Happy New Year!!

I am a little bit under the weather today. That's why I have to cancel my plan of watching fireworks outdoor and replace that with indoor firework show. Of course, that means I watch fireworks on TV. Happy New Year and Have a great 2009, everyone.

How about making a wish related to Yankees for 2009? I left mine in the comment section.

What is next now for Yankees?

I believe most people are thinking about the coming new year during this Christmas holidays. What about Yankees' new season? What is next now for Yankees?

I think Yankees' focus now should be on their bench guys and a veteran starter at one year deal as no.4 starter. What else they need to do? In my opinion, they can do more, but they don't have to. If they want to, they can explode the possibility of getting a good young center fielder and an excellent setup man for Mo by trade.

Let record tell us who is the best one

Peter had a post regard how little respect Yankees give Wang on his blog earlier. In the comment section, Peter was wondering why some fans doesn't support Wang. Joel Sherman even recommend a trade that includes Wang in order to bring a do-everything guy(like Chone Figgins) or positional prospects to Yankees. As far as I can remember, Joel Sherman is not the only person thinking about getting some players by trading Wang.

Let me get this straight. Are people nuts? Since when Yankees become a small market team that trade away their star players before they are going to get their big contract? Trading Wang for Chone Figgins? Bring some good young positional prospects? There always are some positional players are available in the free agent market. Prospects are prospects. Before they show they are major league players, they are prospects. Yankees can get a lot of them through draft or amateur signing. Not to mention one thing: Yankees already committed to some long-term contracts to some positions. No matter where you want to put them, Yankees will have Jeter, A-Rod, Teixeira and Cano for 4 spots. Three more years are left for Posada and Swisher.

If my memory serve me right, Yankees not only just spent over 400 million dollars for winning it all but also still want to get Pettitte back to add depth to their rotation. A rotation consists of 5 pitchers. Not to mention we need at least 4 good starters to compete in this strong AL East division. No matter whether you believe Wang is an ACE or not, Yankees need Wang in the rotation. The Wang's first 4 seasons for Yankees in the AL East division, Wang proves he is front end starter. With the amount of efforts and hardwork Wang put up for Yankees, giving credit or respect Wang deserves I don't think it's asking a lot.

In the end, It's all about strikeouts which Wang will never have a lot to show for. Wang knows that. Wang knows people criticize his low strikeout rate. Yankees told Wang in arbitration hearing. Taiwanese media keep asking him to add more pitches in order to get more strikeouts. Wang always answers he only cares about winning ball games and championships. He will try to figure out more ways to get hitters out in order to win ball game. Getting more strikeouts is not something he concerns about.

This is similar to debate which player to choose when one of them can hit a lot of homeruns and the other can do everything else but hitting homeruns. Wang knows Yankees is one of teams giving him the best chance to win every year. If Wang stays healthy and Yankees don't need him anymore, I believe other teams will need him. I always tell my friends or myself who get fired one thing: Getting fired is not because you are not good enough, is because you are not suitable for that company. If that day comes, I still root for Yankees and no matter where Wang goes.

Don't get me wrong. I am not angry about this issue. I still believe most Yankees fans, players or officials appreciate what Wang has done for them and understand his value. I believe competition will bring the best out of people. Let record tell us who is the best one.

P.S. That's why I don't think Yankees need to trade any of their outfielders unless they are thinking about getting Manny. Competition can bring the best out of people. Yankees certainly can rotate them and rest someone once a week. If someone get injury, we have someone else to go to.

Updated:It's amazing for me to know the importance of strikeout to a pitcher by reading what Braves' reporter and fans' think the possibility of acquire Wang and Swisher from Yankees. But, again. Even Braves' reporter and fans recognize the value of Wang.

Updated: By the way, If Cashman didn't trade Wang for Santana, why do you think he will trade Wang for a do-everything guy or positional prospects? Not to mention Cashman put a lot of value on players prove they can play well in New York.

Thoughts on Pettitte's rumors

There are a lot of rumors flying around regard of Pettitte's situation. I doubt any reporters know anything about it. There are so many reporters guessing wrong about a lot of things this off-season.

If I were Pettitte, I would make up my mind before Christmas whether I want to go back to Yankees or not. I really doubt he will keep waiting until January. After CC and AJ's signing, the market for starting pitcher should shape out nicely. If Pettitte hates the feeling of not being needed or loved, why he wants to keep waiting offers from other teams after they fail to sign their top choices in January. Pettitte should have options on hand before Christmas. One way or the other, he will make up his mind before Christmas.

Pettitte may accept Yankees' offer before Christmas and Yankees will announce it after Christmas. I also really doubt Yankees only can choose Pettitte or Teixeira because Pettitte is a short-term deal(1 or 2 year).

I also really doubt Yankees just suddenly are interested in signing Teixeira on Monday night and make up their mind without considering all the options on hand, payroll and plans. If they really only can choose Pettitte or Teixeira, they definitely will check with Pettitte's agent before making decisions on Teixeira.

One thing I know for sure. Signing Teixeira means Yankees want to win it all in 2009. This leads me to believe they will sign a verteran pitcher at one year deal as a no.4 starter and a safety net. Of course, they refer Pettitte. If Pettitte reject the offer, they will get one from free agent market.

Don't forget the Cashman's interviews I mention earlier. Yankees have their off-season plan on hand.

Cashman is a honest person. If something he doesn't want to say, he won't comment on it. He doesn't want to comment when asked there is a room financially for a big ticket bat or not. Here you go. Yankees sign Teixeira. Yankees know they have to upgrade their offense before 0ff-season. I also say all along Yankees should and will get an impact to protect A-Rod and they did. The way they did it because they want to fly under the rader and play chess game.

He not only wants to get 600 innings from free agent market but also doesn't want to sign one more multi-years contract to the other starter and block spot for youngster. He will try to get one veteran starter at one year deal as a no.4 starter. If he can't get someone to sign a one year deal which I doubt under this bad economy, he prepares to go into the season and let youngers compete for no.5 spot.

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas

I bet most of you guys are with your family now. Yankees certainly give all Yankees fans a big present for Christmas. Please appreciate every minute and opportunity you have with family. This is something is not easy to come by.

Thanks for reading my blog the pass year. I can't keep doing this without supports I get from you guys, especially when you consider my poor English. I am very appreciated. Please feel free to let me know if there is anything wrong, such as my English.

I hope not

I heard this on the radio. Because of signing Teixeria, Yankees withdraw their offer to Andy Pettitte. I hope not. If we can get Pettitte back as a no.4 starter, it will give us some safty net. Of course, it's fine for me to watch kids pitching.

But, Because Joba can only pitch 150 innings, Yankees eventually will need one of kids to fill up innings for him. Ideally, if we get Andy back, Hughes or one of kids will pitch other innings in no.5 spot. If we put Joba in no.4 spot, it means we can't skip him when there is a off day.Not to mention there are some risks involving with the possibility of CC, A.J. and Wang getting hurt.

The most important thing is I really want to see Pettitte pitching for one more season. Hopefully, this is a wrong information.

Blockbuster vs Art Movies or small budget films

I know there are a lot of fans from other teams complaining the way Yankees spend money, including some experts. They talk about fairness and balance in the competition.

The bottom line is this does not guarantee Yankees win it all. Baseball is a sport that plays on the field, not on the paper.

Yankees fans have owners are willing to spend money to win ballgame instead of putting in their own pockets. There are tons of owners of a lot of small or middle teams putting money in their pockets. This is much worse than what Yankees have done.

My mother always tell me to keep adding and creating values to myself that can be used by someone in the society in order to survive. If I don't and then I can't survive in the society, it's my fault. The same thing goes to this whole issue. Every baseball team need to find their own business models in order to operate a successful franchise. If you can't, it's your fault. Don't blame other people. Taiwanese always believe one thing: If something go wrong in your life, you need to figure out what is wrong with yourself, not other people.

The best comparison I can come up with is from my profession. As a producer of blockbuster films certainly operate different budget to a producer of Art movies or small budget films. In the end is about products you produce. Of course, When you have bigger budget, you are able to have superstars in your film. But, does it make your film become better automatically? Of course not. How many time you have watched some bad movies acted by some superstars and box office of those movies are so terrible? When you have bigger budget, it is more difficult to make profits, isn't it?

