Pinstripe Posts

Two weeks notice

days until pitchers and catchers report to Tampa. Two weeks. Hang in there. Spring is near.

He's strikeout prone, he's in decline as a hitter, but Morgan Ensberg - a hitter the Yanks have flirted with obtaining in the past - will come to spring training as a non-roster player, with a chance to earn a spot as a first baseman/righty hitter off the bench. He was 4th in the NL MVP voting in '05, but hasn't come close to that production since. A third baseman-by-trade, he's played one game at 1B in his career (last season with San Diego).

Also, in tomorrow's Record, we have a story about Brian Cashman's friendship with Tim Coughlin, his ex-roommate (and the son of Giants coach Tom Coughlin). Tim gave us a great story about taking a call from George Steinbrenner late one night, which we'll detail a little more tomorrow.

Just a quick word about the BAT Dinner, where Bobby Murcer spoke so eloquently about the job of assisting players in need - even those who never played a day in the majors. In his clubhouse meetings around the spring training camps each year, Murcer insists on getting at least one or two names of players or ex-players who might be in need.

"Anyone in baseball is eligible for assistance,'' Murcer said, and the cases are kept strictly confidential. BAT (Baseball Assistance Team) has been in operation for 22 years, and other sports - such as the NFL - are attempting to model the idea, which is long overdue. Donations or inquiries can be made by calling 212-931-7822.

Also, tonight at Foley's New York - the 21st Century Toots Shor's and official hangout of Pinstripe Posts - our buddy Mike "Red'' Walsh is shaving his head (thereby temporarily ending his nickname) live on Channel 5 News, to benefit the St. Baldrick's Cancer Charity. If you're free, join us at 18 West 33rd Street.

A second take on Santana

days until Yankees pitchers and catchers report to Tampa, where Phil Hughes has been throwing for the past two weeks. And there's been a winner in his blog contest, where he auctioned off a game-used, autographed ALDS Game 3 baseball in exchange for a correct answer about his favorite show, 'The Office.'

In the days leading up to yesterday's Johan Santana trade, there was plenty of a dialogue between the Twins and Yankees. Were the Yanks still interested in the lefty? Yes. Absolutely. But not at the prices that Minnesota requested.

"I wasn't comfortable with the combinations they threw out for me about our guys,'' GM Brian Cashman told us today, speaking in general terms of his recent conversations with Minnesota. There was nothing "that made sense to me, or that we had an interest in doing.''

Hughes and Melky Cabrera were apparently off limits, and renewed requests for a package that included Chien-Ming Wang were flatly rejected by the Yanks. With so much money due to Santana, the Yanks were determined to keep down the price of talent in exchange, and the Red Sox obviously took a similar take. 

You can relax now, Phil Hughes

days until pitchers and catchers report to Tampa, where we wonder if a white surrender flag is hanging out of Hank's office.

Hank Steinbrenner never once hid his feelings about Johan Santana. If he wanted to do so at the winter meetings, he could have instructed Brian Cashman to send that package of Hughes and Melky Cabrera to Minnesota.

But you know the story. His brother and his GM weren't on board, and Hank didn't buck the majority. Now, the Yanks are better off that Santana went to Queens instead of Fenway Park, but Hank has already sent off warning signs that are reminiscent of his dad. If Santana has a huge season, or if the Mets win the World Series, maybe Hank makes the bold move next time - one that goes against the organizational grain.

Cashman is a free agent after this season, and there's no telling how this will play out. Maybe he becomes disenchanted with this new setup with the Brothers Steinbrenner in charge. I'm quite sure he'll go through this season without signing an extension, and the guess is that he won't be offered one.

But this time, Cashman's will prevailed. By keeping Hughes, Cabrera, Kennedy and Marquez, he won this round. Although, Cash probably has to win the pennant to really win this war of baseball philosophies.

Cano's contract is done, checking in with Whitey Ford, and other stuff

days until pitchers and catchers report to Tampa.

This just in: Robbie Cano's contract is done, and could net him $57 million over the next six years, according to a source familiar with the negotiations. Here's how it breaks down: $28 million over the next four years, $14 million in 2012 (or $2 million club buyout), $15 million in 2013 (or $2 million club buyout).Cano will be in New York for a physical in the next few days.

Roger Clemens' agent put out a 44-page report - www.rogerclemensreport.com - to underscore "both the quality and quantity of his pitching over the course of his 24-year career,'' according to the introduction. It's got a ton of charts, comparing Clemens' late-career success favorably to HOF players such as Nolan Ryan, but it's probably not going to convince anyone who believes the Mitchell Report that such success wasn't artificially aided - though to what degree is the part we might never know.

