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• Austin Jackson scored a run in each of the Tigers' first six games this season. That was the longest streak by a Detroit batter to start a season since Darrell Evans crossed the plate in each of the first eight contests in 1986. And it's the longest streak by a Tigers leadoff hitter since 1939, when one of Jackson's center field predecessors, Barney McCosky, also scored in the first eight games of the season. In game seven on Friday, however, Jackson was on base only once (he walked in the eighth) and was stranded at third.
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  Duane Burleson/AP PhotoAustin Jackson is having a solid season for the Tigers early on.
  The Red Sox managed to blow a three-run lead in the ninth and a two-run lead in the 11th in losing a wild one to Detroit on Sunday, 13-12. It was the first time Boston had scored a dozen runs and lost since May 31, 1970, when they were on the wrong end of a 22-13 slugfest with the White Sox at Fenway.
• Alfredo Aceves gave up all three ninth-inning runs in Sunday’s game without retiring a batter, making him just the second Red Sox pitcher in the live-ball era to work zero innings pitched in each of his first two appearances of the year. Guido Grilli faced one batter each in the first two games of the 1966 season, and didn't get either of them out.
• The Tigers used eight pitchers in that 13-12, come-from-behind win over the Red Sox. It marked just the second time in 70 years that Detroit had come back to win a game in which their starter surrendered seven-plus runs without getting through the third inning. Omar Olivares was the starter in 1997 when the Tigers rallied to beat Baltimore 11-8.
• On Sunday, the Yankees managed just three hits -- all doubles. That same day, the Twins had just two hits as Jason Hammel posted the longest no-hit bid of the year so far. Both Minnesota knocks were doubles. It's the first time in almost three years that two teams have done that on the same day. But then … the Royals did it against Oakland (three hits, three doubles) on Monday … and the Athletics did it against Kansas City (one hit) on Tuesday.It's the first time since at least 1917 that there have been three straight days where a team had every hit be a double.
• On Sunday, Jeff Samardzija (making just his sixth career start) was afforded the chance at a complete game. He had to be pulled after giving up a two-out homer that pulled the Nationals to within a run. Four days later, Matt Garza was en route to a shutout against Milwaukee, but was pulled after committing a two-out error that allowed the inning to continue. So the Cubs had two pitchers this week leave the game after 8.2 innings pitched.The Cubs hadn't had two pitchers work exactly 8.2 innings in the same season since 1995 (Jaime Navarro and Frank Castillo).
• In Sunday's Cardinals-Brewers game, you could say the teams spread it around. In the 9-3 Milwaukee victory, the 12 runs were charged to eight different pitchers. In fact, every hurler who appeared in the game ended up with at least one earned run on his record.It's the first game in eight seasons where the teams combined to use eight or more pitchers, and every single one of them got charged with at least one earned run. The last time that happened was on Sept. 9, 2004, when the Royals erupted for a 26-5 victory over the Tigers in the first game of a doubleheader.
• James Shields got called for a balk Wednesday on an illegal pickoff throw to third. That was in the bottom of the fifth -- after Justin Verlander had been called for his own balk in the top of the fifth.It was the first MLB game to feature balks by both teams in the same inning since Aug. 16, 2004, when the Rangers' Mickey Callaway and then-Indian CC Sabathia committed them in the fourth inning of a 5-2 Texas win.
• In that same game, Verlander threw eight shutout innings before getting tagged for four runs and the loss in the top of the ninth. He became the first pitcher to throw eight scoreless innings, then surrender four (or more) runs in the ninth to take a loss since Tim Hudson did it for the Braves on Sept. 22, 2005. Hudson allowed a three-run homer to Shane Victorino of the Phillies for most of that damage before Macay McBride had to come in and get the final out.
• In Monday's Yankees-Orioles game, Derek Jeter went a perfect 4-for-4 for the visitors, while Matt Wieters went a perfect 4-for-4 in the home dugout. It was the first game this year to feature two players with four-hit games.Since the start of 2010, there's been only one other MLB game where a player for each team went a perfect 4-for-4 or better -- and it was between the Orioles and Yankees. On July 30, 2011, Vladimir Guerrero’s 4-for-4 was the bright spot for Baltimore as the Yankees -- led by Robinson Cano's 5-for-5 -- demolished them 17-3.
• In Yu Darvish's much-anticipated major league debut on Monday, he allowed five earned runs, four walks, hit a batter, threw one wild pitch -- and won the game because the Rangers spotted him eight runs.He's the first pitcher in the live-ball era to win his major league debut while giving up all of those stats (or worse). Even take away the wild pitch, and only one other hurler has hit five earned runs, four walks, one HBP and a win in his debut. That was the Blue Jays' Matt Williams on Aug. 2, 1983.
• Jeff Gray of the Twins earned the first one-pitch victory of the season on Wednesday. Gray threw his one and only pitch to Peter Bourjos to end the top of the seventh, after which the Twins took the lead in the bottom of the inning. The Twins, conveniently, recorded the last one-pitch win last season, by Matt Capps on Sept. 23.
• Speaking of pitching oddities, the Royals-Athletics game was finally called in the top of the eighth inning on Tuesday after its second rain delay. Aaron Crow, who had pitched the seventh for the Royals, was credited with his first career save. Technically, he does meet the save criteria set forth in the rule book, notably that of being the "finishing pitcher" in a game his team won.The last player to be credited with a save prior to the ninth inning was Tony Sipp of the Indians, who received one in a rain-shortened affair with Tampa Bay on July 23, 2010. That also remains Sipp's only career save.
• On Tuesday, Freddy Garcia of the Yankees famously threw five wild pitches to tie the single-game American League record for such a thing. He was also the first pitcher to throw five-plus wild pitches in an outing of less than five innings. But two of those wild pitches scored runs for Baltimore. Another run scored on an error. That made the Orioles the first team in two years to score four-plus runs with one or fewer RBI. (The one RBI they did get came on a home run.)For the Orioles, it was just the second time since moving to Baltimore that they scored four runs on one or zero RBI. The other was in their inaugural year: On June 27, 1954, they scored three times on errors by the Athletics before finally walking off on an RBI single in the bottom of the 11th.
• Oakland "walked off" in unusual fashion on Wednesday when Jonathan Broxton plunked Yoenis Cespedes and Jonny Gomes to force in the winning run in the bottom of the 12th. It was the first game to end with back-to-back hit batters since Sept. 2, 1966, when Stu Miller of the Orioles hit Al Weis and Tommie Agee of the White Sox in the bottom of the 11th. (I admit that Elias found this a lot quicker than I would have.) However, Gomes became the first Athletics batter to get hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in extra innings since at least 1947. (It had never happened in the Baseball Reference "play index" era.) It's also noteworthy that Oakland scored its two runs in the 12th without a base hit. The three runners ahead of Cespedes reached on two walks and an error.
• Before Friday, there had been 36 double-digit strikeout games by teams this week (including seven games where both teams did it) but not one by a single pitcher. Max Scherzer's 11-strikeout outing on Friday afternoon broke that string.
• In Wednesday's 17-8 eruption between the Giants and Rockies, there were four pitchers (Tim Lincecum, Jeremy Guthrie, Guillermo Mota, Jeremy Affeldt)who all gave up at least six hits and at least five runs. It's the first time that that has happened since July 17, 1998, when Seattle dropped an 18-5 score on the Royals at the Kingdome.(It is also very intriguing that, in that game, both teams posted a seven-run inning. Except I don't know of a good way to search line scores.)
  