One more thing. Please remember one thing. When Rays kept winning in 2008 season, did they fill up their ball park every night or most of night? there is the difference between big market team and small market team. Because they don't have the same attendance as big market teams like Yankees, they don't operate the same way as Yankees.

By the way, If we win championship in 2009, please don't say we just buy one. We have a lot of players from our farm system on the team as well.

Updated: I saw people discuss this issue in one Taiwanese baseball website. One Taiwanese said one thing I agree with. He said "I think what Yankees do is good for economy because someone still invest money in this bad economy". It sounds a good argument for me, right?

WoW!! Is this true? Yankees sign Teixeira???

I just said "Of course, this assumes Yankees don't get Teixeira" on preview post and I was prepared to turn off my computer. WoW! I heard this breaking news on WFAN. I believe most Yankees fans like me can't wait season starting now. 8 years for 180 million. WoW!

By the way, The most impressive thing Yankees have done so far is selling first two games of New Yankees stadium at the same price old Yankees stadium sold in 1923. Not to mention it's free for season ticket holders. Great guesture to fans and great marketing for organization.

How lucky we are as a Yankees fan because owners of our team are willing to do whatever to put the best products on the field.

Manny's attitude is not the main concern for Yankees

There are two different news coming out regard of Jeter's comments on Manny. One is from Mlb. The other from the Star-Ledger.

Jeter is kind of person believe Yankees can win with whatever team they have. Even if Yankees don't sign CC and AJ, he would say Yankees can win it all as well. I remember Jeter said Wang is the no.1 pitcher and believe young pitchers when everyone cry for Santana last off-season, including Posada. Of course, he feels Yankees have enough offense with what they have in the lineup now.

The most interesting quote from Jeter's interview is

"It's just when you're out on the field, you're trying to accomplish one thing, and we welcome people with their own personalities."

I always feel if there is one team out there can handle Manny's attitude, it will be Yankees. Players on Yankees can play with anyone with all kind of personalities. The question becomes "Can Manny play hard all the time on Yankees?" I actually believe Manny will do that as long as Jeter, Mo and Posada are still on the Yankees.

In the end, I believe Manny's attitude is not be the thing Yankees concern the most. Yankees probably concern about his not so good defense on left field, many players for limited spots and years they need to give for a soon to be 37 year old slugger. I guess Yankees will wait out the market and hopes price to come down within reasonable range. Of course, this assumes Yankees don't get Teixeira.

Yankees and Wang avoid arbitration

Yankees sign Wang a one year contract for 5 million to avoid arbitration which is a smart move by Yankees. There is no need to go into arbitration again with Wang two years in a row. It was stupid enough for Yankees to go into arbitration with Wang last time when Yankees gave Cano a multi-years contract and sent out celebration of winning arbitration from team president. Not to going into arbitration again when giving out huge contracts to CC and Burnett and planning to let him pitch in no.3 spot is a smart move.

I understand why Yankees don't want to give Wang a multi-years contract. I just feel there is no need to go into arbitration for a small difference.

From a Yankees fan and team perspectives, I actually think Yankees should give Wang a multi-year contract this off-season. With each year passing by, it gets more and more difficult to sign Wang a multi-years contract. Wang makes it very clearly he wants to stay with Yankees forever if he can and he shows us he can pitch in New York with great personality on and off field. If we sign him this off-season, it will be a contract at a extreme bargain price for a pitcher like him. We may be able to get few options for first couple of free agency.

On top of that, we don't need to give him a no trade clause. If one day we want to trade him, we will be able to get a great package because of friendly team contract. I understand the relatively risk to sign a multi-years contract with a pitcher. But, every pitcher get hurt and it's not easy to get a good pitcher. I also understand there are many pitching prospects in Yankees farm system, but you never know what will happen to prospects. Not so many can become as good as Wang is. Not to mention many teams will lock their young stud pitchers earlier and there are not too many stud pitchers becoming free agents.

From a Taiwanese perspective, it's fine for me Yankees go year to year with Wang. Wang will become free agent at age 31 which will be the same season CC has his opt-out clause. This certainly can create some leverage for Wang. I don't think Yankees can afford to lose both of them in the same off-season. It certainly is better for Wang to enter free agent market at age 31 instead of age 33 if he sign a multi-year contract with options for first couple of free agency now.

If A.J can get a 5 years deal for 82.5 million at the same age Wang will become free agent, Wang certainly can get a better deal than that. Not to mention, the economy may become better 3 year later. On top of that, Wang can get a no trade clause to control the place he wants to go once Yankees want to trade him.

In the end, I think Yankees concern about Wang's shoulder. I believe Wang will be willing to sign a multi-years contract with Yankees at a bargain price after 2009 season even if he has a great 2009 season. If money is the most important thing for Wang, Boras will be his agent and he will take commercials as many as possible. Wang takes so few commercials every off-season in Taiwan and focuses on training and charity events more.

Cashman's plan this off-season

I heard Cashman's interviews with Mike Francesa and Michael Kay yesterday. If you miss them, go to their websites to check them out. They can give you the sense of the state of Yankees so far this off-season. There are some important points I get from those two interviews.

1.Pitching remains the main focus this off-season. Keep upgrading pitching and defense still the main task for him. Main goal is to get at least 400 innings from free agent market(CC&A.J). It will be better to be able to get 600 innings.

2.Only some bad things happen to Mo or a strong show from Phil Hughes will create the chance for Joba back to the bullpen.

3.Last 4-5 seasons, Burnett pitches around 150-160 innings averagely. When he pitches, he pitches well. Cashman doesn't mind to fill up other 50 innings from youngsters in the farm system if necessary.

4.If Pettitte decides to take the offer, Yankees won't get more starting pitchers. However, there is no alternatives if Pettitte rejects the offer because Yankees don't prepare to give multi-year contracts to another starters that will block spots for youngsters in the farm system. So, If Pettitte rejects the offer, Yankees will go into the season with no.5 spot open and let youngsters compete for no.5 spot.

5.Cashman is aware of situation of offense. Of course, it will be nice to have another bat. However, he prepares to go into season with this lineup with the hope of healthy or rebound years from many players.

6.He is fine with Melky/Gardner for center fielder. On top of that, Cashman won't rule out the possibility of putting Damon in the center.

7.When was asked is there any more room financially for big ticket bat, Cashman doesn't want to comment on.

8.Yankees will lower their payroll this season and won't exceed certain number of payroll.

What I learn from interviews.....

1.If Yankees decide to add some offense, they are looking for adding a left handed hitter with high OBP within financial limitation. In Cashman's mind, Setting tables for middle order of lineup is much important than protection.

2.Cashman certainly doesn't give up his long term plan when he said he didn't want to sign one more multi-year contract to another starter because it will block spots for youngsters. Cashman wants to sign one more veteran starter who can eat another 200 innings for one-year deal. He certainly prefers to be Pettitte, so he will wait Pettitte to make a decision. If Pettitte rejects the offer or join another teams, he probably will wait out the market in order to get someone to sign one year deal at reasonable price.

3. There is certainly a possibility of adding a big ticket bat into the lineup.

Welcome to Yankees Family, CC & A.J.

(Photo/AP)

Public speaking is really a lesson everyone needs to learn. After press conference and series of interviews I heard from A.J. Burnett, I really learn to like A.J. Burnett. If he can manage to stay relatively healthy during 5 year contract, he will be one of Yankees fans' favorites.

Burnett showed off good sense of humor during press conference and interviews, such us media issue, DL issue and Jeter's recruiting call, etc. I actually was persuaded by Burnett why he finally stays healthy and has a career year by changing from a thrower to a pitcher. The way he answers questions leads me to believe Yankees' spotlight may help him. By the way, I like the idea to recruit Roy Halladay when he becomes free agent two years later.

CC comes as advertised. He looked a little bit nervous, but he certainly well prepared for specific questions. With time going by, CC became a little more relaxed and showed more his real personality. Based on what I heard from CC, he will love to pitch in New York and Yankees fans and players will love to have him as well.

Wang: happy to see CC and AJ to Yankees

Wang finally showed up in front of media yesterday for one commerical and one charity event which also will be final one in December.

When he was asked that Yankees added CC and AJ to rotation, Wang said he is happy to hear that and welcome them to the team. Yankees will increase the chances to win a championship.

