BOWDEN FLOATS ANOTHER BLOCKBUSTER & I'M SALIVATING!

We are less than a week away from the trade deadline and the rumor mill is working overtime. Social media is buzzing with juicy leads, some of them so juicy we practically drool thinking about them. It's enough excitement to check every push notification I get on my phone that is about baseball and stop what I am doing.

Some of these rumors are juicy enough to excite you. Then there are others that just don't have any sense of realism to them. One that has caught my eye is the Tarik Skubal storyline that is playing out. Skubal is going to be on the move, everyone is saying it, especially Buster Olney and Jim Bowden read more HERE.

But where is his new home going to be? Everyone wants to know, especially me. Bowden seems to think the Yankees will be in play for Skubal but I think that is another one of his crazy connections or trade ideas that just never pans out. Just because "Brian Cashman is absolutely everywhere looking for everybody and anything to get better" doesn't mean that the Yankees are gonna be the lucky winner in the Skubal sweepstakes. Every GM is calling the Tigers right now, they would be stupid not to. Brian Cashman has way too many holes not to be engaging with all 29 teams!

Look, every team wants Skubal and the Tigers know this. He's a generational talent that is going to hit it big in free agency but until that happens he's going to be the difference maker that could make or break a wild card to almost half of the league right now. The wild card race is tight, the American League has 8 teams within striking distance of a wild card spot, and 7 teams in the National League are in the same spot. Skubal instantly increases any teams chance of getting to the postseason, so teams are ready to pounce.

Detroit is going to command a high price tag because of this - and it's going to happen. Detroit has about a 25% chance to even make the postseason. As their chances dwindle, it makes more sense for Detroit to trade him and get some controllable talent rather than him leaving and getting nothing.

I think Bowden is right, Skubal is going to be on the move I just don't think it will be to the Yankees. We aren't going to include the pieces needed to get him and other teams have more chips to play with. I also think he's right that Cashman is living on his cellphone and calling and texting everyone trying to make a deal.

I just think the Skubal to the Yankees is another one of his wacky predictions that fall flat. I'd like to be wrong though. In the mean time, happy rumor scrolling Yankee family. It's going to be an interesting few days.

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj

THE DODGERS ANDREW FRIEDMAN HAS SOME EXPLAINING TO DO

Suspicious, Suspicious, Suspicious!

OK, let’s get this out of the way first: I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I actually agree with Buster Olney. Yeah, that Buster Olney. Wow. But hey, even a broken clock is right twice a day, and when it comes to the Dodgers’ acquisition of Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki, Olney’s skepticism is absolutely spot on.

Here’s the tea: Sasaki entered the MLB posting system in January, and all the usual suspects lined up like kids at a candy store. Yankees, Mets, Blue Jays, Padres, Rangers, Giants, Cubs—and, of course, the Dodgers. It was the ultimate bidding war… or was it? Because by January 17, Sasaki magically landed in Los Angeles with a $6.5 million posting bonus.

Suspicious? You bet.

While MLB swears up and down that their investigation found “no evidence of impropriety,” pretty much everyone else in the league is screaming foul. Even Olney didn’t mince words:

“They don’t believe it was ever on the up and up. There’s so many people who believe this was a done deal ahead of time.”

But wait, it gets better (or worse, depending on your team). During the evaluation process, Sasaki’s camp made a bizarre request: teams were asked to analyze his fastball velocity—down to 96.9 mph, gasp!—and present detailed plans for restoring and enhancing it. Naturally, organizations poured massive amounts of time, money, and expertise into crafting high-level pitching strategies.

And where did all that proprietary data end up? Oh, just in the hands of the Dodgers.

“All that information… was taped in this presentation the teams were doing,” Olney continued. “And then he chose the Dodgers, which means all these teams basically handed over proprietary information to Sasaki and the Dodgers.”