  By the way, on their next two games on Thursday and Friday, the Giants promptly had two pitchers (Madison Bumgarner and Matt Cain)carry no-hit bids into the sixth inning. The only team to have bids in consecutive games last season was also the Giants. That happened on May 8 and 10 by Ryan Vogelsong and Lincecum.
• The Orioles and Blue Jays combined to hit seven home runs in Baltimore's 7-5 victory on Friday. All were solo shots. It's the first game with seven-plus home runs that were all solo since a July 20, 2010 game at Camden Yards between the Rays and Orioles.
• There's always one guy left out.In the 10-9 "pitchers’ duel" between the Twins and Angels on Thursday, 17 of the 18 starters recorded at least one base hit. Howard Kendrick was the lone collar, going 0-for-4 plus a walk.
  
  It's the first nine-inning game this season to have 17 different starters record a base hit. There were three games last season where all 18 did.
• Minnesota got a four-hit game from Denard Span and three-hit games from Joe Mauer, Josh Willingham and Danny Valencia. It's the first time the Twins have had four players with three hits, including at least one with four, since they dropped a 20-1 score on the White Sox on May 21, 2009.

The New York Yankees were the best team in the American League in 2011. They won 97 games. Their projected runs scored and allowed totals of 867 and 657 project to 101 wins. They came up short in the playoffs, done in by a lack of timely hitting.

Can this team win 100 games in 2012?

After all, they've brought in Hiroki Kuroda, Michael Pineda and maybe Andy Pettitte for the rotation. Maybe Alex Rodriguez will play more than 99 games and hit better than .276/.362/.461. Maybe Mark Teixeira will rebound from a .248/.341/.494 season. Curtis Granderson and Robinson Cano were MVP candidates a season ago and could be again.

So ... 100 wins is a possibility. But why not 100 wins?

1. They brought in some nice starters, but remember that Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia were good last year, combining for a 3.82 ERA over 51 starts and 311 innings. Kuroda and Pineda may be better, but they're also moving from good pitcher's parks to Yankee Stadium.

2. The bullpen was awesome. And we don't just mean Mariano Rivera. David Robertson had a 1.08 ERA, Luis Ayala 2.09, Cory Wade 2.04. Boone Logan pitched well. The pen is likely to regress a bit.

3. Age of the lineup. A-Rod will be 36, Jeter 38, Teixeira 32, Raul Ibanez 40. Granderson and Nick Swisher are 31.

What do you think? The over/under is 93.5 wins.

Last year, You Can't Predict Baseball came up with bold predictions for the year. We had a lot of fun coming up with them, and then laughing at how hilariously wrong they were at the end of the year. This year, we're bringing these predictions to SweetSpot, along with explanations for some of them. Keep in mind, these predictions are supposed to be bold, but not insane -- even we know the Orioles aren't going to the playoffs in 2012.

Los Angeles Angels: Kendrys Morales stays healthy all year.

Houston Astros: Bud Norris is top five in K/9 in the NL. We figured something good had to happen to the Astros, right? Norris actually has a pretty nice career K/9.

Oakland Athletics: Yoenis Cespedes is their starting center fielder by Memorial Day.

Toronto Blue Jays: Brandon Morrow makes the jump to elite starting pitcher. He's struck out more than 10 batters per 9 innings two years running, though his ERAs have remained ugly. We think this is the year his results finally match the stuff, especially considering his declining walk rate.

Atlanta Braves: Julio Teheran has more wins than Tim Hudson.

