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Alex Rodriguez has been awarded the Thurman Munson award for his achievements in the game, as well as his philanthropic work. After everything he has accomplished in the past year, this is no surprise to me. He obviously had an amazing regular season for the Yankees (note I said regular season) and off of the field he has done a lot, including the plan of opening a new school for underprivileged kids in Florida. Despite his lack of success in the post season I think he does deserve this award, especially considering his charity work. He has done a lot for the community and even if you despise A. Rod, you can’t hold that against him.

Other recipients of the award this year include Melky Cabrera, David Wright, Craig Biggio, Jamal Crawford (Knicks’ shooting guard), and Kristi Yamaguchi (figure skater). The award will be presented on February 5th at the Marriott in Times Square. It is given every year in honor of Yankee catcher and captain Thurman Munson, who died poignantly in a plane crash in 1979.

The arbitration process has begun between the Yankees and 3 of our players (Robinson Cano, Chien-Ming Wang and Brian Bruney.) Wilson Betemit was also supposed to go through arbitration, but he agreed to a one year deal with the Yanks for $1.165 million today (meaning he won’t have to go through arbitration.) For those of you who don’t know what arbitration is, I will give a quick explanation.

Arbitration is a form of privately settling disputes (without getting the law involved.) In baseball, it usually comes in the form of salary arbitration, where the mlb acts as a judge and hears the offers from both the team and the player regarding the player’s salary and decides which offer is more reasonable. Prior to the mlb’s decision both parties (the team and the player) agree that they will adhere to whatever decision the league gives. Once the league decides which offer is more fair they announce it and both the team and player agree to it. The player or team that originally proposed the offer that the mlb picked is said to have won arbitration.

So, that is what the Yankees will be going through with Wang, Cano, and Bruney in the next couple of weeks. Cano filed for $4.55 million and was offered $3.2 million by the club and Wang requested $4.6 million and was offered $4 million. I am not sure how much Bruney has asked for, but whatever it is it definetely won’t be as high as Cano or Wang’s. We should be finding out the outcomes of the process within a few weeks.

Phil Hughes opened a new blog on wordpress.com yesterday. He is certainly a welcome addition to the blogosphere and it will be interesting reading his blog, especially as trade rumors continue to circulate (I hope they end up being just that though, rumors.) Hughes opened the blog a little bit after announcing that his website philhughes.net was going to be shut down. He didn’t specify why, but I am guessing it is a legal or personal matter. Anyway, he already has 3 posts in 3 days on his new blog, hopefully he can keep it updated. Enough of me talking about it, here is the link: Phil Hughes’ Blog

A Yankee “fan” is suing the team for consumer fraud. He claims that the Yankees cheated fans due to what was uncovered by the Mitchell Report. That is just ridiculous! First off, if hes so concerned with this then he should just stop watching baseball (as well as many other sports) all together because each game probably has atleast one person who has or does take performance enhancing drugs. Second, even though people were using it, how is that the Yankees fault. The team didn’t say “here, take these.” It was the players that decided to use them, not the team. In no way do I consider this guy a Yankee fan if he is going to sue for this because it shows he doesn’t care about the team, especially since the sum of the tickets he bought adds up to a measly $221. Some people just like all the attention they get…

Four more years of Bud are up ahead. The owners voted unanimously today, giving Selig a 3 year extension to his current contract, which would have ended in 2009. So, with this latest extension he is expected to be around until 2012, 20 years after he took the place of Fey Vincent as commissioner. Selig had previously said that he would be retiring after 2009, but apparently he changed his mind; saying today that he will be retiring after 2012. The owners love this guy, so there really shouldn’t be a surprise here since they are the ones who vote.
I on the other hand, like many fans (and the players association), am not so fond of the man. I think we need someone who is more capable and fair when it comes to the steroids problem in baseball. If Mitchell madness does end up tainting the sport, the first man to blame is certainly Selig because he should have dealt with this matter before Congress felt the necessity to jump in. I also believe that selecting George Mitchell was a very bad choice due to Mitchell’s bias. I could go on with that forever, but I won’t.
Bottom line is: Selig is here to stay, whether or not we like it.

Video of Goose on The Late Show with David Letterman doing the top ten list. Good to see him happy, he deserves it:

As the last year of Yankee Stadium approaches, the Yankees are heading towards a new era with their exciting new pitching trio and a new manager. It’ll be sad to say goodbye to the stadium where so many memories have been formed and where the franchise has had unrivaled success. The last game that is played in the stadium will certainly be a moment to remember. Wouldn’t you expect the Yankees to play the final game at Yankee Stadium though? Well, that might not be happening. With the immense success of the first outdoor NHL game between the Sabres and Penguins, the NHL is looking in that direction more for next season, including a game involving the New York Rangers. The NHL is trying to cut a deal with the Yankees which would allow the Rangers to host a game at Yankee Stadium next winter, making that the last pro sporting event in the historic edifice. Many Yankee fans are unhappy with the possibility. I see where they are coming from because you would expect the Yanks to be the last to play in their stadium, but such an event certainly wouldn’t diminish the sentiment of the Yankees’ last game, or any game they played there for that matter. Personally, I am borderline on the whole issue. The deal isn’t set in stone just yet, as the Yankee organization has to accept such an offer so for those of you against this move, just keep praying

There was a rumor floating around that the Yankees were interested in signing Mike Cameron. Reports said that the Yankees felt he would be a good addition to the team and would make a trade involving Melky Cabrera easier. Well, those rumors have been squashed today, as the 35 year old center fielder agreed to a 1 year deal with th Brewers. Personally I am happy that Cameron wasn’t signed because he is 35 and past his prime and also because he was caught for steroid use. He will sit out the first 25 games of next year with the Brewers due to the suspension he received for the drug abuse. In my opinion, Cameron’s good days are over. I also think that Melky will be able to do a better job than Cameron, although from the looks of it the Yankees might not keep him very long.

Man, I’ve been writing about these three so much lately that it seems like it is a daily segment. Anyway, the second part of the Mitchell Report congressional hearings (which is the day some of the players/trainers are speaking) has been pushed back from January 16th to February 13th. This means Clemens and McNamee will “square off” a little over a month from today, instead of next week. Congress wants to be more prepared for the player hearings, which is why it was delayed. This will also give the lawyers more preparation time, although Rusty Hardin, Clemens’ attorney, says it doesn’t matter to him because Clemens is innocent.

You guys are in for a treat today because that isn’t the only news involving these two. You get a double dose of McNamee today! Detectives believe that the ex-trainer lied during a 2001 rape case, which doesn’t bode well for his credibility. Police said that Mr. McNamee denied having sex with a possibly drugged woman, but security guards claimed they saw him. I’ve asked it before and I’m going to ask it again… is this a soap opera?

Rich Gossage announced today that he will enter the Hall of Fame as a Yankee. What ever his decision was I would be happy for him, but this makes it even better! He will forever be remembered a Yankee and that makes me feel proud as a Yankee fan. The Padres or the Yankees were the two teams most people speculated he would pick from the nine he played for. He ended up picking the Yankees, being “tickled” to join the elite group within the HOF. A lot of Gossage’s family were also Yankee fans so his time with the Bombers was especially special to him. Goose is certainly very happy about his inclusion, as any player would be. He gave a very emotional thanks to the fans, media, and Major League Baseball for the experience. He was also very touched when he was called up the podium (where he was also reacquainted with former teammate and Yankee Reggie Jackson) when his inclusion was announced. He will be inducted on July 27th of this year, which will surely be another happy day. Congrats Goose, you deserve it!

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