Deron Peter Reviews . . . Your Mom! Oh Snap!

Deron was a shortstop in the Yankees minor league system back in 1995 when a PED scandal ended his career. He brings an insider’s perspective to our blog.

Now that the season is over it's time for me to write my review. Of course, writing about this season would be pointless since it was over before we even reached August, so I'm writing my review of Old Yankee Stadium instead. Here goes...

The first thing you noticed when you walked into Yankee Stadium, besides the surprisingly lax security guards who seemed to be there primarily to yell "go Yanks," and otherwise for decoration, is just how filthy the place was. I assume they clean it before the season, I'm just not sure what season that was. Maybe the 1992 campaign.

If you're like me, you may have decided to head to the bathroom so you don't miss any of the action later. If this is the case, then you realize how unfortunate it is to require oxygen to live, as nothing would have made me happier than to be able to hold my breath the entire time I was in the Yankee Stadium restrooms. Besides looking as though a couple of the cosmopolitan fans of the Yanks got into a $#!% fight in there, it smelled like that too.

In fairness, we haven't reached our seats yet, and one expects sub par public anything in NYC. You have a different experience depending on where you sit. If you're in the bleachers you're surrounded by drunks from the moment you sit down, as they've been pregaming. If you sit anywhere else you're not surrounded by drunks until at least the third inning, on account of the $9.50 Miller Lite. If you have a bad back, don't sit in the bleachers, because now it's worse. If you like seeing plays in the corners of the outfield, don't sit in the tier seats, because the view of the corner outfield is cut off.

Oh, and if you don't like watching grown men (and I'm talking guys in their 40s here) act like teenagers, just don't go. I know it's hilarious when someone changes the words of "YMCA" to "Why are you gay?", usually directed at an opposing team's fans (whether or not we're playing that team), but sometimes you just want to watch the grounds crew humiliate themselves in peace.

Of course, the real treat of visiting Yankee Stadium is the game on the field. If you went this year, you got to see great athletes play baseball at the highest level, and the Yankees were there too. But let me tell you, if you like popped-up bunts and the inability to score after the fifth inning you got your money's worth. You're also probably a member of the 2008 New York Yankees. They did that a lot. Congratulations Yankee players. You finally got to watch all three rounds of the playoffs from home as opposed to only the last two rounds.

Then on the way out you probably got redirected for no reason by a member of the NYPD to some random exit. Now disoriented, you might go ask an officer for directions, at which point you were probably arrested.

All in visitng the house that Ruth built is a lot like visiting a beloved relative . . . in prison. It's awkward, most everyone around you is intoxicated and frightening, and you just want to get the hell out. Enjoy the new stadium folks, I'm sure you'll have it feeling like the old one in no time.

Mike Mussina Wins the Cy Young

Okay, he didn't, but he did win a gold glove which is just as good only decidedly less impressive. I don't know who won the other gold gloves in the AL, but here is a list I made up:

1B: Mark Teixeira
2B: Not Robinson Cano
SS: Derek Jeter
3B: Wilson Betemit
C: Joe Mauer
LF: Carl Crawford
CF: Justin Upton
RF: Rocko Baldelli

So congratulations to all these honorary "Respect Jeter's Gangster" gold glove winners. If any of them actually won a gold glove it makes this honor that much more special. I did hear that Maddux won his 18th gold glove. I think he should melt them into one giant gold glove that also doubles as a throne so when he retires he can sit in his gold glove throne on his lawn and yell obsenities at passer by's.

Okay, so I didn't have much to report today, but working on a blog in the biggest baseball market in the world demands daily posts lest the fans grow bored and start reading about the Mets. We can't afford to fall behind the competition. Expect these kind of reports not just from blogs across the Yankee blogosphere, but also from major newspapers as they need to fill their daily report quota whether there's news to report or not.

Pena Gets Benched

So Pena is the new bench coach for the New York Yankees. As was reported first here at RJG, Girardi had alienated some of his veterans by not utilizing Pena more in the decision making. Is this move an attempt to appease some of the vets in the clubhouse? I would suspect it is. Now he has to bring back candy, in fact, he can't just allow candy in the clubhouse, he has to purchase it before games and bring it in himself. The Yankees ran more and ate healthier and got hurt just as much. It's not the food and conditioning Joe, let them be ball players and disregard the shape of their bodies.

Baseball Is Stupid

Can someone please explain to me why major league teams need such a long window for exclusive negotiation rights with their potential free agents? Are the GMs to busy watching the World Series to realize they should come up with an offer. Does it really take more than a few hours to decide whether you want to try and retain a player and make an offer. The exclusive negotiating rights window should last no more than 5 days, after that any team should be able to make any offer. At most the exclusive negotiating rights window should extend through the end of the GM meetings, that's it. The World Series ends and we have to wait way too long before the hot stove can begin. That's stupid. It's particularly stupid for baseball since it keeps them out of the news.

