While You Were Sleeping [From a Thanksgiving Food Induced Coma]

I know that they say that tryptophan doesn't actually make you sleepy, but I know what I felt after eating Thanksgiving dinner and leftovers and more food this weekend (though not cereal). Like the Seinfeld episode, I felt like the combination of turkey, heavy gravy and red wine did me in. So there was some important things in New York sports that I missed. Here's a quick roundup of the top three big things (with three smaller things underneath):

 

Derek Jeter wins a big award and the man who announces his ABs steps down. I put these two together because I think that the legacy that Bob Sheppard will leave behind will be in the introduction to Derek Jeter's at-bats when the "Voice of God" speaks down upon Yankee Stadium. And that will be the only time we'll hear his voice from now on as Sheppard is officially calling it quits according to the New York Post. He won't use the word "retired" writes Neil Best in Newsday, but that's exactly what he now is. Buster Olney writes about how Sheppard used to run out of the stadium after the final out--a story I have heard told by other writers and Yankee personnel. It will never be the same, but I think Paul Olden will do a fine job since he won't try to imitate the voice as the early replacements for Sheppard on the Yankees (and Giants) games tried to do. And how about #2, Derek Jeter? It was rumored all weekend but finally it broke that Jeter was going to be named the Sports Illustrated "Sportsman of the Year" and today it was announced for real. NYP's Joel Sherman would have voted for A-Rod or Mariano Rivera over Jeter and LoHud's Sam Borden points out that Tim Tebow, Roger Federer and Eunice Kennedy Shriver all had valid vases as well (as did Jimmie Johnson), but Big League Stew agrees with me that Jeter is the perfect candidate for this award. Congrats again to the Captain, the first Yankee to ever win Sportsman of the Year.

A crack in Tiger Woods' perfect image. It's not a New York sports story per se, but it was one of the biggest sports news stories from the weekend. So first he was reported in  serious condition after an early Friday crash and the real impact, on finding out he was OK, was how how much a false alarm demonstrated Tiger's impact to the sports world as Jay Mariotti and RealClearSports wrote about. Then questions arose about what the heck happened and Tiger Woods decided to stay quiet and cancel police interviews. A lot of differing opinions arose of what should happen next. Mike Lupica pointed out that the world awaited an explanation, RealClearSports said that Woods shouldn't stay quiet for long, and one Detroit Free Press columnist says that if isn't about golf, the world isn't owed an explanation. The gossip columns loved this from the 911 call on SportsByBrooks, to news about a warrant being sought on TMZ, to the National Enquirer breaking news about the woman Woods is supposedly cheating with and the woman who supposedly exposed them, to Deadspin reporting (and honestly saying that the story is "like Christmas" to them) that Tiger told a friend that his wife had "gone ghetto," and he had to "to run to Zales to get a 'Kobe Special.'" (that last one is my favorite). In the end, Woods released a statement on his website saying that the crash was his fault, RealClearSports talked about how Tigers feeds the media and the public, Darren Rovell points out that Tiger ads are still running, and Sam Borden wrote about how the public lives of public people with the oh-so-true quote of "you don’t only get to be famous on the good days." No one knows that better than A-Rod and now Tiger.

The Giants sucked it up. The Giants once again were BRUTAL (as my co-worker, Paul, likes to say). In the past, when they needed a big play, someone would step up and get it for them. Now? Nothing like that. The offense and defense are unimaginative at best and injuries to guys like Ahmad Bradshaw, Antonio Pierce, Kenny Phillips, and others finally caught up to them. Osi looks like he's running at halfspeed out there which makes the rest of the pass rush looks sluggish, Brandon Jacobs doesn't have complementary backs and looks like he can't run over my grandma out there, and the special teams is an absolute joke. Now Eli may be developing a stress fracture in his foot and the team is rolling downhill. They almost got helped again on Sunday when Atlanta and Philly almost both lost and gave the Giants Wild Card dreams again. Now? The Giants need to go 4-1 the rest of the way to even have a shot including sweeping Philadelphia, Dallas and Washington in the next three weeks. I just don't see that happening.

Three other stories:

• Former Yankees' pitcher Ross Ohlendorf was always one of my favorite prospects and I was sad they traded him away in the Xavier Nady/Damaso Marte deal. He was a Princeton grad who had a good arm and seemed like a steal for the Yankees when they got him as a throw-in when they sent Randy Johnson back to Arizona. Well Ohlendorf will be spending his off-season as an intern for the United States Department of Agriculture. Pretty cool!

• BigLeagueScrew says it best: "Knicks fans have had only one thing to hang their hat on this season: 'Hey, at least they’re not the Nets'" Well the 0-16 Nets fired Lawrence Frank (who incidentally started out his Nets career 13-0) and then went on to lose their 17th straight, tying an NBA record for losses to start a season. Ouch.

• Lastly, there is one more place the Yankees have beaten the Mets once again: Black Friday sales. Despite the Mets releasing "new" jerseys (they're actually old jerseys...sort of) just in time for the holiday season, the World Champion Yankees spanked them on the busiest shopping day of the year. There is no off-season for Yankee dominance over the Mets.
  

A few last notes: A few good notes from The Biz of Baseball if you want to get inside the Winter Meetings, so long to ShysterBall (I will miss you!), and Happy 40th Birthday to the Great Mariano Rivera. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend as they lamented the fall of media.

End of the Week Link Roundup

Since it's sort of the end of the week, I'm going to run through some leftover links though I won't comment on Vince Young high-fiving the refs after ruining my spread league week.

• MVP! MVP! More links about the MVP! Tyler Kepner tried to e-mail the rogue Miguel Cabrera voter (who the phrase "pulling a Keizo Konishi" came from) but got no response. Man up Konishi! Andrew Baggarly reveals his totally ridiculous MVP ballot (with Hanley Ramirez 8th, Chase Utley 9th and *ugh* Jeremy Affeldt 10th) and gets--righfully--criticized by IIATMS, River Avenue Blues, and others. Ken Rosenthal reveals his ballot (he put A-Rod third and Cabrera 10th). The New York Times agrees with me that Chase Utley is the best player in the NL not named Albert Pujols (or at least was in 2009). Maybe Derrek Lee wasn't such a bad person to put on an MVP ballot according to FanGraphs.
  

• Happy Halladays. The New York Daily News ran a report today that the Red Sox are making a big push for Roy Halladay. Why would this surprise anyone? The Yankees will--when they are ready-- as well as a bunch of other teams (Mets, Angels, Phillies, Dodgers, etc). Until he's traded, it's all rumor and every team should at least inquire. Sam Borden asks if it will be a Great American Halladay. Peter Abraham writes about the BoSox looking for a starter. Gorden Edes (for ESPN.com) writes about the race for Halladay and says he's the Angels #1 priority (what does that say about John Lackey?). Mark Feinsand (who co-wrote the Daily News article) talks about the possible packages.
  

