NY Times: On The 6th Day Before Christmas Rakuten Said No To Ma

The Grinch that kept Tanaka

New York Times reporter Ken Belson, citing several Japanese news sources on Thursday morning, reported that the Rakuten Golden Eagles have decided to not allow star pitcher Masahiro Tanaka to post to Major League Baseball.

Reports last night had Rakuten offering Tanaka 80MM yen ($8MM US) to remain in Japan for one more year. That figure could go as high as $12MM, three times the amount Tanaka earned in 2013.

The move would squlech the plans of the Yankees and other teams that were hoping to add a pitcher of Tanaka's magnitude to their starting rotation.

The Yankees should look for a short term fix - a deal for a quality pitcher that will not receive guaranteed money past the 2015 season. This is likely Hiroki Kuroda's last season, though it's been said before, so he could be replaced in 2015 by a pitcher acquired for this coming season. The Yankees should stay away from pitchers like Bronson Arroyo, who are looking for 3-4 year deals.

I'll repeat what I said earlier this week - Yovani Gallardo, MIL or Justin Masterson, CLE. I prefer Masterson.

Radomski Books Contradicts Testimony

A new book by Kirk Radomski could hurt the credibility (if they had any to begin with) of testimony by both Radomski and Brian McNamee, so says NY Times reporter Michael Schmidt.

McNamee had testified before Congress nearly a year ago that he never told Radomski about injecting Roger Clemens with steroids. But Radomski's book, "Bases Loaded" tells a different story. Radomski relates a time that McNamee informed him that he had injected Clemens with Winstrol. The passage could have a direct impact on the grand jury investigating possible perjury by Clemens before Congress last year.

“In a perjury case a prosecutor’s worst nightmare is for a witness to make public statements that contradicts another witness, especially the key witness in the case,” said Mathew Rosengart, a partner at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips in New York and a former federal prosecutor. “Perjury cases are almost always a he-said, she-said dispute, and there usually isn’t a smoking gun, so corroboration of witnesses is essential. The questions about Radomski are a good thing for Clemens’s defense.”

Daniel Richman, a professor of law at Columbia University and, like Rosengart, a former federal prosecutor, echoed Rosengart’s concerns. “Every inaccuracy or inconsistency will provide material for the defense for cross-examination,” Richman said. “And they will use it to create doubt in the jury’s mind about Radomski and — by extension — McNamee.”

You can bet Clemens' lawyers will be studying Radomski's book as if they were trying to pass the Bar.

Jose Can you Extort?

Desperate for money and because he's a piece of scum, José Canseco has allegedly tried to extort money from the Tigers' Magglio Ordóñez. Mags doesn't want to press charges though, so the FBI will not be opening an investigation.

According to a New York Times report Canseco told Ordóñez he would keep him out of his new book, the sequel to "Juiced", if the Tigers' outfielder would invest in a movie project promoted by Canseco. Ordóñez said a friend of Canseco's kept calling him, so he informed Tigers' GM Dave Dombrowski of the matter.

“One of José’s friends was leaving me messages,” Ordóñez said. “I told Dombrowski because I didn’t know why he was calling me.”

“I didn’t want to press charges against him,” Ordóñez said. “I don’t want any problems. He is probably desperate for money. I don’t understand why he is trying to put people down.”

Dombrowski wouldn't comment on the matter, preferring to keep it an internal matter. Canseco denied any involvement in the alleged matter as well as any knowledge of possible FBI involvement. He did admit to calling Ordonez several months back to talk about the book.

Canseco responded to a query as to whether Ordonez, his 2001 White Sox teammate, would be in the book, by pushing the tome. “You are going to have to buy the book to see that,” Canseco told the Times.

It would seem doubtful that any other players would step forward to claim Canseco tried to extort them as well, since most don't want to deal with the steroid issue.

Canseco, meanwhile, is having difficulty getting his new book, "Vindicated", into stores. Last week, Berkley Books, (part of the Penguin Group), dropped the project after feeling it would not be ready by the time the major league baseball season opened. But Simon Spotlight, part of Simon & Schuster, picked up the book and will release it on March 31.

Canseco also lost his ghost-writer Don Yaeger at the end of December, after Yaeger had doubts about Canseco's "facts".

“What he sent me was stuff like, ‘Look at the difference in their bodies;’ there were not a lot of specifics,” Yaeger said.

But now Canseco's kicking it up a notch by hiring Pablo F. Fenjves. Fenjves is the former National Enquirer staffer who ghost-wrote O.J. Simpson's "If I Did It". Maybe José will be able to tie the two books together into some 'roid rage killing spree.

