Padded caps for pitchers?

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According to a story on ESPN, Major League Baseball has approved the use of padded caps for pitchers starting this season. Considering the sheer magnitude of innings pitched in a single season, line drives that hit the pitcher in the head are very rare - but incredibly scary whenever they happen.

The protection would come in the form of foam and plastic padding inside pitchers' caps, adding about half an inch to each side of the cap, and an inch on the front. ESPN has a video up on their site showing a few major league pitchers trying on the caps, and from a distance it would be difficult for fans to tell the difference.

The caps would be optional at first, but widespread adoption would likely lead to a new rule in years to come. Major League Baseball certainly isn't dealing with the same concussion PR-nightmare the NFL is, but they're still taking steps to allow their players to protect themselves.

Among the players interviewed, Yankees lefty CC Sabathia said he would wear the new cap, even though he's never been hit in the head in his illustrious twelve year career."You can never be too safe," he said. "Especially with the way guys are hitting the ball these days."

No word yet on whether any Red Sox pitchers will decide to take advantage of the new protective headgear - but I would guess the front office would support such a protection for their investment.

Yankees: If at first you don't succeed, buy, buy again!

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The Yankees don't handle mediocrity well. During the 2008-2009 offseason, after they missed the playoffs for the first time since 1995, the Yankees went on a spending spree, handing out nearly half a billion dollars to three players on long term contracts:

CC Sabathia: 27 years old, seven years, $161 million
A.J. Burnett: 32 years old, five years, $82.5 million
Mark Teixeira: 29 years old, eight years, $180 million
Total: $423.5 million

Of those three players, only Sabathia has been worth the money and commitment. Burnett only played in New York for three seasons, and the injury-plagued Teixeira has only played 138 games over the last two seasons, with three years remaining on his contract.

Obviously, the "spend-now, worry later" philosophy paid off immediately, as the Yankees won the World Series in 2009 - but now they're dealing with an aging roster (last year the team's average age was 31.8 years old) that missed the playoffs once again, so they're back to their high buying ways this offseason:

Brian McCann: 29 years old, five years, $85 million
Carlos Beltran: 36 years old, three years, $45 million
Jacoby Ellsbury: 30 years old, seven years, $153 million
Masahiro Tanaka: 25 years old, seven years, $155 million (plus $20 million to Tanaka's former team)
Total: $458 million

Remember when the Yankees were going to spend sparingly and get themselves under the luxury tax threshold? Even with the mulligan they're getting on Alex Rodriguez's monster contract, that is absolutely not going to happen.

But it doesn't matter. The Yankees play in the middle of the biggest media market in the country, and the money they get from cable and radio rights ensures that they'll be able to spend boatloads of money on any players they want for the foreseeable future.

The Yankees could pay A-Rod this year and not break a sweat. It's one of the most ridiculous parts of MLB's no salary cap policy: teams in cities like New York, LA, Chicago, and Boston will always have more money to spend than those in Kansas City, Phoenix, or Milwaukee. 

It allows big market teams to take risks on long term deals if they want to, without fearing for financial ruin. They can outbid everyone else on short term deals and draft picks, since they can afford to prioritize roster flexibility over payroll. It's a testament to the sport that the league has had even a modicum of parity over the last decade.

As a Red Sox fan, I (mostly) benefit from this, so I don't have too many complaints - but as a baseball fan, the absurdity of the status quo is frustrating.

Sox fall to Yankees

It's always rough to go into Yankee Stadium and lose the opening game of a series - especially when your ace faces off against their ace and theirs comes out on top. Sadly for the Red Sox, starter Jon Lester had flashes of brilliance where he sent Yankee after Yankee back to the dugout, but his few lapses were more than enough as CC Sabathia gave up just a single run in seven and a third innings.

Though the Sox kept things interesting in the ninth inning, with back-to-back hits by Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz with just one out, Mike Napoli struck out and then Stephen Drew grounded the ball back to Yankees closer Mariano Rivera, who made the play to end the game. Dustin Pedroia scored the only run for the Red Sox in the seventh inning, and had three hits on the night, continuing to tear things up on the field despite the UCL tear in his left hand.

The Sox know as well as anyone that if you leave your scoring against the Yankees untl the end of the game, it's likely that your chances will be limited. Mariano Rivera is legendary for a reason, and he doesn't blow many save opportunities. Tonight was no exception, even though the Sox managed to bring the tying run to the plate.

The Red Sox will still maintain sole possession of first place even after losing tonight's game to the Yankees - but the Yanks do pick up a full game in the standings, trailing the Sox by just a single game with two more games to play in this weekend series. Tomorrow's game will see Felix Doubront facing off against Phil Hughes.

