15 other passive aggressive things Cashman could have said at the press conference


– The Yankees have had a history of having needlessly expensive contracts blow up in our face, and it is wonderful to add Rafael Soriano to that list.

– Soriano is the wrong fit for this team. It is a mistake. We shouldn’t have made this move. But hey! Welcome to the team.

– I feel it is best to point out a player’s shortcomings and show as little confidence in him as possible before introducing him to the New York media. It’s how I roll.

– How much did I not want him? I tried to bring in Carl Pavano instead. No seriously I did.

– I am going to copyright the headline “Who’s SORI-a-NOW?” so when the New York Post uses it, I can get a royalty. Notice I didn’t say “if.”

– Well evidently some people think the team isn’t old enough and doesn’t have enough players who have had multiple surgeries.

– With such a thin rotation, we decided to shore up the bullpen so we could run their arms into the ground. The good news is if Soriano gets two more surgeries, the next one will be free.

– We listened to the scouts who all agree that an injury prone player who let’s up fly balls in this stadium was the route to go.

– I am looking forward to next year when we can try to trade this crappy contract for one of the Mets crappy contracts.

– We had differing ideas on what to do with $35 million. They wanted a 30 year old middle reliever with elbow issues. I wanted to throw it into the Hudson River.

– I’d like to thank you all for coming here today. I’d LIKE to do that, but I am waiting for Hank and Hal to give me permission to do that too.

– We are breaking new ground in giving middle relievers huge contracts. Do you know why no team has done that before? Because it is f*cking moronic. But what do I know? I’m just the GM of the New York Yankees.

– I don’t like to think we’ve lost that first round pick. I like to think that the Rays will use that pick and when he is older and more expensive, we’ll just sign him as a free agent.

– Of course we wouldn’t have needed to sign Soriano if we had let Joba Chamberlain develop into a solid reliever. Who’s idea was it to put him in the rotation? (Coughing) * Hank! *

– I would like to announce that I am printing out “Soriano Sucks” t-shirts and will be selling them on line. I might as well profit from this whole thing.

Follow sullybaseball on Twitter

Envisioning a bold new National League – My latest article for The Hardball Times

In my latest article for The Hardball Times, I envision how competitive (and potentially profitable) the National League could be if the Cubs, Mets and Dodgers were all major contenders at the same time.

Not that that is going to happen in 2011!

You can read the article here
.

Follow sullybaseball on Twitter

Are the A’s teasing me again?

Two seasons ago, I stuck my neck out in my 2009 Divisional picks by going with the Oakland A’s to win the West. We had just come off seasons where teams like the Angels, the Marlins, the Tigers, the struggling Cardinals, the Rockies and Rays had won pennants that confounded the experts.

So I thought “Why not go against the grain? If I am right with my pick, then I look like a genius.”

Then again, if the pick flops, then I look like a moron.

I had the 2009 Oakland Athletics winning the World Series.
They finished in dead last place, 22 games behind the Angels.

WHOOPS!

But now I am looking at this team, and I can’t help but wonder if I should pick them again.

They just added Brian Fuentes to the roster and he should make their bullpen pretty damn deep. Andrew Bailey, Grant Balfour, Brad Ziegler and Brian Fuentes in the pen?

Closing out a rotation of Trevor Cahill, Gio Gonzalez, Dallas Braden and Brett Anderson?

(I am not going to include Rich Harden. Any day he is NOT on the disabled list is a bonus.)

Couple that with Hideki Matsui and a few other bats added to the lineup… Texas losing Cliff Lee and the Angels not being able to sign anyone and Seattle in flux…

Dare I do it?
Dare I make the pick again?

My 2009 picks of Oakland and Cincinnati doesn’t look so outlandish for 2011.

But can I pick Oakland?
Or are they teasing me.

Maybe I’ll pick the Mariners.

Follow sullybaseball on Twitter