Milwaukee Brewers: Rickie Weeks leads the team in home runs. He was fourth on the team last year, with 20. In front of him were Corey Hart with 26, Ryan Braun with 33, and Prince Fielder with 38. Fielder is gone, and for this prediction we'll assume Braun will miss a third of the year due to a suspension. It's not too bold to think Weeks could pass Hart in 2012.

St. Louis Cardinals: Carlos Beltran outproduces Albert Pujols from last year. Albert Pujols was great last year, but not quite best-player-of-his-generation Albert Pujols. If healthy, it's not absurd to think of Beltran outproducing Pujols' 5.1 WAR in 2011.

Chicago Cubs: Matt Garza isn't their best pitcher. It'll be Ryan Dempster, who had great peripherals but bad results last year.

Arizona Diamondbacks: Aaron Hill will be good again. He was great with them in limited time, and Arizona's park is quite hitter-friendly.

Los Angeles Dodgers: James Loney will be a top-three first baseman in the National League. Many thanks to Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness for somewhat alerting us to this one. We just decided to take it semi-absurdly far.

San Francisco Giants: Madison Bumgarner is their best pitcher. In terms of ERA, he already wasn't very far behind Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum, and his K/BB ratio eclipsed theirs by quite a bit.

Cleveland Indians: They'll have the best pitching in the American League Central. We're banking on Ubaldo Jimenez, making a major comeback to something closer to what he was in 2010, and the rest of the staff displaying the good that they did in 2011. We're also counting on the Tigers' starters not being very impressive behind Justin Verlander, which is bold but not quite insane, and the pitching of the White Sox, Twins and Royals not being able to keep up with Cleveland's.

Seattle Mariners: Jesus Montero catches 100-plus games. The Mariners probably aren't going to compete, so why not try and play him where he'll accrue the most value?

Miami Marlins: Despite all their new acquisitions and the hype, they still finish fourth in the NL East. When you think about it, this one isn't so crazy. If Josh Johnson isn't healthy and maybe even if he is their pitching still trails that of Philadelphia, Washington, and Atlanta; even with Heath Bell, we don't think their bullpen is as good, either. Their offense might be better than some of those teams', but the Marlins were quite a bit below league average offensively last year and we're not sure how much Jose Reyes is going to make up for that.

New York Mets: Mike Pelfrey is the worst starter in the NL. Pelfrey's been pretty terrible two of the past three years, and now they're moving the fences in at Citi Field. He was far better in his huge home stadium, but we're guessing with the moved-in walls he'll be significantly worse at Citi. Here at YCPB, we actually don't think the Mets are going to be quite as dire as many are saying, even if they do come in last place in the NL East - but Pelfrey won't be a bright spot.

Washington Nationals: Stephen Strasburg has a 17-strikeout game.

Baltimore Orioles: Matt Wieters is the best catcher in the AL. A lot of people are so obsessed with Wieters not matching the hype that they didn't notice he became a plus offensive performer last year, to go along with very good defense. His taking the next step isn't that bold as predictions go, especially if Joe Mauer has to move off catcher.

San Diego Padres: Luke Gregerson is a top-three closer in the NL.

Philadelphia Phillies: Cole Hamels is their best starter. And this isn't meant to be a slight to Roy Halladay or Cliff Lee, but considering their ages and the fact that Hamels is pretty darn good himself, plus a possible boost from a contract year...

Pittsburgh Pirates: Charlie Morton is their All-Star.

Texas Rangers: Yu Darvish isn't their best starter -- but he's still good. And we think he'll be pretty good, we just think Derek Holland will become more consistently good, or Matt Harrison will put up numbers like his 2011.

Tampa Bay Rays: James Shields will have no complete games. Predicting someone to have no complete games might not seem bold, but it is when it's a guy who was known as "Complete Game James" last season. Shields did have 11 complete games in 2011, an almost unheard-of number these days, but he had no complete games in 2009 or 2010.

Boston Red Sox: No one hits 30 home runs. This might seem crazy when you consider their great offensive numbers last year, but only one player on their team hit 30 home runs and it was Jacoby Ellsbury with 32.

Cincinnati Reds: Brandon Phillips is the best second baseman in the NL.

Colorado Rockies: Jamie Moyer will have the best HR/9 on the staff.

Kansas City Royals: They reach .500. While their pitching won't be great, their offense will take a big step forward this year. Combined with the rest of their division being the Tigers and some dumpster fires, it's not that difficult to see it happening.

Detroit Tigers: They score fewer runs than they did in 2011. Yes, that’s even with Fielder. It's not improbable that Jhonny Peralta, Alex Avila and Delmon Young regress quite a bit from their numbers with Detroit last year, and that Prince Fielder's production "only" makes up for the offensive loss of Victor Martinez in 2012. They'll still have a very good offense, though.

Minnesota Twins: Joe Mauer hits 15 home runs.

Chicago White Sox: Robin Ventura gets ejected more times than Ozzie Guillen. Look at the state of the White Sox. We'd get ejected too.

New York Yankees: Hiroki Kuroda leads the team in ERA.

You Can't Predict Baseball is an affiliate of the SweetSpot network.

Let's face it: Like it or not, money is the driving aspect of this great game. And the best player on the planet is Albert Pujols. Mr. Pujols, as you might have heard, has set a negotiating deadline of Feb. 16, 2011, and he's all done giving the Cardinals a hometown discount. According to FanGraphs.com, Pujols has "delivered" nearly $270 million in "value" while being paid only $89.5 million to date in his amazing career. That's a darned good return on investment.

Pujols is threatening to become the highest-paid player in baseball, and as a Yankees fan, I know more than a little bit about highly paid baseball players. Rumor has it that Pujols wants a multiyear deal for a lot of money -- maybe 10 years at $30 million a year. That's more than a lot of money. What team could possibly afford to pay Pujols that much money?