Jose Can you Extort?

Desperate for money and because he's a piece of scum, José Canseco has allegedly tried to extort money from the Tigers' Magglio Ordóñez. Mags doesn't want to press charges though, so the FBI will not be opening an investigation.

According to a New York Times report Canseco told Ordóñez he would keep him out of his new book, the sequel to "Juiced", if the Tigers' outfielder would invest in a movie project promoted by Canseco. Ordóñez said a friend of Canseco's kept calling him, so he informed Tigers' GM Dave Dombrowski of the matter.

“One of José’s friends was leaving me messages,” Ordóñez said. “I told Dombrowski because I didn’t know why he was calling me.”

“I didn’t want to press charges against him,” Ordóñez said. “I don’t want any problems. He is probably desperate for money. I don’t understand why he is trying to put people down.”

Dombrowski wouldn't comment on the matter, preferring to keep it an internal matter. Canseco denied any involvement in the alleged matter as well as any knowledge of possible FBI involvement. He did admit to calling Ordonez several months back to talk about the book.

Canseco responded to a query as to whether Ordonez, his 2001 White Sox teammate, would be in the book, by pushing the tome. “You are going to have to buy the book to see that,” Canseco told the Times.

It would seem doubtful that any other players would step forward to claim Canseco tried to extort them as well, since most don't want to deal with the steroid issue.

Canseco, meanwhile, is having difficulty getting his new book, "Vindicated", into stores. Last week, Berkley Books, (part of the Penguin Group), dropped the project after feeling it would not be ready by the time the major league baseball season opened. But Simon Spotlight, part of Simon & Schuster, picked up the book and will release it on March 31.

Canseco also lost his ghost-writer Don Yaeger at the end of December, after Yaeger had doubts about Canseco's "facts".

“What he sent me was stuff like, ‘Look at the difference in their bodies;’ there were not a lot of specifics,” Yaeger said.

But now Canseco's kicking it up a notch by hiring Pablo F. Fenjves. Fenjves is the former National Enquirer staffer who ghost-wrote O.J. Simpson's "If I Did It". Maybe José will be able to tie the two books together into some 'roid rage killing spree.

Stick to Orange Juice

Good piece by Murray Chass in today's NY Times concerning the two franchises, and we use that term loosely, in Florida. How the Marlins have not been contracted by now is anyone's guess. They're about to sell off their best parts, again, to save payroll. Can MLB really allow a team to continue to draw crowds smaller than their minor league affiliates?

Tampa Bay, which is dropping the "Devil" portion of its name, isn't much better. They never should have gotten a team to begin with. They built that horrendous dome, which looks like a warehouse, to draw a team. And MLB got suckered into giving them one.

Times Article

Stick to Orange Juice

Good piece by Murray Chass in today's NY Times concerning the two franchises, and we use that term loosely, in Florida. How the Marlins have not been contracted by now is anyone's guess. They're about to sell off their best parts, again, to save payroll. Can MLB really allow a team to continue to draw crowds smaller than their minor league affiliates?

Tampa Bay, which is dropping the "Devil" portion of its name, isn't much better. They never should have gotten a team to begin with. They built that horrendous dome, which looks like a warehouse, to draw a team. And MLB got suckered into giving them one.

Times Article

MMD Answer Levine

Mike and the Mad Dog opened their show today with a response to Randy Levine's comments in the New York Times. Levine comes off looking like an even bigger buffoon than before.

Franseca took the point since he has been the most critical of Levine over time, including well before the Joe Torre situation came up. They accurately pointed out that Levine is thin skinned and needs to toughen up if he is going to put himself in the forefront of the Yankees hierarchy.

Levine stated that MMD criticized Levine because their YES contract comes up next year. As Francesa pointed out, "how would criticizing help negotiate?".

Clearly MMD do not need YES, but they do need MMD.

Kudos, and I don't give them to MMD often, for defending Tom Verducci as well.

MMD Answer Levine

Mike and the Mad Dog opened their show today with a response to Randy Levine's comments in the New York Times. Levine comes off looking like an even bigger buffoon than before.

Franseca took the point since he has been the most critical of Levine over time, including well before the Joe Torre situation came up. They accurately pointed out that Levine is thin skinned and needs to toughen up if he is going to put himself in the forefront of the Yankees hierarchy.

Levine stated that MMD criticized Levine because their YES contract comes up next year. As Francesa pointed out, "how would criticizing help negotiate?".

Clearly MMD do not need YES, but they do need MMD.

Kudos, and I don't give them to MMD often, for defending Tom Verducci as well.