New York Yankees notes as exhibition season ends

The New York Yankees were scheduled to finish their exhibition schedule with a game Saturday

afternoon.  They were set to face off against the Miami Marlins but the game was postponed due to

rain.  The Yankees had two pregame ceremonies, the first to give Masahiro Tanaka the James P.

Dawson award for outstanding rookie in camp and the second for Derek Jeter.  The Jeter ceremony

ended and they immediately called the game.  The Yankees were all packed up and ready to head to

Houston to start the season Tuesday night.  CC Sabathia will make the start and he is eager to erase

his worst year which was last year. 

The Yankees had an interesting lineup put out for the game Saturday and it looks like that will be the lineup on Opening Day.  It was Jacoby Ellsbury, Derek Jeter, Carlos Beltran, Brian McCann, Mark Teixeira, Alfonso Soriano, Brett Gardner, Brian Roberts, Kelly Johnson.  I assumed that Gardner would bat ninth to have the double leadoff but I guess Joe Girardi is thinking differently and we will see how it all works out on Tuesday and then moving forward.  It is a pretty good lineup however you look at it and much better than last year. The Yankees have power, speed and on base guys plus switch hitters which should be a huge help to them. 

There were some guys missing on the flight to Houston but they will eventually join the rest of the team.  Yangervis Solarte was just told he made the team and needed to go pack.  Eduardo Nunez in a bit of a shocker was optioned to AAA Scranton Wilkes-Barre.  Michael Pineda will pitch in a minor league game on Sunday in prep for his start next Saturday in Toronto.  Brendan Ryan will stay behind to continue to work his way back from a sore back.  Ryan stated that he expects to be down there for at least a couple more weeks.  He said he expects to be activated by May 1st but they told him he is basically starting spring training over again. 

The pitchers who were scheduled today went inside and threw simulated games.  Steinbrenner Field which was formally Legends Field opened in 1996 which was Jeter first season.  He was given a key to the city of Tampa.  He said he lives in Tampa now and can do what he wants now.  He said he isn't sure for how long the key will unlock stuff but it is good to be recognized and he spends a lot of time in Tampa and will continue to do so, probably even more so now after retiring. 

The Houston Astros announced that they will honor Jeter with a pregame ceremony on Wednesday.  Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens will be among those honoring him.  Those two guys are both former teammates of his, Pettitte was a longtime teammate and fellow core four member. 

Solarte came to camp as a 26 year old with no big league experience.  He really opened some eyes and they are now giving him his shot.  He never made a roster before.  The Yankees also have Dean Anna who never even was invited to big league camp before, Dellin Betances who was never more than a September call up.  They also have Vidal Nuno who was nothing more than a September call up as well.  It is nice to see some infusion of young blood and we will now see how they can help and if they can stick with the team.   

No one is elected to the Hall Of Fame by the BBWAA

The 2013 Hall Of Fame Class was an unbelievable one in name. It was star studded and included many locks for the Hall Of Fame. I should say they were locks if the suspicion and taint of steroids wasn’t hanging over them. Barry Bonds, Rogers Clemens, Mike Piazza, Craig Biggio. When you hear those names I am sure most would think Hall Of Famers except they aren’t at least not right now. 
Mike Piazza had a near 60 percent showing as the first time on the ballot, I am sure he will get in one day. You have to remember that these guys as long as they receive five percent of the vote stay on the ballot for 15 years. That is a long time for minds to be changed and circumstances to be different. I think this ballot was just a perfect storm as many PED users or suspected users were on the ballot for the first time. This is the first time you had so many of those guys on the ballot and I think the writers were very conflicted.