We're Yankees fans and we're not completely stupid, so maybe the better question is: What other teams could afford to pay Pujols that kind of money?

Let's give it some thought. Some of you may be old enough to remember the 10-year, $252 million contract that Alex Rodriguez signed with the Texas Rangers in 2001. History's judgment is that this contract crippled the Rangers -- that after signing A-Rod, the Rangers lacked the wherewithal to do anything else. If we do the math and figure that the Rangers' payroll was around $100 million in the early years of A-Rod's contract, that would mean that the Rangers had about 25 percent of their payroll committed to one player. Let's establish a rule of thumb and say that no team should devote more than 25 percent of its payroll to any single player since the 25 percent allocated to A-Rod was enough to stifle an organization. This is simple asset allocation theory with a baseball application. Quick math indicates that if Pujols is going to make $30 million a year, then only teams with a payroll in excess of $120 million a year should sign Pujols.

This is not to say that there will be some new owner, or lovestruck owner, who will ignore this basic business premise and decide that having Pujols on their team is a risk worth taking, even if it means allocating 40 percent of the organization's liquid resources toward one asset. Put nothing past the owners. How else could you explain Mike Hampton, Barry Zito, Alfonso Soriano, Jayson Werth, etc.? It only takes one. And the one owner I'm personally scared of is Tampa Bay Rays owner Stuart Sternberg. If he can rationalize 40-plus percent of his payroll to one player, look out!

What teams are we talking about?

There were only six teams with a 2010 Opening Day payroll of over $120 million: the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, Phillies, Mets and Tigers. I'll add the Angels to the list of teams that might sign Pujols, since the Angels' 2011 payroll will exceed $120 million, plus this team seems to be willing to spend money without reason. I'll add the White Sox to this list, since they play in Chicago and ought to be able to spend money like a big-market club. I'm tempted to add the Rangers to this list, only they have already signed Adrian Beltre and Josh Hamilton to big contracts this year, plus they already have one unhappy, highly paid infielder more than they know what to do with.

I'm going to scratch the Mets off the above list, because the only way Pujols is going to get millions out of the Mets is if he lost money investing in Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme. The Mets have Ike Davis at first, and he'd be an attractive trade target if the Mets were able to spend at will, but that's not the case. Shea goodbye.

I'm going to scratch the Tigers off the list because they have $20-plus million annually committed to Miguel Cabrera to play first base for them through the year 2015, plus $12-plus million annually committed to Victor Martinez to do something for them through the year 2014. Pujols might have the ability and desire to move back to the other side of the diamond and man third base again (he started 89 games at third base back in 2001-02). Putting Cabrera and Pujols together could be as great a 3-4 batting duo as baseball has ever seen, but the Tigers' existing commitments seem to rule out this pairing.

I'm going to scratch the Phillies off the above list, because they have upwards of $25 million committed annually to Ryan Howard to play first base for them through the year 2016. Also, they don't need a DH. Also, they don't want to admit (yet) that the Howard contract was probably a mistake.

I'm going to scratch the White Sox off the above list, because they probably did not belong on this list in the first place. Also, they have both Adam Dunn and Paul Konerko signed to huge long-term contracts. General manager Kenny Williams is unpredictable, so maybe he can Jedi mind-trick Pujols into moving back to the hot corner … but I doubt it.

I'm going to scratch the Yankees off the above list, because they have a $22-plus million annually long-term commitment to Mark Teixeira, plus a long list of aging players that will need to share the DH position until most of us are receiving Social Security. Not to mention, one of those aging players is A-Rod, who ripped up the balance of that $252 million contract only to get Hank Steinbrenner to panic and up that contract when no one else was within $100 million.

The Cubs stay on the list. They have committed $10 million this year to Carlos Pena to play first base, but that's a one-year commitment. The Cubs' salaries for Aramis Ramirez and Kosuke Fukudome come off the books in 2012. So, the Cubs will have both money to spend and the need for a first baseman when the 2011 season comes to an end. Not to mention their new ownership who might be very eager to make a splash.

The Angels stay on the list. Given the way that Moreno has reacted the last few years about the front-line free agents he didn't get, I can't see him going the extra yard to land Pujols. He spit the bit on Carl Crawford and pitched a fit about it. But just because I have my doubts doesn't mean we take them off the list. The team has $75 million committed to the 2012 roster, but that ignores many arb-eligible players due for nice raises, like Kendry Morales, Jered Weaver, Erick Aybar and Howie Kendrick. Adding in an estimated $25 million for those four guys puts the team's payroll at $100 million. Are the Angels prepared and able to afford a $150 million payroll? Ask Arte.

The Red Sox stay on the list. True, the Red Sox already have Adrian Gonzalez (assumption that he signs this spring) and Kevin Youkilis manning the corners for years to come. But come 2012, J.D. Drew and David Ortiz will be free agents. The Red Sox will need another big bat in the 2012 lineup, and they'll have some money to spend to acquire that bat. The team has shown an ability to surprise with the Carl Crawford contract, but keep in mind, the Red Sox already have over $101 million committed to the 2012 roster, and that doesn't include Gonzalez's pending deal and the escalating arbitration costs of Jacoby Ellsbury and Clay Buchholz.

The Yankees go back on the list. No way the Yankees let Pujols go to the Red Sox without a fight. OK, maybe the Yankees don't need Pujols, maybe there's no place for him to play. But the Yankees would pay Pujols $30 million a season to replace John Sterling on their radio broadcasts before they'd let him go to the Red Sox. Brian Cashman could whisper: "Albert, we will beat every other offer, but you need to be willing to move to third base four days a week, with a day a week at first with another day or two at DH to keep you fresh."

