Farnsworth Rebound?

Kyle Farnsworth. What comes to mind when you hear that name? If you are a Yankee fan it might be unhappiness, disgust, contempt, or maybe even hatred. It isn’t surprising considering what was expected and how it actually turned out. Looking back at 2007, Farnsworth’s year was filled with boos. But with his constantly struggling command, his 4.80 ERA, and only 2 wins it really wasn’t a surprise. 2006 wasn’t much better either.

Now Farnsworth has come out and said that he is anxious for the 2008 season to begin. He is out to prove something: that he is still good. It is no surprise that he said that because it is what any player would say, but Girardi has also come out and spoke about how he thinks Farnsworth has potential. Girardi didn’t have to say anything about Farnsworth and he could have certainly said something that wasn’t very telling, but he did say something and it was positive:

“I believe in him because I’ve personally witnessed it, I know that he can be an outstanding pitcher. I know he has the ability to strike out people in tough situations. I look forward to seeing him get out on the mound in a couple of weeks.”

I hope Girardi is right, I really do. If Farnsworth can bounce back, even to being average, it will help the Yanks. Girardi and Farnsworth seem to be forming a good relationship, so that is always good. Hopefully they can work together to fix Farnworth’s problems and hopefully he can get out there and strike people out like the manager said. I’m not going to put any money on it, or even say that he will be good, but I will say I hope he is can prove us all wrong.

Berra Museum Removes Clemens’ Display

The Yogi Berra Museum in Little Falls, New Jersey has taken down the Roger Clemens display which stood next to Jeter and Rivera’s displays. This is just the beginning for the Rocket, especially if he is guilty. The museum directors said that they took it down due to the allegations against Clemens. It made answering children’s questions about the pitcher awkward. This was not Berra’s decision, but he said he was ok with it when he found out. Berra has been close to Clemens, but he probably realizes that taking down the display was the best thing to do, atleast for the moment.

Wang Loses Arbitration

The 19 game winner lost his arbitration case today meaning that the Yankees will only have to pay him $4 million this year (which is what they offered.) Wang had asked for $4.6 mil. Either way he will earn a lot more money than he had last year (under 500k.) This was Wang’s first eligible year for arbitration and he will continue the process until 2011, when he can become a free agent. If he keeps performing like he did last year he will probably get a long term deal before that.

No More Legends Field

George  M. Steinbrenner. What comes to mind when you hear that name? Victory? Hatred? Obsession? Maybe Legend. Whatever you think of the Yankees’ owner there is no question that it is due to his autocratic rule that the Yankees have achieved so much success in the past 15 years. Sure they haven’t won a World Series in a few years, but if it were any other team a World Series drought of nine years would be nothing. Even without a ring of late, the Yankees have still been the most successful team in baseball in the last 15 years, by far.

And that is part of the reason why the Yankees organization has decided to rename Legends Field in Tampa, Florida as George M. Steinbrenner Field, in honor of the big man himself. The decision was announced today by the next in line Steinbrenners: Hank and Hal. The Tampa City Council and Hillsbourogh County Commision have already approved the name change. They feel it is appropriate, especially because of all of the philanthropy work the Steinbrenners have done in that community over the years.

In respond George Steinbrenner said:

“I am humbled and flattered to have this outstanding and totally unexpected honor conferred on me. I extend my thanks to the Tampa City Council and to the Hillsborough County Commissioners for passing resolutions suggesting and recommending the change. I also thank my family for supporting the renaming of the stadium and for everything they have done for so many years that helped bring about this great day”

Love him or hate him, George Steinbrenner will be in the baseball world for a very long time.

More Testimonies

Well today was the beginning of the Clemens, McNamee showdown. With Radomski now finished (got a 5 year parole deal) and most of the other big names admitting guilt, all who remain are the Rocket and his ex-trainer. And today during an exhaustive session lasting almost five hours, both seemed to get “beat up” by the questions. Both also continued preaching their opposing stories, meaning that [atleast] one of them is also guilty of lying under oath now. McNamee just keeps digging himself into a deeper whole by saying more and more lies. On top of that he has had to even admit to lying in the past to make his current lies seem legit. The guy is a joke.

Clemens, as much as I want him to be innocent, doesn’t exactly boast a straightforward story either at this point. One of his ex-housekeepers was there today and she told the Congressional committee that the Rocket and his family were all at that infamous party held by Canseco (although Mr. Canseco, when he was under oath, said that Clemens was not there). So now we have atleast one more person who has committed perjury. How nice! Like there weren’t enough lies in this situation already…

It really is just turmoil out there. From the lies to the opposing viewpoints of McNamee and Clemens to the Congressmens’ biased views. It basically plays down like this: Republicans favor Clemens and try to prove McNamee guilty and Democrats favor McNamee, trying to show the Rocket is a lier. At this point everyone knows that McNamee has lied in the past so it is likely that he will face some type of perjury-related trouble (not to mention the whole steroids distribution thing), but things are also looking equally bad (if not worse) for Clemens, especially after his long time teammate and buddy, Andy Petite, admitted that he had a conversation ten years ago with Clemens where he had admitted using HGH. This really is all a sad matter and is very horrible for baseball. I hope Selig is satisfied.

Oh yea, and in the mix of all this fun you have FBI agents looking out for who is committing perjury. It is just a madhouse at this point; will it ever end?

Arbitration with Wang

It looks like the Yankees won’t be able to reach an agreement with pitcher Chien-Ming Wang, like they did with the other players who were headed towards arbitration. This will be the first time the Yanks have gone through arbitration with a player since 2000 (when they went with Rivera.) Wang submitted an original offer for $4.6 million and the Yankees offered $4 million, but the two sides were unable to reach a consensus. Arbitration is scheduled for February 14th.