Skew Sports Talk

The 2012 New York Yankees got off to a bad start as the Tampa Bay Rays swept them in Tampa- convincingly.

This Baseball.DailySkew.Com podcast covers the reasons why the Yankees lost (as opposed to why the Rays won, of course) as Damian tries to articulate the frustrations of the typical rambling Yankees fan who has to go to work on a Monday after seeing his team jacked up in Tampa.

Covered in this Yankees Suck podcast:

[[posterous-content:pid___0]]Carlos Pena, Brian Cashman, Yankees DH Raul Ibanez, Nick Swisher, A-Rod, Chris Stewart, Hiroki Kuroda, Eduardo Nunez, Clay Rapata, and CC Sabathia.

FREE CERVELLI

[[posterous-content:pid___1]]

Why the NFL is doomed.mp3

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Why the NFL is doomed.mp3 (5.21 MB)

A Giant fan explains what is wrong with the NFL. The playoffs work against the best teams. Lawyers advise Giants to send 12 men on the field. A player should never think, "Don't score!" Especially when taking the lead in the last minute of the Superbowl.

2011 NL Ryan Braun had failed a PED test during the playoffs. He says he's innocent.

Damian from DailySkew Baseball covers the facts and shares some personal experience with testestrone levels in baseball.

This is a black eye from baseball. Damian says that Braun will get suspended for 50 games, but Damian does not believe he should have the MVP award taken away.

This is a quick under 10-minute ramble in his underwear.

ryan_braun_steroids.mp3

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ryan_braun_steroids.mp3 (11.33 MB)

Stuff he left out:

Ryan Braun's character cannot be used as evidence.

The fact that Ryan Braun passed a test after his failed test means nothing, and can't be used as evidence.

There is NO precedence for stripping players of awards, so shut up people.

Braun's confidenciality was violated.

Cup_of_Coffee.mp3

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Cup_of_Coffee.mp3 (16.97 MB)

Should baseball players who played less than 4 years receive a $150,000 per year pension?  Should players from before 1980 who played only one day in the Big Leagues get $10,000 per year for two years?  Here the perspective of John Davies, Jr., a man who worked for the Union back in its formative years.  He says that the players made the choice to not unionize back in the 40's and 50's, and baseball should not have to pay pensions for players Johnny James.  He also seems bitter that guys like Steve Whitaker and Elliott Maddux are drawing pensions, even though they had less-than stellar careers.  Should baseball listen to this former Union guy?  Decide for yourself: listen to the podcast.

Vahl apologies for the slight buzzy noise from the host's microphone. 

Tony Vahl and Damian Hospital talk 2011 postseason baseball.  They breakdown the biggest regular season collapse in regular season history, as the Red Sox lose a 9-game lead and miss the playoffs.

Red_Sox_Ozzie_Guillen_Yankees_Postseason.mp3

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Red_Sox_Ozzie_Guillen_Yankees_Postseason.mp3 (24.41 MB)

Talking points:

- If Carl Crawford had a normal season, that would be worth two more wins

- Passing judgment on John Lackey

- As bad as the Cubs collapse from the 1960's

- Worst collapse ever because they were picked to be number one, had the talent to be number one, and they were the Wild Card team until the end

- Braves collapse not as bad because expectations were lower; besides former Marlins great Fredi Gonzalez is an over-rated manager

- Will Terry Francona get the ax?  Is this, as Peter Gammons predicted, the end of an era?

- Of course, the Red Sox were in 3rd place last year, too

- Beckett cheats by taking 30 seconds per pitch

- Damian predicted Dice-K would suck last year

- Are the majority of Stat Heads also Red Sox fans?

- Have you seen this stupid Marlins logo?  "I thought the 1980's Astros had the award for the worst logo!  The Marlins topped it!  A new era?  Yeah, send in the clowns!"

- Ozzie Guillen: "A new error."

- Damian and Tony predict Yankees-Diamondbacks World Series, because Cheat Characters aren't so great

Enjoy the podcast, everybody!  And check out Damian's baseball blog for more insightful postseason coverage!

On a GREAT Sports Talk for Guys Podcast, Tony Vahl and Damian Hospital talk about the Barry Bonds verdict, "or lack of verdict."

FREE BARRY BONDS!