• It's called free agency but it'll cost ya. I agree with Ken Rosenthal that the real offseason intrigue is set to begin on Tuesday when teams decide whether to offer salary arbitration. It will clear up the cloudiness around some free agents and start the bidding on others. Tyler Kepner writes that free agency truly mean free choice and Doug Glanville, writing for the Times, explains the player's thoughts behind it (always cool to have players write about their thought process in that situation). River Avenue Blues asks if the Yankees could forgo signing a DH and instead go with Juan Miranda (probably not). Pinstripe Alley asks why the Yankees aren't looking at Jon Garland (because he's really not a good pitcher at all). And IIATMS asks if not John Lackey, then who for the Yanks? Peter Gammons suggests it could just be Joba and Hughes. If it's not free agents, it's via trade and MLBTradeRumors has a great series on the 2009 offseason trade market.

• GGGGGGmen. Mike Garafolo takes a look at the Giants win vs. the Falcons and has a lot of good points, especially pointing out how the Giants need to stop squibbing it and kick the ball deep (ESPN.com's Matt Mosely agrees). ProFootballTalk.com says Antonio Pierce is feeling good but ESPN's Matt Mosely and Mathias Kiwanuka both point out that Chase Blackburn is a fine replacement. Bad news from Mosely on Ahmad Bradshaw who is going to miss the Broncos game. I saw a lot of outlets this week ranking Kevin Boss as one of the best tight ends in the NFL not only because of his receiving but because of his blocking as well. It's about time the Bossman got his due.
  

• Potpourri. Bill Simmons' Thanksgiving mailbag has a great "Mike and the Mad Dog" section. John Buccigross has a great piece on coming out in a big NHL family. Uni Watch rips on the Mets. The Yankees showed their World Series video and some Masshole (literally) took umbrage to the fact no players showed up. Lastly, Billy Weeks has some unbelievable pictures from Dominican Republic baseball including the one I posted on the right.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I'm heading up to Massachusetts now but I'll try to blog a bit this weekend.

The Best Baseball Team Money (and/or Prospects) Can Buy: Part 1

Let's say that Major League Baseball decided that they wanted another team in the American League and that they were starting right away. You, the general manager, decide to only take prospects in the expansion draft and then the only players you can get for your team are free agents or trade candidates (I've used MLBTradeRumors Trade Market Series to determine who's available via trade). You have an open checkbook to spend (the owner is trying to make a splash with the new team) but you're a new GM so you need to spend wisely to keep your job. Who do you get for your team? Here's my picks:

C: Kelly Shoppach and Jose Molina. Shoppach should be available this offseason as a guy who will make $2MM+ and had a down year. I'd vote for a bounceback year and take him to be my starter. For my backup, I'd take Jose Molina who, MLBTradeRumors points out, is John Dewan's top defensive free agent catcher in The Fielding Bible II.

1B: Adrian Gonzalez. Prince Fielder and Miguel Cabrera may be better, but they're going to cost you many, many more dollars and, for Cabrera, maybe more prospects as well. Gonzo is locked up for two more years for a ridiculously low $10.25 MM and he's a plus player on offense and defense. Put him in a better park with a better lineup and see the results. This is where I put most of my big trade chips.

2B: Luis Castillo. Listen, if the Mets really, really want to get rid of him, I'll listen. The guy had a .387 OBP last year in a pitcher's park. If they'll pay $8 MM of the $12 MM owed to him over the next two years, I'll gladly take him off their hands--and instruct him how to catch a pop up with two hands. I would love Dan Uggla or Chone Figgins but you're talking about a lot more money with either one.


SS: Bobby Crosby. Call me crazy, but I think that Crosby just screams "change of scenery". This was a guy who was a former Rookie of the Year, a guy who was a plus player in his sophomore year and he must have made Peter Gammons MVP pick about 3-4 years in a row. He was a good defender (according to UZR) when playing everyday at SS and I think you can sacrifice the bat to get the glove here and hope that he remembers how to hit again. And he would be really cheap. And yes, I would want Marco Scutaro but he's not worth a 1st round pick. And since I don't think Hanley Ramirez is yet available, I sadly can't pencil him in here though he'd be a franchise player to build this team around.

3B: Adrian Beltre. He was ranked as the best defensive third basemen by The Fielding Bible and 3 of his last 5 seasons he's been a plus hitter. I don't think he'll ever be the same hitter he was in 2004, but I think in a good lineup he can give you an .800 OPS with 25+ HR and give you Gold Glove defense. And Beyond The Boxscore lists him at 2.9 WAR for next season which is just slightly under the much more expensive Chone Figgins's 3.0 WAR.  I'm just going to put in his contract that he needs to wear a cup.

LF: Matt Holliday. I did say the best team money can buy. And Holliday will cost a lot. But I think he's better than Jason Bay on offense and defense and is younger as well. We're building a good defensive team and despite his drop in the NLDS this season, Holliday is regarded as a plus defensive leftfielder. If I'm building a team, he's a good fit. According to Beyond The Boxscore, no one is even close to Holliday in terms of WAR.

CF: Mike Cameron. Another guy who is plus on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. Don't be scared by his strikeouts. He may be 36 but he can still play ball at a high level and will cost you less than putting Chone Figgins or Curtis Granderson out there. B.J. Upton intrigues me but I doubt the Rays will sell low there. The CHONE projections aren't good for Mike Cameron's bat, but I think I'll take a chance that he keeps up near his current production, especially with Beyond The Boxscore predicting a WAR of 2.0 which is the highest among the free agent CF.

RF: Milton Bradley. Like Castillo, this will have to be a pure contract dump. But this guy is an OBP machine when healthy and can flat out hit when he's not being suspended. He may be a clubhouse cancer but for a flyer, he's worth it and much better than anyone on the free agent market.

DH: Hideki Matsui. This came down to three guys: Matsui, Nick Johnson or Jim Thome. I'd go with Matsui. He's not going to cost very much and the guy is nothing if not a "professional hitter". I love Johnson's OBP but he'd scare me because of his injury history and he may want to play 1B. Jim Thome has been great, but I have more faith in Matsuikeeping up his power than Thome. CHONE predicts Matsui a bit lower than Johnson but with more power. I'll take that and the assurance he'll be in the lineup a bit more, especially from my DH.

Bench: Craig Counsell, Eric Hinske, Scott Podsednik, Placido Polanco. I'm going to take 11 relievers and I've already selected a back-up catcher so I'm going to only take 4 bench players. Counsell provides me insurance in case Crosby can't cut it at SS (I'd think about platooning them if necessary) and is a plus defender according to Beyond the Boxscore's UZR predictions. Eric Hinske is a perfect bench bat from the left side and can play the corner infield and corner outfield positions (or DH). Hinske can also fill in for Bradley if he gets suspended/injured. Scott Podsednik brings the speed and can play all three OF positions. And Polanco, if he'll accept a utility role is a perfect bench player to fill in at 2B and 3B and is predicted at 2.3 WAR which, amazingly, is the same as Jason Bay.