I think next year you will still have a strong case and probably have many go in. The Veterans committee for instance will have Tony LaRussa, Bobby Cox and Joe Torre all on the ballot, I bet they all get in. Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine will be on for the first time and may both get in. I would say Maddux for sure, what about Mike Mussina, he is a borderline Hall Of Famer and it will be interesting to see how he does. Jack Morris is a guy that may have been caught with the other guys and overlooked a little. There are a lot that think he should be in and next year will be his final year on the ballot. I personally am not so sure he should be a Hall Of Famer. He had a near four ERA which I don’t consider very good.
I think that this is a good debate too have and baseball will be front and center now as this debate is not going away. I think the debate about the Hall Of Fame and steroids will lead us into Spring Training and then the season will start to take over. This is a very tough thing to go through with the steroid era, I really don’t know what to make of it. I have been leaning towards the if they deserve to be in by the numbers then they should be in. I have to be honest though I don’t know if I would of put supposed or known PED cheats in on the first ballot. I probably if I had a vote left Clemens and Bonds off and then voted for them later on. I don’t think McGwire and Sosa are worthy steroids or no steroids, they were too one dimensional for me.

Let the debate continue but I don’t think you can really blame the writers for this. Let’s remember the players, the owners they turned a blind eye to steroids and allowed this to happen so the game could take off again and the money gained out of it. They got tough after the fact but we can’t be naïve, we all know that they let this happen, it isn’t the writers fault that they chose to taint the sport. Lets have a healthy debate about who should be in and who should be out but lets not make it like it’s the end of the world. I think everyone is entitled to their opinion and to vote how they want to vote, let’s also remember these players have 15 years to get in, it isn’t a one and done proposition.

Roger Clemens returns to Baseball

Roger Clemens made his return to baseball and the pitching rubber on Saturday night.  He wasn't pitching in the major leagues but in an independent league.  He was pitching for the Sugar Land Skeeters a team in Texas as part of the Atlantic League.  It was his first outing since 2007 with the New York Yankees in the postseason.

He is now 50 years old and has just recently won a legal battle which cleared his name.  He was never guilty of taking steroids although everyone can pretty much assume that he did, he won his case though against the goverment and his name is somewhat clear because of that. 

Clemens was throwing 87 miles per hour and tossed 3 1/3 scoreless innings of one hit ball.  Their was a sellout crowd of 7,500.  He didn't committ past this game but I am sure since he pitched well that he will be pitching again.  He will have to see how his body recovers but I would expect to see him on a mound once again in a few days. 

Jim Crane the owner of the Houston Astros didn't rule out Clemens returning to the major leagues with the Astros.  They are a team that could use a jolt as they are one of the worst teams ever.  He could almost be like a player/coach for them and did pitch for them before and had a personal service contract with them also for after retirement.  The Baltimore Orioles and Kansas City Royals were said to have scouts on hand as well as the Astros. 

If he were to make it back to the majors he would be the second oldest pitcher ever. Satchel Paige pitched at the age of 59.  Clemens has 354 career victories and could add to that, he is ninth on the list and trails Greg Maddux by one.  He could also delay his hall of fame candicy which may be the calculated part of all of this.  He could think that if he waits a few more years they may look at him more favorably. 

More on Mark McGwire

Here is the story on Mark McGwire and his confession. I personally wouldn't vote for him for the Hall Of Fame if I had a vote. I don't think he is one with or without steroids and these guys that did it really annoy me, i know A-rod and Barry Bonds did it also but in my mind they are Hall Of Famers either way and before they did it they still put up amazing numbers. I think it is guys like Sosa and McGwire who may only be Hall Of Fame worthy because of the homeruns that won't make it now because of using steroids. I think there will be some interesting cases that will test this steroid thing out, a great example will be Roger Clemens. I think the only reason Big Mac admitted to it now is because he realized that once he arrived in spring training all the questions would start and he had to do something as not to be a distraction to the St Louis Cardinals. I wonder if it will all go away or will he still have to deal with a lot during the season, riducule from fans in other ballparks and what about the players he is trying to teach??

Roger Clemens still denying

Roger Clemens was on the Mike and Mike show this morning on ESPN radio and continued to deny using PEDS. I wonder if this guy has lied so much that he believes his lies now?? I will get more into this later on but he still says Andy Pettitte misremembers their conversations and that there is no way Brian McNamee has his dna because he never gave him HGH or steroids, that is pretty funny Roger. The reason he broke his silence is because a book about him came out today.