If Albert Pujols doesn't re-sign with the Cardinals, then he's going to become something else for the Yankees and Red Sox to fight over, even if there's no obvious "need" at either club for his services. I'm still of the belief that he remains in St. Louis the balance of his career. Any other place would be a huge upset. But, if Pujols is truly going to test the free-agent market, prepare for an epic showdown of the league's financial super powers.

Jason Rosenberg is the founder and lead writer of "It's About The Money," a SweetSpot Network member. IIATMS can be found on Facebook and on Twitter. Larry Behrendt contributed to this article and can be followed on Twitter.

OK, I'll come right out and say it: I don't like the Yankees.

That's probably a dangerous statement to utter on this platform, but hopefully the hordes of pinstripe-faithful will understand. As a Twins fan, the Yankees have been the bane of my existence over the past decade. In Ron Gardenhire's nine years at the helm, Minnesota has lost 54 of 72 regular-season contests against New York. They've also been bumped from the playoffs by the Yankees four times during that span (always in the first round, always without much of a fight).

With this being the case, it seems odd that I find myself in position to talk Yankees fans down off the ledge. But discontent has been building up in the Bronx this offseason, and it hit an apex Thursday when the surprising (at least to me) news came down that Andy Pettitte plans on calling it quits.

Yes, the Yankees missed out on Cliff Lee. Yes, their biggest move of the offseason came in the form of a signing that for most clubs would be spectacularly bad. And losing Pettitte hurts. But rest easy, Gotham.

The Yankees will be fine.

For the most part, this is the same team that won 95 games in the treacherous AL East and swept a 94-win Twins team out of the playoffs last year.

It's true Pettitte is gone (at least for now), but injuries wiped out a sizable portion of his 2010 season, and they were fine.

Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez might be getting older, but they still rank among the best in the league at their positions. Mark Teixeira is due for a rebound. Robinson Cano will be a trendy pick for MVP among preseason prognosticators.

The Yankees undoubtedly overpaid for Rafael Soriano. It's not hard to see why GM Brian Cashman, a savvy baseball mind, cringed at giving up two draft picks and $35 million for a setup man, whose impact will optimistically shake out to a couple extra wins this year.

But the money and the draft picks don't really matter for New York. They'll keep spending in free agency and above slot in the draft. Overpaying Soriano doesn't matter all that much, and doesn't change the fact that he'll likely combine with Mariano Rivera to form the most dominant back-end in baseball.

And of course, there's the trade deadline. The Yankees will have the cash and prospects to wheel-and-deal come July; teams like the Rangers, Phillies and Brewers have benefited hugely from adding a pitcher at the deadline in recent years.

If you're going to sit an offseason out, the Yankees picked the right one. The market was not at all buyer-friendly this winter, and the team carries over enough talent from last year's successful group that they can feel comfortable moving forward without a bunch of major additions.

They'll be fine.

Much to my chagrin.

-- Nick Nelson writes Nick’s Twins blog, a blog about the Minnesota Twins.

From Craig's wrap of Amanda's tweeting of Brian Cashman's breakfast appearance this morning:

Cashman was asked, once again, about Joba Chamberlain starting. He said that Chamberlain hasn’t been the same pitcher since his injury that occurred in Texas back in 2008. This has been suspected, but I believe it’s the first time that the Yankees have publicly acknowledged that Chamberlain’s injury was a big deal.

That game in Texas was Chamberlain's 12th start, following 20 relief outings that season. In his first 11 starts, he'd posted a 2.23 ERA in 61 innings, with 23 walks and 69 strikeouts. At that point, it looked like the Yankees plans for their young phenom -- get him blooded with some relief work, then get him into the rotation -- had worked perfectly.

But after hurting his shoulder, Chamberlain missed a month. He did return to the bullpen that September, and actually pitched quite well.

That was only 11 innings, though. He didn't pitch well at all in 2009, as a starter. He pitched better than his 4.40 ERA in 2010, as a reliever. It now seems highly possible that Joba Chamberlain is just another in a long, long line of young pitchers whose arm simply couldn't withstand the rigors of throwing 100 pitches every five days. It's easy to blame the Yankees, because their handling of him got such great attention with such poor results. But if you're going to blame the Yankees, are you going to blame every other management team -- with the possible exception of the Tampa Bay Rays, these last couple of years -- in the history of Organized Baseball?

Rob Neyer shares his thoughts on what comes next for the Yankees after missing out on Cliff Lee.

We can finally put Derek Jeter's new contract to bed, as Jayson Stark has details of the incentive clauses that might escalate his 2014 salary from $8 million to $17 million:

Jeter is guaranteed salaries of $15 million next year, $16 million in 2012 and $17 million in 2013, with $2 million of that money deferred without interest in each of those seasons. But it's in 2014 when the creative player option kicks in, at a salary that could range between $8 million and $17 million, depending on how Jeter plays in the first three years.

" $4 million if he wins an MVP award in 2012, '13 or '14. " $2 million if he finishes second through sixth in any of those years. " $1.5 million if he wins a Silver Slugger in any of those years. " $500,000 if he wins a Gold Glove in any of those years. " $500,0000 if he wins an LCS MVP award in any of those years. " $500,000 if he wins a World Series MVP award in any of those years. There is no limit to how many times he can earn any of those escalator payouts. However, the most he can get paid in 2014 is $17 million, meaning he can earn no more than $9 million in increases. If the option is picked up for any amount less than $17 million, he can also earn any of those amounts in 2014 -- up to a max of $17 million earned.