Yes, here Vahl and Hospital talk about the mistrial with ESPN playing on the TV on mute.

Highlights:

- Reporters are clueless; no one is explaining what really happened at the Bonds trial

- Attorneys are muzzled, Bonds can't say a word

- Defense attorneys will ask for the one count to be tossed out

- Federal Government will retry Bonds case, according to Dr. Richard Hoffman

- Breaking news: Jury Foreman said, "How many years and millions of dollars did THEY spend on this?" How did the Foreman know that if he was supposed to be dumb and not know about Bonds and what's been going on in the news?

- Government agents digging through trash, looking for needles

- Bonds convicted on "Worst count."  The count clearly states that all the other counts have to be true, which they weren't!  This was the weakest count; the Government threw it in there just to see if anything would stick

- The more charges there are, the weaker the Government case is

- The goal of "Setting an example" by convicting Bonds doesn't work in real life

- Bonds will be haunted by this Mistrial forever or statute of limitations, whichever comes first.  He can never write a book about it, and will be paying his lawyers for the rest of his life

- Bonds conspiracy: was he setup by Government during BALCO trial?

- Bonds sounds down to earth in BALCO trial transcripts

- Greg Anderson was freed after mistrial; he will go back to jail if Government appeals case!

- Jury got confused on the count they convicted Bonds on

- Bonds was just a witness at the BALCO trial!

- It's difficult to describe a friendship; at times, Bonds sounds close to Greg Anderson; at other times he sounds distant

- Bonds got railroad'ed

- Dr. Hoffman is speaking like a lawyer; it's all about the retainer; attorneys charge by the hour and phone call

In addition to the great Barry Bonds mistrial coverage above, Tony and Damian talked about the Roger Clemens trial, Andy Pettitte subpeona'd, Mark McGuire going into hiding, and former future hall of famers like Rafael Palmiero (he got railroad'ed) and Jeff Bagwell.  Even the classic David Cone 19-strikeout game in Philadelphia gets mentioned!  All this, and why baseball writers like Tim Kurkjian should not be on television! And more! Listen:

Barry_Bond_Podcast_Damian_and_Tony.mp3

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Barry_Bond_Podcast_Damian_and_Tony.mp3 (21.39 MB)

What would an innocent man do?  The theory is shout the truth from the rooftops, but that doesn't seem to work in real life if you're an Enneagram Type 3 like O.J. or Clemens!  Others, like type 6 Andy Pettitte, get a free pass from the dogs of the MEDIA.

Oh, and Gary Sheffield had Lee Haney's trainer since 1996. 

Imagine Curt Schilling, standing on his high horse, soap box, and pulpit at the same time.

We love the Manny Ray shirt.  Unfortunately, 555=0 according to the Sports Writers.  One of the all-time great Red Sox will be shut out of the Hall of FAME!  Dude is famous or infamous, and he will be ignored by the sanctimonious writers.  These guys ever heard of saints like Ty Cobb?  Seriously, we don't need writers to act like the morality police for the public.

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Yankees Spring Training Cuts and Roster Moves

Jesus Montero assigned to Triple-A. The biggest news out of New York right now. What can I say? Perhaps the word is "OVERHYPED" (The Miz said that to The Rock last night on WWE Monday Night Raw). For over a month all we've been hearing is about how Jesus Montero is the next Mike Piazza, but it turns out the Yanks were never sold on his defense even though Tony Pena was working out with him every day. Montero's bat fell silent in Spring Training. So Brian Cashman is protecting his top prospect again, although I imagine Montero's stock decreased a share or two by not making the team.

Anyway, as I've said in the past, we could never know when Jesus is coming. The Yanks want Jesus to play every day in the minors and to conquer AAA. I don't really care and am not up in arms over this. He may be traded eventually or he may become the full time catcher for the Yanks next year. The conspiracy theory is that Cashman didn't want to start Montero's MLB service time clock if he didn't have to. I'm not really concerned about it- I'm more concerned that Russell Martin has the job, and Jorge Posada is forced to DH (was not allowed to catch one game in Sprint Training).

Eric Chavez added to the 40-man. This is cool. The Yanks may have captured lightening in a bottle for a season if Chavez remains healthy.