The lineup:
1. Luis Castillo
2. Milton Bradley
3. Matt Holliday
4. Adrian Gonzalez
5. Hideki Matsui
6. Mike Cameron
7. Adrian Beltre
8. Kelly Shoppach
9. Bobby Crosby

The next post on this will be the pitching is where I spent the bulk of my money (pictures from the Chicagoist and LA Times)

Stat of the Day: Most Hits for Home Runs

In 2009, Carlos Pena hit 39 home runs but only had 107 hits. That means over 36.4% of his hits went out of the park. Only three players in history have ever had over 36.4% of their hits got for home runs (thanks to Baseball-Reference's Play Index):

• Roger Maris, 1961 (38.4%)

• Mark McGwire (4 times), 1996-1999 (39.3%, 39.1%, 46.1%, and 44.8% respectively)

• Barry Bonds, 2001 (46.8%)

The theme of those three? Each one broke the previous home run record. Babe Ruth's high was in 1920 when 31.2% of his hits cleared the fence. 29 players have had a higher percentage than Ruth had that season.

Pujols Unanimous But Some More Curious Votes

Albert Pujols was unanimous as the 2009 National League MVP which means no writer pulled a Keizo Konishi and voted someone else less deserving for the award. There were, however, quite a few head scratchers:

• Chase Utley, despite being the second best player in the National League (I mean his WAR was 7.6, which was higher than Derek Jeter or Hanley Ramirez), finished 8th. Amazingly, not one writer could put Utley 2nd place on a ballot and yet they had plenty of room for Andre Ethier (two 2nd place votes) and Derrek Lee (1 2nd place votes...but no others above 5th). Utley wasn't even listed on every ballot and 3 writers thought he was 9th best and one thought he was the 10th best. His teammate, Ryan Howard, finished 133 points higher than him. I just don't get the disrespect for Utley.

• Someone jackass voted Yunel Escobar 5th(!?!?). That was his only ballot.

• Some joker voted Jeremy Affedlt 10th. Could you take this voting any less seriously? Affeldt had a great season...but he wasn't even the best reliever on his team.

• Miguel Tejada was voted 7th yet Ryan Zimmerman only got one vote and that was for 10th place. I understand Zimmerman played on a losing team...but so did Tejada!

• Huston Street also finished ahead of Ryan Zimmerman making him the only closer on this list. 
  

• Andre Ethier sure was helped by his walkoffs. I think that Matt Kemp is the better Dodger OF. And I'm really not sold on Ethier as the 6th best player in the National League.

• Chase Utley (shaking my head)
  

Any other gripes?  Let us know below in the comments (picture from UPI)

Sizing Up the AFC Playoff Race

While the NFC has whittled down the amount of teams competing for a playoff spot, the AFC has quite a few still in contention. Let's take a look at those courtesy of CBS Sportsline*:

* Quick Side Note, why is CBS Sportsline the only site that have been showing the playoff standings up until this point? Seems like NFL.com, ESPN.com and the rest of them should be doing the same.

Seed	Team	Division	Record
1	Indianapolis	South	10-0-0
2	Cincinnati	North	7-3-0
3	San Diego	West	7-3-0
4	New England	East	7-3-0
5	Jacksonville	South	6-4-0
6	Pittsburgh	North	6-4-0
Still alive (below)
7	Denver	West	6-4-0
8	Baltimore	North	5-5-0
9	Houston	South	5-5-0
10	Miami	East	5-5-0
11	N.Y. Jets	East	4-6-0
12	Tennessee	South	4-6-0

AFC South:

Indianapolis Colts (10-0) - #1 Seed
Indy can wrap up the division with a win and a Jacksonville loss. At 10-0, I don't think anyone is catching them for the best record in the AFC. So homefield advantage is theirs. The real question is can they go undefeated in the regular season? Their schedule sends them to Houston, Jacksonville and Buffalo and they host Tennesse, Denver, and the Jets. It's a real possibility that they can join the Pats at 16-0.

Jacksonville Jaguars (6-4) - #5 Seed
Jacksonville is buoyed into this spot because of a 5-2 conference record so far this season (Jacksonville earns the No. 5 seed over Denver and Pittsburgh based on conference record--5-2 over Broncos' 5-3 and Steelers' 4-3). I, personally, was surprised to see them that high. Are they as good as they've shown? We'll see with a remaining schedule featuring games against Indy and at New England. Their other games are at San Fran, hosting Houston and Miami and at Cleveland so if they can win those 4, the two against the beasts of the AFC won't matter as much. After they go on the road to San Fran this week, they host 3 straight games; we'll be able to tell if their a playoff team a lot better after this stretch.

Houston Texans (5-5) - #9 Seed
The loss last night may have ended the playoff hopes. A horrible job all around by the Texans unable to contain Vince Young and unable to win a must-win game at home. I don't see how this team makes the playoffs at this point. The one hope: beating either New England or Indianapolis at home and running the table for the rest of their games.  

Tennessee Titans (4-6) - #12 Seed
They have to run the table to get in, but it's still possible. But it's really not with the schedule they have in front of them playing playoff teams in Arizona, San Diego, and Indy not to mention games at Seattle and against Miami. Sorry Tennessee. It's too little, too late

AFC North

Cincinnati Bengals (7-3) - #2 Seed

The Bengals turned into the Bungles again on Sunday and it's going to cost them dearly. They controlled their own destiny to get a first round bye and now, while they still somewhat control their destiny, they only barely hold on to the #2 because of the tiebreaking rules: Cincinnati earns the No. 2 seed over San Diego and New England based on strength of victory (.471 over Chargers' .457 and Patriots' .386). Cincy plays Cleveand, Detroit and Kansas City at home and Minnesota, San Diego and the Jets on the road. The Bengals need to pick up their game or they can say bye to the first round bye.

Pittsburgh Steelers (6-4) - #6 Seed
Barely holding on to a playoff spot--Pittsburgh earns the No. 6 seed over Denver based on head to head (1-0)--and with Big Ben having concussion-like symptoms and Troy Polamalu nursing an injury, the Steelers playoff hopes are looking a bit iffy the season after they won the Super Bowl. That's also because the rest of their schedule is not an easy one: they go on the road to Baltimore, Cleveland and Miami and host Oakland, Green Bay and Baltimore. Those two matchups against the Ravens could determine if one or either of the teams goes to the playoffs.

Baltimore Ravens (5-5) - #8 Seed
Like the Jaguars, I don't know what to make of the Ravens. I think the games against the Steelers will tell us a lot. They need to sweep those two games because a loss there, coupled with a tough trip to Lambeau Field in two weeks may spell the end of the Ravens season. I'm not sure 9 wins gets them in.