No news is bad news

As you guys know, I the one welcome the idea of signing Manny instead of Teixeira. Just in case, you guys miss them. Click 1, 2 to read.

There is an old saying going in media industry, no news is a bad news. Baseball is an entertainment business. The more news you get, the better your business goes. I understand how the news run 24 hours a day look like because Taiwan is the same. Taiwan is a small country with at least 10 news channel running 24 hours a day. That's why Wang feel less pressure in New York than Taiwan and prefer to stay in New York.

If there is the team can handle Manny, it's Yankees. On top of that, everyone has some players on other teams you like to watch them playing. Manny is one of them on my list. By the way, Roy Halladay is on my list as well.

I do think and may should Yankees try to sign an impact bat to protect A-Rod. That being said, the more I think about it, the more I think "do we really need to add an bat?" I know many Yankees feel offense is the reason we don't make the playoffs this year which I don't agree with. I really think the priority for Yankees now is to sign Pettitte or someone as no.4 starter and then go to bench and Center fielder. However, it's fine for me to see Gardner/ Melky over there as well.

As for an impact bat, is it really worthy for us to add a possible trouble-maker(Manny), a long-term first baseman(8-10 years for Teixeira), hitters can't play defense well on the field in order to add some offense? I don't know time will tell.

Come on, Andy

Welcome to Yankees, AJ. Even though I am not too crazy about giving you five year deal because of injury history, please stay healthy and go to get Rays and Red Sox.

What a rotation we have! I hope we can hear a good news from Andy pretty soon. If I have to choose between Andy and Sheets, I certainly will choose Andy.

CC, Wang, AJ, Andy, Joba.

Right now, Cashman just need to make sure two more things and then that will be our 2009 Yankees.

First of all, Get us an impact bat to protect A-Rod within the budget. Under this assumption, I don't think we will get either Teixeira or Manny unless the market totally drop which I don't think so. Who else?

Secondly, Fix bench. With this economy, we certainly can fix this by waiting out the market.

Updated: I think Yankees will wait Andy's decision right now. Yankees may be willing to throw out few more million dollars for him. I really think Yankees will prefer to have Pettitte back for that no.4 spot, especially when you consider Pettitte always takes the ball and is willing to sign a one year deal.

Pull off offer to CC? Are you kidding me?

During rumors flied around, I laughed at the idea pull off the offer to CC or set up a deadline when many Yankees fans or experts were pissed off CC's action which he didn't accept Yankees' offer immediately. Someone even said Yankees were being used and they embarrassed themselves.

I agree with the idea which let the player go if the player don't want to be here no matter how good he is. That being said, Both parties during negotiation need to know their positions. Even though CC really doesn't want to be a Yankees and use Yankees' offer to get Californian teams involved, Does do Yankees any good to pull off their offer to CC?

Of course not. First of all, some people just don't like to be forced to do or accept something. I remember I had a self-study section at junior high school and teacher asked us to study maths. Do you guys know what did I study? Originally, I was planning to study maths, but I decided to study history once teacher forced us to study maths.

Secondly, What do you think agents for Burnett, Sheets and Lowe will react when they heard Yankees pull off the offer to CC? They won't be in a hurry to help out Yankees. Instead, they may just ask for more years and more money. That's why Yankees couldn't pull off their offer or set up a deadline officially even though they know they are being used.

Who is up next?

Right now, here is the question. Who is up next? Who do you want more next?

Me? I think Yankees will sign two more out of Burnett, Sheets, Lowe and Pettitte. I will put Burnett and Sheets as a group and Lowe and Pettitte as a group. And then I will pick one out of each group. Burnett and Sheets have similar risk of getting injured but have similar odds at being ACE. Lowe and Pettitte are inning eaters and pitching well in playoffs.

Who do you pick from each group?

Me? I will pick Sheets and Pettitte from each group for simple reason. We can get them at shorter deal.

CC is a Yankees

Somehow I decided to wake up at 1 am in Sydney and found out Yankees will get their man, CC. When there were tons of rumors flying around earlier, I told you Yankees would get CC eventually. No matter what this deal will turn out to be, this is the moment why so many fans from other teams hate Yankees and some are so jealous. Fortunately for Yankees fans, We have an owner is willing to put money back to field for winning and making more money(Of course).

I will tell this. Don't care about people say how insane this deal is and how bad this deal may turn out to be. If CC help us to win at least 1 Championship within next 7 year. Yankees get their money worthy.

Welcome to Yankees, CC. You will like here, especially crazy Yankees fans.

Updated: If CC did get an opt-out clause after 2011 from Yankees, I don't mind. If CC really doesn't like here after 3 years, then let him go. Yankees always have money to pay him if CC wants to use opt-out clause to get more money which is hard to image. Keep in mind one thing. After 2011 season, Wang, Cain and Verlander will be a free agent. Not to mention we have tons of young pitching prospects in our farm system.

A rebound year from Hughes, Kennedy, Melky and Cano?

Accroding to RAB regard of Greg Maddux's retirement at winter meeting, the information to young pitcher:“the best way to learn is to screw up and not do it again.”

Immediately, I think about Hughes, Kennedy, Melky and Cano. I hope Yankees don't trade them and believe they may have a bound back year in 2009. Before 2008, they haven't actually failed in their professional baseball. I believe they all learn a lot from 2008 season and will do well in 2009.

What CC is waiting for?

Someone will sign with some teams soon, right? I actually don't mind Yankees front office and Brian Cashman being patience because impatience is not good for negotiation. I also believe Brian Cashman and Yankees front office negotiate with all free agents they are interested in at the same time. I don't believe they need to know where CC goes to decide the next step because Yankee need not only more than one starting pitcher but also an impact bat.

However, I don't understand what CC and his camp is waiting for. The longer they wait, the worse they look. First of all, CC said he won't drag this process too long, but it has been almost a month. We all have a dream job in our mind when we look for a job, but we won't sit there forever to wait for that dream job. When our dream job call us, most people will jump on at first opportunity.

If those teams in California would make an offer to CC, they would do it already. When teams don't want to spend or don't have money to spend, they won't suddenly have that money or be willing to spend. As a producer, we won't spend money on areas don't need even though we have money left. The same thing goes to teams try to upgrade their teams.

There are only two things I can think of regard of what CC and his camp is waiting for. First of all, they are waiting teams CC wants to pitch to to make an offer. Obviously, that team CC wants to pitch to hasn't showed up, otherwise CC would sign with them already. At least, that team CC wants to pitch to doesn't want to meet to Yankees' offer which is 6 years for 140 million. If CC wants to pitch to that team this badly and doesn't care about money, he may just reject Yankees' offer and then he can have teams he wants to pitch to bid for him at less money. If CC wants to pitch to that team at breaking-record offer, he may forget it and accept Yankees' offer. The longer he waits, the more Yankees fans get pissed off.

Secondly, they are waiting for more money. There are only few big market teams can offer CC this kind of deal. I don't think Mets can have another pitcher to make that much money. We all know LA Dodgers and LAA's stand when Boston need offense more than pitching. On top of that, Cubs wait for new boss when White Sox go on transition mode. Who is going to bid with Yankees? If no one bid against Yankees, they are not getting more money by waiting.

My prediction for 2009 roster

1. Yankees will sign two free agent starting pitchers to go with Pettitte. Hopefully, The rotation(5) will be as follow,

CC(L)
Wang(R)
Pettitte(L)
Burnett/Lowe/Sheets,etc...
Joba(R)-No.5-Innings limitation
Hughes, Kennedy or Aceves wait on AAA
Aceves or Giese as a long man or spot starter in the bullpen

2. Yankees sign one impact bat to protect A-Rod. Someone has to sit on the bench. Hopefully, the lineup(9) will be as follow,

Damon LF/CF/DH(L)
Jeter SS(R)
A-Rod 3B(R)
Manny LF/DH(R)
Matsui LF/DH(L)
Posada C/1B(S)
Cano 2B(L)
Swisher/Nady 1B/CF/RF(S/R)
Melky/Gardner CF/LF/RF(S/L)

Bench(4):
Swisher/Nady
Melky/Gardner
Cody Ransom
Molina

3. Bullpen(7) is set as follows,

Mo(Closer)
Marte(Setup man)
Coke(Lefty specialist)
Burney.Veras.Edwar(6.7th inning)
Aceves/ Giese(Long man/spot starter)

Manny vs Teixeira

I know Yankees' focus this off-season is getting younger and improving pitching and defense. However, I do think Yankees will add an impact bat to protect A-Rod. The more I think about it, the more I think Manny will be a better fit to Yankees than Teixeira as long as we can get Manny for 3 years deal at maximum.

