RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Sports and Wrestling How 'bout those Yankees!

I can't wait for April 2006.......I gaurantee the Yankees win the World Series next year.

ARod beats out Ortiz for MVP!




http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/15/sports/baseball/15mvp.html

Rodriguez Is the Complete M.V.P.


By JACK CURRY
Published: November 15, 2005
The debate about whether Alex Rodriguez or David Ortiz was more valuable percolated through a tense baseball season. It was the complete player against the clutch hitter. It was a passionate city's superstar against another adoring city's icon. It was a personal twist on the rivalry between the Yankees and the Boston Red Sox.

When the 28 ballots, from two baseball writers in each of the 14 American League cities, were revealed yesterday, Rodriguez narrowly beat Ortiz to capture his second Most Valuable Player award in three seasons. The smooth third baseman from the Yankees defeated the burly designated hitter from the Red Sox.

Rodriguez finished first on 16 ballots cast by members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America, second on 11 and third on one for 331 points. The system awards 14 points for first-place votes, 9 for second, 8 for third, 7 for fourth, and so on down to 1 point for a 10th-place vote. Ortiz garnered 11 firsts and 17 seconds for 307 points. Vladimir Guerrero of the Los Angeles Angels, who was last year's M.V.P., secured the only other first-place vote.

After Rodriguez won, he said that he did not expect the award to reduce the scrutiny of him. With a $252 million contract and a reputation as perhaps the elite player in the game, Rodriguez said he would probably always be judged differently.

"We can win three World Series," Rodriguez said. "With me, it's never going to be over. My benchmark is so high that no matter what I do, it's never going to be enough. But I understand that."

The Yankees witnessed a more comfortable Rodriguez during his second season in New York this year. He hit .321 with a league-leading 48 homers, along with 130 runs batted in, 124 runs scored and a .421 on-base percentage to help the Yankees rebound from a dreadful start and win the A.L. East. Boston finished second, although the teams had identical 95-67 records.

Ortiz's season included a succession of splashy hits and ended with his batting .300, with 47 homers, a major-league-best 148 R.B.I., 119 runs scored and a .397 on-base percentage. Ortiz had statistics superior to Rodriguez's in clutch hitting situations, but Rodriguez was better in a majority of statistical comparisons and played strong defense, too.

"There are probably like 15 or 16 offensive categories, if you want to be a baseball junkie," Rodriguez said. "I'm not sure, but I think I won in 10 or 12 of those. But I think defense, for the most part, being a balanced player and also taking away a lot of runs on the defensive side, was a major factor."

Clearly, Rodriguez's victory was one for the everyday player over the everyday hitter. He played in all 162 games, made just 12 errors at third base and even stole 21 bases. Ortiz played 10 games at first and was Boston's full-time designated hitter. No designated hitter has ever been named M.V.P.

"This is an A-Rod day in New York," George Steinbrenner, the principal owner of the Yankees, said in a statement.

Ortiz had a chance to win the M.V.P. because of his dramatic hits. The statistic known as "in late and close situations" is defined as at-bats in the seventh inning and beyond when the player's team is ahead by one run or is tied, or the potential tying run is at least on deck. In those situations, Ortiz hit .346 with 11 homers and 33 R.B.I.; Rodriguez was at .293 with 4 homers and 12 R.B.I. Ortiz also batted .352 with runners in scoring position, 62 points higher than Rodriguez.

"I think it's discrimination right there against the D.H.," said Ortiz, in discussing his chances for the M.V.P. this year. "It's a position, bro. Who are the guys making the money? The hitters."

Still, when Rodriguez was asked to define M.V.P., he mentioned "doing it from both sides of the field" and "being on the field every day" before saying he would rather play baseball than have to decide on its M.V.P.

The two New York voters, Ken Davidoff of Newsday and John Delcos of The Journal News, picked Rodriguez first; the two Boston voters, Steve Krasner of The Providence Journal and Bill Ballou of The Worcester Telegram & Gazette, gave Ortiz their first-place votes.

"I felt if a D.H. was going to win, he'd have to blow away the stats that the position player had," Delcos said. "I don't think Ortiz did that."

Ballou said he thought Ortiz did.

"What Ortiz did in terms of timeliness and production was over and above anything I'd ever seen a D.H. do," he said.

Davidoff said he waited until the final weekend of the regular season to make his decision and gave Rodriguez the edge once the Yankees clinched the division over Boston.

"If the Red Sox would have won, I would have voted for Ortiz," he said.

Guerrero, finishing behind Rodriguez and Ortiz, received his first-place vote from Gene Guidi of The Detroit Free Press. Manny Ramirez of the Red Sox was fourth (156), Travis Hafner of the Cleveland Indians was fifth (151), Paul Konerko of the Chicago White Sox was sixth (128) and Mark Teixeira of the Texas Rangers was seventh (106). Three Yankees - Gary Sheffield, Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter - completed the top 10.

