The Yankees seem to be in a giving mood this holiday season. Just a couple of days ago, A Rod announced that he will be opening up an education center for underprivleged kids in Florida. He has funded $1.5 million for the project, which is projected to open in April 2008. It will be called the “Alex Rodriguez Education Center”. The education center will be given to the Southwest Miami Boys & Girls Club, which is the same group Rodriguez sponsored a baseball field for before. The group had been talking about such a facility for a while and A Rod will make it a reality for them; you can’t say anything bad about that.
Joba Chamberlain is also spreading some holiday cheer. He spent last Thursday in the department of pediatrics in the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center where he spent time with the kids and tried to bring some cheer into their lives (as well as into the lives of their parents). Joba, along with many others who attended were wearing “Yankee Universe” t-shirts. Yankee Universe is a program which raises money to donate to the cancer center at Sloan-Kettering.
Today Roger Clemens denied all allegations made against him by the Mitchell Report. Through his agent and lawyer he has said that he never used any banned substances in his life including steroids and human growth hormone. He said he will be answering all the questions that have come up with the accusation in due time.
He added:
“Those substances represent a dangerous and destructive shortcut that no athlete should ever take.”
Hopefully what Clemens has said is true, but at the moment it is really just one man’s word against another’s. Brian McNamee, the former athletic trainer who told Mitchell about Clemens, is currently being tried and could possibly go to jail. The reason why he named Clemens as well as others is so that he can get a better plea bargaining deal, but that raises the question as to whether he is actually telling the truth or just scrambling to make up stuff so that he can get a better deal.
Today the deal with closer Mariano Rivera was finalized. It is worth $45 million over three years and will likely by Rivera’s last contract as a major leaguer (he is currently 38 years old.) Rivera has been great to us and it is nice to see him stay in pinstripes once more. Rivera had become a free agent after the season was over, but ended up with the Yanks again… can you imagine him anywhere else anyway? He will certainly be appreciated this year, especially as we try to figure out this whole pitching thing.
Today has been a slow day on both the Yankee and MLB fronts. It is rest well needed though, from the insanity of Mitchell madness. So, keeping pace with this I have decided to post a video for all of you to enjoy. I found it on Youtube and it is a great video, dedicated to the Yankee dynasty of the second half of the 90s. So, sit back and take a look down this happy memory lane:
After watching the video a few things came to mind. One was obviously when we will see the glory days come back to us. I think it is interesting that that dynasty started only two years after the league was in a huge debacle (like it currently is) over the 1994 strike. Baseball didn’t lose its popularity even though there was no World Series that year. Growth continued and the sport was not tainted. Hopefully the same will happen after this current mess is all sorted out. Even better would be if the Yanks come out of this disaster the same way they did after the strike; if that happens we are in for some more great moments soon!
On the other side of the ball as Clemens, Andy Pettitte has admitted that what the Mitchell Report said about him was true; he used HGH in 2002. Pettitte said that it was not for performance enhancement, but instead for helping his elbow injury heal faster (this statement goes in line with what the report said as well.) He quit only two days after he started because he didn’t feel comfortable using the hormone. It should be noted that during that time HGH was not banned, so you really can’t make Pettitte into the bad guy here. He was just trying to get better so that he could help his team out as fast as possible. I am sure he still wishes those two days didn’t happen (and so do I as a Yankee fan) because sadly even those 48 hours will taint his name from now on, including when he is considered for the Hall of Fame. During his statement he also emphasized that he had never used steroids.
Finally some news that doesn’t have to do with Mitchell madness (although I have a feeling Mr. Mitchell will cause some more splashes soon). Dan Haren will not be a Yankee next season because Oakland just traded him to the Diamondbacks as part of a three team deal (the other team was the Astros). The departure of Haren does signify a few things though, including Joe Blanton will most likely be unloaded too; the A’s had said earlier that if Haren goes, so does Blanton. He is certainly a possibility still, but the big trade talks involving the Yankees is for non other than Johan Santana.
We all knew that the Yanks hadn’t actually stopped thinking about the Twins’ ace, but Hank Steinbrenner actually said it to the public this time. He also said that the only way that Santana would come is if the Yanks could trade Matsui somehow. With the Giants no longer in the market for an outfielder, I don’t know if that will happen. But either way, it seems like a dumb excuse. I bet if the Twins offered to accept the Yankees’ original offer of Hughes, Cabrera, and a mid-level prospect for Santana, we’d accept. Bottom line in the Santana trade talks is that nothing has really changed since it all began.
In other news, former Cubs pitcher Mark Prior is currently a free agent and the Yanks are among a few teams interested. Prior is coming off major surgery and seeks only a one year deal, whereas the Yankees want a one year deal with a team option for a second year. Prior certainly has the potential to be great, as he was once expected to become one of the league’s top pitchers. But, that never really happened due to an injury plagued time with the Cubs. The Cubs finally gave up on him this season, but if he gets through rehab successfully he will certainly have a chance at being a good pitcher. Other teams interested include the Mets and Nationals.
Today Roger Clemens denied all allegations made against him by the Mitchell Report. Through his agent and lawyer he has said that he never used any banned substances in his life including steroids and human growth hormone. He said he will be answering all the questions that have come up with the accusation in due time.
Today the deal with closer Mariano Rivera was finalized. It is worth $45 million over three years and will likely by Rivera’s last contract as a major leaguer (he is currently 38 years old.) Rivera has been great to us and it is nice to see him stay in pinstripes once more. Rivera had become a free agent after the season was over, but ended up with the Yanks again… can you imagine him anywhere else anyway? He will certainly be appreciated this year, especially as we try to figure out this whole pitching thing.
On the other side of the ball as 
In other news, former Cubs pitcher Mark Prior is currently a free agent and the Yanks are among a few teams interested. Prior is coming off major surgery and seeks only a one year deal, whereas the Yankees want a one year deal with a team option for a second year. Prior certainly has the potential to be great, as he was once expected to become one of the league’s top pitchers. But, that never really happened due to an injury plagued time with the Cubs. The Cubs finally gave up on him this season, but if he gets through rehab successfully he will certainly have a chance at being a good pitcher. Other teams interested include the Mets and Nationals.