First of all, I know everyone will question Manny's attitude. As I discussed this on other post earlier, Manny and Red Sox front office are only persons know the true story. Even though all stories about Manny are true, I believe Yankees can set up the rules with Manny when they talk about contracts.

This probably may be Manny's final deal. I believe players care about their legacy, including Manny. On top of that, A-Rod certainly will be a good companion for Manny. They are not only good friends but also they can motivate each other and create good competition among them.

When Manny was a Yankees fan when he grow up near Yankees stadium, I believe Manny will love to torture Red Sox after all things happened between him and Red Sox. Because of his personality and his performance on Red Sox, I believe he can handle the pressure of playing in New York. Don't forget. Damon will help Manny to transit well in New York. Not to mention Manny in NYY not only bring more fans to ball park but also attract more media and create more coverages.

On the field, Manny certainly can give Yankees an impact bat to protect A-Rod. I know Manny is getting old. However, for a three year deal, I believe he can perform well during the span. I know Manny's defense is not good, but it's not terrible. After Matsui and Damon's contract expire after 2009 season, we can put Manny in left field and share DH spot with Posada at the last two years of their contracts or put Swisher to one of corner outfielders' position, Posada at first base and Manny at DH spot.

For 2009 season, I believe Joe Girardi can figure out a plan to rotate Manny, Damon, Matsui, Melky/Gardner, Posada(if he needs time away from catcher position), Swisher, Nady on all outfielder, first base and DH spots well.

Jeter and A-Rod eventually will need to move their positions to first base, DH or corner outfielder(in Jeter's case). That's why it's better not to give out 8-10 years contract to Teixeira and tie up first base position to him.

Budget

I am surprised at Yankees' decisions of not offering arbitration to Abreu. It takes me couple of days to determine my opinion. I understand why Yankees don't offer arbitration to I-Rod and Pettitte, but I still believe Abreu can get a multi-year contract from someone. However, Yankees front office certainly know the market better than fans. Not to mention there are quite few options available for corner outfielders.

I believe Pettitte will be back and sign with Yankees at 12-13 million during winter meeting. As for I-Rod, Yankees don't need a third catcher at an expensive price who is not suitable for them and many pitchers on the team don't want to pitch to him. I believe Posada will recover from his injury. There is a chance I-Rod will accept arbitation to get a one year deal with high salary and try to play well in order to go back to free agent market next season. If Yankees pay that kind of salary to him, there is no chance they don't play him and put him on the bench. Not to mention, Molina and Posada probably won't be happy about that.

The same goes to Abreu. He may be willing to accept a one year deal at 16-18 million and go back to free agent market next year instead of signing a multi-year deal with much lower price. Not to mention he loves to play for Yankees and hit in front of A-Rod certainly help him as well.

I really think Brian Cashman will keep doing what he has been done which is getting younger. The plan for Yankees this off-season is to improve their pitching and defense which I agree with. Nady may not put up Abreu-like number, but his defense certainly close that gap. Yankees offense should be fine if Posada and Matsui are healthy and Jeter, Cano and A-Rod have a bound back year. Swisher may not match Giambi-like number, but his defense on first base certainly close that gap as well. Not to mention Nady and Swisher have chances to match Abreu and Giambi' numbers.

Don't underestimate the importance of budget. I was a producer for documentaries, music videos, plays, films and was part of production team for TV programs. Some of them I have bigger budgets, others are at small budgets. Not matter how much money I have, I need to allocate money and resources to different areas in production. Of course, I have to go through with all pre-production meetings with the whole production teams to determine our focus and allocate money and resources. Not to mention I never decide to spend all the money I have because you never know what will happen during production and post-production.

Abreu leaves Taiwan today

(photo/Chinatimes)

Abreu came to Taiwan few days ago for his own business. He also threw out ceremony first pitch in Taiwanese high school tournament and went to one of high school baseball team for a lecture with young players to share his experience. Of course, Wang was a host to Abreu and took him around somewhere in Taiwan. For some amazing reasons, Wang was able to do it without getting caught by media.

When Abreu just arrived in Taiwan at airport station, Abreu said he is happy because he is going to meet his boy(Wang). He also said he hopes to stay with Yankees, but has to wait and see what happen in the free agent market.

By the way, Wang has a busy half month for commercial and charity events. He stays at home for his rehab and personal training that begins in December. Once he gets the documents he needs for visa, he is going to go to Arizon for personal training.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I actually don't understand the difference between Christmas and Thanksgiving. If someone can help me out for that, I will be very appreciated at that.

Christmas and Thanksgiving for me are like my Chinese New Year. I actually feel Christmas is much closer to equal to Chinese New Year than Thanksgiving. Chinese New Year is a big holiday for Taiwanese. Family members get together, clean the whole house, play cards and eat tons of food. It sounds like Christmas or Thanksgiving to me. Taiwanese use Chinese New Year to reflect what happen to the whole year and look forward to the new Year.

My wish about Yankees? The same I had last year. I hope Yankees have an injury-free 2009 season. It seems to me this is a pipe dream for Yankees for a long long time.

Don't disappoint me, Andy

I will be extremely disappointed if Andy go to Dodgers. Actually, I will be more disappointed at seeing Andy to leave than losing CC to one of teams in California. I hope what I heard so far regard of Andy with Dodgers is just the game Andy and his agent play as a leverage for free agent. Just like Posada and Mo did a year ago at the same time. I know loyalty is two way street, but Andy need to put Yankees fans in this equation if what I heard and what I saw from Andy Pettitte is really what he meant.

I don't believe Yankees haven't made an offer to Andy. If Yankees don't think they can get him back, they would just offer arbitration to him like Abreu. I understand loyalty is two way street and players need to get most out of their short career. That's why I don't mind players go to somewhere are willing to pay them much more. However, Andy always keeps saying how much he loves our Yankees fans and playing for Yankees, especially for the opportunity of playing in New Yankees stadium. He also does not care money. That's why how much more loves he gets from Yankees fans. If Andy means what he says, I will be extremely disappointed if Andy goes to Dodgers.

Of course, the offer Yankees made certainly is less than 16 million Pettitte made. Again, Pettitte don't care about money, right? A lot of players say they love to stay at their own teams, but they don't say they don't care about money. Some of them are willing to take less money to stay that certainly shows what they mean, such as Lowell, Peavy, etc.

I understand money for players sometimes show how much teams want to keep them or respect. However, it sometimes just reflects performance. The same thing happen to our regular people. When we get more experience and perform better or make less mistakes on our jobs, we get paid more. I don't get the notion about Pettitte doesn't want to get a pay cut. Pettitte has leverage two years in a row to get his 16 million salary or a multi-year contract. It's his choice not to get a multi-year contract. I am pretty sure if he wants to he can get one from Yankees two years in a row. So, he can't blame Yankees to use that leverage now and want him to take a pay cut.

Not a big free agent sign with teams yet. A lot of free agents even haven't get an offer from teams, so Pettitte can't blame Yankees don't show enough love or respect to him. Not to mention how much support he get from Yankees and Yankees fans during his HGH events.

I love Andy and want him back. I also believe he will have a bound back year in 2009. Hopefully, he won't disappoint me.

Is another trade coming before winter meeting?

There are so few news happening recently. I am wondering is it possible there is another trade coming for Yankees before winter meeting? If CC doesn't sign before Thanksgiving or winter meeting, I don't see other major free agents to be signed ahead of CC. It may be much better or smarter for Yankees to get some of their needs by trade first, such as center fielder which is a weak link in free agents market this off-season.

I always the one make decisions quickly after considering all information on hand. I sometimes don't understand the reasons to drag out the process for long period of time. I am from Taiwan where people like to stay in their hometowns. That's why I can understand why CC wants to stay in California. However, when you look at 3 teams in California, there is only one team which is LA Dodgers has interests to put on comparable offer because they obviously need starting pitchers when Giants and Angels need offense, not pitching. On top of that, Dodgers need Manny to draw more people to ballpark when they don't like to give out big contract at the same time.

