It's not fair

When most teams, their fans and even a lot of experts keep complaining about every Yankees' move, why no one complain about this when allowing those teams to get unfair advantages?

It turns out Cashman is right

Like everyone else, I was surprised at Yankees not offering arbitration to Abreu, not Pettitte. However, I did trust Yankees' judgement based on information they have on hand. It turns out Cashman foresee the market right. That's why I always say don't rush to judgement. Yankees got Pettitte back at 5.5 million guaranteed with 12 million at maxium and Angel signed Abreu at 5 million guaranteed for one year deal. By the way, Adam Dunn signed with Nationals at 20 million for 2 year deal. Manny will decide one team pretty soon. My bet will be either Dodgers or Giants. I believe Giants will win division if they sign Manny when you consider the pitching they have.

Nady or Swisher?

I think Yankees really commit to reduce their payroll to certain level which I agree with. Even though I don't think Yankees really need to deal one of outfielders because Swisher can play a lot of positions, I think Yankees will trade one of them if the right deal is out there. Because I think Yankees will and should get another veteran starter by trade or free agency, they probably want to free some payroll for that starter and use rest of budget to get a center fielder.

Based on what I heard from Yankees and what I saw from watching Yankees games, I think Yankees will deal Nady that I agree with.

Cashman already said Damon is not going anywhere because he is our lead off man. Matsui certainly can produce well when he is healthy. Not to mention it's very difficult to trade him based on his situation. Because of Japanese market, I don't think Yankees will be willing to risk the possibility of hurting Japanese market by trading Matsui. It's totally different story to trade him now instead of letting him walk at the end of his contract.

Swisher has a bad 2008 season which may result from luck, new team, new position and new batting order. I think he will be back to his 2006-2007 form. Not to mention Swisher is a patient switch hitter who can play a lot of positions and sign a team friendly contract. If Yankees let Damon and Matsui leave after 2009 season, it will be good to have him for one of spots. For me, I also like his personality. I think he will be good for Yankees.

On the other hand, Nady has a career year which will get paid much more in Arbitration. Don't forget Yankees try to control their payroll now. Of course, no one says Nady can't repeat that performance. Even if Nady's agent Boras let him hit the free agent market and sign with other teams, Yankees certainly can get draft pick for him if he perform well again in 2009 season. Don't forget Yankees still can sign him if he perform well again in 2009 season even if we trade him now. However, you always want to trade players when their values are high and buy players when their values are low. Based on what I saw from him and Swisher last year, I will bet on Swisher to perform better than Nady in 2009.

Of course, this all depends what kind of deals Yankees can get for them on trade market.

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.

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.

Just my two cents, You can have yours as well...

I am a loyal reader and big fan of Peter's blog because of extra info we can get regard for our Yankees and some great analysis from his point of view, but sometimes I don't agree with what he say. There are two examples as follows.

First of all, This is Peter's take regard for Joba's renewed contract. I talked about this issue before and I stick to my words. You can say I am naive, but there is true story from my side which prove my belief that money is not everything for some people.

I change my jobs couple of times during my career so far because I want to face new challenge and participate more film/TV show productions, not for money for sure. I took less money for that job.

Secondly, This is another Peter's take about a small meeting called from Joe Girardi with Kennedy and Joba. Actually, According to NY Post, Alan Horne was at that meeting as well. This is the quote from Joe Girardi about what he said during meeting on NY Post,

"I enjoy that part of the game," Girarid said. ""I talked a little bit(yesterday). I talk to Ian and Joba and Alan Horne, just talked about things I saw and the importance of establishing the fastball and pitching in. It was just pitching strategy."

Yes, It's about throwing strikes, but I won't come up with that analysis Peter said. Being a former catcher who always try hard to get most out of pitchers, Joe Girardi just wants to teach kids about pitching and tries to get most out of pitchers.

Ha! What is wrong with that throwing-strikes message? I for one can't stand pitchers don't throw strikes. I rather see them giving up hits than free passes.

Don't worry, Peter. I still love your blog.

Stop worrying about money, just enjoy playing baseball

This is one of reason I am a Yankees fan. It seems Yankees players know what to say. They are doing all the right thing and being classy. No Yankees players complain about their salary issue, including Joba, Wang, Hughes, and Melky. All they worry about is improving themselves and helping Yankees win another Champion.

