Official Yankees Release on Mariano Rivera Surgery

Here's the release:

RHP Mariano Rivera will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder on Tuesday, October 7. The procedure will be performed by Dr. David Altchek at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.

Well, here's to hoping he comes back next year even better than ever, if that's even possible. Looking on the bright side, at least he was able to get his surgery done earlier due to the Yankees early season departure...although that's really reaching for a positive.

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Cubs Blowing It Again

Here come the Joe Torre lead Dodgers taking two games in a row at Wrigley Field to give them a 2-0 lead over the Cubs in the NLDS. What a shame for Chicago and their fans, having such a successful season under Lou Piniella to start the playoffs off like this, with no wins and now on the brink of elimination. Now they have Rich Harden on the mound in Los Angeles, with their season on the line. To win all those regular season games and come up with zero playoff wins would be devastating. To lose the series on its own would be bad for a Cubs team who on paper were expected to beat the Dodgers who only won 84 games this season. But for now it looks as if the curse looks on as the Cubs have not even been competitive in the series losing games one and two 7-2 and 10-3, respectively. Ouch.

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Cashman Gets A Three Year Deal

Via Newsday and Yankee22 on our message board:

Brian Cashman has agreed to return as the Yankees general manager on a three-year contract, Newsday has learned.

Cashman deliberated over the decision about whether it was time to move on after 11 seasons as GM, but gave the Yankees an affirmative answer this afternoon. In the end, a Yankees source said, it came down to what was best for his family. The new contract will be for slightly more than Cashman had been making, putting it at in the ballpark of $2-million per year.

Neither Cashman nor Yankees co-chairman Hal Steinbrenner, with whom Cashman negotiated the deal, could immediately be reached for comment. The two work closely together, and met at Yankee Stadium on Monday, and that relationship was a huge positive for Cashman in making up his mind.

The Yankees are expected to make an official announcement this afternoon


Earlier in the day, Steinbrenner said by phone: "We talked yesterday, and we're going to talk today. There's some family decisions to be made, as we talked about last week. I know Brian talked to his wife [Mary] some more last week. It's a family decision."

Cashman was named Yankees GM in February 1998 by Steinbrenner's father, principal owner George Steinbrenner. It is now Hal and his brother Hank who run the team as co-chairmen, though Hal is more actively involved. This was the first year of Cashman's tenure that the Yankees did not make the playoffs, finishing 89-73.

Cashman's contract does not expire until Oct. 31, but he said this weekend that he will make a decision "sooner rather than later." At the heart of his decision were a number of factors: what is best for his family, the dynamic of working with the Steinbrenner sons, the chance to see through his youth movement on the Yankees and what challenges working as a GM elsewhere -- perhaps with more autonomy but certainly with a smaller payroll -- might entail.

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Torre Hopes to Return for Official Closing Ceremony

According to USA Today, Joe Torre reiterated the sentiments we all thought he still held, seeming pretty resentful of the Yankees and how they treated him last offseason regarding his playoff incentive laced one year deal. Don Mattingly and Larry Bowa also did not have very nice words to say about the parting in the same article. However, this isn't what the main theme of this post is. Joe Torre mentioned that he would like to attend the Yankees November 9th official Yankee Stadium closing ceremony at the Stadium. He will be in town two days before that on the 7th for a 1998 Yankees reunion for his Safe at Home Foundation.

I would like to go, says Torre, who plans to get a couple of seats from the stadium. It would be nice to say good-bye.

I'll always think of '96 when we won our first one. I reminisce about 9/11. We didn't win the World Series that year (2001), but those games at Yankee Stadium were so memorable.

I came from a very special place. It's tough to compare Yankee Stadium to anything else. Hopefully, we can create some new memories here (In Los Angeles).

This would be a nice redeeming gesture by the Yankees, after being very distasteful and not even giving Torre a mention at the Yankees final game at the Stadium. Joe Torre was an integral part of one of the Yankees dynasties, and easily deserved a mention in the closing ceremony. However, he did not receive a mention in a tactless move in my opinion. Hopefully this time around the Yankees do the right thing.

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Ponson, "Dazzles" However Yankees Fizzle

Sidney Ponson surprised me, in a good way. Going six innings and yielding but one run, while striking out five, he gave the Yankees a chance to win the last game of the year. Granted it was against the Red Sox Z squad, but impressed me nonetheless. The ample Aruban moved his way through the hitters with a relative ease. No walks is unheard from out of Ponson. Not a bad final start for the Yankees.

Yankees came up short however, with the amazingly bad Rasner letting up two to make it 3-1. Yankees quickly tied it however with a top of the 9th rally against the pitcher who is only notable for knocking off Hank Aaron for alphabetical order by last name, David Aardsma. Robinson Cano tied it up, ending his season on a 11 game hitting streak, good to see he finally woke up at the tail end of the season...

Anyway to wrap the game up we go to the 10th and Jose Veras loses the game on a single ending the season officially, and capping what was a terrible ending to what was a promising start to Veras' season. Both he and Edwar Ramirez really went death spiral at the end of the year. Yankees end the season at 89-73, same record as their crosstown, "rivals" the Mets, who also failed to make the playoffs. All things considered with injuries the Yankees didn't do too badly. However the AL East is so tough it's really difficult to make the playoffs. Expect the same thing next year...hopefully they pull it out in 2009.

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Congratulations Mike Mussina

On his 20th win, first time ever for him! He's the oldest player to win 20 games for the first time ever. That's a pretty nice accomplishment and will add to his Hall of Fame resume. That brings Mike Mussina to 270 wins on his career with both Baltimore and the Yankees. It'd be very nice to see Mike in Cooperstown. I still think he needs to get closer to 300 wins in order to really solidify his Hall of Fame status. If not actually getting to 300 wins. I gather he'll need about three more seasons being conservative to get to 300. I really don't think Mike wants to pitch three more seasons. Maybe he'll hang around a year or two more with one more contract but I don't think he'll be looking for a three year deal. He can also retire, a definite possibility. Good luck Mike, you had a good Yankees career. We all appreciate it, whatever you decide to do.

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Pitching Matchups for the Final Two Games

Mussina vs. Matsuzaka in the first game. Start time 1:35 PM.

That's sort of a shame that Mussina has to face off against Dice-K as opposed to Wakefield. It will make his chances less as he goes for this twentieth win, and if he gets his twentieth win it will be the first time he will accomplish that feat. If not, he will still be making history. He will become the first pitcher to win 19 games on three occasions and never win 20 or more games. Either way I'm pulling for Mussina to get that elusive 20th win.

Ponson vs. Wakefield in the second game. Start time 7:35 PM.

And this is how it ends. Not with a bang, but with a whimper. Sidney Ponson closing out a Yankees season in 2008 is about as disrespectful as Carl Pavano opening a season in 2007. I feel obligated to watch this one due to the fact that I will be without Yankees baseball for months on end after this game and will feel like I missed out on my last chance to watch a Yankees game if I don't get to this one. However a Ponson pitched game is barely baseball its more like getting tortured. No matter what happens in this one once the final out is made the Yankees count to pitchers and catchers begins. And the opening of the brand-new Yankee Stadium. Should be some 2009 baseball season, everyone. Too bad it feels like an eternity away.

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