The Red Sox and Yankees meet tonight for the first time this season, but we here on the Nation-Empire frontline know the 2009 series began Jan. 6 when the Yankees introduced Mark Teixeira as their new first baseman.
The signing, coming fast on the heels of CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett, was the final piece of New York’s free-agent triptych of the offseason. It was also made in the wake of Boston’s failed push for the top positional player on the market.
Where have we heard that before?
That’s OK. We Sox fans haven’t regretted missing out on A-Rod for a solitary second. Hopefully the same will hold true for Teixeira, though I’m doubtful. At the very least, Tex lacks those personal qualities of A-Rod’s that border so hard on the farcical.
But, dig this, we could have had him — should have had him.
That was the word from ESPN’s Peter Gammons at Wednesday’s Fusco Distinguished Lecture Series at SCSU. Gammons, sharing the stage with Yankees GM Brian Cashman, indicated the Sox went wrong when two team owners accompanied GM Theo Epstein on a trip to Teixeira’s home.
One of the owners — Gammons didn’t name names, but my bet’s you can pin this on that hub of discord, Larry Lucchino — made the face time go terribly awry. In my mind’s eye, I see “Rock of Love” and all those other reality shows featuring people with puffed-up body parts.
“There was definite friction in the meeting room,” Gammons said. “Theo, who is a good people-person, was not pleased with how that meeting went.”
The implication was Tex would be a Sox had Epstein flown solo.
Instead, there was Cashman, swooping in and picking up the very guy he was gaga about from the beginning, but had to cool his jets while locking up the pitching the Steinbrenners coveted first and foremost.
“We weren’t after Tex all winter, which is why people were so shocked,” said Cashman. “We were shocked.”
This story, just like the A-Rod story and the “Bernie Williams almost went to the Red Sox” story, are easy to take when heard through the lovely white noise of Boston’s 2004 and 2007 World Championships, which stand like a massive fulcrum between the modern day and the Yankee dynasties of yesteryear.
That’s a reality Cashman readily acknowledges. He’s spoken twice in these parts this year — the Middlesex Chamber event in February being the first — and while it’s clear he’s a sharp, shrewd dude who cloaks much behind a public persona of tact, graciousness and self-deprecation, Cashman has the confidence to call it like it is. As the bearer of four World Series rings, he’s got the cache to do so.
And here’s what he said Wednesday about the Red Sox as he twiddled one of those rings:
“Even the years we won these, Boston was always on our heels. Because we won World Championships, people forgot how tough they made it.”
Now, under the Henry-Epstein regime, the Sox have the Yanks playing catch-up, following their model of preserving picks, drafting well, developing talent, building from within and mortaring with select free agents rather than relying on them so heavily, a trap into which the Yankees fell in the middle years of the decade.
“You gravitate to programs that consistently put out a winning product and you try to learn from it, even if it’s your hated rival,” Cashman said. “They’re doing a fantastic job, but we’re trying to close the gap.”
This weekend will provide some measure of Yankee progress.
So far, it’s mixed. Burnett has been solid, Sabathia hit or miss and Teixeira slow out of the gate. I’ll be honest, after watching Teixeira in last year’s ALDS, admiring his great range in the field and exceptional eye at the plate, I hoped the Sox would land him even though it would have meant parting with the highly admirable Mike Lowell. Wish I was in that room with Theo.
Some other highlights from Wednesday’s gig at SCSU:
- It was well attended. Most of the Lyman Performing Arts Center’s semi-circular auditorium was filled, though the far wings were as empty as the four-figure ringside seats at the new Yankee Stadium.
Cashman was asked about that and deferred. “I’m the director of spending, not the director of revenue.”
He did maintain that, overall, 50 percent of tickets are still at same price they were in the old Stadium.
- An increase in home runs is another matter: 26 in the first six games at the new Stadium, with 17 to right field. “It’s something we have to keep our eye on because the numbers don’t lie,” said Cashman, who did note the early returns comprise only a small statistical population.