AFC West

San Diego Chargers (7-3) - #3 Seed
They play like crap and then turn on the motor a few months in. It's the formula San Diego has used for the past few years and it's got to be driving Denver batshit crazy. San Diego got lucky against the Giants but overall, they've played a lot better ball as of late. They can't rest now, though, with games that include visiting Dallas and hosting Cincy. And they need to start beating good teams because of the tiebreaker: San Diego earns the No. 3 seed over New England based on strength of victory (.457 to Patriots' .386). But if they can win one of those two games, they should have no trouble with the rest of their schedule and should end up with at least 11 wins...

Denver Broncos (6-4) - #7 Seed
And 11 wins should win the division. Denver went from 6-0 to 6-4. If they lose against the Giants on Thanksgiving (at home), they can kiss their season good-bye as far as I'm concerned. They still need to travel to Indy and to Philly as well as a home-and-home against the much-improved Chiefs. The Giants game this week is a must-win for the Broncos--which is going to be tough coming off a short week with a banged up QB.

AFC East
New England Patriots (7-3) - #4 Seed
We'll find out a lot about exactly what New England is this week against the Saints (with New Orleans possibly having the chance to clinch the division) and in the coming weeks. The teams that New England has beaten have only a .386 winning percentage. The only team they play the rest of the season with a winning percentage below that is Buffalo and they only play one other team with a losing record in Carolina and they've been playing better as of late. I think this is a better team than that indicates (they should have had the win against Indy), but if they can't beat the good teams, they are going no place in the playoffs. Still, they should win this division easily.

Miami Dolphins (5-5) - #10 Seed
I believe, technically, they're the #9 seed, but either way, they should thank Tennessee for dropping the Texans back to the pack. Miami's schedule the rest of the way is tough (@Buffalo, New England, @Jacksonville, @Tennessee,  Houston and Pittsburgh) and they're without Ronnie Brown and Chad Pennington for the rest of the season, but if they get hot, they have a chance. But I think they're too beat up and have too many teams in front of them to make a move.

New York Jets (4-6) - #11 Seed
They're technically not out of it, but can you actually see this team making the playoffs? They play Carolina, Atlanta and Cincy in the Meadowlands and Buffalo (in Canada), Tampa and Indy on the road. They need to run their schedule to get to 10 wins and need to beat either Cincy or Indy to have a shot at 9 wins. I think they're going to be on the outside looking in.

I've added a new poll on the right. Vote on who you think will join Indy in the AFC playoffs.

Trivia Tuesday: MVP Edition

When Albert Pujols takes home the Most Valuable Player trophy today, he'll be the 10th player to collect his 3rd MVP award.

Can you name the 9 who already have 3 MVPs?

Put your answer in the comments below and I'll reveal the correct answers later tonight.

Mauer Gets MVP But Writers Have Some Explaining To Do

Well the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) got most of the awards right including Joe Mauer winning the 2009 American League Most Valuable Player Award. He was listed on 27 of 28 ballots as the first place candidate. The other vote? Not Derek Jeter or Mark Teixeira or Kendry Morales or Kevin Youkilis....

It was for Miguel Cabrera. MIGUEL CABRERA!

This is the same guy who was out late drinking with the opposing team the night before his team's most important game of the season, the guy who was so out of control once he got home that his wife had to call the cops on him, they same guy who experts said could never have been sober by game time, and yes, the same guy who did this all while his team was spiraling out of a playoff spot. Inexcusable.

As I said at the beginning of October: "Miguel Cabrera...decided it was more important to get drunk and party with the White Sox players until all hours of the morning while his team was fighting for a playoff spot. Then he came home at 5 AM 3 times over the legal limit for driving, woke up his child and his wife, got into a physical altercation with his wife (complete with some nice scratches), and had to go to the police station because he was "very uncooperative and highly intoxicated". What did he do the next two days, the two most important days for the Tigers? He went 0-4 and left four runners on base in the first game and went 0-3 in the last game. That's not being an MVP. Say what you want about A-Rod, but he'd never do this. The Detroit Free Press has more details and Shysterball talks more about the fact this is his second police incident in about a month."

I listed Miguel Cabrera as my Least Valuable Player and said this last week: "[Cabrera] would have been a top-7 MVP candidate and then he decided to go out and drink with the opposing team before the biggest part of his team's season. They didn't make the playoffs and I hold him responsible. If any writers voted for him because they didn't wait until the end of the season, they should be ashamed of themselves."

And yet some writer put him FIRST on an MVP ballot. Voting privileges should be revoked from that writer. According to Ken Davidoff (via Twitter): "Keizo Konishi of Kyodo News, based in Seattle, voted Miguel Cabrera first."

Some other voting head scratchers:

• 16 players finished above Zack Greinke who made it only onto 4 ballots (that's 14%) and Felix Hernandez got only one vote. 

• Finishing ahead of King Felix? Placido Polanco(?!?!) who hit .285/.331/.396 which gave him an adjusted OPS of 88, or more than 10% below league average.

• Jason Bay finished 7th thanks to a 3rd and a 4th place vote. Did those two people hand in their ballots before the All-Star break?

• A-Rod got a 3rd place vote but was left off of 21 ballots. Ummm...?

• Ben Zobrist got less than half of the points that Jason Bay did despite Zobrist's WAR (according to FanGraphs) leading the Major Leagues at 8.6 and Jason Bay finishing at 61st with a 3.5 WAR (which was below Nick Swisher).

• Derek Jeter has one 8th, one 9th and one 10th place vote. How exactly did those writers figure out that 7, 8 and 9 people were more valuable than Jetes?

• Lastly, Robinson Cano finished ahead of Evan Longoria. I'm a Yankees fan, but seriously?

Curious some of your other thoughts. Please post in the comments below. A summary of all the voting can be found on the BBWAA website.

Update 2:50 PM: Ummm....I think someone should check this guy's bank account to see if he was paid off by Cabrera: @jasoncollette: With that 1st place vote, Miggy got pushed up to 4th place and got $200,000 bonus. Without it, no bonus. Wow

NFC Playoffs, Nets, Knicks, Jets, and Polls

What a wild weekend in football. I had a great time yesterday at the Giants game, though it should have never gotten to the point it did. As Mike Francesca said last night: if the Giants don't win the coin flip, I'm not sure they win the game. The defense has just become totally unimaginative and unable to adjust. Maybe St. Louis can trade us back Steve Spagnuolo. Let's look at the poll results from this past week and the updated playoff picture:

Which 4 Teams Will Make the Playoffs From the NFC?