In addition, the deal contains a $3 million buyout if the option isn't picked up, which brings the guaranteed portion of the contract to $51 million over three years.

I think it's worth mentioning, at least once more, just how brilliantly the Yankees played this thing.

Remember, Jeter earned $20 million this year. His agent asked for a raise (probably knowing he wouldn't get it, but you have to start somewhere). The Yankees, according to most reports, offered a three-year deal worth $45 million; $15 million per season.

Well, the Yankees have committed to spending $48 million over the next three seasons; $16 million per season, but actually somewhat less because of the deferred money (how much less is impossible to guess until we know the time period of the deferments).

And all those performance incentives? Of that possible extra $9 million Jeter may earn in 2014, he'll be lucky to grab more than $1 million, maybe $2 million. He might enjoy a nice bounce-back next season and finish fifth or sixth the MVP voting. The Gold Glove voters might just keep rubber-stamping that one until Jeter's fitted for an artificial hip. But that $17 million isn't even a fantasy; it's just a bunch of face-saving gobbledygook that nobody who knows anything is taking seriously.

Basically, the Yankees are paying Jeter almost exactly what they wanted to pay him, in the first three years of the deal. In the fourth year, if he still wants to play, they'll pay him $8 million if he wants to play. But one can easily imagine him not wanting to play, if he hasn't been playing well, and instead deploying his $3 million parachute and waving goodbye. If he does want to play, he'll probably have been playing well enough to justify an $8 million salary.

I don't mean to suggest this deal is perfect for the Yankees. A perfect deal would have included some way of accounting for the distinct possibility that Jeter's just not a good enough fielder to play shortstop in 2013, or a good enough hitter to play DH. A lot of things might go wrong in the next three years. But considering the Yankees' need for a shortstop and the myriad pressures to keep Jeter a Yankee Forever, they did about as well here as they could have.

So do the Yankees have a budget, or don't they?

Andrew Marchand reports that the Yankees do have a budget, somewhere between $200 million and $210 million (give or take a few million, of course). Prince Hal Steinbrenner describes himself as "a budget guy" and suggests that if the Yankees do have money to spend this season, it'll be money that's coming off the books.

But nobody who doesn't work at Yankee Stadium has done more work with the Yankees' payroll than IIATMS's Larry, and he says the numbers just don't add up. Not to $210 million, anyway.

As things stand now, the Yankees are essentially committed to spending $200 million next season if Andy Pettitte comes back. Granted, if Pettitte doesn't come back, the Yankees could pay Cliff Lee $25 million and come in at just a little more than $210 million ... except they want Andy Pettitte to come back and they want to sign Cliff Lee and -- according to Buster Olney -- they're hot for Carl Crawford, too.

It doesn't take an accountant to figure if the Yankees re-sign Pettitte and sign both Lee and Crawford, the payroll will hit upwards of $240 million next season. If they don't re-sign Pettitte but do get the other two guys, it'll be north of $230 million.

Budget, shmudget.

Of course, from the Yankees' point of view it's entirely justifiable. While the baseball team itself probably isn't as profitable as you might assume, the YES Network is a cash cow. For them, $30 million is a rounding error. The businesses are run separately, but given the symbiotic nature of the relationship, it's hard to imagine that people don't talk. And perhaps even write checks to one another.

My guess is that the Yankees won't get both Lee and Crawford, if only because other teams have money to spend, too. But I don't think the Yankees will let their "budget" get in the way of getting what they want.

Mariano Rivera has apparently re-upped with the Yankees for two more seasons, undoubtedly leaving Yankees fans wondering why some are so easy and so so difficult.

According to the Daily News, the deal came together quickly:

Thursday night, Rivera's agent Fernando Cuza - who was one of the many guests at Red Sox slugger David Ortiz's celebrity golf tournament kickoff dinner - had said the Yankees and Rivera's camp were "a little far apart" on getting a new deal done for Rivera, and that "hopefully we'll be able to work it out." But within hours, a deal came together, perhaps expedited because Rivera had recently received a three-year deal and more money (believed to be in the neighborhood of $17 million per year) from another team, according to the source. The source added that Rivera wanted to maintain his ties to the only team he has ever played for, and went with less money and fewer years to continue wearing pinstripes.

--snip--

While Jeter's numbers were down in 2010, batting well below his .314 career average, Rivera showed no signs of age, posting another impressive season with a 1.80 ERA and 33 saves. It's unclear if Rivera would want to pitch beyond this deal ...

Well, I wouldn't say he's showed no signs of age. Rivera's strikeout-to-walk ratio this year was his lowest since 2004. Then again, it was also slightly higher than his career mark and second-best among American League closers.

What's more striking (to me, anyway) is Rivera's innings. He used to be good for 75 or 80 innings per season. Then 70. And in Joe Girardi's first two seasons as manager, it's been 66 and 60. Granted, as long as the Yankees make the playoffs, the only thing that matters is having Rivera ready to pitch in October. It just gets harder, on paper, to justify a $15 million salary when the innings don't start with (at least) a 7. And I couldn't help noticing that Girardi never asked Rivera to pitch more than one full inning during this fall's postseason festivities.

What's made Rivera the greatest reliever in the game's history has been his ability to pitch brilliantly and often, at least in October. And it's not clear that he's still going to be used often in October. Which probably makes him worth somewhat less than $15 million.

