New Host

You may have noticed a little bit of downtime earlier today, but this time it was intentional. We were in the process of moving to a new server (with a different host) because our old one just wasn’t working out. The server we are now hosted on is much faster so things should load in less time for you guys. It should also have less downtime and problems. I believe this change will improve the blog and more importantly the user experience. So now that we are on a faster and more stable server, normal posting will continue very soon; thanks for hanging in there.

Posada to First?

There is speculation that Jorge Posada could be moved to first base soon. It makes perfect sense considering catchers usually have trouble playing the position for too long due to the strains on the body. Looking back at baseball history, catchers playing into their late thirties have struggled a lot. There is no doubt that Posada is special though because he has been so consistent for so long that he might just be able to continue playing the position and break that historic trend. None the less, moving him to first may extend his shelf life, so to speak. He may even prove to be the first basemen who we are currently searching for.

The Yankees have started to try putting Posada at first and he isn’t comfortable yet, but as he gets more play time at the position he should feel better about it. Looking at his gameplay he certainly hasn’t been bad at the position though. The Yanks don’t want to rush him into it though; they probably won’t move him there until he feels ready to do so. For the 2008 season he will definetely remain catcher as far as we know, but beyond that you might just see Posada playing first. It would also give an opportunity to some of our other catchers too, some who have shown good potential. I think it could be a good move for the Yanks and for Posada in the upcoming years. What do you guys think? Is it a good plan to gradually move Posada to first or not?

Downtime

I would like to apologize for the downtime this blog had late last night into today. My host went through a DDos attack and the server which this site is hosted on went down. I have contacted them and everything should be fine now, if any more problems occur I may be switching to another host. Just wanted to let you guys know that I am not deleting the blog or anything. Thanks and stay tuned for more posts soon.

New York vs. Boston, This is What We Live For

Ok, so it isn’t the right sport, but who cares? It is still New York vs. Boston and that is a big deal, especially with Boston’s hot streak of late (the Red Sox, Celtics, Pats, even BC played better than usual). Well, guess what? It is 2008, a new year, and it is time for that streak to end. What a better way to end it than with the Giants beating the Patriots in the Superbowl. Ok, maybe I am getting ahead of myself, but I truly believe that Eli and the Giants can defeat Belicheat’s crew. You can probably tell the Red Sox aren’t the only Boston team I hate. I am actually a Jets fan, which makes my hatred of the Patriots similar to that of the Red Sox since they are our division rivals. It would have been better in the Jets took out the Pats in the playoffs, but hey I’m not complaining; I am still happy with the Giants taking on our Boston foes. Lets hope this is the beginning of taking back the sports throne for New York. Do I hear the Yankees playing into late October?

A Rod Wins Another Award

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.

Arbitration Begins

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.