Rodriguez becomes the fourth player to win the award at two positions and the fourth to win it with two teams; he won it as a shortstop for the Texas Rangers in 2003. He received a $1 million contractual bonus. Because Rodriguez is expected to excel, he will probably field more questions next spring about going 2 for 15 in the postseason than he will about winning the M.V.P.

"My approach never changes," Rodriguez said. "It's to go out and be the best player I can and help my team win and get back to being world champions. Maybe when I retire, all the critics and all that kind of stuff will end."

I'm just glad that scumbag douchebag villain cocksucker fuckface Ortiz didn't win the MVP.

I'm just saying.

I actually wasn't sure that ARod was going to get MVP. Do I think he deserved it? Fuck yea! Say what you will 'bout Ortiz, but he's a fuckin' powerhouse and played impressively this year. That being said, ARod is the MVP! Y'hear that Davey?

Yeah Davey.....you hear that.....huh .....do you hear that!!

Whatever. Clemens was partially robbed of the Cy Young Award. Santana was partially robbed of the Cy Young Award. Why shouldn't Ortiz be robbed? Rodriguez is arguably the best player in baseball, but he wasn't even the MVP of the Yankees.

Cranky.

Crap...was I making sense again? Dod you find yourself actually agreeing with me? I'm sorry...I'm just too groggy (bad night's sleep) to make inflammatory comments about A-Rod. How's about I just call him "Slappy Lipstick"? Will that tide yez over?

What do you mean "making sense again"? You never make sense!

Updated: Nov. 15, 2005, 10:29 PM ET
Matsui, Yankees reach four-year, $52M deal
Associated Press


NEW YORK -- Hideki Matsui and the Yankees agreed Tuesday night to a $52 million, four-year contract that will keep the popular outfielder in New York.

Matsui's agent, Arn Tellem, and Yankees general manager Brian Cashman met the Nov. 15 deadline contained in Matsui's first contract with the team. That deal stated that if there was no agreement by then, New York would have to place the outfielder on unconditional release waivers, which means the Yankees could not have re-signed him until May 15.

Matsui is to earn $13 million in each of the next four seasons, a baseball official familiar with the talks said on condition of anonymity because the team did not disclose the financial terms. Matsui was coming off a $21 million, three-year contract in which he earned an additional $1.5 million in performance bonuses.

New York scheduled a Wednesday news conference at Yankee Stadium to discuss the deal.

A three-time MVP in Japan's Central League with the Yomiuri Giants, Matsui has been one of the Yankees more productive hitters. He batted .305 with 23 homers and 116 RBI last season.

After agreeing to a new contract to stay on as general manager, Cashman said that re-signing Matsui was his first priority.

In other Yankees news, New York exercised its $1.5 million option on reliever Tanyon Sturtze rather than paying a $150,000 buyout. The 35-year-old right-hander was 5-3 with a 4.73 ERA and one save in one start and 63 relief appearances.

Kudos to the Yankees for keeping Tanyon Sturtze off the open market! He was certainly more important to the team than, say, Tino Martinez, who carried the team for a month when they were in the AL basement and whose 2006 option wasn't picked up by this "classy" organization. Good job, Yankees!

shouldn't you ... y'know... worry a bit about yer own chaos, boyo? the damon scenario? manny? theo's departure?

i mean, i know, traditionally, the bosox are a shining organization of class, but...

Can't a guy give his team's rival kudos? It's not very classy of you to take a shot when all I've done is give credit where it's due. Sheesh!

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/30/sports/baseball/30chass.html

ON BASEBALL
Yanks May Go on Instinct With Jeter in Center

By MURRAY CHASS
Published: November 30, 2005
IF Derek Jeter moved from shortstop to center field next season, he would win a Gold Glove within a year, Bobby Murcer said yesterday.
A shortstop-turned-center-fielder himself, Murcer wasn't proposing that the Yankees move Jeter to fill their center-field gap, but he was responding to my question about the possibility of the Yankees' moving Jeter or Alex Rodriguez out there.