I am not going to go through all reasons why three teams in California are not likely bidding for CC. I just want to mention one thing. I believe most of you guys have experience of looking for schools or jobs. We all have our dream jobs or schools in our mind to begin the process and may be willing to take less salary or sacrifice somethings to get that dream jobs or schools. There are two other big factors we won't ignore as well. Firstly, of course, higher salary offers you and your family better security, especially for someone has family. Secondly, knowing companies really want to have you also play a big role on decisions. When CC really wants to play at home, why he insists on playing for teams in California haven't showed that they want him so far?

Moose..............

Mike Mussina officially decided to retire. I am not going to talk about Moose's numbers. I am not going to talk about his chance for HOF. I am not going to talk about his playoff performance. I am not going to talk about his "almost" which includes an almost perfect game and an almost world series ring with no no-hitter and no CY Young Award in his resume.

As a fan, I like to talk about memory. No matter they are good memory or bad memory. I only care about those memory that players bring to me. Those memory play a big role in my life because of how many time we spend on watching them playing. It seems players become part of our life and go through good things or bad things with us.

I become a Yankees fan when I went to America to study film school in 2005, so I don't have that much memory about Mussina to talk about when comparing with you guys.

2006, May

I always remember the game Moose pitched against Tiger. Moose pitched a complete game. When Torre was going to come out to take the ball from Moose in the 9th inning with 2 outs, Moose yelled and pointed to Torre,"No, you stay there".

During the same period of time, I was busy at my pitch for my film project. I was so happy I am able to put everything together and get ready for graduation. Only thing I regret is my family was not able to attend my graduation when my other classmates' family all attended.

2006, October

When Moose struggled with Tiger in ALDS playoffs, I also struggled to convince my family to let me stay in America. I was struggling with getting a company was willling to help out my visa issue and start questioning myself.

2008, September

I always remember the look Moose had when he sat in the dugout and looked at Mo pitching in the 9th inning of his 20th win game in Fenway Park. I can't forget the big smile Moose had after getting his 20th win.

For me, I finally get better results during the time in Sydney and start feeling better to myself.

I don't know how many Yankees players will miss Mussina, but I am sure Wang will be one of them. Wang always says Moose help him a lot. Wang told to Taiwanese media at the end of season. He asked Mussina to come back for two more years during the course of season, but Moose always smiled and said, "No". During the first press conference one week ago when Wang just arrived Taiwan, he still said he hopes Moose and Pettitte will come back.

I remember Moose help to fix Wang's delivery many times. In 2006, After Wang lost to National for that heart-broken loss, Moose told to Wang his story the next day. I am sure Wang will miss him a lot. When Taiwanese reporters asked Moose, Why you don't let people know you help Wang so much? Moose said, "I do this for Wang. The purpose is to help Wang, not to let people know".

I know we are going to miss you, Moose. However, we have those memory with us. As a child from single family without a good father with me, I am glad for Moose's family. They have their father with them to go through every good or bad time.

I was planning to post something regard of Manny and Teixeira originally. However, Today belongs to Moose. I decide to leave everything else to tomorrow. I will come back more after Moose's conference call.

Updated: I was listening to the interview Moose on WFAN. Moose said the decision of signing with Yankees is the best decision he ever made. i am glad to have you on my Yankees team as well.

I just told about the memory I have about Moose. How about yours?

Updated: Wang just attended the ceremony for the award he got earlier. Wang said it's so sad to see Moose go. He said he loses another good friend and good teacher on the team. Moose and he always look after each other when Moose teach him a lot. In his opinion, the difference between 2007 season and 2008 season for Moose is Moose doesn't care about the velocity of his fastball any more with more control and command in the strike zone. I think knowing 2008 season is his last season seems to help Moose a lot for his great 2008 season. By the way, Wang knows Yankees try to get front-end starters. He restates he doesn't care about who is No.1 on the team. He knows all those pitchers have different stuffs. He definitely can learn a lot from them. Everyone just goes out every 5 days to do their parts to get a championship.

Swisher will be a good fit to Yankees

Go check out the interview Swisher did on WFAN. The more I listen to him, the more I like him. I think he will do well and bring a lot to us, especially his personality. He laughs and jokes a lot during interview. Yankees certainly need someone like him to loose up and play 150% every time out.

We need more baseball players, not superstars.

For example, Swisher said his father is a Cubs' fan and goes on to say he quickly changes to a Yankees fan few days ago. HA! Not to mention there are more Yankees fans in his hometown now. He also mentions New Yankees stadium. The most important is he likes to eat. Me too. Welcome to Yankees' family.

P.S I just heard the interviews Michael Kay did on ESPN 1050. If CC doesn't like to play for us, like Peavy. I don't want someone to play for us if he doesn't want to no matter how good he is. However, there are tons of people claiming they are friends of CC now. I will reserve my comments before hearing from CC or his agents.

Congrats Dustin Pedroia for his MVP award

I hope this gives Cano extra or enough motivations for next season. I think this should and will let Cano want to prove himself. This is a valuable lesson for Cano. You need to work hard to realize your talent. Cano probably has much more talent than Pedroia. However, right now, it seems Pedroia work harder than Cano.

I know I should not feel happy for Pedroia, but I did. Congrats to him. He deserved it. Everyone don't think he can do it based on his talent and his size. Girardi told Posada: "Don't lose your job because someone work harder than you."

The reason I feel happy for Pedroia is I also believe there is nothing someone else can do I can't do. I am not smart with every bad memory. I also need to study or work harder than a lot of people in order to get a above average mark. Pedroia win a MVP is really a nice story.

Red Sox talk about Manny again

Just in case you miss it, ESPN has another new story regard of Red Sox and Manny. Everyone knows the relationship between Red Sox and ESPN, so it's safe to say Red Sox leak out those information to ESPN. I don't understand what Red Sox is doing. What is the point of talking about this now? Sometimes, I don't understand why Red Sox destroy any relationship with almost every former employees.

If Red Sox felt they need to let people understand what Manny did that lead to that trade, I can understand. However, this is not the first time Manny has this problem. They kept putting up with what Manny did again and again. That's why Manny kept doing this to them. In anther words, Red Sox can only blame themselves for this. Asian people always say there must be something wrong with parents when their children make the same mistake again.

Let us just assume everything they say about Manny is correct which I doubt. I have so many true stories happened to me with other persons. I was in Manny-like position before. The other party keep spreading around the wrong information and everyone say I am wrong. I am the one doesn't like to explain myself, especially when I was misunderstood by family, friends or people I don't know. The people know the truth are Manny, Red Sox players and front office.

Why Red Sox keep leaking out so many Manny stories now? Are they afraid of Yankees signing Manny? Otherwise, What is the point of doing this now?

Great strategy

I know Yankees already made an initial offer to CC which will break Santana's offer immediately. Basically, Yankees try to tell everyone they are serious about going after CC.

And then they tell everyone they are going to make an offer to AJ Burnett and Lowe the next few days. The few days separated between CC and AJ or Lowe show CC that he is our priority. However, they also show CC we are not going to sit around and wait for your answers forever. We are going to get more than one pitcher on free agent market.

I believe some of you have experience of trying to rent an apartment. Landlords keep getting phone calls from many people. They always tell us some people already came before you and they show interests in renting this apartment as well. If we want, we need to make a decision quickly. When landlords get a response from a group of people they like, they would lease the apartment immediately. So if you think and consider for too many days, you often end up with nothing left.

If everyone knows Yankees make offer to a lot of people they like, those players and agents will be afraid of losing Yankees' big offer once other players accept offer first because there are only few spots left for rotation and so much money to spend within the budget. This probably shortenes the period of time those players and agents sit on Yankees' offer and shop them around for a long time. Not to mention Economy is not in very good shape.

Welcome to Yankees family, Swisher

Sorry about being late. I am sure you guys already read a lot of analysis from different blogs and media outlets regard of this issue.

The reason I like this trade for three reasons.

First of all, This shows us Brian Cashman and Yankees front office really have a plan on hands. They know what they are going to do. No matter you agree with their plan or not, it seems things always come out with better results when you know what you are doing. Cashman is not going away from his plan because of 2008 season which is get younger. I like this direction which focuses on pitching and defense.

