ghost of miles

Wow, that's a 5 or 5.5 million increase over this past year. I doubt that Gardner will put up anything close to the HR numbers he did in 2019 if the ball is de-juiced. But they need him in centerfield, what with Hicks not returning until late in the season. Rumors that other teams were offering him two-year deals, so maybe NY decided to pay him extra to keep it at one. He definitely wanted to come back to the Yankees.

Rendon to the Angels for 7 yrs/$245 million. Angels first MLB team to have handed out three $200 million-plus contracts (Pujols and Trout are the other two).

My credit card was charged yesterday for the Mobley, so apparently the pipeline is about to open.

Featured it on my weekday afternoon show yesterday. Fantastic set all around.

Up for McCoy's 81st birthday today: Tyner Time: McCoy Tyner's Blue Note Years

The 29-year-old may have championship rings and dollar signs in his eyes, but I think the 11-year-old kid with pinstripes in his soul is still there as well: Newsday editor's 2001 photo of Gerrit Cole at World Series goes viral I cannot freakin' wait for the 2020 season to begin.

Already reading that the Dodgers offered roughly the same. An overpay for sure, but one of my main thoughts right now is the 2020 rotation: 1. Gerrit Cole 2. Luis Severino 3. James Paxton 4. Masahiro Tanaka 5. Domingo German or Jordan Montgomery I mean, damn. And remember, NY won 103 games this year despite having the statistically-worst injury rate of any team in modern MLB history. There’ll be immense pressure now, though, to win the World Series. And still bummed about Didi’s departure. Such a joyous and classy guy, in some ways the heartbeat of the team for the past several years. Back to the signing—reading that Andy Pettitte, one of my alltime favorite Yankees, evidently played a significant role in bringing Cole aboard. So glad to see him still involved with the team.

Gerrit Cole to the Yankees, 9 years/$324 million. Holy f’n $#%*.

Rumors that Red Sox are looking to move David Price? And Astros possibly putting Correa on the trading block?! It’s all about the payroll benjamins, baby.

Gonna miss him. Glad he's landing with Joe G again though at Philadelphia. They'll be a fun team to follow next year on the NL side of things.

Yikes, just took a gander at the Angels' 2019 pitching stats--that was a gadawful rotation, and one of the better starters is now dead. Thinking they'll almost have to try to work Ohtani back into it. Signing Cole alone won't make them into a contender, IMO.

Mostly the Art Pepper Promise Kept box-set, but that was more than enough! Having lunch in another hour or so with our mutual friend Mr. McGerr. Thanks so much, Bill! Hey, I am really looking forward to that Tubby Hayes box set!

OTOH somehow I had never seen this photo until now--an 11-year-old Gerrit Cole holding up this sign at the 2001 World Series: OTOH again, he's gonna sign with the team that offers him the most money. Patrick Corbin was a longstanding Yankee fan and he still signed with the Nats in a nanosecond when they offered him an extra year and $20-$40 million more than NY did. Plus Cole already passed once on the Yankees when they drafted him out of high school--even his late-adolescent self was already making decisions based on what would be best for him in the long run, as opposed to the team he loved as a kid. It's a business, etc etc. One thing that might tip him towards NY is the likelihood that they'll be a perennial playoff contender, whereas the Angels, even with Joe Maddon at the helm and Cole in the rotation, might still be straining to get beyond 85 wins. What are the plans for Ohtani? Are they going to try to use him as a starting pitcher as well as DH again, now that he's far enough removed from his TJS?