Big things for Jackie Bradley Jr.

A simple glance at the box score wouldn't leave you with a ton of confidence about Jackie Bradley Jr.'s performance yesterday afternoon - but a simple glance wouldn't be doing him justice. After one game, Bradley has a batting average of zero, but with three walks (one after falling behind in the count to CC Sabathia, 0-2) his OBP is .600.

I'm perfectly aware that statistics like that are totally meaningless with a minuscule  one-game sample size, but a three walk game is a success no matter the context. It's easy to forget with all of the hype surrounding this rookie, but Bradley has never even played a game in AAA, or spent any time in left field. But obviously he was equal to the hype, since he waltzed right into Yankee Stadium on Opening Day, and scored two of the Red Sox runs with an RBI of his own, in addition to some great play in the field (pictured).

It's always fun (and ridiculous) to take Opening Day statistics and stretch them out over a 162 game season: for instance, the Sox would be on pace to go 162-0. If you averaged Bradley's Opening Day performance over an entire season, he would have no hits, 486 walks, 324 runs scored, and 162 RBIs. Certainly that would be an altogether absurd full season stat line, but I do see big things for the rookie this year.

In fact, I'm so confident that I added Jackie Bradley Jr. to my fantasy team last night. I had to sacrifice Lorenzo Cain, but I know it'll be worth it over the full season. There may not be any Red Sox baseball today, but I'm happily throwing myself into the euphoric and plentiful baseball-is-back coverage all over the internet. After all, if I survived six months of reflection about the worst Red Sox season in decades, I can certainly last one day on the sweet memories of beating New York on Opening Day in their house.

Limping Pinstripes

While the Red Sox are pondering what to do without David Ortiz for the first couple weeks of the season, the Yankees are having a similar problem - though multiplied in severity. We already knew that Alex Rodriguez was going to be out for at least half the season recovering from hip surgery, but his absence is just the tip of the iceberg.

Mark Teixeira is out at least until mid-May with a strained tendon in his right wrist, and he's lucky to be avoiding surgery. Curtis Granderson fractured his arm on February 24th when he was hit by a pitch, and will also be out more than a month.

Luckily for the Yankees, CC Sabathia has seemingly recovered from his offseason surgery, and is scheduled to return this Friday. Meanwhile, it's only due to Ichiro Suzuki's unique brand of badassery that he emerged from a car accident unscathed last week.

The Yankees are getting desperate as some of their most talented (and well-compensated) veterans succumb to freak accidents and the ravages of aging, apparently asking Chipper Jones to come out of retirement to shore up the roster (he declined). Kevin Millar, unable to resist a joke, had this to say:

But even GM Brian Cashman isn't content with contributing to the team by signing players. No, he felt the need to show his solidarity with his battered troops by earning a fracture of his own - while skydiving, of all things.

So while it's certainly a huge bummer to be missing David Ortiz for a little while, we can take comfort in the fact that things could always be worse - and that they're finally worse for the Yankees.

Winning: The Ultimate Revenge

Okay, I'll admit it: like many of you, I'm sure, I went to bed before the Red Sox were done with their game last night.  After a 3 1/2 hour rain delay, the game finally got started when it should have been ending, and I only made it through six innings before my eyes started drooping and I went to sleep. 

Sadly, I surrendered just one inning too early.  When I left at the end of six, the Sox were trailing 0-2, and by the end of the seventh, they had exploded for eight hits and seven runs in the seventh inning.  David Ortiz had a single and an RBI double, notching his own personal payback for being beaned by CC Sabathia earlier in the game.

 
Ortiz didn't blame Sabathia for the HBP, which isn't terribly surprising considering the two are friendly.  What is interesting is that Papi blamed the media for getting plunked.  Until last night, Ortiz had made it 160 games against the Bronx Bombers without getting hit by a pitch, and that fact was well publicized. 

To be perfectly honest, after Beckett hit Captain Jetes and A*Rod early on, I fully expected Youk to bear the brunt of Yankee payback - he's traditionally been their favorite target.  [However, I guess I shouldn't be surprised since Joba Chamberlain, Youk's usual tormenter, is on the DL.]  It was pretty obvious that both of Beckett's HBP were accidental, and he made sure to speak to Umpire Hunter Wendelstedt and make sure he would still be able to pitch inside.