I remember I read a quote from Ichiro regard of the difference between American baseball and Asian baseball. Ichiro says American baseball plays to score more runs than the other team when Asian baseball plays to prevent the other team from scoring. In Asian countries, we are used to play low scoring game all the time. For example, we have a Asian championship series joined by the championship teams of Japanese, Korean, China and Taiwanese pro league to fight for the alternative championship. We play from November 13th to 16th. Scores of first day of tournament is like 2-1 and 4-3.

Secondly, I like the way Swisher play baseball. I got this impression when I watch him playing in A's. He is type of player Yankees need. Yankees don't need 25 superstars on the field. It has been proved that we can't win a championship that way. He is grind and gutty type of player. He not only has a great personality to loose up teammates but also play all out with 110% efforts all the time.

Finally, This puts everyone a doubt whether Yankees will go after Tiexeria or not. I believe most people's reaction to this trade is Yankess are not going to go after Tiexeria. Of course, I don't know what Yankees will do. It is always not a good thing to go into negotiation with Boras without any leverage.

On top of that, it definitely increases the chances we get CC. Think about it. When Dodgers are busy at chasing Manny and Angels probably feel more confidents on getting Tiexeria now, who is that California team that will bid for CC? Giants? I don't think so, they already signed Barry Zito with a huge contract with enough young pitching on hands. They need bats, not pitchers.

How can I miss this?

I have a busy day and I didn't go on the Internet yesterday. Talking about how little I know regard of Yankees. I know today is the first day every teams can talk numbers to every free agents. I don't think there will be any major news coming out. So, I miss it.

Yankees traded for Swisher yesterday. Let me tell you this first. I like this trade. I will come back more for details. It's pretty early in Sydney now.

Yankees sign Marte for 3 years with one year club option

See, I told you guys to relax and not to jump on Cashman right away. One good thing for Cashman is he is very honest. 3 years for 12 million is a good deal which is below market. Not to mention Marte is more than a lefty specialist and Yankees don't have a good lefty in the bullpen for long long time. 4 years is a little bit longer than I thought, but it doesn't matter because 4th year is a club option. Yankees can turn that down easily.

Good start for Yankees this important off-season.

Holliday heads to A's?

I actually don't understand why A's want to trade for Holliday for this one-year rental, but there is a good news and a bad news for Yankees fans. Why? Let me tell you.

I know Yankees are not really into the idea about trading prospects for Holliday. It's good to know he is going to head to someplace. He is one year away to become free agent. Why not wait for one more year? By that time, Mastui and Damon's contracts will be expired if Yankees are really interested in Holliday. It makes perfect sense to wait another year. It doesn't make sense to sacrifice prospect for him now.

On top of that, Yankees are able to know how Holliday will perform in A's pitcher's park instead of his old home. Not to mention about switching league. If he still can perform very well under those conditions, it won't be a bad idea to get him after 2009 season. Of course, it must be on reasonable price.

That' s why I don't understand why Billy Beane want to trade assets for a guy may not able to perform well in A's park. Does he know something we don't know? If he only trade away guys like Carlos Gonzalez, Greg Smith and Huston Street, it makes much more sense because Beane is very good at selling high and buying low. Maybe it's time to cash in for those players.

However, according to a lot of news sites, there are 2 top prospects in the packing. If Beane trade his top prospects for one-year Holliday that doesn't make sense. Because it's not worthy even though he can trade him to another team during trading deadline or cash in for another top draft picks after 2009 season. Not to mention there is a chance Holliday doesn't perform well in A's that lower the price for trading him and cashing him for draft pick. He also doesn't know who Holliday will sign with after 2009 season. If Holliday sign with big market teams which is highly likely, the draft pick Beane get won't be very high either.

This leads me to my bad news one. Beane may simply want to upgrade his team to complete in his weak AL West division. Why not? If A's get enough offense this off-season to go with their good enough pitching which they seems have all the time, they certainly can complete for AL West. Not to mention if he sign Giambi as well. Why this is a bad news for Yankees? If Angels sense A's want to complete with them becuase of this trade, they may go into bidding war with Yankees regard of CC and Teixeira. Hopefully, I just think too much.

Welcome Back, Wanger

Wang arrived Taiwan earlier. This is the photo in airport station. Wang just had a press conference 2 hours ago. However, there is huge political news in Taiwan today( I don't want to talk about that. If you guys are interested, go check out news).

I don't think there will be a huge coverage of Wang today. In fact, Taiwan media just like New York media. This is so rare someone like Wang to have any coverage at all. This tells you something. The way he speak(so few words) is really not a news material(boring).

I got few quotes from some news .


*Yankees ask Wang to ride bike, not to run.

*Wang knows there are a lot of great pitchers on the free agent market this off-season. How he feel? He said let go to get champion together. No matter who Yankees get, they are the best ones. He will just do his job which try his best to win every game. However, Wang said Moose and Pettitte really help him a lot. I think we can't underestimate the impact those veterans pitchers will bring to the team, especially for young pitchers.

*Wang really want to play WBC for Taiwan, but he knows he need to rehab first. Wang actually asked Cashman before coming back to Taiwan. Cashman already told him to prepare spring training.

*He said he felt so sad and miserable for not able to help Yankees, especially he sat there and looked at what happened to the team the end of season. When he knew Yankees' chance for playoffs become lower and lower, he wanted to play so badly and apologized to team.

Come back later for more if I have more.

Updated: I am finally able to watch Wang's press conference. Sorry about being late. I was so tired because I haven't slept much for few days.

*Wang said Bowa kept sending him text messages to encourage him and want to know how he feel after he get hurt. I think Yankees really miss Larry Bowa. If they actually have a chance to sign him after 2007 season, they definitely should not miss.

*Remember the difference between Joe Torre and Joe Girardi? Wang said Torre joking around with him a lot. However, Kuo(another Taiwanese pitcher) is the relief pitcher on LA Dodgers said Torre is quiet. He doesn't say much. As for Joe Girardi, Wang said he is more serious than Torre. During practices, Girardi actually run with them. Wang said he runs harder and tried not to lose to him.

I think Torre is really a good players manager based on what I heard from Wang and Kuo. Based on players' different personality, Torre uses different ways to communicate with them. Wang is quiet guy and is very hard on himself. Joking around with him and making him loose is a good way to get most out of him. On the other hand, Kuo is a voluble guy with good sense of humor. Torre use more serious way to deal with him.

*Wang doesn't regret for running hard on bases and getting hurt. He said injury is part of athlete's life. He always does his best no matter what he is doing. However, he thinks he needs to focus more to train his legs because he has a lot of injuries related to legs recent years.

*Wang said doctors told him he is 100% healthy right. This foot injury won't have any impact on his pitching. However, there are always few cracks over there. I am kind of understanding this. Just like our normal persons. Every time we hurt ourselves, there are always some concerns over the places we get hurt and there are always chances to hurt the same place again.

*There is one period of time in 2008 season he didn't pitch well. Wang said he think too much. He wants to get every batter and want to pitch better. I think Wang actually really wants to prove himself after what happened in 2007 playoffs.

*It will be a huge honor for Wang to be able to pitch in opening day in New Yankees stadium, but he doesn't think he will get it.

That's all I get. This week we can't do anything until we get past November 14 which all players become free agents. This is good. I actually can focus more on the stuffs I need to get it done in my real life.

Bring Pettitte back

What are Yankees waiting for? I posted another post regard of owners vs players vs fans earlier. I can't quite used to see my favorite players on my team coming and going as you guys may be able to used to. When coming down to make those decisions on favorite players on my team, I admit I can't make rational decision.

On top of that, When I talk about shopping experience earlier, I am the one make decision very quickly. Thinking about Angels the way they sign free agent.

If these Pettitte and Marte's situation tell us something, that's Yankees really have a plan on hand. Good to hear if you are a Yankees fan. Another thing to think about is Yankees probably wait Pettitte and Marte's price to come down when it approaches to November 14. From Yankees' standpoint, if you can save some money, why not? Don't forget one thing. Pettitte let Yankees keep waiting and giving him 16 million the past two seasons when he had leverage.