Dallas Cowboys (6-3)	73%
Arizona Cardinals (6-3)	80%
Philadelphia Eagles (5-4)	53%
Atlanta Falcons (5-4)	33%
Green Bay Packers (5-4)	46%
New York Giants (5-4)	60%
San Francisco 49ers (4-5)	13%

Let's take a look at each of them now:

Dallas Cowboys (7-3) - 73%
73% of you picked the Cowboys to make the playoffs and they almost had a big setback this past week, barely eeking by the Washington Redskins. Their remaining home schedule is Oakland (on Thanksgiving), San Diego and Philadelphia and their road schedule features the Giants, Saints and Redskins. That's a tough schedule overall. Only one team (Oakland) is truly a pushover and they should beat the Redskins, but then they'll be fighting for their playoff lives with the other 4 games. It'll probably take 11 wins to get the division and 9-10 wins to get a Wild Card spot so the Cowboys are going to have to figure out a way to win some of those other games. If Romo is out for a game or two, the division is suddenly up for grabs.

Arizona Cardinals (7-3) - 80%
Well I think they should have that division wrapped up by now. The Cards are 3 games up on the 49ers and 4 games up on Seattle. They have road games at Tennessee, San Francisco, Detroit and home games against Minnesota, St. Louis and Green Bay. They should have 3 wins in there which should give them the division. 4 wins clinches it for the Cards and unless Warner is out for an extended period of time, I think they get there.

Philadelphia Eagles (6-4) - 53%
They gave Jay Cutler every chance in the world to beat them and yet he couldn't do it. I think this team is going to struggle going down the stretch if they have a banged up Brian Westbrook and secondary. Like the rest of the NFC East, Philly's schedule the rest of the year is tough. They play at Atlanta, New York, and Dallas and host the Redskins, 49ers and Broncos. They can get to 9 wins with that schedule if they can get healthy, but I don't know if they can get to 10 unless they really catch fire. The game in Giants Stadium December 13th may help determine which of these teams makes the playoffs.

Atlanta Falcons (5-5) - 33%
The NYaT readers had no faith in Atlanta and you guys were right. Atlanta is sitting at 5-5 and on the outside looking in. But the one big thing for the Falcons is their pushover schedule the rest of the way. They host the Bucs, Eagles, Saints and Bills and go on the road only to New York (for the Jets) and Tampa Bay. They should win 4 games in there which makes them a fringe playoff contender once again. If it's between them and the Giants, the OT win yesterday will prove to be huge.

Green Bay Packers (6-4) - 46%
I really don't know what to make of this Green Bay team, but I think we now need to acknowledge they are serious playoff contenders. They have 4 losses to the Vikings (twice), the Bengals and to Tampa Bay. If you take away the Tampa loss, this team would be fighting for the division. Even with the loss, they are holding on to the last playoff spot. They have a tough schedule ahead with only two home games. They host the Ravens and Seahawks and go on the road to Detroit, Chicago, Pittsburgh and Arizona. With that schedule, they should make the playoffs, but the only teams they've beat on the road so far this year are the Rams and the Browns. If Arizona has the division wrapped up by the final game of the season, that may benefit the Packers who could be fighting for their playoff lives.

New York Giants (6-4) - 60%
It took 42 days, but the Giants finally won a game. They can't rest now as they still are on the outside looking in for the playoffs. They also can't rest because they have a short week before they go play in Denver on Thanksgiving night. They also go on the road to face Washington and Minnesota and host the Cowboys, Eagles and Panthers. They are already short on defense with Kenny Phillips out and although Antonio Pierce has not been playing well, they miss his leadership out on the field. An important factor for the Giants is how quickly the Vikings wrap up a first-round bye. They play the Vikings the last game of the season, and if the games means nothing for Minnesota, they may try to rest Brett Favre and Adrian Peterson for much of the game. Also big for the Giants is that, like Atlanta, they're catching the Broncos this week in a tailspin. Denver started out 6-0 but have lost 4 straight including a 32-3 drubbing at the hands of the Chargers. If the Giants can shore up their defense quickly, I think they have a good shot of making the playoffs and maybe even winning the division (they've already beat the Cowboys once this season so a win at home against them would seal the tiebreaker). If not, it may be--as the Counting Crows sing--a long December.

San Francisco 49ers (4-6) - 13%
San Fran is among a group of 4-6 teams that also includes the Panthers and the Bears. I think their one shot of the playoffs was to get the division, but it's going to be hard now for any of those three teams to leapfrog over the Falcons, Giants, and Packers/Eagles into a playoff spot. The 49ers have the best chance out of any of them, though, with remaining home games against Jacksonville, Arizona and Detroit and road games against Seattle, Philadelphia and St. Louis. It's not unreasonable to think they could get to 9 wins...but I'm not sure that gets them a playoff spot.

I put those teams back up there to vote for this week. Let us know who you think is going to the playoffs from the NFC (besides the Saints and Vikings).

Here were the results of the other poll quesiton:

Which team will win 7 games first?

Knicks	12%
Nets	12%
Jets	37%
None of them	37%

It was a really good question and it's possible none of those teams will win 7 games this season. The Jets fell to 4-6 this week and unless they get to 7 wins in the next few weeks (they play Carolina at home, the Bills in Ontario and at Tampa Bay), they may not get there with remaining games against Atlanta, Indianapolis and Cincinnati. The Knicks and Nets faced off this past weekend so one team HAD to win and that team was the Knicks who improved (it's all relative) to 3-10. The Nets are sitting at 0-13 and I'd be surprised if they won 7 games all season with how pathetic they've looked.

Thanks to everyone for voting!  (picture from NY Mag)

View from the Seats Giants vs Falcons

View from our seats at the top of 323 for Giants vs Falcons with the Giants leading 10-7

-Andrew

End of Week Link Roundup

Lots and lots of links but only one Derek Jeter. He's with Minka Kelly courtesy of the New York Post on the right.

• Two great visuals from the World Series to start us out. The first is the Gigapan Photo. This thing is ridiculous. They had this at the inauguration as well and it's just another reminder not to pick your nose at a big world event. Zoom in and see what I mean (one thing that is confusing is that the picture was taken over almost an hour so while the players are celebrating on the field, some of the fans may be in their seats). The second is from the New York Times and is a time-lapsed view of the World Series. Both are really awesome. And if you want to go see the World Series DVD, Mets Police points out there's quite a few screenings.
  

• From the NFL, Bill Simmons didn't like Bill Belichick's call at all but the Wall Street Journal and FanGraphs both break it down a little more. The Giants could have Aaron Ross back this week according to ESPN which is really good news for the G-men. The Baltimore Sun talks about Michael Oher trying to not get distracted as his life is made into a Sandra Bullock movie. I read the book and I'm excited to see the movie at some point. Next is a cool PSA from NFL.com that will be run during Thanksgiving that has Drew Brees thowing a pass to President Obama as Troy Polamalu guards him and DeMarcus Ware looks on. Last link on football is a crazy play you'll have to see for yourself from Yahoo! Sports (H/T Jenn).

• Want some more reading on the Cy Young votes? Keith Law takes on the American League candidates. Wezen-Ball has a funny post called "The Carpenter Travesty". Tyler Kepner talks about the lessons of Cy Youngs past. Fack Youk asks if Zack Greinke really understands FIP. And, lastly, Jim Kaat says that the writers made the right call with Tim Lincecum. River Avenue Blues tries to put it all in context.
  

