The Future at First Base

Yesterday, the Atlanta Braves signed Mark Teixeira to a one-year, $12.5 million dollar contract. Essentially, the Braves are keeping Teixeira busy until 2009, when I’m sure the Yankees will make a play for him as he enters free-agency.

Expect a big season from this guy. He knows what’s waiting for him come season’s end.

A-Rod Mentoring Young Player

From the Miami Herald:

New York Yankees superstar Alex Rodriguez is used to being followed by fans.

But one college-age kid who followed Rodriguez around the University of Miami athletic facilities for days was not after an autograph.

Hurricanes first baseman Yonder Alonso, 20, wanted to completely emulate the reigning MVP in his workout regimen — from the stationary bike and lifting weights to running 120-yard sprints, batting practice and fielding ground balls.

What started out as nothing more than a dream has led to a possible lasting friendship.

Alonso walked up to the star one morning in December as Rodriguez rode a stationary bike in the UM weight room.

”I told him whatever race he would do, I would beat him,” Alonso said. “He found that pretty funny, and after that [he] said all right, lets go run.”

For more than five weeks, Rodriguez and Alonso arrived at UM by 6 a.m. and would finish by noon. Sometimes they would have a light workout in the evening, practicing fielding, hitting and running.

”I’m very private about my workouts, and he’s really the first kid in 10 years that has joined me like this,” said Rodriguez, 32.

Alonso, who starred at Coral Gables High, had a stellar sophomore season last year. Baseball America has rated him as one of the top five collegiate players in the upcoming Major League Baseball draft.

But he wanted to improve and help UM capture the College World Series. Most of all, he wanted to learn from Rodriguez.

The collegiate star put his plan into motion to seek Rodriguez out after seeing him many times on TV. Last winter, he got an up-close look at the slugger by watching him hit at UM, a place where Rodriguez has worked out during the off-season for the past 10 years.

”He might be one of the greatest players of all time,” Alonso said. “I said I need to get a hold of this guy somehow.”

Trainer Monica Swasey, who works off-season with Rodriguez and knows Alonso, encouraged the young man to introduce himself to his idol.

”When Yonder finally got the nerve to go over there, his grin was from ear-to-ear,” Swasey said. “[Alex] said, `Why don’t you come and join me?’

‘Yonder just froze. He said to Alex, `I can’t do it because I have practice.’ Alex said, ‘Let’s start Monday.’ They’ve been hip-to-hip ever since.”

Nice experience for the kid. He’s put up some impressive numbers too.

Now, whenever I read about A-Rod’s hardcore workouts, they always remind me of Roger Clemens’ intense program with McNamee. A-Rod’s been working out harder and harder (as said by Doug Mientkiewicz in this article), every year, especially as he gets older. This comparison between the two is fairly clear.

However, A-Rod is pretty smart. He works out at a public facility (well, in the UM Facilities) and with UM trainers. Clemens worked out at his home with a private, personal trainer (McNamee). I’m sure a day will come when he is questioned about steroids and his workouts, but at least he’ll be able to say, “Hey, I worked hard everyday and people have seen me working hard at the UM (University of Miami).”

Hal Would Want to Read This

Is Santana worth the money? Some people seem to think so (Hank Steinbrenner). Others, question his financial worth (like Hal), including economic analyst Vince Genarro. He has a great section in the following article about Santana and his financial value for the Yankees. He does a nice job of summarizing exactly why a Santana addition may not be worth it. Here’s what appears to be his ultimate conclusion:

What would need to happen to make this a good trade for the Yankees? If Santana signs with the Yankees at $5 million to $7 million per year below the price he would have gotten in an open bidding war as a free agent next winter, or if Hughes becomes only a fifth starter or bullpen reliever, the deal could make sense for the Yankees.

Check out the article for more. He also talks about the Red Sox and Mets, stating that the Red Sox deal would make the least sense whereas the Mets deal would make the most.

Check Yourself Botte

Peter Botte demonstrates an innate bias in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…

Still, despite his high run support and a 19.06 ERA in two postseason starts, Wang is seeking a raise to $4.6 million, which exceeds what Dontrelle Willis, now with Detroit, earned with Florida in 2006 ($4.35million) after going 22-10 the previous year.

What’s this Dontrelle Willis association about?

Actually, why is Botte even making such a comparison? Wang is asking for his amount in an inflated market (year to year) and is also basing his monetary figure on two, back-to-back seasons where he won 19 games (Dontrelle only won 10 in 2004). Therefore, Wang’s figures are based on serious expectations and actual production.

Let’s also refrain from such a comparison when you’re dealing with the AL and the NL. Wang’s numbers in the AL (East) are extremely impressive, while Dontrelle’s numbers are created without a DH, and most of his innings were thrown in a pitcher’s ballpark (2005). I’m not trying to nullify his figures, but this still has to be taken into account.

Roger Clemens in Washington

From the NY Times:

“Roger looks forward to telling the truth under oath,” his lawyer, Rusty Hardin, said. “The date they proposed for us to meet with staff is the actual date we proposed, so we appreciate it.”

Hardin said that having Clemens speak to government officials should help Clemens’s credibility. He said that Clemens’s former trainer Brian McNamee has been widely believed because McNamee spoke with federal investigators and with the former Senator George J. Mitchell under an agreement that he would be prosecuted if he did not tell the truth.

“The same will be true of Roger,” Hardin said in a telephone interview. “So does that mean now everybody will give the same benefit and presumption he’s telling the truth if he subjects himself to possible perjury charges if he lies? What we’re hoping is this puts an end to it.”

Roger will speak to the Congressional committee on January 26th. Hardin makes a good point here. If Clemens lies, he’ll end up in a situation like Bonds, Tejada, Jones, etc. The only difference between McNamee and Clemens is that McNamee never really had any definitive reason to lie about Clemens using steroids (from what I can recall).

Actually, that’s a pretty big difference…