"We are not the New York Yankees. We are not New York..." (Winter Meetings Thread)

[weams]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Mattingly said he thinks Matt Kemp will be ready to go for Spring Training after two operations.</p>— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) <a href="

">December 10, 2013</a></blockquote>

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[weams]

[weams]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>I think a baseball employer-employee relationship ended in a room on our floor an hour or so ago. And it ended loudly.</p>— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) <a href="

">December 11, 2013</a></blockquote>

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[Capn Vivi]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>I think a baseball employer-employee relationship ended in a room on our floor an hour or so ago. And it ended loudly.</p>— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) <a href="

">December 11, 2013</a></blockquote>

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I'm not sure when these guys even sleep!

[weams]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Fan challenged Brady Anderson to race outside hotel. Brady so far in front he finished backward. "I take on all comers."</p>— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) <a href="

">December 11, 2013</a></blockquote>

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[TonySoprano]

Melewski: You’ve talked about pursuit of a closer here and you’ve meet with some people to talk about that. Do you feel committed to adding a closer from outside the organization or would you reach a point where you would consider we’re going to go with what’s in-house?

Duquette: Well I think the key point down here is we’re looking to add to our pitching staff. We did a lot of work today on the rule V draft. I think there’s some good candidates that we can consider to help our pitching staff. So we’re going to continue to look to that as an area where we can add players to our ball club. And fortunately last year we had McFarland came through and did a nice job for us so he gave us some pitching depth. So we’re looking at that as an option and I think there’s some pretty good candidates there that we could consider for selection later in the week.

source - (video) Dan Duquette shares his thoughts after Day 2 at the Winter Meetings

[TonySoprano]

Sometimes I wonder why he even acknowledges it. Why even talk about working on the Rule 5 draft? It's pretty close to bad PR considering how little they've actually done so far in terms of actual moves.

He has said recently we don't have a closer in-house, someone who can get LHBs and RHBs out. So after checking the prices of what's out there, we're now talking rule V? He is kind of backed into a corner with the talk of resource allocation. He can't turn around and spend 70%-80% of the money he saved on Johnson on another closer. One talking head questioned that yesterday wondering if that was the case, then was it another issue they had with Johnson besides money.

We've known for months that we weren't going to be big players in the free agent pitching market. Now that Duquette is talking about McFarland and rule V, he comes across as gun-shy about taking any chances on buying pitching.

[SeaBird]

We've known for months that we weren't going to be big players in the free agent pitching market. Now that Duquette is talking about McFarland and rule V, he comes across as gun-shy about taking any chances on buying pitching.

Duquette: "And fortunately last year we had McFarland came through and did a nice job for us so he gave us some pitching depth. So we’re looking at that as an option and I think there’s some pretty good candidates there that we could consider for selection later in the week."

Yeah. Wait until "later in the week" when those "pretty good candidates" are all gone. Then you can say how you were all set to pull the trigger but the guy(s) you wanted were gone.

[Number5]

Duquette: "And fortunately last year we had McFarland came through and did a nice job for us so he gave us some pitching depth. So we’re looking at that as an option and I think there’s some pretty good candidates there that we could consider for selection later in the week."

Yeah. Wait until "later in the week" when those "pretty good candidates" are all gone. Then you can say how you were all set to pull the trigger but the guy(s) you wanted were gone.

I'm pretty sure that he was referring to pretty good candidates in the Rule 5 Draft, which is later in the week, hence the McFarland reference.

[turtlebowl]

Sometimes I wonder why he even acknowledges it. Why even talk about working on the Rule 5 draft? It's pretty close to bad PR considering how little they've actually done so far in terms of actual moves.

Because the Rule 5 draft is an acceptable form of dumpster diving.

Our normal form of dumpster diving is kind of like digging through a dumpster at a thrift shop. Basically you are going to find things nobody else wants. The rule 5 is more like a yard sale, the hope is you find something that is halfway decent because the homeowner just has to much stuff and the space in his house is limited.

Who doesn't love a good yard sale!!

[Ommaculate]

I watched the presser. What Granderson actually said was, "A lot of people have told me, 'real New Yorkers are Mets fans'." He was pretty appreciative of his time with the NYY but said it boils down to being a business. Good cannon fodder for the next Subway Series though.

I have never met a Mets fan in real life. I have met tons of New Yorkers who are Yankees fans. They all just laugh when you mention the Mets. They hate them.

Same with the Jets. All of them are Giants fans.

[MDK02]

I have never met a Mets fan in real life. I have met tons of New Yorkers who are Yankees fans. They all just laugh when you mention the Mets. They hate them.

Same with the Jets. All of them are Giants fans.

Well its whatever team is winning at the time, typical NY fans.

[TonySoprano]

$426.8M vs $172.4M.

The Yankees spent 2.5X what the Orioles did the last two years and that bought them an extra two wins and a division title vs. a wild card.

In the minds of the front office and ownership, does that reinforce the philosophy that we don't have to add a lot of payroll to keep pace with NY?

[TradeAngelos]

$426.8M vs $172.4M.

The Yankees spent 2.5X what the Orioles did the last two years and that bought them an extra two wins and a division title vs. a wild card.

In the minds of the front office and ownership, does that reinforce the philosophy that we don't have to add a lot of payroll to keep pace with NY?

Only our front office would use the last 2 years to justify that ridiculous line of thinking, with one team(rattled by massive injuries,suspensions and anything else that could possibly go wrong) instead of the past 15 years, with the 100 other teams who have added significant payroll and won. World Series, league championships, division titles year after year etc etc...

[Redskins Rick]

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I wonder if DD is talking to them and for whom<iframe id="rufous-sandbox" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" style="display: none;"></iframe>