In other news, if you have a PS3 or XBOX 360 and are considering the new Bond game b/c you are nostalgic for GoldenEye, don't bother. No split screen multiplayer for either system (there is for the Wii though). Only online multiplayer options. It seems that video games are now only for no-real-life gamers with no actual friends to invite over to play games with. If Sony is wondering why the most advanced gaming system ever made has never taken off and has consistently been crushed by Nintendo, they may consider the lack of non-sports multiplayer games. The Wii's success has been built on multiplayer, having your friends over for a good time. The conspicuous absence of that on the PS3 cuts out a large percentage of the market, casual gamers like me. I don't care about beating a game, new games take way too long to beat. I care about beating my friends (or being beat by them) in a social, fun, multiplayer session. Online gaming cannot replace this. Maybe if the game code writers had any friends they'd understand this. If not for it being the best blu-ray player on the market, there is really no reason to own a PS3. I'm quickly regretting my purchase of one. Should've foregone the high definition movies and bought the Wii. Sorry for the rant about PS3, but I'm pissed right now.

The Lesser Known Option for Mike Mussina

Over at the Confessions of a She-Fan blog, Jane discussed the two options that Mike Mussina has, whether a return to the Bronx or to stay in Montoursville and retire. But what many don't know is that Mussina has a lesser known third option that could appeal to him. This option consists of Mussina growing a mustache, and showing up to a Yankee tryout camp in a poncho under the assumed name of Miguel Mussina. He then signs a minor league contract and pitches his way from Single A Tampa to the Majors where he then helps lead the Yankees to their next World Series championship. Miguel wins the Rookie of the Year award, and the World Series MVP. This plan has some faults, namely that he would take a severe pay cut, none of his wins would bring him closer to 300, and he would have to go through the rookie hazing that the Yankees do each year, but besides that its flawless.

I really hope Moose comes back, but I respect his decision either way. Not too many players know when to quit, and very few would go out on top, but what better way to end a career? Its better to go out with a season like this than to go out 10-13 with a 5.23 ERA.

The Tragedy of Jim Leyritz

I just read this article in the New York Times about former Yankee catcher Jim Leyritz. It basically describes the trouble he's had since the accident he was in last year that killed a mother of two, and how his court date is coming soon. For those unfamiliar with the situation, about a year ago Leyritz ran a red light and slammed into a vehicle at 3:15am tossing the driver out of the car. Leyritz was driving under the influence. His lawyers claim that the other driver is to blame because she too was under the influence, and was not wearing her seatbelt, which was more than likely the reason she died in the accident. To say he is not at fault is a ridiculous claim to make since Leyritz ran a red light while driving under the influence, but I understand that the tragedy of the situation is that had the woman been wearing her seatbelt its possible that it would have just been a bad accident with no loss of life. Obviously, if Leyritz had not decided to drive under the influence, there also would not have been any loss of life. Now the woman's two children are left without a mother, and Leyritz's three kids could be left without a father for up to 15 years if he is found guilty of man slaughter. Another layer to this is that Leyritz is apparently broke. According to the article, Leyritz ran through the $10.7 million he earned throughout his baseball career, and combined with what appears to have been an ugly divorce, he is out of money. He had been making a living from appearances, and making speeches, but those gigs have dried up because of his recent troubles. Now he collects money from the Baseball Assistance Team charity that helps "former players through hard times." All in all, its a sad story in that all of this could have been avoided.

Big News In the World.......of Baseball

There have been some allusions to Pavano returning for another season in pinstripes. My guess is that any interest in Pavano by Cashman can be directly attributed to alcohol. Further on the pitching front, Andy Pettitte said he wants to come back. This is good because I think Andy will be having a bounce back kind of year. It also secures our rotation a little bit. In other news, it appears Cashman wants an actual first baseman. What a novel concept. This could revolutionize the game of baseball, and at the forefront of this trend is the New York Yankees.


In other news, the United States has voted in their first African-American president. Whatever you may think of Barack Obama, whether you agree with his ideas or not, whether your Democrat or Republican, you can agree that this is an historic event in this country and shows the incredible progress that this country has made. I wish him the best.

Cashman Wants Two Pitchers. No More, No Less.

In this post from Peter Abraham Cashman is quoted as saying that the Yankees want two pitchers. They won't be "one and done" on that front. He also said that Wang and Joba are the only pitchers he currently has going into next season, a clear shot at Alfredo Aceves who is probably in tears right now. Don't worry Aceves, by my math, if Wang and Joba are the only pitchers we have, and Cashman signs 2 more pitchers that still leaves one opening on the rotation that you can compete against Pavano and Ponson for. Unless of course, Cashman decides to go for a 4 man rotation seeing the obvious benefit of Sabathia getting an extra 7 or 8 starts a season.