- Re: Statistics. “Moneyball” came up and Cashman, a numbers guy by reputation, advocated blending the new statistical approaches with old-school player evaluation.
“What the explosion of Moneyball did was illustrate how important it is to acquire as much information as you can, because your eyes can deceive you sometimes,” he said. “We don’t (rely) solely on that stuff because it’s still about scouting the tools of the player.”
It seemed a case of Cashman playing it down the middle for public consumption. After all, a Moneyball mentality lay behind the acquisition of Nick Swisher. Last year, with the White Sox, Swisher batted only .214. Yet other numbers — line drives, putting balls in play — were consistent with previous seasons.
“The guy was unlucky, in our opinion. We think last year was an aberration,” said Cashman, as assessment so far borne out by Swisher’s performance.
Cashman also noted how technology dovetails with statistical analysis. Exhibit A: Chien Ming-Wang’s early struggles. In the past, a coaching staff could only speculate and try to discern from video if a pitcher’s arm angle had changed. Now they can actually measure it. The Yankees found Wang’s has risen by five inches.
- Carl Pavano’s name came up. Cashman was talking about how he’s learned to have a thick skin in the New York media market. It’s the kind of glare, he said, that magnifies mistakes that create little buzz in other markets.
“Carl Pavano played loud in New York. He got hurt for four years. Mike Hampton got hurt (in Atlanta) for four years, but you didn’t hear much about it while you heard about Carl east and west.”
- On steroids and A-Rod admitting he once used them: “We’ve gone through a generation in this game that made big mistakes. It’s now up to everyone in the game, including those who made the mistakes, to get it back on track.”
- Recovery was a recurrent theme. Gammons talked about the aneurysm he suffered in 2006. On the first day he came to in the hospital, a FedEx package arrived. Inside was a chain medallion with a cross sent by Don Mattingly, sent in hopes that it would keep Gammons alive. Gammons hasn’t taken it off since.
The signing, coming fast on the heels of CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett, was the final piece of New York’s free-agent triptych of the offseason. It was also made in the wake of Boston’s failed push for the top positional player on the market.
Where have we heard that before?
That’s OK. We Sox fans haven’t regretted missing out on A-Rod for a solitary second. Hopefully the same will hold true for Teixeira, though I’m doubtful. At the very least, Tex lacks those personal qualities of A-Rod’s that border so hard on the farcical.
But, dig this, we could have had him — should have had him.
That was the word from ESPN’s Peter Gammons at Wednesday’s Fusco Distinguished Lecture Series at SCSU. Gammons, sharing the stage with Yankees GM Brian Cashman, indicated the Sox went wrong when two team owners accompanied GM Theo Epstein on a trip to Teixeira’s home.
One of the owners — Gammons didn’t name names, but my bet’s you can pin this on that hub of discord, Larry Lucchino — made the face time go terribly awry. In my mind’s eye, I see “Rock of Love” and all those other reality shows featuring people with puffed-up body parts.
“There was definite friction in the meeting room,” Gammons said. “Theo, who is a good people-person, was not pleased with how that meeting went.”
The implication was Tex would be a Sox had Epstein flown solo.
Instead, there was Cashman, swooping in and picking up the very guy he was gaga about from the beginning, but had to cool his jets while locking up the pitching the Steinbrenners coveted first and foremost.
“We weren’t after Tex all winter, which is why people were so shocked,” said Cashman. “We were shocked.”
This story, just like the A-Rod story and the “Bernie Williams almost went to the Red Sox” story, are easy to take when heard through the lovely white noise of Boston’s 2004 and 2007 World Championships, which stand like a massive fulcrum between the modern day and the Yankee dynasties of yesteryear.
That’s a reality Cashman readily acknowledges. He’s spoken twice in these parts this year — the Middlesex Chamber event in February being the first — and while it’s clear he’s a sharp, shrewd dude who cloaks much behind a public persona of tact, graciousness and self-deprecation, Cashman has the confidence to call it like it is. As the bearer of four World Series rings, he’s got the cache to do so.