As a fan, I really don't care how much money players make and I understand playing baseball is their job. We all want to get paid as much as possible no matter what kinds of jobs you have. But, seriously, It must have something else you enjoy while you work. I know, I may be too ideal about this, but Don't complain all the time and let me feel you only play ball for money.

This is just something special for sport. Fans crazily root for their teams and spend all the time and energy on because of passion, not money.

Is it just me to feel this way? When I hear so many young players complaining about their low salary, including Cole Hamels, Nick Markakis, Prince Fielder and Jonathan Papelbon( Man, I don't like this guy at all. Compare yourself to Mo? Are you nuts?), I just want to say "Stop worry about money and enjoy what you do. If you do well, your money will come".

I sometimes feel it's a sign of failure in our education to young generation. Right now, more and more young people only care about money and what other people can do for them. In my generation, We care about what we can do to other people. Parents teach us to chase our dream and choose what we love.

Updated: Joba said:"I don't play the game to get paid. The paycheck is a bonus" when Wang said:"Not bad at all, I am happy to have a contract to play baseball" earlier. This is right attitude for me.

Well, It's all about business

I am not a big fan of "It's all about business" approach because of my Taiwanese culture. We are human being with heart. As a sport fan, the reason I love my team and my players because I passionate about them from my heart. I still can't act that way. I think this is a lesson I probably never get high score on. This is the lesson I probably need to learn if I want to have a successful career as a film producer.

At the beginning, I thought the reason Wang ends up with arbitration hearing is Wang's agent(Camp) insisting on not splitting difference. As thing turn out, I am wrong about that, This is the quote from Brain Cashman,

“There was no reason to go higher than four,” Cashman said. “Settling at the midpoint because of an inflated file number would have made no sense.”(New York Times)

This is the reaction from Wang's agent Alan Nero,

“The disappointment here is the Yankees made little or no effort to settle. We move on and now it’s time to play baseball.”(New York Times)

As you guys know, I am against going into arbitration hearing. If you haven't read them, there are two links for that. Before I talk about my feeling and reactions for this whole arbitration hearing, I am going to tell you guys what both sides debated about, what Wang feel, what reactions from Taiwanese media and fans during the whole arbitration hearing.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
What Yankees said

ERA is too high. Get hurt too many times. Strikeout rate is too low. Wang won that many games because of Yankees' excellent defense and offense. The main point? Two terrible playoff games against Indian last year.

This is my o.s. for what Yankees said

ERA is too high(It's not low for sure, but is it really high for AL East pitcher). Get hurt too many times(Who doesn't get hurt as a pitcher). Strikeout rate is too low(Wang goes to get your strikeouts and who cares how many innings you pitch). Wang won that many games because of Yankees' excellent defense and offense(Why not every Yankees pitchers get 19 wins two years in a row). The main point? Two terrible playoff games against Indian last year(Of course, no doubt, he is terrible and I am upset about his performance too, but Yankees has to have a chance to fail).

What Wang's agent said

Consistency throughout his career as far. Bring a lot of Asian markets and fan bases on the table. Win a lot of games for Yankees

---------------------------------------------------------------------
How and What Wang Feel during the whole process

Wang said He kept waiting a clear answer from Yankees the whole off-season and decided to wait until camp. He keep waiting until the last minute and realize Yankees are not interested in signing him long-term deal and doesn't budge from their offer as well. That's why he ends up with arbitration hearing. Why not just give up? Wang said he wants to know what Yankees think about him and how much he need to improve from Yankees' standpoint, especially what they think about his failure of last year playoff.

The whole arbitration hearing is like a meeting, unlike a court. It lasts 4.5 hours. Each side has one hour to express their arguments, 30 minutes to answer questions from other side and 5 minutes to make a conclusion. Wang feel tired after that and prefer to play ball on the field.

It's great learning experience for him. The outcome is not bad at all because at least I have a contract which let me keep playing baseball. It's also not bad to hear which areas he need to improve. Of course, he doesn't feel good to hear what Yankees said, but He tries to treat what Yankees said as advices. He understands almost everything what Yankees said.

