Withdrawal already? I'm in trouble...

Suffice it to say, I think I am suffering baseball withdrawal and it has only been three days since the season ended. I think that is bad news seeing as how baseball doesn't return with meaningful games till the beginning of April. Of course there is another way to look at this: the offseason is exciting because it sets up how those meaningful games are going to play out. Not exactly of course, just look at the last couple Yankee teams, which have looked like sure-fire World Series winners and haven't made it out of the first round. Once the offseason is done though, we are usually sure who is NOT going to be good and a pretty idea of who is and I guess in a way that makes it exciting. Plus, although it sucks to think about it, the A-Rod sweepstakes are going to be exciting. Last week at this time I was almost 100% sure that he was going to stay with the Yankees and sign an extension but a lot can happen in 7 days...unfortunately.

Of course there is more to the offseason already in baseball, stuff that has just come to the surface in the last couple days. I made a short post yesterday discussing Joe Girardi's hiring as the new Yankees manager but there have been other developments: Grady Little's apparently personal resignation from the Dodgers, though we all know that this Joe Torre to LA talk really drove him away. Little's resignation sets the stage for Joe to take his Green Tea and early-90's sunglasses to LA where he can really mingle with today's who's who. The Dodgers and Torre apparently are very close to a deal and I am very happy for Joe. Lately a lot of people have asked me what I think about that and I respond the same way: I'm not bitter at Joe Torre, and I'm not bitter at the Yankees. Would I have liked Joe to maybe suck it up and deal with the "incentives" in his contract and stay to manage the Yankees? Yes. Would I have liked the Yankees to have offered him a contract straight up without the special "incentives"? Yes. But just cause those things didn't happen doesn't mean I'm distraught and frightened about the Yankees chances in '08. I think they're going to be just as good as any other team in baseball except maybe the Boston Red Sox who, unfortunately look like the class of baseball at the moment. But all of that can change. Brian Cashman is a shrewd GM and he knows what to do and he wants to win. I think he's going to do some smart things this offseason that really put the Yankees back up in the discussion. Anyway, that was a digression. Joe Torre was what I was talking about. I'm not mad that Joe left. It's a little depressing since he is the only manager I have known for the Yankees but change is not a bad thing in the sports world. New managers and coaches happen all the time, just look at the turnover every year in the NFL and even MLB, even among good teams. Joe wasn't winning in the postseason and as I have already said, it wasn't his fault, but when winning doesn't happen as it should, it's time for a change. Joe Girardi I think is the perfect person to take over in this instance. He knows NY. He knows George. He has experienced winning ('96, '98, and '99) and losing ('97, damn Indians again...). And he did so with some of the players currently on the Yankees. I think both Posada and Rivera will be back after the Yankees offer them boatloads of money and Girardi will be set with his team. I'll be rooting hard for him and I'll be rooting hard for Torre in LA if he ends up there. I mean, he's bringing Mattingly and some others with him, there's nothing wrong with that.

Another interesting offseason question for the Yankees is Andy Pettitte. He was resigned last offseason and came back to his true home, after he felt disrespected by Steinbrenner in the 2003 offseason and departed for the Astros. The contract he signed with the Yankees was a one year deal with a player option for 2008. In recent internets developments that I have been keeping tabs on, Andy supposedly announced that he is either staying with the Yankees or retiring. He isn't going anywhere else. I think that is good news for Yankee fans cause unlike mercenary Clemens, who I do love, but is obviously a mercenary, I think Pettitte is genuine. He was hurt that Steinbrenner cared more about negotiation with Sheffield personally in 2003 and with the attention paid to A-Rod and he felt slighted and left. This time, it is obvious the Yankees want him back. Plus, he pitched very well this year. With some better bullpen performance at the beginning of the season, he could've ended up with 17, 18 maybe even 19 wins. In the end he finished a respectable 15-9 with a 4.05 ERA. There's nothing wrong with that. In addition, he didn't have his trademark elbow issues. All those should be signs that he returns to the Yankees in 2008. I know he was tight with Joe Torre, but he also had experience pitching to and playing with Joe Girardi and I think that is a bonus. He wants to win again, I know that. Look at his virtuoso performance in Game 2 of the ALDS this year. That was vintage Andy Pettitte and I KNOW he still has that left in him.

Looking back on my early blog so far, most of what I have predicted has NOT come true. I would like to believe that I haven't jinxed any of this stuff, I mean, I'm not Sports Illustrated or Madden (I hope you know of those supposed cover jinxes). Therefore, against my better judgment I guess I'll have to keep posting...By the way, have you people seen the new Red Sox World Series ball mystery? If you all remember, which I'm sure you do, after the 2004 World Series, Dougie Mientkiewicz, yeah, I can spell it, caught the final flip from pitcher Keith Foulke and then didn't give the ball back to the Sox for a long time. This time, the final out was a strike out, and catcher Jason Varitek apparently put the ball in his back pocket, then supposedly gave it to closer Jonathan Papalbon. Of course, neither of them knows where the ball is, and it is still missing. If the trophy weren't so big and shiny I'm sure they would lose that too....yikes. Well, if you want to know more, check this story out: http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-redsox-lastball&prov=ap&type=lgns. Oh, and one more thing: Curt Schilling, even if you love him, he is a douche bag too. One of the more attention-grabbing/seeking players in MLB. I like his new list of teams that he would play for, he included 12, not including the Yankees. Good, I don't want him there. We don't need another old former power pitcher who relies on the splitter...

Well that's all for this Halloween, be safe out there, and catch some of those classic scary movies on AMC. I have the last couple nights, and they are great. I mean, Michael Myers, Pinhead from Helllraiser, Jason and Freddy Krueger? You can't be those guys, much better than that goofy Ghost Face from Scream, I can tell you that much.