On the other hand, despite the fact that Sabathia claimed the ball simply "got away" from him, his control had been pinpoint until that moment;  it was payback, plain and simple.  I'm okay with it, though... the Red Sox got the last word, pulling 2 games ahead of the Yankees in the division, and gaining a commanding 8-1 lead in the season series.

Viva King Felix!!!

Seattle's Felix Hernandez took the American League Cy Young Award this week, and despite all the whining from the peanut gallery (ahem, New York and Tampa), King Felix was the right choice.

Obviously, with a record of 13-12, Hernandez wasn't even in the running in terms of wins, but we did learn from last year's winner (Zack Greinke) that the voters are beginning to understand that wins are by no means the most important statistic. If fact, wins are completely subjective; a pitcher could literally have a 0.00 ERA with no hits, walks, or hit batsmen, and end his season with zero wins.

On the other hand, it's conceivable that a player could have an ERA over 5 and win twenty games. Neither of these scenarios are likely, of course, but that fact that they are technically possible should set the alarm bells off in your brain: wins are practically useless as a statistic.

Felix Hernandez had the lowest ERA in the league (just .06 runs better than our own Clay Buchholz) at 2.27, and the highest WAR (6.0), all while pitching more innings than anyone in the American League.

Of course, the whining coming out of New York and Tampa Bay is predictable, since they can claim the third and second-place players, but the reasoning behind their arguments is bordering on absurd:

Keith, I expected better from you, but I guess I'll have to ask you to leave the sports talk to those who have done the research and actually UNDERSTAND the statistics. You could just as easily argue that Price and Sabathia (I presume he was referring to them) actually had the benefit of knowing a good lineup - a PENNANT CALIBER lineup, if you will - would bail them out if they turned in an occasional stinker. Hernandez? Not so much. HE was pressured to give up ZERO runs every time he pitched, and STILL not always get the win.

I also had someone make the argument that Price should have won because "he was young and carried the team on his back." Umm, okay... except King Felix is YOUNGER THAN PRICE, and Price was responsible for 19.7% of the Rays' total wins, while Hernandez was responsible for 21.3% of the Mariners' total wins.

So I guess the point here is this: despite the fact that the BBWAA has learned that there's more to life than a sparkly win-loss record, fans have not. I guess it's up to their peers to educate them, one stubborn traditionalist at a time.

Crazy for Cliff Lee (but not insane)

"The Rangers may do something crazy when it comes to Lee, but they won't do something insane." - T.R. Sullivan / MLB.com

What on Earth does that even mean? That they won't outbid the Evil Empire? I hate to be critical, but DUH. Even if the Rangers front office had half a mind to try to outbid the Yankees, such a thing is impossible (as Red Sox fans will remember). Yes, the Rangers have a lucrative new television contract... but the Yankees OWN their own network, and in the biggest market in the country.


Nolan Ryan, at least, fully understands just how hard it will be to retain Lee, but their best bet may lie with the three rules of real estate: location, location, location.

New York taxes and the cost of living (even if Lee should choose to live in New Jersey) will add up very quickly. The Rangers can offer the ace millions less than the Yankees, and the adjusted gross value after taxes and all that jazz will probably still be higher if the fireballer stays in Texas.

And, apparently Lee's wife was no fan of New York Yankees faithful:

Perhaps the Rangers' greatest sales pitch simply was having Kristen sit in the visiting family section at Yankee Stadium during the playoffs. She says there were ugly taunts. Obscenities. Cups of beer thrown. Even fans spitting from the section above. "The fans did not do good things in my heart," Kristen says. "When people are staring at you, and saying horrible things, it's hard not to take it personal." (Via Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY)

There's also the fact that both Kristen and Cliff Lee's families live a forty-minute flight away from Arlington, in Little Rock, Arkansas, and the couple recently purchased a home in the city.

Of course, the Yankees will have Lee's friend and former teammate, CC Sabathia, looking to recruit him, and the Bronx Bombers have the resources to commit more money and years to any offer they give.

The Rangers are quietly attempting to woo Lee - they haven't made any well-publicized treks across the country, but they're determined to give this their best shot, and prepared to offer him more money than any Ranger since A*Rod (remember him?).

Rangers second-baseman Ian Kinsler wants Lee to stay in Texas: "In the offseason, I'm probably going to call his phone, oh, a couple of hundred times."

You do that, Ian... Personally, I want Cliff Lee in Arlinton for a long time to come. Actually, in an ideal world, he would go to the National League, so I wouldn't have to see him mow down my boys a few times every summer - but I'll take Texas.

Come on, Jon Daniels.... Make it happen. Do something CRAZY! But not insane.

Don't Mess with Texas... Please?

