Yes, the Yankees-under-pressure opening section, some 1,000 words or so, is utter drivel, for the reasons outlined above, but also this: This is supposed to be the baseball notes column. I guess he interviewed Cashman (shocker!), and got some mealy-mouthed crap from both him and Reggie Jackson (he was clutch!), but there's really zero actually new information in all of that thought-piecing.
If Shank or Bob Ryan want to write a column about Yankees-under-pressure, I guess I can roll with that, but this is supposed to be the place where we go for some kind of baseball news and new information. I've obviously long since come to expect that, but how is it that a: Cafardo can think to himself, "Got my lead for this week: Yankees under pressure," and an editor can look at that and be like, "Yanks under pressure: Great lead!"? Does absolutely no one at that paper care at all?
But it's possible the column actually gets worse. Does any of this make sense:
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If the Indians truly believe that Eric Wedge was a victim of the roster Mark Shapiro handed him - and has subsequently stripped him of - he’ll continue on as manager. If not, speculation has already centered around Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell as a possible successor.
Farrell might be the highest-paid pitching coach in baseball; there are varying reports as to whether it’s him or St. Louis’s Dave Duncan, who reportedly earns $750,000.
That is more than some managers make. The Indians paid Wedge $1.3 million, but would they pay Farrell more than $1 million?
So, the Indians either will or won't fire Wedge, and if they do, speculation (yours? whose?) centers on Farrell. But why? Are you just choosing to ignore
the Ken Rosenthal report that all of us heard about on the Fox broadcast that Farrell has committed to the Sox through 2010?
And then there's the thing about whether the Indians would pay Farrell as much as Wedge: I mean, why the fuck not? I can't think of a single reason. We just got done talking about how well regarded he is, he used to work for the Indians, etc., but somehow he's not worth as much as Wedge, who had never had a managing job before he signed with the Indians?
But there's just stupid crap after stupid crap here, all of it pulled from Cafardo's voluminous ass:
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In Houston, where Cecil Cooper was let go, general manager Ed Wade will gravitate toward people he’s worked with. One is Jim Fregosi, who has been eyeing a return to managing for some time. Fregosi is a tremendous baseball man, but the recent trend toward younger managers has hurt his chance to get back in. Boston coach Tim Bogar also will be on Houston’s short list.
Why will Wade gravitate toward people he's worked with? Just because that's what people do? Why on earth would Bogar be on the short list? Because he's been a first base coach in Boston for a year? There is zero substantiation for any of this.
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With Bobby Cox announcing he’ll return for one more season in Atlanta, speculation will begin on a successor. Hitting coach Terry Pendleton will likely be a top candidate.
It's news now that a successor for Bobby Cox will be speculated about next year. Pendleton will be a top candidate because?
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The odds are 50-50 on whether Jim Riggleman returns to manage the Nationals; he didn’t fare any better than the fired Manny Acta. General manager Mike Rizzo may consider former Arizona manager Bob Melvin, or he might go high-profile for Bobby Valentine, who is looking to return after several seasons in Japan.
Odds are 50/50=I don't have a clue. Great reporting, Nick. Maybe Rizzo will do some stuff. I have no idea. Neither does Nick. Making shit up for the sake of filling space.
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Dave Trembley could be in jeopardy in Baltimore.
Nick could have a donut with his breakfast, but maybe a croissant.
To be fair, I learned some stuff about Dennis Go Go Gilbert. He sounds like a good guy. Someone else must have written that part. I'm sure there are Globe interns who chip in sometimes.
Nick returns, shortly, however:
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Whoever hires Rick Peterson this offseason will get the best pitching coach in the game
What on god's green earth is Cafardo's hard-on for Peterson? The column he did featuring him and his assinine comments about the power of three was bad enough. Now he's calling him "the best pitching coach in the game" and openly lobbying for him to get a gig? Was that part of the agreement? I'll talk to you, Nick, but only if you blow me openly in a column a few weeks later? So, is Nick's opinion that the general managers of baseball are so stupid that they would allow the "best" pitching coach in all of baseball to go without a job? So, so stupid.
And a lot of the updates on nine are fine, but why the hell is it an NL scout we're hearing from about all AL players? I'm sure the NL scouts the AL for potential free agents, etc., but there's no way some guy from the NL is the ultimate authority on these players. Is he Cafardo's former college roommate or something?
However, as a final saving grace, we are given this, from that Bill Chuck guy who normally gives us stats we don't care about:
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From the Bill Chuck files: “Jermaine Dye hit .189 in August and is at .179 for September, which puts him just .054 better than Jason Varitek in August and .058 better in September.’’
It's mean-spirited of me, but I love that Varitek is the ultimate barometer of terrible players. This guy who sucks? Yeah, can you believe it, he's only a little bit better than Varitek!