I still think Yankees should bring back Pettitte as a back of rotation guy no matter what Moose's decision is. I know Yankees want to get younger, but you never have enough pitching. Of course, I have some concerns regard of Pettitte. First of all, it's his healthy status. Secondly, it seems Pettitte lose his stuff. For example, he seems to lose his cutter. Evidence shows on his stats against righty which is very high. However, I have no problem with a pitcher with middle 4 ERA and over 200 innings as a back of rotation guy. Not to mention he is a lefty which is rare commodity in baseball.

In fact, I will bring back both Pettitte and Moose back on one-year deal to goes with CC, Wang and Joba as my 2009 rotation when tons of other options wait on the minor. I rather have them instead of Lowe, Sheets, Burnett, etc.

CC
Wang
Pettitte
Moose
Joba

However, I do think Yankees will only want to have one of Pettitte and Moose back. It looks like Moose is their first choice. I don't blame them after Moose's 20 win season with low 3 ERA, especially Moose shows the ability to make adjustment when velocity of his fastball slow down few mph. However, keep in mind one thing. Pettitte is going to be 37 while Moose will be 40 in 2009 season. On top of that, it seems to me Moose always put together great season on his "walk" year, doesn't it?

I actually can understand why Yankees only want to bring one of them back. When you look at the rotation I put above. There is a risk. CC come out two seasons with high innings workload. Wang and Joba come out of injury season when Joba has limitation on innings pitched. When you put them to go with two old pitchers(Pettitte and Moose). There is a risk. The ideal is Yankees actually bring 6 starters to camp and see what happen in my opinion.

However, I am not really so high on other free agent options. A.J Burnett? Inconsistent & injury prone. Lowe? Red Sox & age & AL East & another sinkerball pitcher with our defense. Sheet? Injury. Peavy? tons of prospects & switch from NL West to AL East & don't like New York and its spotlight. When you look at his number, Peavy will have a similar ERA as Wang in the AL East. I think his careeer ERA closer to 4 against AL team. Not to mention those not good numbers against AL East teams, especially on their park. Who else?

If Moose retire, we are going to need to have Pettitte back to go with one more free agent after CC. That's why I think Yankees will or should sign Pettitte back before November 14. No matter what, we should be able to know about Moose, Pettitte and Marte's situation with Yankees around November 14. I don't think Yankees will keep waiting Moose's decision and risk to lose Pettitte on free agent market.

Interesting Joe Girardi interview on WFAN

I heard an interesting Joe Girarid interview on WFAN. It's a good one.

*Based on what I heard, I think Joe Girardi learn a lot from this first year. He will improve next year. He already took the first step: more honest.

*Girardi think the most important thing he learn is keep building up the relationship with players in order to get most of them, but it takes time. I agree with him. The thing people don't realize is Joe Torre basically got his new core players when he got to Yankees in 1996 and they go on to win world series at first year. Of course, it makes everything much easier to deal with after championship. It's much harder for Joe Girardi because he needs to work on the core players who had been with Joe Torre for a long time and He took over after Yankees fail to make out of first round for many years.

*Girardi thinks it also takes time to figure out how to work with coach staff well.

*Girardi likes players are able to do many different things. He also would like to have a team with better defense and pitching. I think this is Yankees' offseason focus.

*Girardi thinks it's important to have two lefty in the bullpen. He wants to have Marte back and Yankees are talking deal with him. It seems to me Yankees have a deal with him on hand, otherwise Girardi won't be able to talk things like that.

*As for Mussina. Girardi think there are two factors for Moose's decision: what family members think and do Moose want to keep playing or not. It's not about HOF and 300 wins for him. He expects Mosse to make up his mind two months after season ends which is November. It's now. I think Yankees already know what Moose's decision by now. I think the reason Moose hasn't made in public is help Yankees. They actually can play some game with other free agent signing. It sounds to me Moose will retire.

*Joba is a starter now. It all depends on what offseason goes in order to make final decision. I think Joba will be in the bullpen if Yankees get enough starting pitching. It's not a final decision yet.

*Yankees are not sure or havn't made up their mind what they want to do in 1B.

Interesting, right? I think so. Girardi actually is honest this time and actually say a lot of things regard of team and himself. We actually can tell part of direction Yankees want to approach this offseason.

If you miss this interview on WFAN, go to their website to download the file later on.

Terrible 2008 season

Few days ago, Uni Lions which is one of Taiwanese pro league team win champion of CPBL(Taiwan pro league).

What a terrible 2008 season for me!

First of all, Yankees miss to make playoffs and stop 13 years streak.

Secondly, as a Taiwanese, Wang got hurt and miss at least half of season.

Thirdly, Red Sox and Rays make the playoffs

Fourthly, I have to watch Red Sox almost coming back and going into the world series.

And then the team in the Taiwan pro league I hate the most win champion.

Abreu and Wang are going to meet in Taiwan in December

If you guys can read Mandarin, check out those two links(1,2) regard of Wang's latest news. The rest of you guys, read my blog. Ha!

Wang's fly is tomorrow from New York and arrive Taiwan on 11th at 6am(Taiwanese time). He will have a "huge" press conference at 11am at the same day.

Wang need to rehab 4-5 hours everyday during off-season and then he will go to Arizona Fischer to start his preparation for 2009 season. Because of that, Wang haven't decided he will be able to attend as a special guest "pitchers& catchers training camp" was held by MLB, New York Yankees and Chinese Taipei Baseball Association.

This is first this kind of training camp held in Taiwan. There are 40 pitchers and 10 catchers from many Taiwan high school teams chosen by coach. Yankees are going to send 5 coaches from farm system as lecturers in this training camp, including 3 pitching coaches, 1 catching coach and 1 fitness coach. Right now, Yankees said manager of Staten Island Yankees, Pat McMahon and Mike Wickand who is responsible for fitness program of the whole Yankees minor system will be here.

Talking about being smart. I am sure Yankees can use this opportunity to scout some young talent pitchers and catchers. Cashman already sent out invitation to Wang for this training camp. Of course, this depends on Wang's schedule.

Abreu will come to Taiwan with his brother in the beginning of December for scouting his shoe factory. Wang definitely is going to be a host to Abreu.


By the way, Wang hope he is able to go to night market to eat one kind of snack called 台南米糕( see the picture. I don't know how to translate to English. Be honest, a lot of people like it, but I don't) which he hasn't eaten for 5 years. Wang said this through spokesman of his agency because he hope he is able to go to night market and beg fans not to bother him if fans saw him in the night market.

(Dear Wang, forget it, just let someone buy for you and eat at home. PS. Don't ask family and close friends to buy because I believe most Taiwanese know how his family and close friends look like)

I know all of these sound so crazy. This is reality of Wang's life. The whole nation want to know everything about him. That's why I don't think New York's spotlight means much to Wang when coming down to pressure.

Doesn't make sense

Just in case you guys miss those posts regard of Marte and Cameron I posted earlier, go check them out.

Yankees decline Marte's 6 million option officially. If Yankees don't work out a new deal with Marte at near future and let him test free agent market, this doesn't make sense, especially when you consider Cashman and Yankees have been search for lefty relief pitchers for a long time. Once Marte get to free agent market, he almost certainly can get better deal from someone else.

Why trade away young talents in the farm system and let Marte walk away? Of course, we still have Nady. But, don't forget not only Marte is the main guy Cashman target for at the first place and Cashman said he won't do this trade for two month rentals but also Cashman make this trade when our bullpen is in good shape and only concern is the lack of lefty relief pitchers in the bullpen.

I know Phil Coke is impressive, but is it be better off having two lefty relief pitchers in the bullpen and one of them has some experience? If Cashman has so many faith in young pitchers in the farm system, why bother to trade for Marte? If Cashman start believing relief pitchers are crap shots and don't have to spend tons of money on them, why bother to trade young talents for Marte, especially when you consider Joe Girardi show the ability to manage bullpen unlike Joe Torre. Let alone let Marte leave for one-year deal and sign other lefty relief pitchers on free agent market on long term deal. Not to mention Yankees probably don't know them much.

I only can come up with three reasons why Cashman does this.

Firstly, just like Luis Vizcaino. Marte hurt more than Yankees lead us to believe or they don't think Marte can perform well in the AL East, so they rather collect two draft picks and go after other lefty relief pitchers on the free agent market.

Secondly, Yankees don't want to set new bar for relief pitchers by picking up his 6 million option. They prefer to go after other cheaper options in the free agent market or simply work out a multi-year deal with Marte.