I don't know about you, but I've been lost since the end of Game 5 at the Trop, and I'm totally psyched for the ALCS to get underway this evening.

A lot has happened in the last week (basically, everything but me posting. Sorry...). Somehow, every prediction I made for the Division Series' came true. Don't worry, I'm as shocked as you are

Initially, I had picked Texas over New York, but I think the five-game series with Tampa Bay might have hurt their chances. Cliff Lee versus CC Sabathia would have been an epic matchup (and a nice reprise of last year's World Series), but it would have had the added drama of all of Cleveland collectively banging their heads against a wall.

Poor Cleveland... And I do mean POOR.

The Rangers do, of course, have home field advantage in this series, which means a hell of a lot more when the away games are in Yankee Stadium than it does when they're in Tropicana Field. Yankees fans might be annoying, but they at least show up and pay attention.

If CJ Wilson can keep the lids on the Yankee lineup this evening, and the Rangers serve all-you-can eat Mexican food as the pre-game spread so Sabathia is too full to pitch, I could see Texas taking game one. Really, the Rangers best chance for this series is to concede the games in which Sabathia pitches and shell young Phil Hughes, OLD Andy Pettitte, and the enigma himself, AJ Burnett.

Is it probable? No, not with Cliff Lee resting until game 3. But anything can happen: CJ Wilson could start channeling Cy Young, CC Sabathia might eat a clubhouse attendent and miss game 1 because he's in the slammer, A*Rod might choke (weird, huh?).

Remember that time CC almost ate Pedey? Me, neither.

Don't mess with Texas, New York. Texas messes back.

Stay Classy, New York!

Just when you think it's safe to hate them, the New York Yankees show some class. This afternoon, the 2009 World Champion Yankees (gag) received their World Series Rings in a ceremony at Yankee Stadium.

Ridiculously expensive, just like the team that won them!

In a twist of fate, their World Series MVP, Hideki Matsui, signed with the Angels, their opponents for today, and so he was on hand to receive his ring. When asked how Matsui would be received, pitcher CC Sabathia said "I think people will go crazy. He was a big part of our team, the reason why we won last year."


CC was right. So the players are classy... so what, you say? Well, I hate to break it to you, but the fans showed their appreciation, too. Matsui had one of the biggest ovations of the day, as fans let him know they appreciated his [giant] contributions to their 27th world title.

Pigs must be flying all over the Bronx, because MFY fans have finally shown some class.

Wishes Are For Fairy Tales

To the Yankees winning the World Series, I have one thing to say: so what? They should have won... it took them disgraceful amounts of money, but they've finally bought #27.

Do I wish they had choked? Absolutely. But I also wish that I could marry Dustin Pedroia, among other things. The point is, wishes are for fairy tales, and in real life the "bad guy" wins a lot. Don't get me wrong, until I'm confronted with evidence to the contrary, I don't think the Yankees are villains on any real-world level: they're not raping and pillaging, as far as I know (though the centaur thing sure freaks me out).

It's just frustrating to me (and to many of you, I'm sure), to know that whatever the Yankees want, the Yankees will get. For instance, if you still think there was any way Boston could have signed Teixeira last season, you're crazy. Cashman was always getting the last call, and he always will from Boras (hate him if you must, but it's a great arrangement for him). As for players with any other agent (hello, CC Sabathia)? The Yankees can afford to pay anything, even bidding against themselves, to land the talent they want.

I'm calling awkward turtle on this whole picture.

Annoying? Yes. But that's the way the cookie crumbles. Life isn't fair, and neither is baseball - just ask CB Bucknor.

Today's Match-up: Daisuke vs. CC

Last night was painful, on more than one level. For Jon Lester, the pain was physical, as he got absolutely nailed by a vicious liner off the bat of Melky Cabrera in the third inning. For fans, the pain was mental, with all of New England gasping in tandem as the newly announced Game 1 starter for the presumptive playoffs crumpled to the ground. Even when we heard that the X-Rays on Lester came back negative, most of us couldn't bring ourselves to care too much about the score following his exit (to an ovation from the surprisingly classy Yankee Stadium Crowd), as we were all too busy worrying about Red Sox Nation's prodigal son.

Tonight is a totally different matter. In the light of day, with more and more reports coming in that Lester might even be able to make his next start (scheduled for Thursday at Fenway Park), we turn some of our attention to this afternoon's match-up: the inimitable CC Sabathia, and the enigmatic Daisuke Matsuzaka.