Ramiro Pena optioned to Triple-A. I like Pena as a person, but as a hitter, he has major problems: no power, no eye for walking, and a low batting average. He's a 1950's shortstop good glove, good speed, can play multiple positions, and can put down a bunt. Ramiro thought that by learning the outfield he would enhance his value, but Brian Cashman wasn't sold on Pena putting up replacement level stats in an outfield position. Pena's defense is good enough to play the late innings, but why would you want to bench Jeter, A-Rod, or Cano in the 8th inning anyway in a close game? I guess for blowouts, huh?

Gustavo Molina will backup Russell Martin. G-Mo is utter crap. This guy only gets hired because of his last name, and he's not even related to the Flying Molina Brothers. G-Mo will be gone as soon as Francisco Cervelli heals up. Who would have thought that Cervelli would once again be our savior? He's a good luck charm. The Yanks should reconsider holding on to him next year to backup.

Eduardo Nunez will be the Yankees utility infielder. Okay, listen up. Brian Cashman would not make the Cliff Lee trade because he refused to include Eduardo Nunez. Therefore all of the stat heads online defend Eduardo Nunez and say he is actually better than Derek Jeter right now if he played every day. Heck, my mother said he's going to be something one day. 

But here's my problem: he's been in the minors since 2005 and had a cup of coffee last year and from what I have seen and based on his minor league stats, he doesn't walk and has 6 HR a year power. Ooomph. Ramiro Pena outshined him with the glove last year. Nunez looked awkward out there on 3B. It seems like Eduardo Nunez has potential to hit .275 to .280 if he played every day, and maybe hit 10 HR if he's lucky, but his on-base percentage would be .325 his first year. I guess within 3-4 years he could be really good. Who knows?

I don't have a problem with him, though. If he can somehow develop by sitting on the bench in majors (how is he really going to get playing time with the Yankees Hall of Fame lineup?) that's fine. Robinson Cano vouches for him, and my wife roots for the underdog, so that's good enough for me to enjoy watching Eduardo Nunez. Cashman sees him as a major prospect, and I see him as cannon fodder, so I hope the Cash Man is right, because I would have loved to have had Cliff Lee. The trade would have been something like Montero, Joba, and Nunez for Lee.

Justin Maxwell optioned to Triple-A. Kidding me right? This outfielder batted .144 with the Nationals.

1997 MLB Predictions- WIth my baseball blog still undergoing technical modifcations, I thought it would be fun to see if predictions about baseball from 1986 came true in 1997. The following are baseball projections from Baseball Weekly, my favorite newspaper from the 1990's:

1. No Dodger will win NL Rookie of the Year. Just playing the odds here. Actually, Wilton Guerrero, who hit .344 at Triple-A Albuquerque, could be the starting second baseman in L.A. and promising outfielder Karim Garcia could bust his way into the lineup. But Atlanta's Andruw Jones, third basemen Scott Rolen in Philadelphia and the Cubs' Kevin Orie could be for real, and the Expos are ready to turn loose outfielder Vladimir Guerrero. Plus, if you really like playing the odds, half the guys who play for the Pirates this year will qualify. That was correct; the Dodgers streak of five Rookies of the Year in a row ended, as Scott Rolen took home the 1997 ROY.

2. A second consecutive shutout in the Hall of Fame voting by baseball writers. No. This was during the time when the BBWAA didn't think 300 game winners were good, and were screwing around with Phil Niekro and Don Sutton, but Niekro was elected in 1997.

3. The trend of capital-izing. Once Seattle gets its stadium hassles settled, Montreal becomes 1997's franchise most often linked with the hopeful owners-to-be in the Washington, D.C., area. (Bonus prediction: Pittsburgh fills the role in 1998 as part of the battle for a new facility there; Oakland takes over in 1999 as a new park in San Francisco relegates the A's to second-class status in the Bay Area.) Nope, nothing happened in 1997.

4. In the manager sweepstakes, Houston's Larry Dierker is on the hottest seat because he has to prove he belongs in the majors while handling a team that should be a contender. The former broadcaster might have been hand-picked by the owner, but this could be Tony Perez all over again (fired by the Reds in 1993 after 44 games). Next-most-likely to get canned if things don't go well are Reds manager Ray Knight and Terry Bevington of the White Sox, with honorable mentions for Cito Gaston in Toronto, Jimy Williams in Boston and Jim Riggleman with the Cubs. (Note: This prediction becomes null and void if the Yankees are swept at home by the Mets when they meet June 16-18. Who cares if Joe Torre won the World Series.) No, Dierker finished in 1st place.