Again, that's on paper. There was no way the Yankees were letting Rivera get away. And because he pitched so well in 2010, it shouldn't be surprising if there really was another solid offer from another club. Which was all his agent needed to secure a deal that will pay Rivera what he was already making.

Another from the mailbag about The Most Important Negotiations Ever:

Rob, as a lifelong Yankees fan and Derek Jeter admirer, I have a question for you.

As a purely baseball matter, its fairly obvious that a 3 year, $45MM contract offer is pretty generous. I happen to be one of the Yankees fans who think the Yankees are being petty and mean-spirited but not for the reasons I saw in the mailbag, that Jeter is somehow owed it.

I certainly don't believe that but I do believe the Yankees have picked a bizarre instance to show fiscal restraint especially in light of the AJ Burnett, Javy Vazquez, Kei Igawa and how many others? Why have they picked this battle? With Derek Jeter of all people?

More importantly, what is so wrong with Casey Close pointing out, that in this instance this is much more than a baseball negotiation. Quite simply, the Yankees may have paid Jeter boatloads over the years but he has helped make them tons of money. And over the next couple of years as he goes for 3000 hits and other milestones they will make buckets more. That's money they won't make if he leaves town. Why shouldn't he get a piece of that?

Thanks, and happy Thanksgiving.
Ken

Thanks for the note, Ken.

I know everybody's sick of this story, but you do bring up a couple of issues that I don't think I've addressed already, so ...

You ask why Jeter shouldn't "get a piece of that" ... But even at 3 years and (only) $45 million, he will be getting a piece of that.

Just doing a quick back-of-the-envelope calculation, I estimate that Jeter will be worth roughly $40 million over the next three seasons, purely based on his performance. This assumes that he bounces back nicely in 2011 but otherwise ages typically.

If the Yankees have offered $45 million, that's an extra $5 million piece of that "money they won't make if he leaves town."

I don't know about you, but $5 million still seems like a lot of money to me. And it's generally believed that no other team would give Jeter a three-year contract and $40 million. Let alone $45 million. It seems like the Yankees' offer already includes that extra piece, doesn't it?

What's more, I have to question Jeter's ability to generate a great deal of "extra" income for the Yankees. Yes, everybody wants to see him rack up his 3,000th hit in a Yankees uniform. How many extra tickets can they sell during his march toward 3,000, though? And what happens afterward? You mentioned "other milestones" but I'm not sure what you mean. He's already the Yankees' all-time leader in hits, at-bats, and plate appearances. If he plays for the Yankees in 2011, he'll pass Rickey Henderson for No. 1 in stolen bases and Mickey Mantle for No. 1 in games played. Would you expect the Yankees to sell substantially more tickets and T-shirts and little onesies because of those milestones?

Every little bit helps, I'm sure. But you have to sell a lot of onesies to make $5 million.

Finally, I think at this point it's best to let A.J. Burnett, Javier Vazquez, and Kei Igawa go. It seems like an odd argument, that the Yankees made three mistakes already so why not make another?

More to the point, the Yankees gave Burnett, Vazquez, and Igawa the money because they thought those guys would justify their salaries on the field. You're not suggesting that Jeter be treated the same; you're suggesting that he be treated completely differently. So I can't see their relevance.

The Yankees apparently do have a budget, by the way. And giving Jeter what he's asking for would bust it.

A lot of Yankees fans think three years and $45 million is perfectly fair, if not more than fair. But the Yankees fans who think Jeter deserves a great deal more than $45 million are arguing from their hearts rather than their heads.

Which is fine. Being a fan is about love, and love comes from the heart. What doesn't often come from the heart is a logically compelling argument.

This, from the Times' Michael S Schmidt, is the best analysis I've seen yet of The World's Most Important Negotiations:

Derek Jeter’s agent, Casey Close, is currently asking the Yankees to agree to a new contract of either four or five years at $23 to $24 million a year, according to a person in baseball who had been briefed on the matter.

--snip--

Still, the current offers — three years at $15 million a year by the Yankees and a maximum five years at $23 to $24 million by Close — suggest an obvious compromise in which the two sides would settle at four years and, say, $19 million a year.

If they did agree on those numbers, it would actually represent a small, but symbolic, annual increase over Jeter’s last contract, which, at the behest of George Steinbrenner, was designed to average a sliver below $19 million a year.

A deal that paid $19 million a year would also allow Jeter to rationalize that he was not taking a pay cut, a point that was emphasized on Friday by one National League executive who has been watching the Jeter situation with interest. That executive said that established stars like Jeter typically found it difficult to take any kind of reduction of pay, even when they have already made enormous amounts of money.

Still, it is not clear that the Yankees will ultimately agree to a compromise that pays Jeter $19 million a year, regardless of the negative fallout a protracted standoff might produce. The Yankees know they are the ones with the leverage, because Jeter will not get offers from other teams to match what the Yankees are already willing to pay.

Well, I suppose it's true that the Yankees have more leverage. I'm not sure they have all the leverage. There have always been, and always will be, players who simply refuse to play if they don't get what they want. In 1930, future Hall of Famer Edd Roush skipped the season rather than play for less than he wanted. Eighty years later, future non-Hall of Famer Jermaine Dye did the same.

I haven't seen Derek Jeter's portfolio. I'll guess that even a paltry $45 million (before taxes) does mean something to him, but it's quite possible that it doesn't. Or that it does, but not as much as his foolish pride.

I still think everything will work out OK in the end. The Yankees will move some, Jeter will move some, and everyone smiles a lot and says all the right things when the shortstop gets his $19 million per season. It's like Sam Goldwyn said about one of his movie stars: "We're overpaying him, but he's worth it."