Let’s be real here: if you’re not mad about this, you’re probably Andrew Friedman or Sasaki’s agent Joel Wolfe. Rival executives are fuming, and for good reason. All those hours, all that effort—wasted. MLB can investigate all it wants, but the whispers aren’t going away. Manfred blew another one.

And the best part? Even the final decision “came down” to three teams—Dodgers, Padres, and Blue Jays—people still think the whole thing was a foregone conclusion.

So yeah, while MLB and the Dodgers might want us to believe everything’s squeaky clean, the rest of the league isn’t buying it. And honestly? Neither am I.

This smells fishier than a sushi platter at Dodger Stadium. No, that's just Friedman's crotch.  

Stay tuned on this one... this is a big deal.

THE YANKEES ARE PLAYOFF BOUND, BUT SOTO RUMORS ARE STEALING THE SPOTLIGHT!

Playoff berth? YUP

AL East title? DONE, back where it belongs for the first time since 2012!

Home-field advantage through the Championship series of playoffs? CHECK!

Everything has fallen into place after a disastrous 2023 season, except that's not what I am seeing all over social media.

Is everyone excited about the postseason? You bet, especially after missing out last year. October baseball is coming, but that's not the buzz all over my notifications and social media feeds. Instead, it's all about Juan Soto, which isn't a total shock. He and Aaron Judge are the reason why we are where we are right now. But....there's speculation brewing about next season.

Brendan Kuty of the Athletic detailed HERE how a brief meeting with Hal Steinbrenner and Soto back in Spring Training left a positive impression on him. That alone is nothing to get too excited about but, this encounter was MONTHS ago, and he will have his pick of many interested teams this winter.....but he's still thinking about his brief interaction with Hal. Interesting. In recent history, most news with Hal hasn't been great. This one was positive and left Soto feeling like Hal cared about him and the team. It's just not something we hear a lot about.

Soto has enjoyed his time as a Yankee. He's thrived here in an environment that we've seen chew up and spit out many other ballplayers. He hasn't let the high pressure get to him. He's reminiscing already. "I think anybody would want to be in the history books for the Yankees," Soto said. "I've been trying all year to be part of it — at least even if it's for one year. I'm trying my best to be around those books with the World Series champions. But we'll see. We will see how it's going to be. At the end of the day, you never know if you're going to be there."

He's right, no one knows what the future holds even though SI.com continues to make predictions about what this winter looks like, read more HERE. It's what everyone has been talking about all season....where does Soto go this winter and for how much money? His contract is going to be insane, no doubt and Buster Olney thinks Soto won't be a Yankee, "And I do think in the end, the Yankees are going to be outbid by somebody. I can't see Hal going to nutty numbers and we don't know if (New York Mets owner) Steve Cohen is going to do like he does with some of his art and just blow the competition out of the water."

The Cohen connection is no surprise, we've talked about it for months and we know he wants to make a splash. Any owner right now would be thrilled to have deep enough pockets to snag Soto this winter, but the reality is all owners don't. But let's talk about the ultimate "WHAT IF" here. What if....the Yankees win the World Series this year? Would Hal be more inclined to throw him more money? Buster says Hal won't spend the money, but a championship could change his tune....right?

The Yankees are in the postseason, and that's great. But now, how far do the Yankees go? If they go all the way, Hal has to be willing to spend more for Soto, right? If not, he looks foolish. If Hal doesn't then not only will Cohen be in play, but I could see the Dodgers, or the Phillies make a move. Both are also playoff bound, and both have the appetites to win. Soto is a game changer for any team, especially a contender....it all comes down to which owner is willing to shell out the most cash.

The playoffs will tell us a lot....it's about to get really interesting in the Juan Soto sweepstakes and I hope Buster Olney is wrong.

 

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj

RUMOR: CORREA HAS AN INJURY & IS HIDING IT!

Twitter is buzzing and the subject has me glued to my social media accounts. If this true, it is HUGE news and only reinforces how I already feel. What am I talking about?