Thirdly, they know they are going to lose a lot of draft picks for signing top free agents this off-season. They rather collect draft picks from let Marte going and then pay those for signing other top free agents.

As for Cameron, I don't mind Yankees trade for young center fielder. But, I rather have Melky or Gardner for center fielder than paying Cameron 10 million for that job. Let alone trade some values in our farm system for him. People may say, Cameron is a one-year stop gap for waiting Austin Jackson. You never know what prospects may turn out to be. Austin Jackson may never pay off or he may need more time. You go out to get a young center fielder or give Melky or Gardner a chance to play. If Austin Jackson become what a lot of people expect him to be, don't worry, I am sure Yankees can find a position for him anyway.

Hopefully, we can know what Cashman's plan very soon.

Updated: Check out this latest news regard of Cameron's trade with Brewers on Newsday. I know the stock of Melky and Kennedy had dropped a lot. Are you kidding me? Brewers want us to give them Melky and Kennedy for Cameron and pay him 10 million dollars. Even if Cameron is a free agent now, I still need to think about getting him to play center fielder for us. Let alone trade Melky and Kennedy for him. Ha, No. Are them insane?

Updated: According to NY Daily News, Yankees are on their way to settle a three-year deal with Marte. See. I know a lot of fans jump on Cashman immediately. Good to hear.

finialize coach staff for 2009

The latest news from Peter's blog regard of 2009 coach staff. Tony Pena will be bench coach. Mick Kelleher will be first base coach and Rob Thomson will be third base coach. It sounds a good decision and hopefully they can work with each other very well.

Because my professionalism is Film/TV production, I have been work with all kind of different teams since university. You never know how it turns out to be until you start working with each other. Some people just match up well with some specific partners because of personality and all kind of different factors. Hopefully, this is the case.

Shopping

I believe most of you have experience of shopping. Being a smart shopper, First of all, you need to do a pretty good research before taking next step. You need to know your budget, needs, what you have, gather information of potential targets and get some advices from friends or family.

And then you take the next step. You go out with a plan and targets on hand to make observation in person. You may be able to negotiate with sellers or find out better deal on sale by accident.

What do you do next? Buying? No, you go home and think about all the options you have on hand for few days. You don't buy immediately because you may buy things on an impulse then regret it later on. You don't consider too many days because someone else may take it before you decide to buy.

The same thing goes to signing free agents and making trades as well.

Welcome Yankees fans around the world

Hi everyone,

I just change the format in the comment section a little bit. I decide to let some new friends are able to express what they think in the comment section as Anonymous even though they don't have account. The reason I want to do this is I really hope we are able to exchange what we think on this blog. Since I have been in different countries for those years, I really love to make friends around the world and understand your cultures. Please let me know if you guys have other opinions on this decision . Hopefully, everything will go very well.

By the way, I just check sitemeter and find out I have readers from Taiwan, the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, Croatia, Singapore, Lebanon, Germany, China, Mexico and other unidentified countries. WoW! I didn't notice this until I check. Of course, 53% of readers from the United States. Any other countries? let me know.

This shows me there are a lot of Yankees fans around the world. Thanks for reading, especially for my poor English.

Show a lot of love

I just heard the interview with Cashman Peter post on his blog. Cashman said we are going to show a lot of love to everyone and see who love us back. Man, Good to hear this from your team. It's good to be a Yankees fan, isn't it? You always know your team will do everything they can to put best product on the field in order to win a ball game.

That's also my stand. Of course, we love to have more great players to join our team, but they need to show they love us as well. Don't trade away Phil Hughes for someone who doesn't want to be here.

Owners vs Players vs Fans

I don't know you guys. You guys probably are used to have so many players coming and going because you guys watch this kind of game since you are children.

For me, as a Taiwanese, I still can't get used to. In Taiwan, players and owners all have those sentiments with fan bases. Most of players stay with their old teams. In fact, most players only play for one team during entire career. Owners and players always try to work out the new deal. Fans root for the same favorite players on their team. Players improve their games to do everything they can do as a team in order to try to win a ball game.

There is no more evidence than the way Red Sox treat Lowell and Padres treat Jake Peavy. Of course, from owners' point of view, they always want to upgrade their team at price as cheap as possible. Fans always think players are greedy when they want to get money as much as possible. They think why players don't stay with team at cheaper and reasonable price if they really love the team. However, think about this. If you were the player that playing baseball is your job and you only can have around 10-15 years to make the most of it for your whole life, you would like to make as much as you can.

When Lowell and Peavy give their teams discount to stay with them, they turn around and want to trade you badly. They don't care how you feel. Fans even want you to go as soon as possible because it upgrades the chance of their team winning the world series.

One day, I may be able to be used to all of those.

P.S By the way, It seems to me Jake Peavy said No to Red Sox. I heard Peavy rejected an American League team with a small ball park. Orioles? Red Sox? Good to hear

Congrats to the United States of America

I was watching the election with a lot of Australians in a bar at the University of Sydney. It's amazing for me to know how many people around the world pay attention on this election. Before going there, I actually don't completely understand how American election system works. I understand basic principles. Fortunately for me, I sat with a group of Australians know a lot and taught me a lot as well.

I learn two things during the time I was in America that have very big impact on me. First of all, most Americans don't have racial discrimination. After staying different countries for those years, this is very impressive and important. In my mind, people around the world should try to treat everyone around the world the same as the people in your own country. This will bring peace around the world. Of course, we don't always can do it. There are still so many people can't do it. At least, we need to work toward to right direction.

It's great to see a African American can win the election to be the president of the United States of America. Of course, the condition of bad economy and difficulties of wars involved in middle-East Asian countries probably have something to do with. However, this still is quite an accomplishment.

Secondly, Americans teach their children to be confident of themselves which sometimes lack among Asian people because of our culture. Parents always teach us there are always someone else are better than you, you always can learn something from them, you have to respect others' professionalism and you need to make a self-examination when something go wrong. Those result the lack of confident. During accepted speech, I refresh this when Obama put those "Yes, we can" together.

I don't support each party. This is just impression I come away with.

Wang's lastest interview with Taiwanese reporter

I translated this interview with Wang from Chinatimes. If you guys are able to read Mandarin, please feel free to use that link to read the whole original interview. Wang was interviewed by one of Taiwanese reporters in New York before going home soon.

Q: How do you feel in the last bullpen in Tampa?
A: I threw 50 pitches, but I didn't throw in full speed. I still haven't gotten my balance back.

Q: What doctors in New York said after checking out?
A: Yes, I am completely healthy now. The doctor wants to make sure bones in my right foot doesn't separate again which separated ealier after getting hurt. (I think this is the reason Wang spent more time than expected to recover)

Q: What you need to do after going back to Taiwan?
A: Yankees design a rehab schedule for me that tell me what I can do and can't do, especially how to strengthen muscles of my right foot.

Q: What do you learn from this injury?
A: I need to learn how to run bases. Hopefully, Yankees have some training program in spring training for me

Q: So, it means you are going to run hard next time on base?
A: Yes, of course, I still will do my best.

Q: What do you think the reasons you didn't pitch well for a period of time this season?
A: Yes, I think about it. I think I think too much.

Q: What pitch you want to improve on in spring training?
A: slider. I want to have better command.

Q: Yankees are going to get at least one front-line starter this off-season. You may not be the no.1 any more. Is it ok for you? Do you need to make any adjustment mentally?
A: No, I didn't need to make any mental adjustment. It's the same to me because I just do my job and go out to pitch every 5 day.

Q: So, which slot you are in the rotation doesn't matter to you?
A: Yes, pitching well is much more important.

Q: Goal for 2009 season? How many wins?
A: Don't get hurt and pitch the whole season. It doesn't matter how many wins because I want to win every game any way.

Q: How do you feel the possibility to pitch opening day in New Yankees stadium?
A: I think it won't be me to pitch in opening day.

Q: How do you feel about going back to Taiwan soon?
A: I am very happy because I can see my parents soon.

Q: Any plan except some public events?
A: No, I can't go anywhere in Taiwan. On top of that, Hopefully, I may have less commercial events this off-season(because of injury).

P.S. By the way, I am going to watch Election with my Australian friends now. Even though I don't understand everything about American election, good to be part of it. Stay tuned for some thought after that.