It might not work out OK in the end, though. Either way, I'm reminded of how many pundits were so sure, just a few weeks ago, that of course Derek Jeter would never leave the Yankees. Something like that would be impossible.

Except it's really not impossible, and never was.

George Vecsey on what's going to be the biggest story out of Cooperstown this winter:

George Steinbrenner died on July 13. It’s now November, and he is on a short list for the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

We were just getting used to the gross plaque honoring the Sun King of the Bronx. In the heady rush of deserved respect and understandable nostalgia, we need to slow down and evaluate the Boss.

--snip--

Ultimately, to my chagrin, I cannot work up any major moral or legal long-term argument for keeping Steinbrenner out of the Hall. He paid his penalties, and he came back.

I think he belongs in the Hall — eventually.

I snipped all the terrible (if true) things Vecsey wrote about Steinbrenner's tenure as owner (including the suspensions). There's definitely a case to be made against Steinbrenner's enshrinement (the elements of which may also be found here, in greater detail).

George Steinbrenner is going to wind up in the Hall of Fame, and he probably does belong there, if only because he was one of the sport's dominant figures for so many years. But if I had a vote this year, I would have to vote no. Because so soon after his passing, it's almost impossible to be objective about him.

Obviously, he would have enjoyed going into the Hall when he was alive. But it's too late for that. And I think his family and his many fans can wait just a few more years.

Later, I'll discuss Marvin Miller and the rest of the candidates on this year's ballot.

Have we seen the last of Jorge Posada behind the plate? According to the Post, that's essentially the plan:

Face to face Brian Cashman informed Jorge Posada that he will be the Yankees designated hitter next season, The Post has learned.

Cashman met with Posada in Manhattan this week to tell the veteran to, as usual, prepare to catch, but the team's first option is to have youngsters Jesus Montero, Francisco Cervelli and Austin Romine compete in spring training for the two primary jobs.

It is quite a risk to team an expensive, mostly veteran staff with such inexperienced catchers. But it is indicative of how much the Yankees believe Posada's defensive game has slipped in all areas.

As Jason points out, the Yankees' catchers in 2010 were really awful (according to one metric, anyway). Of course, the Yankees still somehow managed to win 95 games and come not that far away from the World Series. But you have to take the edges where you can find them, and behind the plate is the easiest place for the Yankees to look.

That said, I'm not sure this is really about defense. After all, Cervelli didn't exactly sparkle with the glove this season, and a lot of people still have questions about Montero's defense. Romine has a .330 career OBP in the minors and hasn't played an inning in Triple-A yet.

This seems more about Montero's bat and Posada's contract than anything else.

If Posada wasn't under contract in 2011, the Yankees would probably let him walk, and buy a designated hitter. But they still owe him $13 million and would like a return on their investment.

If Montero wasn't one of the better hitting prospects in the minors, the Yankees would probably let him percolate for a bit longer in Scranton. But just as it's time for Michael Scott to move on, Montero's been there long enough, too.

I do think it's too early to know how 2011 will go. The Yankees have four catchers who do various things well. It's just too bad for them that none of the catchers who can hit have much otherwise to offer. But hey, you can't everything. Not even if you're the Yankees.

A friend tweets : "It's absurd that Jeter won a Gold Glove, but no more absurd than his never having won an MVP."

No, it's not. It's not nearly as absurd.

Jeter's won five Gold Gloves, and hasn't deserved any of them. If you tilt everything toward him as much as you possibly can, you might be able to argue that once, just once, he was one of the four or five best candidates. Otherwise he's been one of the American League's worst Gold Glove candidates, every time he's actually won the thing.

Meanwhile, there's never been a year in which Jeter should obviously have won the MVP Award but didn't.

His best seasons -- and not coincidentally, the years in which he came closest to winning the award -- were 1998, 1999, 2006, and 2009, in which he finished third, sixth, second, and third in the balloting.

In 1998, Jeter finished behind Juan Gonzalez and Nomar Garciaparra. Gonzalez won because he drove in a lot of runs, and you can guess how I felt (and feel) about that. Jeter also finished behind Garciaparra, and it's really hard to argue that Jeter was measurably better than Garciaparra. Albert Belle and Alex Rodriguez, though finishing well behind in the balloting, played just as well as Jeter. Leaving aside the actual winner, all of those guys were worthy candidates.

In 1999, the voters probably blew it again, going for Ivan Rodriguez. Many of us thought Pedro Martinez got robbed, but there were other excellent candidates, especially Jeter, Roberto Alomar, and Manny Ramirez.

In 2006 ... well, in 2006 I think I actually supported Jeter's candidacy for the first time. For me, it was a choice between him and Joe Mauer ... so of course Justin Morneau won, as the voters once again declared their fealty to the All Powerful Run Batted In. Grady Sizemore was awesome that season, too.

In 2009, Jeter was awesome. But so were Kevin Youkilis and Ben Zobrist, and Mauer out-awesomed all of them. When a catcher leads the league in OPS and gets 27 of 28 first-place MVP votes, it's sorta hard to argue that the wrong guy won.

Looking backward, a lot of wrong guys have won. But never at the obvious expense of Jeter. He could have won two or three times, but it's not at all clear that he's deserved to win even once.

Giving Jeter five Gold Gloves is a significantly larger error than giving him zero MVP Awards. What balances the scale is the relative prestige of the awards. Most players would, I suspect, happily trade five Gold Gloves for one MVP. And it's certainly true that Jeter deserves that one MVP a lot more than the five Gold Gloves. Do you think he can work out a trade? Maybe in lieu of that fourth year on his next contract?