• More baseball: a hysterical story of a man who hit a woman with a cheesesteak in Philly (can't make that shit up). Keith Law and Jon Heyman rank their top free agents. Ken Rosenthal thinks aloud about the Tigers trading Miguel Cabrera. IIATMS figures out if it really is all about the money (stupid). Baseball Junk Drawer has the best of B-R's sponsorships (sad we didn't make it up there with our Clay Zavada one). FanGraphs looks at the best baserunners. Baseball-Intellect gives you everything you need to know about Aroldis Chapman. And a great A-Rod article from the SI Vault from 1993.

• A few unsavory baseball things: Verb Plow finds the smoking gun that shows former Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey was a racist. Ken Rosenthal hints at some possible labor strife. And Outside the Lines has a crazy story about baseball in Cambodia.

• Last few: RealClearSports says that the Knicks aren't getting LeBron James and Yahoo! Sports agrees and says it's because they passed on Brandon Jennings. The New York Times writes about efforts to curb bring drinking on college game days (even though the BBC cites a study that says that alcohol protects men's hearts). Lastly, "Sean Avery" and "Youth Hockey Instructor" just sound like they should not go together.

I'll end with a Bill Simmons quote from his latest article (Jay likes this one too): In the aforementioned Game 6, I remember watching those Yankees fans celebrating after the seventh and thinking, "There is absolutely nobody in my sports fan life now that makes me feel as secure as those Yankee fans feel with Rivera right now."

Hot Stove Coal: Take a Halladay or Lay Lowe?

While the free agent market officially opened at midnight last night, the trade market has been brewing for a while. The Yankees have been linked to two pitching names who they were linked to at another time in 2009: Roy Halladay and Derek Lowe. The Yankees went after Lowe last offseason before signing A.J. Burnett and pursued Halladay mid-season before Toronto decided to keep him. But both players are back on the block and the Yankees will kick the tires on both. Should they look into trading for either? Let's take a look...

Jon Heyman desribes the Yankees off-season plans: "They won't repeat last year's outlay of $423.5 million for three years. But they're always a threat to buy someone good. Looking for pitching. Will pursue Lackey plus trade possibilities Roy Halladay and Derek Lowe." John Lackey is the only person that writers can even describe as a "bona fide ace" on the free agent market and he comes with question marks about his ability to pitch against Boston and his ability to stay healthy (I wrote about him here). But after Lackey there is a big drop in quality until you get to the Randy Wolf's of the world. The Yankees could bring back Andy Pettitte and try to fill the final two spots of their rotation with some combination of Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, Alfredo Aceves, Sergio Mitre and Chad Gaudin. Or they could look to the trade market.

The Yankees decided to pass up on Lowe and sign Burnett in the off-season and the decision, at least for one year, proved to be the correct one. Lowe was really good through his first 10 starts, going 6-2 with a 3.45 ERA and holding opponents to a .628 OPS against. But things didn't go as well for him after that. He ended up giving up a league high 232 hits and his 10.7 H/9 and 1.515 WHIP were both second-highest in his career and his walks and strikeouts ratios were the worst since he pitched in the American League. Lowe is also in the middle of a long-term deal and will turn 37 next season. Jon Heyman writes: The Yankees could have some interest in Lowe, "but not at $16 million a year for three years," one person familiar with their thinking said.

Although the price could be low (no pun indended) in terms of players, and the Braves may kick in some cash to get rid of him with the starting pitching surplus they currently have, I think this is a definite "pass" for the Yankees. Lowe is said to have been tough against the AL East, but he is 8-11 with a 6.41 ERA and 1.766 WHIP against the Yankees in his career and the only AL East team he's actually pitched well against is the Rays---but most of those starts were back when they were the cellar-dwellers. And he had a 6.65 ERA down the stretch last year, leading to a tough market for Lowe according to Ken Rosenthal. Pass.

Halladay is a more intriguing option. As Jon Heyman explains, the Yankees pursued him during the 2009 season but balked on sending Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes in the same deal for him. It ends up that Toronto may never have traded him in the same division last season, but looking at the possibility they might lose him for nothing in a year, they seem to be reconsidering that. Halladay pitched well against the Red Sox in 2009, going 2-2 but with a 2.79 ERA and 2 CG including one shutout. His WHIP against them was 1.000, with 8.1 SO/9 and 5.20 SO/BB. Halladay's overall numbers aren't overly stunning but he had a great season last year once again leading the AL in CG, SHO, and SO/BB while also leading the league this past year in BB/9. And his season until July 24th (when the team-imposed deadline passed for him to be traded) was spectacular in every respect: he was 11-3 with a 2.62 ERA, 6.15 SO/BB, and a .614 OPS against. He didn't falter too much down the stretch, but looked like he was upset for a while with the decision not to trade him.

So here's the Yankees dilemma: do they trade prospects for one season of Roy Halladay and a window to discuss a contract extension? I think they need to entertain the thought. The Yankees could part with either Joba or Hughes in the deal as a starting point, but would have to pay twice for Halladay in players and money. Although the Yankees were unwilling to do this a few years ago to get Santana (and seem to be following the same methodology when pursuing Carl Crawford according to Ken Rosenthal), the prospect of getting Halladay (who may I think is better than Santana) and keeping him away from Boston may be enough to put them over the top.

Unfortunately, I think the Yankees need to stay out of this in the end as well, or at least tread cautiously. They have stuck to a really good gameplan of waiting until pitchers hit the free agent market instead of double paying them in players and money. If they can trade Halladay straight up for a Hughes or a Joba, I'd do it, but if you're talking about adding other prospects like Austin Jackson or Jesus Montero, I may stop them there. New York Baseball Digest says that Joba or Hughes shouldn't get in the way of making a deal. The Yankees have a need to continue to get better pitching, but they also have been doing a good job of getting younger and not trading away prospects. As River Avenue Blues explains: [The Yankees] have their top two pitchers locked up for four and six more years, and they also have a number of promising young arms to complement them. Adding Halladay would be a good move for any team, but considering the price they’d have to pay, they might opt to stick with their guys and wait to see if Halladay reaches free agency next winter.

Halladay will be pursued by the Red Sox, Phillies, Dodgers, Mets, Angels, Rangers and a dozen other teams (as well as the prospect he could stay with the Blue Jays). As Chad Jennings says, it would be crazy not to kick the tires on Halladay. But, as much as I would love to have Halladay in Pinstrpes, I'm not sure the Yankees want to give up the prospects it will take to join that race.