Wang said he know his strikeout rate is too low since he uses his sinker too much. When he was asked by Taiwanese media if he feel hurt when Yankees mention his playoff failure again during arbitration hearing, He pauses a few seconds and said:"Of course, a little bit. I keep thinking how to improve that after playoff" A lot of Taiwanese reporters all mention one thing in their articles, they feel Wang care about that, try to forget about that and feel upset when they mention his playoff failures every time.

He is happy it's over and feel excited at new season. He will do his best to pitch better and hope he doesn't have to go into arbitration hearing again. Unfortunately for Wang, this probably won't be the last time. According to his agent Alan Nero told to Taiwanese media at a media conference, he said:" It's good for Wang to get used to this process as early as possible because the next three years before reaching free agency he has to go through this process every year.

Alan Nero also said:"Wang shows me a lot of courage and trust me during the whole process, I don't think there will have any negative affects on Wang because he is a smart person with stable personality and understand it's business."

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Taiwanese fans and media reactions

A lot of Taiwanese fans love Yankees and wish us to do well because of Wang. Taiwanese fans are upset about this for sure, but they feel fine because Wang feel fine, especially Wang, Taiwanese fans and media all expect 3~4 million from the beginning.

The reason Yankees go into arbitration hearing from Taiwanese media perspectives is Wang isn't special from Yankees' standpoint because they have a lot of pitchers on their farm system. Unlike Cano. Yankees don't have too many position players in the farm.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Benchmark??

Alan Nero said the most comparable case for Wang is Dontrelle Willis. Nero also thinks Wang is better than Dontrelle Willis. He think Wang's value worth 5 million, but he know he won't get that. That's why they put up 4.6 million figure because he think Yankees will negotiate to settle at the mid-point. Nero said he will accept 4.3 million if Yankees offer this figure, but they hold their line firm. During the negotiation, Yankees starts at 3.6 million and Nero starts at 5 million.

I know a lot of fans mention Dontrelle Willis(4.35 million for 2006) and Scott Kazmir(3.8 million for 2008) as example why Wang shouldn't get more than them. I am not a big stat person. You guys probably can find out all stats to prove it. I will just say what I saw and what I feel.

First of all, they weren't pitching for contenders. Their records didn't effect their teams' chances to make the playoff no matter how good they pitch. You can say all you want about Wang, but Yankees may not make the playoff without Wang from 2005~2007.

They also pitch for small market teams with lower expectation and payroll. They didn't have tons of expectation and pressure from fans and media about winning. I think expectation and pressure carry big weight on players.

Secondly, Dontrelles Willis pitched for Marlins which is NL team with big ballpark and Scott Kazmir didn't pitch more innings than Wang for past two years. Keep in mind Wang has comparable number with them under those circumstances. Don't get me wrong. I am not saying Wang is perfect and he is better than Dontrelles Willis and Scott Kazmir for sure, but don't tell me Wang's not worthy for Yankees at least to split difference and show appreciation.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
My feeling and reactions?

Are you kidding me? Why waste a lot of time and efforts for 0.3 million to risk the chances may hurt Wang's feeling? Well, obviously, Yankees don't think so and probably don't care. It's all about business and why pay more if you don't have to. How about Cano? Well, Yankees feel they may need to pay more in the future. For Wang? Well, He will be there anyway if all young pitchers Yankees have in the farm don't pan out as expected.

I have to confess this. It's very hard for me to stay unbiased about Wang even though I am a long time Yankees fan. The most upset part of this whole process for me is why not just pay 0.3 million to avoid arbitration hearing and show some appreciation, not about long-term contract, especially when you consider this sentence may come out,

"However, if Wang gets off to a slow start, he can expect to hear that as the reason(about losing arbitration hearing)."(From NY Post)

Does Wang want to go into arbitration hearing?No. Do this cause a distraction when Wang gets off to a slow start and then media come up with this sentence? Yes.(The same probably goes with Pettitte's HGH case). Not to mention we may already hurt Wang's feeling, added more pressure on Wang and reminded him how bad he is during the whole arbitration hearing. Sure, You can say if he can't deal with, he is not the player we are looking for. But, why increase that chances or create more distractions when you can avoid.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The things I care

You know what. The most thing I care after reading all news from Taiwanese and American media about this whole arbitration hearing is this: Wang is healthy and good to go. Wang told Taiwanese media he kept workout the whole off-season. That's why he lose weight to 227 pounds which is the lightest weight he has since 2005. He also threw three bullpen before coming to camp .

