There won't be any regular season Phillies-Yankees games this year, so the new feud between their managers won't get a chance to develop further...

Torre, Bowa exchange barbs

An interesting sidelight to this squabble is that the Yankees can't-miss-rookie THIS year is Nick Johnson, who is Larry Bowa's nephew. Johnson was projected as the starting first baseman in 2002 two years ago, but Jason Giambi made it clear that he did not want to DH, so Johnson will be filling that role even though by all accounts he is a far superior first baseman to Giambi. The Yankees feel he will soon be a 30 homer, .300 hitter for them. And he's only 22, I believe. They keep finding 'em.

I think you mean they keep buying them.
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, please turn now to Exhibit A, the Yankees payroll.
The Yankees are proof that MLB should adopt the NBA and NFL rules on salary caps. Without it, 20+ cities every year are eliminated before the first pitch is even thrown. MLB has turned into a mockery!

[ March 31, 2002: Message edited by: AU Tiger in LA ]

No, I mean what I wrote. They keep finding them. I am referring to how the Yankees have been able to continually find, draft and nurture young players in their minor leagues, so that they are able to fill holes as other core members of the team retire or otherwise lead. Specifically, I was referring to Nick Johnson being the latest Yankee farmhand to fill a hole, following in the footsteps of Alfonso Soriano, Jorge Posada, Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera, Shane Spencer, Bernie Williams, all of whom were scouted and drafted by the Yankees and honed their skills in the Yankee minor leagues.

MM - I think your statements are correct, but that they also underscore the great advantage gained by the seeming bottomless, cable-money resources availavle to YankeesNets:

• Lavish spending on scouting and the minor league/instrructional scouting. And just not full-time scouts, but \"bird-dogs\" who \"find\" the talent and let the Yankee scouts know first.
  
  Compare this with a report I heard about Expos scouts who were not permitted to scout the Mets, Dodgers and Giants in their home cities because the T&E expenses were too high - they had to do the scouting of those teams in Cincinnati, even if the games with the mentioned teams were weeks away (ignoring the fact that trades or injuries could make the scout reports obsolete).....
• No hurry to bring up prospects. Speaks for itself.....
  
• Huge bonuses. Without the ability of George to make a Godfather-type \"offer he can't refuse\", Drew henson would be polishing his Heisman Trophy and would be preparing for the NFL draft in a few weeks.....
• Not having to choose. Other teams have to choose where to allocate finite resources. If you try to lock in a young talent, do you have to trade another emerging star as a result (see Marlins re Beckett .vs. Alfonseca and Floyd for an example).....
• Leeway to make and correct mistakes. The trigger is never pulled on some trades because there is just too much uncertainty. Knowing that a disappointing trade can and will be remedied by writing a check gives a freer hand in taking chances. Other GMs and staff know that even misguided deal can mean their job.

Yet another dumb decision by the MLB brain-trust (and I use that term VERY loosely).

It means that the Expos will not welcome the BoSox and their fans in '02, '03... (in '01, about 25,000 got in their "caas" and made their pilgrimage from all over New England to Montreal to, for one sweet week-end, fill the seats at the Big Owe).

What's the sense of removing local rivalries that are just beginning to develop? No NY vs. NY? No Chicago vs. Chicago??

But I guess we're stuck with this "plan" until the East-Central-West rotation is complete a few years from now. "Hmmm, let's see... how can we sell LESS tickets, and still blame the fans for poor attendance?"

Please, someone put Bud Légère out of his misery NOW! I promise, I'll pay the bail!

[quote]What's the sense of removing local rivalries that are just beginning to develop? No NY vs. NY? No Chicago vs. Chicago??

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Actually that's not quite true. The rotation of interleague play HAS changed: it's the AL East-NL West, AL Central-NL East, AL West-NL Central. But the super rivalries will still be played. The Yanks & Mets, Cubs & White Sox, Dodgers-Angels, etc. will still play each other 6 times this year. Which is stupid, to me - I'd rather see full interleague play instead of this super series overkill. MLB eliminated a series between the Yankees and the Dogers in LA so that the NY teams could meet six times instead of 3. But there are baseball officials for you - they'll always find a way to pee on a good idea.

Blue Jays still get to play the Expos (one last time), but also get Colorado & San Francisco (in Toronto) and L.A. and Arizona (on the road).

I've been advocating for years that the AL & NL be abolished and all the team be divided in to 4 geographically sensible divisions. All the city wide rivalries in LA, NY and Chi would still be there, it would strengthen other ones (say, St.L & KC). Of course, the DH is a problem but I say get rid of it.

Wow I can't believe the Yankees are going to play against the Padres,Giants,D-backs (which I'm really looking for) and the Rockies!

thats going to be some intresting games espeically since most of them are at Yankee Stadium and the fans haven't seen those teams at our Ballpark or many of the players.

Atleast the only thing thats still the same is the Yanks/Mets game thats always fun to watch.

GO YANKEES

-GIL

The Devil Rays get to host the Padres...which means the return of the most popular player ever to don a Rays uniform: Bubba Trammel. The guy had an entire section in RF devoted to him. He was, hands down, the most fan friendly player we've had in our short history. His showing up alone will double the crowd. And when he comes up to bat, the crowd will shout in unison, "Bubba!!" just for old times sake.

Plus we get to play LA, SF, and Colorado, but still get to wipe up on the Mullets of Miami.

I for one will be glad NOT to have to deal with the obnoxious Braves fans this year.

I think I mentioned this before, that the Phillies are playing the AL Central but, just as the Yankees and Mets continue, the Phils will play the Orioles again--3 in Phila. and 3 at Camden Yards. The result of this is that of the AL Central teams, the Phils will NOT play the one team that might sell a few extra tickets: their 1980 World Series opponent, the Kansas City Royals.