People: We've Moved Beyond Wins and RBIs

The great thing about baseball is that it continues to evolve. One way it has certainly evolved is in the use of advanced metrics to be able to qualify players. So it was to very few people's surprise that after relying on statistics like "wins" and "saves"  "fielding percentage" and "stolen bases" and "RBIs" to judge a player, that some would start using more advanced statistics like "FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching)" and "WAR (Wins Above Replacement)" and "VORP (Value Over Replacement Player)" and "UZR (Ultimate Zone Rating)". Hey, we've finally got beyond hits and batting average and gone to the slashes and the overall OPS, so maybe that's a start. Yet many people want to discount the new, more advanced statistics and stick with a combination of the old stuff and their own two eyes. Well, it's time to move past that.

This is all on the heels of the voters getting it right for both the American League and National Cy Young Awards, so it seems a little strange to say. But after questioning why one Tweeter didn't like the results he answered me thusly: "They got both wrong. Combined 31 wins. They are saying the key to a Cy is pitching in a crap division."

Yes, like they say the key to Oscar gold is to be gay or in the Holocaust, the key to winning a Cy Young is pitching in a crap division. Um, what? Listen, the Cy Young award--unlike the MVP award which has the word "valuable" in there--is given to the the best pitcher in both leagues. Meaning, if you're on a bad team or in a "crap division" you can win the award*. And that's what happened. Zack Greinke and Tim Lincecum both were the best pitchers in their leagues and won the awards.

*Side Note: I finally had to note this, but the NL West was a better division than the NL Central in 2009. Hands down. There were three teams that could have made the playoffs and two teams that did. The Cards were the only playoff-caliber team in the NL Central and they got swept in the first round by a team from the NL West. So which crap division does Tim Lincecum play in?

But let the griping begin...

STL Today writer Jeff Gordon  decides to rip into the decision saying that Wainwright got "jobbed" (with my comments afterward):

• * Many baseball writers downplayed the value of actually winning games, since Lincecum won just 15 times with a decent supporting team. - Yes, winning games is terribly unimportant. Let's just throw out the fact that wins are as much dependent on your bullpen (the Cards had an All-Star closer) and your run support (Sir Albert is going to be the MVP and Matt Holliday certainly helped) as it is on your own pitching. So decent supporting team?

• “Usually the guy with the most first-place votes wins,” observed Post-Dispatch baseball writer Rick Hummel, who seem baffled by the outcome. - I'm not sure if Mr. Hummel was aware, but the voting is done on a points system. So, technically, yes, you can have the most first-place votes and not win.

• Carpenter was left off two ballots, with Javier Vazquez and Danny Haren presumably getting some local love. If Carpenter made those two ballots, he could have won the award.- Two local writers? Not exactly. Keith Law and Will Carroll are national. And yes, let's make sure next time to put Carpenter on those two ballots so that he can take home the win. But wait! I know Gordon is not a "stathead", but his math here is wrong. Even if Law and Carroll were to have listed Carpenter third, he would have still finished behind Lincecum.
  

• [Wainwright] pitched more innings than any pitcher in the league. That is a huge statistic, since it represents physical sacrifice made for the sake of the team. -  Let's put that in perspective. He pitched 3.2 innings more than Dan Haren who the writer dismissed as a joke candidate and 7.2 innings more than Tim Lincecum who must not have had any physical sacrifice for the sake of the team. Oh...wait, Wainwright had two more starts than Lincecum? Hmmm. So Wainwright pitched 6.9 innings per start and Lincecum pitched 7.0 innings per start. So...
  

• Wainwright won the most games in the NL, 19. Winning games is the whole point of playing, so that statistic should carry great weight. - Ohhhhhhhh...that's the point of baseball! I was so confused up until this point
  

Oh, but the writer, Jeff Gordon, is not done:

• Revenge Of The Nerds: CYA Voting Ruined - No joke, that's the title of his post. Nerds have taken over baseball!!! Women, children, and jocks need to run for cover!!
  

• Perhaps someday baseball games will be played in a computer, not on the field. Statistical formulas will determine outcomes, not actual action. - What? The guy writes on a blog. And he's complaining about computers being used to enhance something that is being done before? I don't get it.

• In such a world, perhaps Vazquez would win the Cy Young every year. In the meanwhile, Tipsheet, old-fashioned to core, will insist that ACTUAL VICTORIES should count for something. - It's a tremendously dumb continuation from the thought above and it's about to get a lot worse in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...

• We can’t wait until next week to see the stat guys argue that Albert Pujols was by no means the Most Valuable Player in the National League last season. - And there we go. This is a conspiracy against the St. Louis Cardinals from all the Geeks, Nerds, Statheads, and people not from the Midwest (who somehow found it fit to give Zack Greinke the Cy Young...)! A travesty! And they're gunning for the biggest travesty of all--robbing Sir Albert of his throne! This guy is a joke.
  

And the American League explanation from the one Detroit writer who put Justin Verlander first on his ballot:

• Verlander received my first-place vote because nobody was tougher on the mound with the season on the line for his team.- Ummm...not sure if you heard, buddy, but the Tigers didn't make the playoffs because the team fell apart with the season on the line. Verlander's two best months were May and July--what season was on the line then? In the final two months against Minnesota, Verlander was 1-2 with 14 earned runs allowed in 21.1 innings (5.91 ERA). Not exactly the toughness you described.

• He was an inspirational "horse," using Tigers manager Jim Leyland's term for him, on a fading team. - "Inspirational horse"? Really? REALLY?! Is that all you can muster? If he was so "inspirational" than how come he couldn't inspire his team to not collapse or inspire Miguel Cabrera not to go out partying the night before the biggest game of the season with your opponents? Jeez.
  

Keith Law explains his ballot and says, "Carpenter's innings total was the main reason he ended up off my ballot. He pitched extremely well when on the mound, but not well enough to close the value gap between him and the three pitchers I listed, each of whom threw at least 27 innings more than Carpenter. Both Carpenter and Wainwright received significant help from their defense, while neither Lincecum nor Vazquez could say the same."

Listen, you or I may not agree with that reasoning (or the reasoning Will Carroll gave for his pick), but when you look at the statistics for Carpenter, Wainwright, Haren, Lincecum, and Vazquez, they are very close. The fact that the Braves and Diamondbacks were bad this season kept Vazquez and Haren out of the discussion for most of the year, but they definitely deserve a spot. Yesterday and today the griping has been quite loud about the decisions made (Jon Heyman even called hashtagged them on Twitter as #dumbsportswriters). The writers finally made the correct decisions--let's step back and give them some credit for once and stop worrying about win total or the word "horse".

Stat of the Day: More Homers Than Your Age

Saw this tweet today: "@MLB: Ryan Howard is 30 today and will hit more homers than his age in 2010. HAPPY BIRTHDAY #Phillies @philaphillies" and thought maybe I should figure out who are the oldest hitters who hit more home runs than their age.

The Answers: Hank Aaron (40) and Barry Bonds (45) who each hit more than 39 home runs at 39 years of age.