In case you missed it, there is a juicy rumor out there that Carlos Correa is not being transparent about an injury he has been dealing with. I didn't believe it at first until I came across audio on Twitter. Now social media is convinced that this is a major reason why he hasn't signed a deal and others like Corey Seager and Javier Baez have. Interesting.....

Buster Olney discussed Correa on a podcast and just because it is Correa it peaked my interest. If what Olney is reporting is credible then the Yankees should run the other way. I will be honest, I want them to run away even if he is completely healthy BUT I already think he has no morals or integrity so this only makes me dislike him even more. The idea that his medical records are only accessible with a "significant offer" isn't logical at all but if anyone would actually try to pull this kind of stunt it makes sense it would be a low-life cheater like Correa. It's not the first time he has lacked transparency, and it won't be the last.

And maybe this is part of the reason why the Houston ASSTROS only offered five years at $160 million. Sure they want him at the best price possible but maybe five years is as far as they will go if he does have a concerning injury. It makes sense. The ASSTROS know what Correa is dealing with better than anyone. They love what he's done for the organization and money aside, they offered five years when many insiders were guessing a nine year deal. The Yankees should look at the ASSTROS offer and analyze that some more. ALL teams should.

I've never been a fan of signing Correa. He has a history of controversy surrounding him and now it follows him as he tries to cash in as a free agent. Let Correa be some other teams headache.....and backache in this case.

--Jeana Bellezza

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj

THAT AARON JUDGE RUMOR IS BACK AGAIN

The Yankees are climbing their way out of a horrific start to the season, and while it is nice to see we still have a way to go and the theories and rumors will still be flying. Now Aaron Judge is back in the news again and this time it's not due to an injury.

Last August we wrote YANKEE RUMORS: A FUTURE WITHOUT AARON JUDGE? after multiple sources started speculating that the Yankees future may not include Judge at all. It was an interesting take that considered a Judgeless Yankee team after 2022. Ken Rosenthal had an interesting idea that isn't on the table now but now Buster Olney is giving us another rumor HERE.

We all like rumors, but does this one mean anything? Okay so over the winter the Angels and the Yankees discussed Aaron Judge. Fine, maybe they did but even Olney said it was "the lightest of flirtations" and "perhaps a door-opener for other names." It's a nice blip in baseball news but literally every team does this. Does that mean we should get excited about a possible Jo Adell or Shohei Ohtani move to the Bronx? No, so anyone who would float the name of Mike Trout in this conversation would make me laugh hysterically.

It's just talk. Could it mean something? Maybe, but not the big blockbuster names we all drool over. If anything it's probably the door-opener for other players that Olney said could be a possibility. We know GM's all have these conversations. If anything maybe Angels GM Perry Minasian called Brian Cashman and it went a little something like this:

Minasian: "Hey Brian, is Judge available?"
Cashman: "We aren't looking to move him. If we were, it would be a very high price tag."

And that's probably it, or maybe Cashman gave a flat out "No" instead. I don't think this is serious buzzworthy news. Maybe it's nothing but a PR stunt for Buster Olney. I mean, if you want to read his post on it you can HERE but you have to be a subscribed ESPN Insider to even read it. 

I'm not going to read into this yet. Do I think there is a possibility of a Yankee team without Judge beyond 2022? Sure, but I don't think this Angels connection has anything to do with that at this point. It's a rumor without a lot of substance at this point but.....that's baseball.

  --Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

     BYB Managing Editor

    Twitter: @nyprincessj

THAT BETANCES RUMOR THAT ALWAYS GETS CLICKS

Leave it to Buster Olney to come up with this one.  I'll believe it when I see it.

Dellin Betances to the Mets?

NJ.com writes:

"ESPN MLB insider Buster Olney thinks a “prove it” deal could be on the table, and a team like the Mets make sense as a free agent partner...

