Full Disclosure

It’s been all over Deadspin, so surely we’re not breaking this news, but Steven A. Smith does not want unqualified nonexperts reporting or commenting on anything over the internet. Functional illiteracy, apparently, is fine for now.

You may rest easy, however, knowing that we at InTheClutch are more than qualified. We are trained and we are experts. Warren, for instance, was Student of the Month in October 1999, Josh has had his driver’s license for almost six years, and I have a certificate of completion from having attended (and passed!) a three-hour course in forklift operation.

Dan

Steinbrenner boys agree to $275m deal with own credibility

October 30, 2007 – Upon hearing the news, Steinbrenner — now the figurehead of the Yankees’ baseball operations — sent a scathing message Rodriguez’s way.“It’s clear he didn’t want to be a Yankee,” Steinbrenner told the New York Daily News. “He doesn’t understand the privilege of being a Yankee on a team where the owners are willing to pay $200 million to put a winning product on the field.

“I don’t want anybody on my team that doesn’t want to be a Yankee.”

Steinbrenner also answered the question of whether there’s any chance he could change his mind. “We’re not going to back down,” he said. “It’s goodbye.”

 Hank, while you might not want a player around who doesn’t want to be there, I don’t want anyone owning my team that can’t hold their own ground during a negotiation. And what is this bullshit about not understanding the privelege? What privelege would that be? The privelege of being the best player in the game, and possibly the best ever before it’s all said and done? The privelege of moving to third base so a defensive butcher with an outsized sense of entitlement could continue to cost the team runs with his increasingly mediocre glovework? The privelege of being eviscerated in print media for hitting “just” a solo homerun in a game your team trailed by four, all the while Captain Clutch grounds into three double plays? The privelege of being booed for stats taken out of context in small sample sizes and pilloried for hitless strings of four, five, even SIX at-bats?

 Were I the best shortstop to play baseball, I would give the Steinbrenner brothers a message similar to that which my wife wore on a tshirt earlier in the year.

 Dan

Hot Stove Ruminations – San Diego

The Padres lasted til extra-innings in the 163rd game before dropping to the eventual NL champs, so why all the talk-radio frothing about roster overhaul? Here’s a by-position look at the state of the Padres:

C- Josh Bard. I don’t understand the hate for this guy. Bard is a solid if unspectacular offensive catcher, and plays a decent defense. Would-be basestealers are making him look awful, but when taken in the context of the coaching philosophy of this team (not to mention the Trachsel-esque slow deliveries of Maddux and C.Young), opponents are going to steal on the Padres. That’s simply the way it is. With Sandy Alomar out there we’d still allow ridiculous sb%. The midseason trade for Michael Barrett was unnecessary, and the end-season numbers reflect that. The average NL catcher hit to the line of .257/.318/.394. Bard swung .285/.364/.404 while Barrett, with a reputation of being an offense-first catcher (id est, crazy masher at the plate, liability behind it. See Posada, Jorge) may well have been carrying rolled-up newspaper in lieu of ash or maple, as evinced by his Molina-Brother triumvirate of .225/.236/.286. Take a look at the numbers and you’ll realize that Bard is actually the second-best catcher in the National League. Leave him be and give him 135 starts at the dish.

1B- Adrian Gonzalez. Posting an OPS of .849 last year, AG led the team in homeruns, RsBI, and sabor, while placing second in walks. He plays a great first base and is left-handed to boot. Cost-controlled through 2011, Gonzalez is the first baseman of this franchise for the forseeable future.

2B- Gaping Hole. Maybe Blum is the answer. Maybe it’s Kaz Matsui. What we do know, however, is that it is NOT Marcus Giles. While sucking up over 400 at bats last season, the more overrated Giles finished with 91 pitchers ahead of him on the VORP list, including American League guys like Johan Santana and his 8 PA.

SS- Khalil Greene. Spicoli is finally starting to come into his own as a hitter, and he’s always been a valuable glove at short. Perhaps Wally Joyner can talk him into taking a fastball at eye-level, but other than that leave the kid be. There are more important things in this world than batting average.

3B- Kevin Kouzmanoff. The Crushin’ Russian is actually favorably comparable to contemporaries Chone Figgins, Garrett Atkins, Ryan Zimmerman and Adrian Beltre. Unless Sandy Alderson feels inclined to enter into the A-Rod Market, Kouz is safe here and should only get better with another season under his belt.

LF- Milton Bradley. Seriously, Milton Bradley, please. Even if you have to spot-start Scott Hairston or Terrmel Sledge until June when Bradley’s knee is healthy, the Padres need to retain Milton Bradley. Bradly out-EqA’d the league-average left fielder by 63 points. A 63-point difference in EqA is approximately the drop-off between Chase Utley and Orlando Hudson. Two months of league-average production followed by a stretch run of Milton Bradley is better than any other option out there that will genuinely work for the Padres.

 CF- Mike Cameron. For the same reason that the Milton Bradley deal works, so works the Cameron situation. You also get the added bonus of Cameron coming at something of a discount, both by extension (not allowing him to test free agent waters and get himself into a bidding war) and the PED suspension forcing him to miss April. Cameron’s speed and range is essential to the cavernous outfields of the NL west, and his experience with the odd winds in Petco will save this pitching staff runs by the barrel.

RF- Brian Giles. The other Giles brother we’re just going to have to grow accustomed-to. His power numbers have dropped off a cliff, but he still gets on base like a leadoff hitter should. Leadoff hitters don’t usually have 4o-hr seasons in their past, but this one does, and his contract doesn’t really give us much wiggle room. Perhaps a deal can be made with Philly or Cincy, in whose bandboxes Brian can actually clear the fences,  but for the meantime Padres fans are just going to have to grin and bear it.

 Hopefully I’ll get around to writing about the pitching side tomorrow, though no changes are really necessary other than Buddy Black coming to the realization that Trevor Hoffman is no longer his premiere bullpen man, and might not even be in the top 3.

Dan