In addition, I hope this whole arbitration process let Taiwanese pro baseball team learn how to set up good system for our pro baseball system. Of course, MLB System is not perfect, but there is something good which is worthy to learn from. Good system for players to get good benefits will be one of them.

There are two sides to everything

This is the picture from Taiwanese website when Wang went to arbitration hearing yesterday. We will know the result today. No matter what the result is, I am with Wang as this matter. Just like this line from Wang on Peter's blog "I am happy it's over".

The best thing about Wang's arbitration hearing is he doesn't have to answer all questions about steroids regard for Clemens and Pettitte at all, right?

My take for Wang's situation again...

After reading through some comments at different sites, this is my take. I don't want to talk about this issue again until the result come out. Let's play ball and stop talking about money. For me, Money is not equal to respect. Respect comes from heart, soul and behavior.

Yankees front office probably want to keep their standard because they have too many young players coming. That’s why they insist their number and don’t want to bend for Wang. For them, This is business and is part of process. Nothing wrong with that. I don’t think they go to arbitration hearing because of money or punishing Wang for his poor 2007 ALDS performance.

Wang’s agent Alan Nero probably wants to set new mark for pitcher who is eligible for arbitration for the first time. I remember the old mark which set by Dontrelle Willis in 2006 at 4.35 million for his 22-10,2.63 ERA,236IP record at 2005.

If you guys think Wang doesn’t understand the economics and the process of baseball, you’re wrong about that. He respect specialty and let his agent deal with that for him. If you guys think Wang do this because of money, you are wrong about that too. He already made more money than he need to and made more money than his salary during off-season. He has a lot of opportunities of making more money during off-season, but he chooses to reduce that chances and do more charity stuffs every year.

In our culture, Parents always tell us we have to be humble, expect someone is better than you and listen to other people’s advices because we are not perfect and we get a lot of things to improve.

In our culture, talking is cheap and we don’t express our opinion or defense us a lot. When something goes wrong, we always think about ourselves first and want to find out what’s wrong with us first. We won’t think it may be someone else’s fault or there is maybe nothing wrong with us. Because of that, my American teachers always tell me I should be more confident of myself, I should express my opinion and I should defense myself more. After few years learning process, I am getting better. But, I am still not quite there yet.

Therefore, I can tell you what Wang will feel or think if he go through that arbitration hearing. That’s why If I were Yankees front office and his agent, I would not let Wang hear how bad he is for 0.6 million. Wang is mentally tough guy. He won’t give it up because he doesn’t want to hear what Yankees will say about him. Instead, I think He wants to hear that. He may take what Yankees say about him very serious and may believe how bad he is. He may want to improve himself too much after hearing all of them. He may start wondering and believing Yankees don’t want him at all. This hearing may mess up his mind. Wang told Taiwanese media he spent a lot of time to get over his bad playoff performance. That’s why you don’t want to add something else on top of that or remind him how bad he is during this past playoff.

Let's play ball and look forward to new season. Stop looking back to the past which we can't change it at all.

Cano's long term deal.....

How about Wang??? Just kidding.... Nice signing for Yankees if it is true(not official yet).....This is nice gesture for Yankees front office to show their prospects on their farm. Basically, they tell them you guys are very important for us. If you perform well, you will get nice reward.

Cano also shows his ability to make adjustment when opponents make adjustments to him. The proof is he doubles the walk total in 2007. From Business perspective, it saves money for long run. Even though money is not an issue for Yankees, it doesn't mean they don't need to save money.

In addition, if Yankees want to trade Cano in the future, this 6-years deal will be a big plus for Yankees and his trading partnesr because other teams don't have to worry about arbitration years and the possibility Cano will be a free agent soon.

As for Wang, he will have his long term deal eventually as long as he stays healthy. We certainly can't blame Yankees for concern of pitcher's healthy. Of course, it's nice for Wang to have long term deal on his hand. No matter Wang gets long term deal or not, he always works hard and wants to improve himself. You can see that when he fought back to pitch again from injury in 2005. One more proof, Wang left Taiwan today after he just got his visa few days ago. When I saw news from Taiwanese media, he is in top shape. From a Taiwanese standpoint, It's better for Wang gets into free agent earlier and gets his salary rising every year.