Derek Jeter would not be the first to play center field after 10 years as a shortstop. Murcer was the first person I thought of yesterday after reading a Reuters article. It was an interview with Yankees Manager Joe Torre in which he said the team had thought about moving Jeter or Rodriguez to center. "We just haven't made a commitment to that," Torre was quoted as saying. "We haven't broached it with the shortstops."
Later in the day, the Yankees denied that Torre had made those comments. "He couldn't have debunked the story any more strongly," said Rick Cerrone, the Yankees' senior director of media relations.
Maybe Torre wanted to debunk the idea that he would consider converting one of the two stars, but I have no reason to question the accuracy of the reporting of Larry Fine, who interviewed Torre and wrote the article. Fine said that he rechecked his notes and that the quotations he had used were there.
That dispute aside, though, let's talk about the idea. It's an excellent one. The Yankees need a center fielder to replace Bernie Williams, whom they should have replaced a year ago. It would have been difficult to remove Williams completely given all that he had meant to the Yankees, but general managers and managers, especially the Yankees' general manager and manager, are paid a lot of money to take difficult and unpopular steps when they become necessary.
Replacing Williams now, the Yankees say they are prepared to use Bubba Crosby. That's the type of move the Florida Marlins might make if they traded Juan Pierre in the continuation of what they say is a market correction and others call a fire sale. Maybe the Yankees could win with Crosby in center, but consider this trifecta:

¶Switch Jeter to center.

¶Move Rodriguez back to shortstop.

¶Sign the free agent Bill Mueller, late of Boston, to play third base.

Choosing Jeter over Rodriguez to play center is easy. The Yankees asked Rodriguez to give up shortstop for third base when they traded for him two years ago, and he worked diligently to master the position. His outstanding defense last season contributed to his Most Valuable Player award. It would be unfair now to tell him to forget third, learn center.
If Jeter, on the other hand, were asked to learn center after 10 years as a major league shortstop, he wouldn't be the first. The Hall of Famer Robin Yount moved to the outfield after 11 major league seasons as a shortstop and won a second M.V.P. award as a center fielder in 1989.
Mickey Mantle began his professional baseball career as a shortstop but played in only seven major league games there. He was, of course, a center fielder. Murcer moved to center, too, after playing shortstop in all 29 of his games for the Yankees in 1965 and 1966. When he returned from two years in the Army in 1969, he found himself at third base.
Murcer experienced one of the most memorable moments of his career during a game the Yankees played at Seattle's tiny Sick Stadium in 1969.
"You could hear fans whisper; that's how close you were to them," recalled Murcer, who was playing third base in that particular game and had already thrown away a couple of grounders. "A guy hit me a two-hopper at third and someone yelled: 'Look out! He's got it again!' "
Not long afterward, Manager Ralph Houk told Murcer to take fly balls in the outfield before a game. "I want to get you out there so far they won't be able to hit the ball to you," Houk told him.
"He was kidding," Murcer said. "I think he was kidding."
But the next night Murcer took six or seven flies during batting practice, started the game in right field, then started regularly in center thereafter.
In discussing a Jeter move to center, Murcer stressed that he was speaking hypothetically, that he didn't know the Yankees' plans and wasn't proposing the move.
But he said in a telephone interview: "I think D. J. would win a Gold Glove out there. If you had to pick between the two, Jeter would be better because of his quickness. He's a little faster than A-Rod, especially in the takeoff. In center field, you need a quick half-step and you have to be in full stride with your first stride. That's what Jeter has."
To illustrate Murcer's point, you need to think of only two Jeter plays: his full-out, headfirst dive into the third-base stands to catch a foul pop and his remarkable dash across the infield in the playoff game with Oakland where he snared a throw from the outfield that was going awry and threw out Jeremy Giambi at the plate with a backhand flip.
"As long as I've been in baseball, going on 42 years," Murcer said, "D. J. has as good a baseball instinct as anyone I've ever seen. If he moved to center field, it would be an absolute breeze for him."

that would be cool

that would be cool

You think they're gonna do it?

I don't see them doin' it. It makes more sense to bring Crosby along then to sign Mueller, whose career offensive production is pretty spotty, especially when you factor in the Fenway/Manny/Ortiz factor.

when it comes to christmas songs I like a Crosby other than that no thanks.

You were so busy breaking down my post into itty-bitty chunks that I think you missed my point. I DON'T think that the Yankees, or any team for that matter, should sign Damon to a seven year deal. Three years? Four years? Sure. But not seven. But it makes sense to move Jeter to CF, replace him with another Gold Glove winner in Slappy, and then sign a low-cost option at 3B. Mueller is solid defensively and can get on base. Garciaparra has something to prove, played 3B at the end of last season, and provides a name that we both know makes Georgie drool. Putting a Gold Glove winner in CF, replacing him with a Gold Glove winner, and signing a low-cost, Gold Glove-caliber option makes a helluva lot more sense than overpaying a free agent or selling off the last of the team's prospects. But that's just my opinion.

Quote:

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You did not just call him "Slappy"!

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Yup. Twice now. What're you gonna do about it, punk?

Joe Mama is jealous of harley and A-Rod....


Stupid Doog and Rob are jealous of me.


That is all.