There are evaluators and agents who believe that Betances’ best play at this point is to work out a one-year deal with some team, betting on himself to rebound in 2020, and then hit the market again next fall... During his career, Betances has averaged 14.6 strikeouts per nine innings, with a 2.36 ERA in 358 games. It will be interesting to see if the Mets, with a bullpen makeover to look forward to this winter, get involved in the bidding for Betances, who was born and raised in New York." 

And yes...there is no indication that this would happen.  Olney "thinks" it could.  Notice none of the "evaluators and agents" have been named.

He's a terrible baseball insider. Just saying.

FRUSTRATION IN THE BRONX! MILLER TRADED!

Hey, we just wrote TIME TICKIN' 'TIL TRADE DEADLINE, BUT IT'S STILL MILLER TIME IN BRONX! here at BYB and we were feeling pretty good.  I mean, I think deep down we knew that Andrew Miller was gonna be traded, but we just didn't want it to happen.

But we should have known.  We should have known when a fake Buster Olney decided to follow me on Twitter last night and then this morning the real Olney came out with a tweet about it. I should have known by the pouring rain in the Tri-State area last night and then me having a crappy night sleep.  We all should have known it was coming after tweets came out from every "baseball insider" in the world this morning as they were falling all over themselves to trying to be right.

We waited and we watched at BYB... and now we can confirm some info involving Andrew Miller.  He's been traded... to Cleveland and the Yankees get four!

The real Buster Olney, at 8:41am in the morning today tweeted this:

Yankees expected to get Indians prospects Frazier and Sheffield and others in the trade for Andrew Miller.

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) July 31, 2016

Hey, I rank on Olney a lot, but give him mad credit here.  He got it and I tip my cap.  Turns out Miller goes to Cleveland and the Yankees will get 4 in return.  ESPN writes:

(In Photo: Clint Frazier) 

"The Yankees will get a package of four players in return, headed by minor league outfielder Clint Frazier and pitcher Justus Sheffield...Frazier and Sheffield are considered two of Cleveland's top three prospects. Frazier was selected by the Indians with the fifth pick in the 2013 draft...

(In Photo: Justus Sheffield)
Sheffield was drafted by Cleveland in the first round of the 2014 draft...Minor league pitchers Ben Heller and J.P. Feyereisen are also heading to New York..."

And it's sad, very sad because Yankee fans got to love Miller and now there is no Miller to close things out in the Bronx.  But don't get it twisted... this is a haul, the type of haul you NEED when you dangle a guy like Miller.  It's significant, but sad all the same.

And there you have it.  Chapman is gone, and now so is Miller and that "No Runs DMC" shirt you bought can hit the trash can today, never to be worn again... you've been had.  And life goes on in the Bronx.


 

TIME COULD BE UP FOR GARY SANCHEZ

And BYB said it here before any baseball insider. Read this:

@BleednYankeeBlu with Murph on the team I am ok flipping Sanchez. Could end up being a Montero. SD and NYY have a good relationship too

— Mike O'Hara (@mikeyoh21) July 21, 2015

Now take from that what you will.  I suggest it's an idea from Mike O'Hara that any smart baseball person could conclude, especially looking at the personnel the Yankees have and their needs.  But that's OK... baseball insider Buster Olney turned it into his own rumor...

“...there is a sense that with Brian McCann and John Ryan Murphy established in the big leagues, the Yankees will listen to offers for 22-year-old catcher Gary Sanchez, who has improved this season and was recently promoted to Triple-A.”

And now that you come to BYB for news, as well as analysis... let me also thank you for trusting and understanding how baseball insiders work.  For example... notice the way these predictions or "rumors" are floated. These insiders do it every day. They find a nugget, kind of like the way Olney found our tweet and they recycle it.