5. Best player to call it a career this year will be Eddie Murray. This season won't be as weepy as the Puckett-Ozzie-Dawson-Trammell class of '96, but after Eddie gets borrowed again for somebody's ill-fated stretch drive, he'll say enough is enough. Correct.

6. Rickey Henderson fades some more but won't hang 'em up. Exactly right.

7. Ramon Martinez of the Dodgers will pitch the first no-hitter of the season. Nope, Kevin Brown was.

8. Relations between umpires and players get worse. When that summit with them and baseball officials finally occurs, it's going to get ugly as the players union takes the offensive. Gee, you don't think some of the umps might get angry and even a little bit vindictive, do you? This was stemming over the Roberto Alomar spitting incident and bad calls in the 1996 post-season. Kinda hard for me to check real quick if umpires and players were still upset over it. I do know that Bud Selig busted the umpire's union later on, and the current relationship between players and umps is cold. So I'll give him credit for this one.

9. With Tampa Bay coming into the American League (yes, that will eventually be official) in 1998, realignment will be necessary. Well, logical at least. We'll put the Devil Rays in the AL East, move Detroit to the Central and Kansas City to the West. Almost. He could not have predicted the Brewers switching leagues.

10. The only people who will complain about interleague play will be the players because the new schedule has more two-game series, which translates to more trips city to city. No, actually Bob Costas and other talking head traditionalists complained about interleague play. The players were mostly apathetic.

11. By the end of the year, Bud Selig stars in Commissioner Act II: He Takes the Job, and somebody besides Marge Schott owns the Reds. Very close. Selig because official Comish in 1998 and Schott sold her shares in 1999.

12. The biggest 1996 performances that won't be duplicated are Brady Anderson's 50 home runs and Eric Young's .324. Yup- Anderson's fluke year was followed by 18 HR and Young dropped to .280.

13. Albert Belle is All-Star MVP in the game at Cleveland. No, his teammate Sandy Alomar Jr won it.

14. Monster seasons for Ken Griffey Jr., Jim Thome, Gary Sheffield, Chuck Knoblauch and Bobby Higginson. Griffey: Yes. Thome: Jim was slightly better in 1996, but still had a monster year.  Sheffield: No, he missed a bunch of games and that season ranked in the middle of his career- not a monster one. Knoblauch:  Nope, he was unable to duplicate his monster 1996 campaign. Higginson: Nope, he slightly declined.

15. San Diego's Trevor Hoffman becomes the game's next dominant closer. Nope, that would be Mariano Rivera. Sorry.

16. Alex Fernandez is the year's best free-agent signing, but Kevin Brown and Al Leiter don't match their '96 seasons for the Marlins. Alex did great, and although Brown tailed off, he was still the ace. Leiter had so-so 1997. Correct. Bottom line is that these signings put the Marlins over the top.

17. The signing that has the biggest impact on a team and a race is Roger Clemens. His presence as much as his arm will turn the Blue Jays into winners again. A bold prediction because Roger was supposed to be "done" in his last year in Boston. The Rocket juiced up and then won the Cy Young Award in 1997, but a team needs more than 1 pitcher to win. The Jays were HORRIBLE in 1997. So  this prediction came out wrong.

18. Breakthrough years for Johnny Damon in Kansas City and Ray Durham with the White Sox. No, Damon and Durham would have to wait until 1998.

19. Ken Caminiti plays 140 games; Mark McGwire doesn't. Nope, Ken played 137, but a- ahem- rejunizaed Big Mac finally lasted 156 games just for the second time in his career!

20. Third base rejuvenates Cal Ripken, Jose Canseco has his last big offensive year (after a trade), Paul Molitor has his last big year for the third or fourth time and Chili Davis ends up in the All-Star Game. No, Ripken continued his downward trend. Canseco's last big year was in 1999 with the Blue Jays. The writer was correct with Molitor- 1997 was his last above average year, and Paul retired in 1998. Chili Davis did not appear at the 1997 All Star Game.

