Will the status quo be good enough?

The Yankees are putting the band back together.



I was hoping for two out of the big three - Alex Rodriguez, Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada - and they got all three. And Andy Pettitte is still flirting with retirement, but he might be back, too. For all the talk after the Cleveland series about the end of the dynasty (which has been pronounced "ended" every year since 2001), the 2008 Yankees may be the same team as the 2007 Yankees.

Guys like Steve Phillips like to say that's not good enough. The Yankees can't be as good as they were last year -- they have to be better. Because, after all, they didn't win the World Series last year, so they have to try to be better, right? (Yes, these are the same guys who say every year that the Yankees are stupid for thinking they can win the World Series every year.)

But which 2007 Yankees will these 2008 Yankees be? The first half of 2007, when their Opening Day starter was Carl Pavano, and when the rest of the rotation was whoever could make the next train from Scranton?

Apparently Phillips thinks the Yankees will tie the Major League record they set last year by using 10 different starters (six of them rookies) in their first 30 games.

Let's remember: At the end of May, 22-29. At the end of September, 94-68. That's 72-39 -- a .649 winning percentage. Over a full season, that's 105 wins.

The same team, but with a better manager, a full year of Joba and Hughes, and a reasonable, non-record setting number of injuries? I'll take the status quo.

All I ask is a decent lefty in the 'pen... and better bug spray.

Can I Get A Towel?

In all seriousness, Karl Ravech may be the biggest sissy on TV. As the host of "Baseball Tonight" on ESPN I've had to watch him nearly cry TWICE in the past two days. The first time being when Steve Phillips pointed out that ARod has more home runs than eight or nine TEAMS!

Phillips then said....

Phillips: "It's hard to question a guy being worth 25 million when he hits more home runs than whole teams with twice as much money spent on entire payroll."

This set Ravech off on a sissy fit! He screams about "No one is worth that" and then the highlight of any debate.... "I'm not even going to discuss this"

Huh?

You're the anchor of an analysis show Karl! That's your fucking job! To discuss AND debate the topics of the day. Generally I find Steve Phillips to be a poor judge of anything doing with talent (See: Scott Kazmir Trade) but he may have a point here.

If Arod is being more productive than entire TEAMS offensively than it stands to reason he's worth a lot of money. But since Karl REFUSED to even discuss the topic we move on...

To last night... And the Torii Hunter story. The one where he sent the Royals four bottles of champagne to "Thank them" for sweeping the White Sox at the end of last year. Thus, making it possible for the Twins to make the playoffs. Now apparently, there is some little known rule in baseball's rule book that states such an action is worthy of at LEAST a three year suspension. Most sane people I've heard discuss this are on Torii's side and think the whole thing is a bit silly to say the least.

Not Ravech!

Nope, he thinks a "rule is a rule" no matter how fucking dumb! And just to recap here, in MLB...

Throwing at a batter's head = 5 games

Corked bat = 10 games

Steroids = 50 games

Bottle of bubbly = THREE FUCKING YEARS!

Anyone with common sense can see what I'm getting at.... Torii Hunter was having some fun and the Royals never even opened the bottles. They sent them back. A simple warning would do here. However, in Karl Revech's tiny mind "a rule is a rule"

Something I watched him repeat last night so many times, in rapid succession, he nearly hyperventilated and I'm almost certain he did begin to cry.

Some one get this guy's mother to powder his ass and wipe his nose..... And get me someone with a set of balls to discuss sports on my TV.