From there, other blogs and major publications will pick them up.  Then... if something happens, great, they look like superstars... or "INSIDERS".  If nothing happens, life goes on... "Oh well, my source was wrong."  So I'm just gonna place this picture right here:

You've been called out Buster.  Take note... and I'm gonna be perfectly honest with you, because that's what we do here at BYB;  We have no idea if Gary Sanchez is tradeable.  We here just feel like it's common sense, and so, Mike O'Hara floated it.  We're not looking for credit. What we are suggesting is, this rumor crap isn't brain surgery.

Enjoy your Sunday... and thanks to the readers and BYB fans for coming to us every single day for Yankee fun.  We love you.

YOU LIKE THIS? READ THESE:
BUSTER OLNEY IS OUT OF IDEAS
THE FAIRY DUST OF SPORTS NEWS



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BUSTER OLNEY IS OUT OF IDEAS

I don’t know whether to be flattered or offended.

OK, I’m offended.

Today (Thursday) at roughly 6:40am Buster Olney of ESPN tweeted:

MLB should consider an annual Oscars-style video tribute during the All-Star Game to honor those who passed away in the previous year.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) July 17, 2014

Great idea Buster!  Only, it was one I wrote about here on BYB YESTERDAY.

You are SO 24 hours ago. Here's what I wrote ladies and gentlemen:

"My proposal is this: let MLB take a lesson from the Academy Awards.  Each year during its annual Oscars ceremony, the Academy takes time out to honor those that have passed over the previous year.  The segment is done tastefully and gives each name a proper honor."

Really Buster? REALLY? While I truly do appreciate someone with a following of 913,000 on Twitter communicating what I said nearly word-for-word -YESTERDAY -to his lemmings, I lose whatever respect I had (a smidgen) for that person when they fail to give credit where it’s due.

Look, I realize that BYB might be considered small potatoes in comparison to the mighty worldwide sports leader ESPN, but wouldn’t you garner more respect by recognizing the little guy?

You keep yourself above the rest, that’s how you maintain a better-than-the-average-joe reputation.  If you don’t, you end up losing trust by those that look to you as a source.

(In Photo: Buster Olney with egg on his face. Buster was not hurt in this exercise)

Again, thanks for promoting the idea I wrote about.  I do think it’s a good one that MLB should employ as early as the next All-Star game.  My only recommendation would be to next time either link to the source of the idea, or come up with one of your own.

By the way, shout out to Greedy Pinstripes for passing this along.

@Buster_ESPN @BleednYankeeBlu sounds like something you guys wrote about
— Greedy Pinstripes (@GreedyStripes) July 17, 2014

We compete against each other, but we also know right from wrong. Good on ya!

    

--Steve Skinner, BYB Writer
Twitter: @oswegos1


 
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BUSTER OLNEY JUST GOT SCHOOLED

I love to read Craig Calcaterra of Hardball Talk.  He's a smart guy, he's witty and when guys like "baseball insiders" say stuff that's silly, he questions them... I guess I learned that from him. Anyway, I just wanted to bring this to your attention... I found the conversation fascinating this morning on Twitter. Also, please NOTE, I did not put the entire conversation for the sake of space, but you will see it and get the idea, Craig nails it...

@Buster_ESPN He was the fourth pitcher in that game. he gave up three runs and it was essentially a vulture job.
— Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) July 28, 2013

@Buster_ESPN Really what you're saying is (a) we're skeptical of anyone who has been caught before; and/or (b) skepitcal of old players.
— Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) July 28, 2013

@Buster_ESPN Reference to the 98 ASG is a conscious or unconscious implication that he's been an elite pitcher for 15 yrs. He hasn't.
— Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) July 28, 2013

@Buster_ESPN ..you encourage fans to be suspicious of any 40 year old playing well, when that is exactly what we don't need.
— Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) July 28, 2013

@Buster_ESPN ...doing something that someone else could very well do. Because when that person does it he will be unfairly suspected.
— Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) July 28, 2013