Reports out of Seattle indicate that outfielder Adam Jones is headed to Baltimore for a physical, in advance of a package deal that would send ace lefty Erik Bedard to the Mariners. Check back with the Orioles in about 2017. Until then, good seats available.

We spoke with Whitey Ford this morning, who is in Manhattan to promote the auction of some personal memorabilia - but not all of it. "All the grandkids have World Series rings,'' said Whitey, who sorted through his collection with family members before deciding what to auction off.

Items up for sale include Ford's 1950 rookie home and away uniforms - No. 19. (Ford received No. 16 after he came back from the army). "I've been looking at them long enough,'' said Ford, who had forgotten he was first issued No. 19. The late collector and Yankees shareholder Barry Halper had the uniforms in his collection and gave them to Ford some years ago.

Whitey said he was sad to see the old Stadium in its final year, and recalled sitting in the bleachers as a kid who took the subway from Queens. If he had one wish for the new ballpark, it'd be that "they lower the prices for some of these tickets so that the average fan could go.''

I remember my grandfather telling me about 3 o'clock starts and 50 cent seats to see Ruth and Gehrig. Can you imagine?

There were several nice moments from last night's New York Baseball Writers Dinner, but none more touching than when a soldier who lost his arm to an explosion in Iraq helped present Johnny Damon with the Joan Payson humanitarian award. Damon was choked up, and was among the most eloquent speakers - as was Bobby Murcer, with his indomitable spirit. Yogi Berra was short and sweet, Denny McLain was warm and amusing.

After Murcer reminded McLain that his longest home run came off the righty at Tiger Stadium, McLain said that was easy to remember - since most of Murcer's homers went about 310 feet down the right field line at old Yankee Stadium.

18 and counting

days until pitchers and catchers report to Tampa.

Tonight is the annual New York Baseball Writers' Dinner at the Midtown Hilton, and this might be my first post while wearing a tuxedo (but probably not the last). Anyway, here's a fun exchange from the Theo-Cash lecture from last Friday night at William Paterson.

Before the lecture began, Cashman revealed that one of his roommates in Manhattan, 11 years ago, was coach Tom Coughlin's son, Tim.

   "He took a few calls from the Boss,'' Cashman said. "He's got some stories.''

   Naturally, Cashman is pulling for the Giants, while Epstein is backing the Patriots in Super Bowl XVII. But Epstein has more than a rooting interest; the Pats have been a business model for his Red Sox.

   After Boston won the 2004 World Series, "we talked to the Pats about what they'd done, what lessons they learned (to maintain a championship club). We tried to apply some of those principles,'' Epstein said, though he would not delve into specifics.

Bernie burns a bit more

days until pitchers and catchers report to Tampa. Do you know where your old, trusty baseball glove is?

Tonight, we went to the Hillside Food Outreach dinner and auction, where Bernie Williams headlined with Paul O'Neill. We didn't stay for the dinner or the auction, but we did get Bernie's take on Brian Cashman's sharp Friday night comments at William Paterson University.

"Questioning a person’s commitment to the team is a very serious accusation, at least in my book,'' Williams said, in response to Cash's inference that Bernie's music interfered with his focus in '05 and '06.

The full story will be in Sunday's Record. We (Pete Abe and I) only had Bernie for a few minutes before the dinner began this evening, but Bernie was not outwardly angry - although he was direct and measured in his response. Obviously, he still feels hurt about how it ended with the Yanks.

On Saturday evening, Cash responded by text, saying he would speak personally with Bernie to get a fair assessment of his comments, which Brian felt were portrayed as "far worse'' than the entire conversation of Friday evening. Still, Cash said he took "full responsibility'' for what was said.

Listen, Cashman knows he had to play the heavy in this thing because Joe Torre absolutely loved Bernie. Heck, everybody loves Bernie. But if you're the GM, you have to make hard decisions. The thing is, if Bernie would've swallowed some pride and accepted the Yanks' non-roster spring invite last year, he would have made the club.

Tomorrow, we'll take you inside the Cashman-Theo Epstein event a little more - a really entertaining evening at WPU. The headline was about Cashman's commitment to the young pitchers, and his strong opinion that Johan Santana isn't worth sacrificing these power arms plus Melky Cabrera. But the never-ending sidebar was about Bernie.

He's 39, and the people who care about him really want Bernie and the Yanks to come to a truce. I'm sure Hank would love to hold a Bernie Williams Day and retire his number before the old Stadium goes to ashes. But Mr. Williams' disappointment with the club might have reached another high hurdle. As one Williams friend told me recently, he wasn't going to set foot in Yankee Stadium last year "unless his name was in the lineup.''

