Year: 2009

With the granite ramps, the steakhouse, and the martini bar at the new Yankee Stadium, the Bombers have targeted the…

One of our favorite big-armed pass rushing OLBs was on NFL Live last night, talking about something, something, something, blah…

John Henry answered questions from NESN’s Tom Caron and explained the Red Sox approach this off-season: TC: Theo Epstein and…

Peter Gammons is reporting that Sox first-baseman Kevin Youkilis has signed a four-year pact worth over $40 million, or over $10 million per year. The deal includes an option for a fifth year.

Youk was slated to be a free agent after 2010. This keeps him in Sox red (presumably) until at least 2012.

It’s quite a deal considering Youkilis has outproduced Mark Teixeira (yes, it’s true, according to an GM and some metrics) the last two years.

Jayson Stark’s latest piece has a look out on arbitration. Here are the relevant pieces:

There’s one more groundbreaking case on this list, and Papelbon is it. From every indication, Papelbon will wind up with the highest salary ever by a closer with three years of service time. The only mystery is: How much?

“This one perplexes me,” one NL executive said. “This guy has been so good, and that team has such deep resources, I don’t know what I’m missing. Why haven’t they signed him? If you’re trying to pick out the next Mariano Rivera, wouldn’t it be him? Plus, he’s a guy who he handles that whole Boston scene so well.”

All true. Yet this has the potential to be a tricky, maybe even explosive, case.

Papelbon has spent the past three years willingly sacrificing himself for the greater good, allowing the Red Sox to define his role outside the boundaries of common modern-day closer ground rules. His 22 saves of four outs or more since 2006 rank second only to Rivera’s, and his 35 appearances of four outs or more rank third among closers, behind Rivera and J.J. Putz.

But now, in return, Papelbon is looking for a reward for his sacrifice, his workload and the toll that workload could take on his potential career longevity. The result is a philosophical difference about his value that the Red Sox haven’t been able to resolve. You wouldn’t think either side would want this to reach a hearing room. But follow this case carefully.

The Red Sox have had a lot of success convincing their players to take less money for the sheer joy of playing in Boston. But Papelbon and Youkilis are two who haven’t been willing to play that game. Yet. One GM wonders whether Youkilis (now two years from free agency) is a victim of his do-it-ugly persona: “Teixeira gets his money because he produces AND he looks really good doing it. But if you look at the last two years, the guy who has outproduced him is Youkilis.”

It was the first game between the Lakers and Spurs since the Lakers ended the Spurs season and hopes for…

According to several media reports, the Tennessee Titans’ very own Jim Schwartz has been assigned the unenviable task of righting…

Never, ever celebrate when there is time on the clock and Roger Mason is suited up. The Suns learned that lesson…

Sea cow. Fatass. /jim gaffigan‘d Honestly, mini dude needs to lose some weight. Looks like he’s eating a regular horse’s…

It’s game day for the UConn Huskies men’s basketball team as they head to the world’s most famous arena, Madison…

This post was written weeks ago, but due to the holidays and the death of Carl Pohlad, this kept getting…

With Sam Bradford staying in school, now what for the Lions? Worst bus ride ever. (It was to a basketball…

1) Well, not Showtime for the Giants. I watched most of the showtime program last night for any remarks from…

Gillespie leaves USC for Oklahoma StateAnother one leaves the program BUT I think this has something to do with the…

As Art Thiel of the now-dying Seattle P-I surmised recently, “Hindsight is always perfect, and speculation is always easy.” While…

Dom DiMaggio, The Little Professor, may be sitting in the Hall of Fame if not for missing his age 26-28 seasons to fight in World War II.

If he had played through the war and continued playing instead of retiring, there is little doubt in the minds of many that he would have made the Hall of Fame.

.298/.383/.419, 1,680 hits, 87 HR, 100 SB, 1,046 R in 11 seasons

If you only look at what they did as pass-catchers, both Alge Crumpler and Justin McCareins were disappointments in the 2008…

Wheee! A zeppelin! The forecast temperature for 7am Thursday here in Minnesota? -31. Thirty one degrees below zero. Sweet fanciful…

It is a new year sports fans! Dizzle here with my resolutions. I resolve to have a resolution this year….

From Dave Campbell/AP Sports: Wittman was a decent dude, but his abysmal career record speaks to his inability to connect…

There’s a lot of stuff going on this week, but most of it is kind of trivial. With the semester…

Bulls 102, Raps 98 Bargs was large. He played so well, he even tipped in a basket for the Bulls….

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nE11Zrrp24I] If you got excited about this video, then congratulations… you're old like me and Chuck. I can't believe it……

Loved the defensive intensity tonight. Absolutely loved it. KG set the tone in the first quarter with 8 pts, 3…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfOUwKyJwN4] We've been laying off the Lakers and Kobe for a few weeks now. In large part because they've been…

So much for sticking to a budget – I just saw on Metsblog.com that, according to the Times, the Mets…

Ok I might have snapped a bit today. I am just so tired of reading all the negative media and…

If any of you have been living in a cave the past few years and don’t get the whole “LOL…

As you know by now, I happen to be a Toronto Maple Leafs fan. Dave, another contributor to this fine…