21. Florida's Edgar Renteria and Kansas City's Jose Rosado will make us wonder how they didn't win last year's Rookie of the Year awards. Well, Edgar sure did, especially since he got the winning hit in the 1997 World Series, and won the 2010 World Series with the Giants. Royals pitcher Jose Rosado retired in 2000 at age 25, so he busted. Guess he didn't live up to the hype. (Derek Jeter won the AL ROY. Todd Hollansworth won the NL one, which was a joke, but saying Rosado was going to be better than Jeter is now an insane thought.)

22. 50-home run hitters: Ken Griffey, Albert Belle and Gary Sheffield. Yes, no, no.

23. 20-game winners: Alex Fernandez, Juan Guzman, Ramon Martinez, Greg Maddux. No (17 wins), No (3 wins), No (10 wins), and No (19 wins). The 1997 20 game winners were Roger Clemens, Denny Neagle, Randy Johnson, and Brad Radke.

24. Batting champs: Frank Thomas, Gary Sheffield. Yes, Frank Thomas did it, but Tony Gwynn won the NL.

25. And finally: Seattle beats the Braves in a classic seven-game World Series. Nope, the Marlins beat the Indians in a classic seven-game World Series.

With my baseball website getting screwed by GoDaddy and WordPress, I can't actually make any new posts on my own server. So here are my thoughts on the Sergio Mitre for Chris Dickerson trade:

I'm very happy.

Mitre had the FAKEST ERA last year (3.33). Joe Girardi called him the long reliever and spot starter, but in reality he was a mop-up man who pitched in low leverage situations. He is a junk sinkerball pitcher, who is VERY PRONE to injury. He's a poor man's Chien Ming Wang. Girardi was obsessed with Mitre because he's a quiet guy who doesn't make demands. He knew him from his Marlins days.

Many projections and Yankees fans got hooked on his 3.33 ERA last year and thought he needed more playing time or that he should have had a chance to be the Yankees #5 starter in 2011. Some idiot by the name of..I'm gonna say it- I'm gonna say it- Joe Pawlikowski- had previously blogged that Andy Pettitte was only worth one more win than Mitre in 2011. What a freaking joke. In 2009, he pitched to a tune of 6.79; that's Kei Igawa territory. His career ERA is 5.27, which is exactly what teams should expect from him when he's healthy.

Now, it's true- every once in a while The Serge is able to get some good outs, but that's the nature of baseball.

With Mitre send packing, it looks like the Yanks may keep Ivan Nova, Bartolo Colon, and Freddy Garcia on the team. One of them will have to be the long man, though, but he also would provide insurance if a starter goes on the DL (please let it be AJ Burnett).

Now who the freak is Chris Dickerson?

Who cares? It's addition by subtraction. Dickerson is a 5th outfielder. He has decent speed. Bill James has a 2011 projection line for him of .271/.361 7HR, 16 steals if he gets playing time (he won't). However James is the most optimistic Chris Dickerson projection I have seen. Most have him with 10 SB, 3HR and a .335 on base percentage, which sounds just about right.

Look, Dickerson may be slightly better than all the other 5th outfielders Brian Cashman has been selling us last year. These are guys whose names I can't spell without checking out the Yankees roster online. Nice guys with no power, who will stay in AAA forever, like:

Greg Golson (Don't call me Olson)

Chad Huffman (Don't call me Curtis)

Colin Curtis (Don't call me Chad)

Bottom line is if God-forbin any of the three outfielders are hurt this year, it's gonna be Andrus Jones and a bunch of scrubs. 

Damn.

Okay, next: Kevin Millwood.

Doesn't he suck?

Yup.

But it's a low risk minor league contract that will be void if Millwood is not on the MLB roster by May 1 (like he's gonna find work someplace else?) It's a pro-rated $1.5 million deal with incentives.

How bad is Kevin Millwood? Well his 2010 ranked as one of the worst pitching seasons, and he truthfully has been on the decline for years. He is an "innings eater". His strikeout rate has been decreasing and his walk rate has been increasing. He's 36. 

He's just another Brian Cashman insurance policy. I have no problems with this, since I have no expectations for him. If Colon or Garcia BLOW UP, it's possible we may see Millwood.

Just wanted to say that the Mitre trade and Millwood signing are VERY minor transactions.