Happy 20th

days until pitchers and catchers.

The Robinson Cano negotiations happened rapidly, and it's a smart move by the Yanks (as well as an increasing trend around baseball) to lock up a truly talented young player.

But the Yanks aren't inclined to do the same with Chien-Ming Wang. With a pitcher under their control, the club is willing to pay on the high end later instead of risking long-term money now.

Did you know that Wang and Phil Hughes have blogs? Yup, Wang's Website is found at ... http://web.40chienmingwang.com/index.jsp

Hughes' new blog is at... http://philhughes.wordpress.com/ Currently, Hughes is auctioning off one of his game-used baseballs from last October's Game 3 ALDS Yankees victory. If you can guess his favorite line from his favorite show, 'The Office,' you can take home an autographed Hughes baseball.

Three weeks away/Cano deal is near

* FOXSports.com first reported that the Yankees were nearing a four-year, $30 million deal with Robinson Cano. Since then, we've heard from two sources invloved in the neogitaions, confirming that the sides are close to a deal that would also include two option years - though they have not agreed upon a dollar figure for the options yet. There's no physical yet scheduled for Cano. AND, one source told us that a similar extension for Chien-Ming Wang IS NOT in the works.

days until pitchers and catchers report to Tampa, the nation's leader in phosphate production. You could look it up.

Here at Pinstripe Posts, the number 21 always reminds us of the Twenty-One Club in Manhattan. Why? Well, we are old souls, and '21' - a former speakeasy-turned-swank establishment - has always figured prominently in New York's sporting past.

In fact, Mr. Steinbrenner had a table here at lunch (hard to get) for years. And anyone should correct me if I'm wrong, but the official announcement that Steinbrenner had bought the Yankees from CBS was made at the '21 Club.'

Today, we spoke with Don Maynard, the great flanker from the Super Bowl III New York Jets for an upcoming story in The Record, and he reminded us that - as a New York Giant - he stayed at the same hotel on the Bronx's Grand Concourse that Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford and some of the great Yankees resided.

You could walk to Yankee Stadium, two blocks away. And it was one subway stop away from the Polo Grounds, across the river in Manhattan. Maynard told us that Kyle Rote and Frank Gifford resided there, as did some of the old New York Titans.

Much as we love the old Stadium and the lore, it seems as if they've done a lot of great things to preserve Yankees history in the new ballpark - especially with the granite entrance, with 'YANKEE STADIUM' in gold leaf. That's how it looked in 1923, and that's how it will look in 2009.

Count him out?

days until pitchers and catchers at Tampa. Probably 34 days until the first intra-squad game. We're a full-service countdown operation here.

We were kicking around the idea of future Hall of Famers last night, and how the Steroid Era would impact the candidacies of players such as Roger Clemens, Rafael Palmeiro and Barry Bonds. A valid argument can be made on both sides, but I believe it's extremely reasonable for writers' opinions to change over time.

Right now, I would vote in Bonds, and I'd lean toward electing Clemens. Palmeiro is a puzzle for me. But I've been against Mark McGwire, based on the fact that his one calling card (home runs) comes with serious questions. My point has been that you could quite easily distinguish Bonds' overall game as Cooperstown worthy over a slugger such as McGwire.

But I have no problem with those who vote for McGwire. Who knows which pitchers were tainted? Who knows the real percentage of steroid players in a given year, and how that exactly influenced performance?

I'd expect that HOF voters would remain largely open-minded about this discussion - one that will undoubtedly take more twists and turns through the years. 

23 (days until we) Skidoo

days until pitchers and catchers report to Tampa. And speaking of Don Mattingly, this just in, from the Associated Press: Mattingly will be moved from Dodgers hitting coach to major league special assignment coach due to family reasons.

"Donnie is prioritizing his family first," said the former MVP's agent, Ray Schulte. "The Dodgers have been very supportive, creating a position so Don can still make a contribution to the team throughout the year.''  The other 'Hit Man' of the '80s, Mike Easler, will replace Mattingly as hitting coach.

Today, we received an e-mail from Hunt Auctions, the company working with Whitey Ford to auction off items from the great lefty's personal memorabilia collection. There will be a preview on Monday in Manhattan.

According to Hunt, the Ford items will be available to the public during the 2008 MLB Live Auction at the All-Star FanFest, July 14 & 15, in New York. For more info and a complete list of items to be offered, go to www.HuntAuctions.com starting this Monday, the 28th.