@Buster_ESPN That's my point. THAT's a way better reason to be suspicious. The reference to the ASG is not. It's misleading.
— Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) July 28, 2013

@Buster_ESPN Chris Davis and Jose Bautista have had profoundly unfair coverage of them for this very reason.
— Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) July 28, 2013

@Buster_ESPN And, again, my point isn't that Colon is clean. Wouldn't bet a ton on that. I simply worry when we get into the business of ...
— Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) July 28, 2013

@Buster_ESPN by using that, rather than his recent PED use as a reason you encourage "old + good = PEDs" commentary.
— Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) July 28, 2013

My point on Colon: I'm not saying we shouldn't be suspicious of him. He tested positive last year, so it's naive not to at least wonder. but
— Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) July 28, 2013

We shouldn't be suspicious merely because he went away and came back strong. We need more than that with players.
— Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) July 28, 2013

In Colon's case we have more, so no problem. But the next guy who has a nice late career bump? We have to suspect him too?
— Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) July 28, 2013

I don't defend Colon for his sake. He could test positive tomorrow. I just don't want to be in the business of saying old + good = PED user.
— Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) July 28, 2013

If we had always done that, how many great late career seasons would we have to dismiss? How many more in the future? That'd be sad.
— Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) July 28, 2013

Anyway: sorry for monopolizing your timelines today. And thanks to @Buster_ESPN for being a cool guy who disagrees civilly.
— Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) July 28, 2013

Craig, you can do that any time you want.  It was a pleasure watching this morning on Twitter.  Much like I did when I questioned Ken Rosenthal last week (Read PED USE HAS IT'S EXCEPTIONS APPARENTLY)... sometimes these "insiders" get alittle full of themselves and need to be questioned.

Great work, I'm not worthy...

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IT WOULDN'T SURPRISE ANYONE, BUSTER

A strange and predictable Tweet from Buster Olney... or dare I say obvious. I don't know, maybe I'm too hard on the "baseball insiders", but when it comes to them, I just expect them to bring me "inside baseball", not Tweet obvious crap that I can think about on my own. I mean, I'm a baseball fan, I'm a dad and obviously, I also have a brain in my head, so what I'm about to show you from Buster Olney only will make you think, "Gee, that's all we get?" It may be followed up with... "What, now I have to pay $15 bucks a month to see what else you may write about in the ESPN Insider subscription site?" Anyway...

Olney Tweeted this about Joba Chamberlain:

Based on roster surplus and thin relief market, it wouldn't be a surprise at all if NYY swapped Joba Chamberlain sometime before July 31.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) May 29, 2013

Again, did you learn anything you really haven't already kind of thought about on your own?  Do you feel smarter? Are you "inside baseball" now? Probably not.  Yankee fans like Joba, but it's clear the writings on the wall and we all kind of know it.  Joba gets attacked continually by the New York Sports media...anything he does is amplified... much like Alex Rodriguez.  Couple that with that report earlier this year about the Rangers scouting him out (Read HERE) and all arrows point toward the door for Joba.   Should he be traded? Who the hell knows, I'm not going to try and fake it. I do know this, if the Yankees need an extra bat, more catching, more starting pitching, it may not be a bad idea, but that's an educated guess.

Buster Olney means well. I don't want BYB fans ripping on the guy, but welcome to the show Captain Obvious... seriously.

On another subject... the Yanks need to win one tonight... who's with me?

 Please comment, we have DISQUS, it's easier than ever. Let me know what you think and follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook, just type it in.

ESPN'S "DEBBIE DOWNER" POST ON ICHIRO

(pictured, Suzuki gets ready for his first at bat as a New York Yankee last night in Seattle)

Leave it to ESPN and Buster Olney to rain on the Yankees parade. Not even 24 hours after they acquired Ichiro Suzuki from the Mariners for D.J. Mitchell, Danny Farquhar and an undisclosed amount of cash, Olney is already on his "What if Ichiro doesn't hit?" rant.