And here’s what he said Wednesday about the Red Sox as he twiddled one of those rings:
“Even the years we won these, Boston was always on our heels. Because we won World Championships, people forgot how tough they made it.”
Now, under the Henry-Epstein regime, the Sox have the Yanks playing catch-up, following their model of preserving picks, drafting well, developing talent, building from within and mortaring with select free agents rather than relying on them so heavily, a trap into which the Yankees fell in the middle years of the decade.
“You gravitate to programs that consistently put out a winning product and you try to learn from it, even if it’s your hated rival,” Cashman said. “They’re doing a fantastic job, but we’re trying to close the gap.”
This weekend will provide some measure of Yankee progress.
So far, it’s mixed. Burnett has been solid, Sabathia hit or miss and Teixeira slow out of the gate. I’ll be honest, after watching Teixeira in last year’s ALDS, admiring his great range in the field and exceptional eye at the plate, I hoped the Sox would land him even though it would have meant parting with the highly admirable Mike Lowell. Wish I was in that room with Theo.
Some other highlights from Wednesday’s gig at SCSU:
- It was well attended. Most of the Lyman Performing Arts Center’s semi-circular auditorium was filled, though the far wings were as empty as the four-figure ringside seats at the new Yankee Stadium.
Cashman was asked about that and deferred. “I’m the director of spending, not the director of revenue.”
He did maintain that, overall, 50 percent of tickets are still at same price they were in the old Stadium.
- An increase in home runs is another matter: 26 in the first six games at the new Stadium, with 17 to right field. “It’s something we have to keep our eye on because the numbers don’t lie,” said Cashman, who did note the early returns comprise only a small statistical population.
- Re: Statistics. “Moneyball” came up and Cashman, a numbers guy by reputation, advocated blending the new statistical approaches with old-school player evaluation.
“What the explosion of Moneyball did was illustrate how important it is to acquire as much information as you can, because your eyes can deceive you sometimes,” he said. “We don’t (rely) solely on that stuff because it’s still about scouting the tools of the player.”
It seemed a case of Cashman playing it down the middle for public consumption. After all, a Moneyball mentality lay behind the acquisition of Nick Swisher. Last year, with the White Sox, Swisher batted only .214. Yet other numbers — line drives, putting balls in play — were consistent with previous seasons.
“The guy was unlucky, in our opinion. We think last year was an aberration,” said Cashman, as assessment so far borne out by Swisher’s performance.
Cashman also noted how technology dovetails with statistical analysis. Exhibit A: Chien Ming-Wang’s early struggles. In the past, a coaching staff could only speculate and try to discern from video if a pitcher’s arm angle had changed. Now they can actually measure it. The Yankees found Wang’s has risen by five inches.
- Carl Pavano’s name came up. Cashman was talking about how he’s learned to have a thick skin in the New York media market. It’s the kind of glare, he said, that magnifies mistakes that create little buzz in other markets.
“Carl Pavano played loud in New York. He got hurt for four years. Mike Hampton got hurt (in Atlanta) for four years, but you didn’t hear much about it while you heard about Carl east and west.”
- On steroids and A-Rod admitting he once used them: “We’ve gone through a generation in this game that made big mistakes. It’s now up to everyone in the game, including those who made the mistakes, to get it back on track.”
- Recovery was a recurrent theme. Gammons talked about the aneurysm he suffered in 2006. On the first day he came to in the hospital, a FedEx package arrived. Inside was a chain medallion with a cross sent by Don Mattingly, sent in hopes that it would keep Gammons alive. Gammons hasn’t taken it off since.
Ugh. I can't deny that Lucchino has really raised the value of the Red Sox as a business, but this report from Gammons angers me. It's further supported by Mark Teixeira's recent comments about the talks. He goes out of his way to mention Theo by name when talking about the Red Sox and speaks very highly of him, then omits everyone else. Sounds like good ol' Larry poisoned the well again. Why can't he just leave well enough alone? The Red Sox are blessed to have an exceedingly bright, personable GM who seems to be a born schmoozer. He has a gift. Let him do his thing unmolested next time.
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