First, for CC. Despite all the fat jokes that get made about him, Sabathia is the real deal. He leads the league in wins, and his ERA is no laughing matter. However, there is a silver lining: some of our hitters seem to fair relatively well against him. Kevin Youkilis, for example, hits .333 off of CC (he also hits Doc Halladay very well..weird.), and Papi hits him at a .304 clip. Strangely enough, Chris Woodward has pretty good numbers against CC (.273 BA).

Stripes aren't slimming, CC.

Daisuke, on the other hand has relatively good numbers against the Yanks. The only players on the team with significant at-bats against Daisuke that hit him well are Jorge Posada, (.500), and Johnny Damon and Derek Jeter, who both hit .333 off of him (Mr. Leigh Teixeira is 1-for-2). However, Matsuzaka is a totally different pitcher since coming off his extended DL time than we've seen. The guy that showed up for Daiuke's last two starts is more like the two-time WBC MVP than the frustrating 18-game winner (with only 5.7 innings per start, I'd like to award half of those wins to the bullpen) of yesteryear.

Unfortunately, we have to watch this intriguing match-up while listening to Tim McCarver ballwash Derek Jeter for nine innings. I hate FOX.

Five Minute Musings

(1) I LOVE the new MLB Network. Happy birthday to me, they've been showing the 2007 World Series all day. I also immensely enjoy the ads for their lineup of shows, especially the one for Prime 9. About halfway through the promo, they show a clip of Dustin Pedroia being caught stealing: as he dives into second base you see him mouth, "Safe," the umpire signals "out," and Pedroia yells "NO!" Keep in mind, that would have been the only time all year he was caught [20-for-21]. As discussed in this space before, failure is a foreign concept for #15. I am SO looking forward to watching him in a Sox uniform for the foreseeable future.

(2) While watching the aforementioned programming on the MLB Network [Game 2, to be exact], I noticed that Jason Varitek was inadvertently showing the fans what we would be getting for all of 2008. He struck out with the bases loaded to end the inning, grounded out weakly several times, and just all around choked in the clutch. Though Varitek's hitting game is clearly on the decline, I would not be altogether opposed to him returning for a year with an incentive-laden contract, especially if the Sox could acquire a young catcher to be his protege [Saltalamacchia from the Rangers, or Montero form the Diamondbacks].

(3) I can't wait to watch coverage of the World Baseball Classic. Unofficially, Sox players that will be participating include Daisuke Matsuzaka [Japan], Jason Bay [Canada], David Ortiz [the Dominican Republic], and Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis [United States]. Five players representing four different countries - how many MLB teams can make that claim? Also, five players is fewer [and therefore better] than the seven to nine that Terry Francona was estimating would participate. In case you forgot, Matsuzaka was the MVP of the inaugural Classic: hopefully he is more careful this time, yet just as effective.





(4) I couldn't be happier about Kevin Youkilis' new contract. The right side of the Red Sox infield is arguably now younger, cheaper, and more productive than any other Major League team. Youkilis and Pedroia are premier players at their positions. They have each won a Gold Glove, and finished in the top 3 of the MVP voting this year. Not to mention the fact that they are both home grown players. As Youkilis said during his press conference, the Sox minor league system was, until recently, decidedly underwhelming. Now, an impact player comes up just about every year. In 2006 Papelbon made a sensation of himself, in 2007 it was Pedroia and Ellsbury who tore up the postseason, and this year Jed Lowrie came up to replace the injured Julio Lugo and was a definite upgrade, despite a broken bone in his wrist. I could get used to this.

(5) Nick Cafardo has an interesting thought in his Boston Globe Baseball Notes column today. "This off season, the Yankees went wild with the signings of Teixeira, CC Sabathia, and A.J. Burnett. Sabathia's postseason history is poor - 2-3. 7.92 ERA." This is potentially because he practically carries his team all season: in 2007, he pitched for 240 innings; this year, he pitched 253. If he has to shoulder that kind of load again, it might spell trouble for New York, but with A.J. Burnett's injury history, such an occurrence would not be out of the question. On a related note, it might be prudent for the Sox to limit Jon Lester's innings this season after he played for a career high 210 last year.

Yankees subpoenaed

"An official says a New York Assembly committee investigating the use of millions of dollars in public funding to build the new Yankee Stadium has issued subpoenas to the team's president and an official with the city economic development office." -AP

What took them so long? How can that franchise have the audacity to plead poverty and demand public funds to build a new, state-of-the-art stadium, and then go on a spending spree? This off season, the New York Yankees have spent nearly half a billion dollars on three free agents [CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Mark Teixeira], and yet, they can't afford to fund their own stadium, asking the taxpayers of New York for help.