MY TAKE ON THINGS

** The Red Sox are going after Pablo Sandoval big time. The Sox will offer a lot of money but so will a number of other teams. Boston can offer one more thing Pablo: that fried chicken in the clubhouse during the game.

** David Robertson refused the Yankees qualifying offer and will test the market. The Mets are said to be big players in that one. Why would Robertson want to go to the Mets? He's a closer. For him to help the Mets, he has to close games. Don't you have to be ahead in order for that to happen?

** The Managers of the Year were just announced. Baltimore's Buck Showalter in the AL and Matt Williams of the Nationals in the NL. Good managers both of them and they did lead  their teams to first place in their divisions, however...
Maybe it's just my interpretation of the award, but if a manager has all the horses and is expected to win, then it's not much of a surprise when they do. Now if a manager has a team that is NOT expected to do much and ends up in the World Series, doesn't that seem that he got his team to overachieve? Shouldn't that be worth Manager of the Year? It does in my book, yet there's Ned Yost of the Royals finishing third.
It's not quite as glaring a situation in the Nl, but the Dodgers were supposed to run away with the NL title and did win their division, but there's Bruce Bochy of the Giants winning the World Series.

** A-Rod's in the news, of course. Neither Girardi or Cashman has committed to A-Rod as the starting 3rd baseman, because they're not sure what he's got left. They're talking about a lot of DH time and backing up at first base has also been mentioned. Girardi says he has been talking to A-Rod about it and supposedly A-Rod said, "We'll talk about it."  Saying that you'll 'talk about it' is not the same as saying you'll do it. We all know about Alex's pride. He doesn't want to to be back-up anything. Chase Headley ought to be the Yanks main priority this winter.

** The Colorado Rockies say they will listen to offers for all-star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki. Analysts say that Colorado can't trade Tulo unless they get a ton of first class prospects or a couple of MLB veterans because they don't want to irritate their fan base. Bull-roar! Tulo has a history of physical problems and anyone who trades for him may be taking on a medical case. No one could know more about this than the Rockies, so if they think it's a problem and he is not capable of putting on a full season at short, they'll take as much as they think they can get and the fan base be damned. There's also the matter of 6 more years at $20 million a year to think about.

** If you exclude the players that have retired or have accepted qualifying offers, there are about 120 free agents out for the taking. By the end of spring training, about half of them will be retired and don't know it yet.

***THEY SAID IT***
"Omaha's Public Works Department announced its snow and ice removal plan. It's called "spring."  -- Brad Dickson
"Steelers safety Mike Mitchell launching himself over the line into the Jets’ victory formation: “In Mitchell’s defense, who knew the Jets had a victory formation?"  -- Bud Shaw, Cleveland Plain Dealer

"Got an alibi, comrade? Mike Vrabel, the Texans’ linebackers coach, lost the three Super Bowl rings he won with the Patriots when burglars broke into his Houston home. Not to cast any aspersions or anything, but how do you say “one for the thumb” in Russian?"  -- Dwight Perry
"OF Michael Cuddyer has left Colorado to sign with the NY Mets. What Cuddyer is about to find out… it’s not like the Mets are really better than the Rockies. But in New York, when a team sucks, people actually notice."  -- Janice Hough

"The Los Angeles Lakers finally won a game. They enjoyed the experience so much, they're planning to try to win another one next month."  -- Brad Dickson

"ESPN claims about 30 per cent of the Indiana Hoosiers basketball team are out with legal problems. On the bright side, their NBA draft status shot way up."  -- RJ Currie
"While it has no chance of being a Top 10 on ESPN, here’s to Arizona State’s Demario Richard. After catching a TD pass to clinch it against Notre Dame, he tossed the ball to the back judge. That was it. Son, you’ll never get a Nike deal — or an ESPY — that way."  -- Phil Mushnick, NY Post

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