously the Yankees have handled Arod, which I don't think could have resulted from anything other than a total misevaluation of his condition. We all saw him struggling, then suffering. I still don't get it, and it would no longer surprise me, if he comes back, if they just run him right back out to third. It really wouldn't.
But I don't think their handling of his career is exemplary. I think their decision to move him to third and keep Jeter at SS, which is was harshly criticized at the time, and is still being criticized in this thread (see posts 11, 12, 20) was actually fairly prescient.
I am of the opinion that moving him to third was the right move and the FO should get credit for that, and then signing him to a ten year, 300 million dollar contract, was insane and the FO/ownership should be held accountable for it. I don't think those two opinions conflict with each other.
Given how quickly he's fallen apart while they've kept him at 3B rather than moved him to DH, I think it's fair to say 'dumb luck' rather than 'foresight' wrt to the 3B/SS situation was what really was operating.
That's a reasonable interpretation of it as well. I'm hesitant to attribute decisions of this magnitude by a relatively smart front office as dumb luck. Making a bad decision later doesn't discount the good decision made years earlier.
Yeah, that would be Polonia, or Mel Hall. But, hey, don't let a mere 2.5 seconds of Googling keep you from posting a totally made-up thing.
Is SS more dangerous than 3B? It's certainly more difficult, but 3B has it's fair share of awkward flopping and diving. I guess the 2B turn is a difference.
But I think it's facile to say moving him to third was the right move since he ended up breaking down 8 years after the move and assume we know that he'd be in the same situation if he'd stayed at short.
SS is involved in more plays too. More bending over to get ground balls, plenty of charging and diving in its own right, fielding relay throws far more often. I would think the increased activity, plus the turn as you mention, would lead to extra wear and tear on a body.
Well never know.
Which is kind of my point. We can only evaluate what happened, and what happened was pretty good for the Yanks. So how can the move be a blunder?
SS seems like it would be less harsh on the hips than all the dives at third base.
I don't know that there are less dives at SS. After all, Jeter is practically known for diving. Seems there are plenty of dives to go around the infield, and the increased ball traffic up the middle probably makes up for the shorter reaction time at the corners in terms of generating dives.
But I think it's facile to say moving him to third was the right move since he ended up breaking down 8 years after the move and assume we know that he'd be in the same situation if he'd stayed at short.
That's not what I'm saying. I list several reasons why the move has worked out well and one of them is that with A-rod's recent fragility, it sure is nice that the guy who has been on the field 150 games a year is the guy who stayed at SS. Of course we can't possibly know what would have happened in some alternate universe. All we know is that the move worked out well in real life.
What's facile is pretending that we know things would have been better if A-Rod stayed at short and Jeter had moved to 3rd or CF, and then assigning blame to the respective parties involved for that decision. And people here do that all the freaking time. What we do know is that both A-rod and Jeter provided high quality play at their respective positions for years after the switch was made. And that the player that is currently more durable is at the position where it is harder to find quality replacements and subs. So we can look at what actually happened and say that the move worked out well for the Yanks. That makes me the claim that the move was some sort of wrong decision (for whatever reason it was made) pretty hard to support.
That said Jeter clearly should have been Younted as soon as it became obvious Bernie could no longer handle center but that has little to do with A-Rod. Jeter has/had the perfect skill set for it with good speed, arm and instincts; even the strongest part of his game at SS was how he handled fly balls. That they STILL didn't do it with the best SS in history joining the team was simply inexplicable.
Move Bernie to left where he likely would have still been adequate for a while, Jeter to center where I suspect he would have been pretty good and leave A-Rod at short where he was a plus defender... or let him learn to be mediocre at third while Jeter and Bernie continue to suck it (on an arguably historic level) at their old positions.
You guys can claim prescience on the part of management for knowing A-Rod would breakdown and not Jeter or that it is easier to find a CF than SS but I'm going to stick with it was quite obviously stupid and remains such.
Putting Ripkin and A-Rod in the same sentence offensively as if they're equal or even similar is just not right, as is contending that Jeter is not Ripkin offensively. Jeter leads Ripkin lifetime in BA (by 37 points!), OBP (by 42!), OPS (by 42), OPS+ (by 5), and even in straight slugging percentage Jeter comes out on top.
I'd agree. I'd say what makes Ripken so much better than Jeter is his defence (which seems a bit under-appreciated among casual fans), not so much his batting.
Yes, Bob, the Yankees sure haven't promoted Jeter enough during his career. It's about time they unveil the best-kept secret in baseball.
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