Eric Milton and Victor Zambrano are now free agents again. They both spent the year rehabbing on the Yankees' dime and will now likely go elsewhere. Those have to be the worse free agent signings ever. Well, close anyway:



It kind of reminds me of when we signed Octavio Dotel only to see him rehab all season, pitch terribly in the brief time he did pitch, and then sign a ridiculous contract with the Royals. We need to stop letting players rehab on our dime. I know we have the money, but c'mon. These one year deals for players coming off of major surgery are just not necessary.


Ian Kennedy is going to play winter ball, which is good. Here's hoping he recovers the magic he showed last September in his brief 3 start call up. He was unhittable then. Now? Very hittable. On that front, Hughes made a good start last night in the Arizona Fall League. He went 5 innings and did not allow a run. He's been a curious case, combining horrible starts with good ones to keep an odd balance. Consistency will be the key for him.


Lastly, the Yankees signed Sergio Mitre to a minor league deal thus neglecting the advice I offered two paragraphs ago against signing players rehabbing from major injuries. Mitre who is recovering from Tommy John, should be back in the mix by mid-summer unless there are any set backs, which there always is with Tommy John. Cashman did learn from his previous mistakes and included a club option for 2010, which means that Mitre can rehab on our dime for two seasons instead of one.

I'm Calling it Now, Manny Will be in Pinstripes

I'm not saying I like it, or even that its a good move, but there is a strong possibility that Manny Ramirez will be in pinstripes next season. If I had my guess this is how the roster would look:

1b: Mark Teixeira
2b: Robinson Cano
SS: Derek Jeter
3b: Alex Rodriguez
C: Jorge Posada/Jose Molina
LF: Manny Ramirez/Hideki Matsui
CF: Johnny Damon
RF: Xavier Nady
DH: Hideki Matsui/Hideki Matsui/Jorge Posada

SP: Chien Ming Wang
SP: CC Sabathia
SP: Andy Pettitte
SP: Alfredo Aceves
SP: Joba Chamberlain

Here's my thinking as to why the Yankees will go this route. Steinbrenner is impulsive. He's a Steinbrenner. On top of being impulsive, he shut down his impulses last season when he allowed Cashman to talk him out of Santana. Now he's not going to allow that to happen. Steinbrenner has seen Manny's ability to hit in the clutch and nothing, not his age, not his attitude, not the money, or years is going to stand in his way of getting Manny's bat into the lineup. It will be good for the short term Yankees, but not the long term, and I suspect it will be an unpopular decision.

As for signing Sabathia and Teixeira, the reason I think they'll bite is that number one, we need pitching and Sabathia is the best candidate out there. We need a first baseman and Teixeira is the best candidate out there. Have the Yankees been known for settling for second best?

Now this approach will dive us back into being unflexable, expensive, and full of free agent mercenaries, but on the flip side it won't cost us any of our current prospects, and allows us to develop the talent we now have. The only problem is that by signing these free agents, we lose draft picks, but let's be honest, I don't think Steinbrenner is convinced in the youth movement, and there's a lot of Yankee fans who are not either. Cashman can finish his experiment with his current prospect crop, but rebounding from this season will take more than some top draft picks in 2009. We need some major league talent now, the best of which is available via free agency.

If the Yankees don't bite on these free agents, then Cashman has been able to restrain Steinbrenner, but after last season I don't think it will be that easy.

Will A-Rod Get Traded Before his Contract Expires?

In light of there being no real news in Yankeedom, I decided to bring up the question of whether A-Rod will actually finish his 10 year contract with the Yankees or not. There was an article that came out last season saying that A-Rod would not finish his contract with the Yankees since the fans never really supported him. Getting booed all the time would get old really fast, and when he's not hitting 50 homeruns, the fans will do just that.

Last season, Hank Steinbrenner made an ultimatum saying that if A-Rod opted out of his contract the Yankees would not negotiate with him. They wanted to negotiate an extension with A-Rod that would keep the subsidy they were receiving from the Rangers for taking his previous ridiculous contract. Then A-Rod opted out, and the Yankees said they wouldn't negotiate with him. A-Rod then went back to the Yankees to negotiate a new contract behind Boras' back. The crazy thing about it all is that the Yankees gave him a contract that with incentives would be worth more than $300 million over the next 10 years. Never mind that he cost them the Texas subsidy or that they said they would not negotiate with him, they still gave him a bigger contract than what they probably would have offered had he not opted out. Why bring this up? Because now A-Rod is getting booed again. He's fallen out of the good graces of New York fans. Now, A-Rod has an immovable contract, and may see his happiness in New York come to an end. If that happens and he wants out, the only way a team will take him is if New York subsidizes his contract and history repeats itself. I Suppose if we did pick up part of his contract and traded him we could land some good talent. Probably a major league ready third baseman, a starting pitcher, a set up guy, and a couple prospects.

Either way, the question is do you think A-Rod will finish this contract in New York? Will the fans learn to accept him? Will he be able to deal with the fans if they don't accept him?