12 times a hitter age 37 or older hit more homers than their age: Barry Bonds (3 times), Hank Aaron (2 times), Andres Galarraga, Babe Ruth, Darrell Evans, Frank Thomas, Hank Sauer, Moises Alou and Rafael Palmeiro. 

And the oldest pitcher who won more games than his age? Joe McGinnity who at 33-years-old won 35 games in 1904 for the San Fransisco Giants. And the oldest pitcher since Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier to do it was Robin Roberts in 1952 when he won 28 at age 25 for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Since the start of divisional play in 1969, 4 pitchers have accomplished this feat: Tom Seaver in 1969 (25 wins at 24), Vida Blue in 1971 (24 wins at 21), Doc Gooden in 1985 (24 wins at 20), and Roger Clemens in 1986 (24 wins at 23).

Brandeis Judges Basketball Off to a Great Start

When I was at Brandeis University, one of my favorite activities was calling the men's and women's basketball games for WBRS, the campus radio station. One of the coolest things was being able to announce an NCAA tournament game during my senior year.

Since I've graduated, I've tried to keep up with the team and was excited to see the season had started when I saw Facebook invite to Red Auerbach Arena in the Gosman Sports Center. So I decided to check out the results on the Brandeis website tonight.

According to Brandeis, "The Brandeis University men's basketball team, ranked No. 22 in the nation by D3hoops.com in the preseason, opened the season with a 90-79 victory over local rival Lasell College tonight in Red Auerbach Arena."

And as far as the women's team? "Brandeis, ranked ninth in the D3hoops.com preseason poll, improved to 2-0."

Brandeis has a new look as you can see by the new logos on the right--which is mostly a shame because it loses Ollie the Owl. But I feel like it's a continuation of the same success that started while I was at Brandeis. And it was good to see Jessica Chapin and Andre Roberson, who I saw as freshmen at Brandeis but are now seniors, with big games in tonight's win--Chapin with 33 points and 10 rebounds and Roberson with 20 points, eight rebounds (a career high), and seven assists.

But mostly it was good to see the Judges continue their successful climb to an NCAA championship. Let's hope they continue that journey this season.

Five Great Pictures

Five great pictures to share on this Tuesday. The first one is from Sneaker Obsession who writes about Nike designing a special shoe for LeBron James to commemorate their 27th World Series Championship, the "Air Max Lebron VII" (H/T Jim):

The next three pictures are from the unbelievable Sports Illustrated vault. The first is from 1981 and shows a "5-year-old Peyton shooting hoops as Eli looks on." The coolest part of this is Eli wearing the Yankee uniform. He knew then he wanted to play in New York:

The second one from the SI Photo Vault is from 1968 and is described as a "cool shot of 20-year-old Lew Alcindor (in fancy suit) talking hoops with Jim Brown." Very, very cool:

The last from the Sports Illustrated Photo Vault is from 1981 of "North Carolina LB Lawrence Taylor poses for the camera." LT was a showman even back then:

Lastly, this has nothing to do with sports, but compliments of Grub Street, it's an amazing flowchart to help you determine what fast food to eat (you probably need to click on image to see the whole thing):

Hot Stove Coal: Yankees Defensive Projections

Beyond the Boxscore posted their Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR) projections for 2010 on November 15th. I extracted the Yankees players (and their free agents) and sorted them from best to worst. Here's what it looks like (pitchers and catchers excluded):

Name	Position	Projected UZR
Brett Gardner	CF	3.0
Jerry Hairston	LF	0.7
Melky Cabrera	LF	0.2
Nick Swisher	LF	0.0
Eric Hinske	LF	-0.1
Mark Teixeira	1B	-0.1
Eric Hinske	RF	-0.3
Nick Swisher	RF	-0.3
Melky Cabrera	RF	-0.8
Jerry Hairston	SS	-0.9
Eric Hinske	1B	-1.0
Nick Swisher	1B	-1.5
Robinson Cano	2B	-2.4
Derek Jeter	SS	-2.6
Xavier Nady	RF	-2.6
Melky Cabrera	CF	-2.6
Johnny Damon	LF	-2.8
Nick Swisher	CF	-2.8
Hideki Matsui	LF	-4.5
Alex Rodriguez	3B	-4.5
Johnny Damon	CF	-5.0

I bolded the 2009 Yankees regulars in their starting positions. Now UZR is just one measurement that goes into figuring out the defensive worth of a player and these are only projections, but this does not show a very good defensive team. Now Derek Jeter bounced back this past season with a good defensive season and a guy like Mark Teixeira was better than his UZR reading indicated, so this should all be taken with a grain of salt. Also, the Yankees won't be playing Johnny Damon or Nick Swisher CF (and for good reason), so you can basically ignore that part of the ratings. But this is an aging Yankees team that saw the value in better defense last season after the success of Tampa Bay in 2008, and finding positive UZR free agents/trade candidates may help the 2010 cause as well.

Let's take a look at some free agents or trade candidates who have had their names linked the Yankees with a few names bolded:

Name	Position	Projected UZR
Carl Crawford	LF	9.9
David DeJesus	LF	8.2
Randy Winn	RF	8.1
Chone Figgins	3B	6.4
Matt Holliday	LF	4.2
Mike Cameron	CF	3.2
Mark DeRosa	RF	2.0
Randy Winn	LF	1.8
Rocco Baldelli	CF	1.7
Curtis Granderson	CF	1.6
Craig Counsell	SS	1.1
Craig Counsell	2B	0.9
David DeJesus	CF	0.7
Craig Counsell	3B	0.6
Eric Bruntlett	SS	-0.1
Randy Winn	CF	-1.8
Garrett Atkins	1B	-2.1
Mark DeRosa	3B	-2.6
Mark DeRosa	2B	-2.8
Rick Ankiel	CF	-3.1
Chone Figgins	CF	-3.4
Garrett Atkins	3B	-6.1
Jason Bay	LF	-10.5
Jermaine Dye	RF	-17.5

What to make of this list? Although some may argue that the Green Monster skews UZR ratings for Boston leftfielders, it does not look like Jason Bay is a good defender (and Jermaine Dye is beyond bad). When you look at Matt Holliday, you see the opposite. While the Yankees will almost certainly inquire on Carl Crawford for their leftfield hole, another option in which they wouldn't have to give up so much would be David DeJesus, and excellent defensive leftfielder who is a pretty good hitter (he was also born in Brooklyn and went to high school and college in NJ so he's a local product). While Curtis Granderson is an intriguing trade candidate, a much smarter option for CF may be Mike Cameron who is not only better defensively, but also crushes lefthanded pitching (while Granderson makes Jose Molina look like a good hitter against lefties). And While Chone Figgins looks like he'll have another solid season playing the infield, he may not be as solid if asked to play the outfield.

Other cheap veteran pickups for the Yankees for the bench could be a guy like Craig Counsell to play the infield or Randy Winn to play the outfield.

Just some food for thought...

Pictures courtesy of Reuters and CNNSI