Look, Buster's allowed to write whatever he wants to, Lord knows he does all the time anyway, but my point is, give Ichiro 20 to 30 at bats before writing that crap. We don't even have a big enough batch in pinstripes to dip from to make that leap. Plus, a new team brings new energy and I'm banking on a change in Ichiro in his last 60 plus at bats this year.  Sure, Ichiro could suck, but Ichiro also may not and it's my opinion, on a big trade day like yesterday, you really need to let it settle for 24 hours before jumping down the Yankees throats. It's silly.

This is the best part of Olney's piece. He writes: "Others ahead of him (Ichiro)  in his OPS neighborhood this year are Jeff Francoeur, Rickie Weeks and Drew Stubbs. DeWayne Wise, designated by assignment by the Yankees to make room for Ichiro, had a .778 OPS in 53 plate appearances with New York -- significantly higher than Suzuki's OPS in each of his last three full seasons."

(pictured, "Debbie Downer" character from Saturday Night Live)

Let me say something that makes all that irrelevant... If Ichiro Suzuki falls in your lap, you got for it. The Yankees went for it.  That's the problem with these types of pieces... All the stats in the world don't matter especially if Ichiro delivers. As a Yankee fan, you have to believe. I do. Look, Olney does write that Ichiro could be fine being surrounded by better players in the Bronx, but ends his piece charged, writing that the move:  "also has the chance to become something of an embarrassment."

Let's not write about embarrassments Buster, seriously.

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WE'LL KNOW JORGE SOLER'S FATE SOON

(pictured:  Jorge Soler)

Why do I think Jorge Soler's close to deciding on a major league team? A source familiar with the Yankees thinking suggested that.  I was spitting piss and vinegar since I woke up.  Last night I read that the Yankees were "pushing hard to get him", meaning Jorge Soler, by a source familiar with the Yankees thinking. Do you know what that means? There is no source and whomever wrote that is banking on you actually believing that they have an inside track to Jorge Soler. It's lazy reporting, they might as well just call you stupid.  Let me break it to you, no one knows much on Jorge Soler and the info on Soler is coming out in drips and drabs.

Here's what we do know:

-The deal is expected to down 2 4 years and $20 million.

-Soler, as far as we know didn't make a sequel "showcase" video called The Showcase II" like Yoenis Cespedes did for his video "The Showcase."

-We know this, only from Buster Olney. Originally the 4 teams in the hunt for Jorge Soler were the Yankees, Cubs, Braves and Dodgers. That has now been fine tuned to the Yankees and Cubs.

-We know that Soler is expected to decide by "early Monday", but "early Monday" came and went and still nothing.

-We know that because the "early Monday" deadline passed, Jon Heyman decided that he needed to out due his other "baseball insider" friends and say, "Well, it's not 'early Monday' but instead the decision will come down to the next 24 to 36 hours.

See? Then it starts to get wacky, baseball insiders trying to top baseball insiders, yet their all getting the same information that you and I can get by talking to people on Twitter or just using common sense.
I think the Yankees have a really good shot. That's coming from people that are familiar with the Yankees thinking...Me.

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WHY BUSTER OLNEY DOESN'T GET SOCIAL NETWORKS

I'm not about to rank on Buster Olney, but I need to poke alittle fun, after all, it's 2012, not 1978. Although if a pitcher the Yankees signed had a torn labrum then, the world too would be turned upside down too...minus the Internet of course. It was a the Bronx Zoo after all. Read Buster HERE.

Olney made some comments in reference to the Social media and the recent "explosion" and uproar over Michael Pineda's injury... all over the Internet, Twitter, and everywhere else. He writes:  "The explosion of social media has fueled the desire to identify incompetence, to illuminate failure, to expose the cheaters. Within seconds that news broke that Michael Pineda will miss the rest of the year with a labrum tear, Twitter was flooded with theories -- that the New York Yankees blew it, that the Seattle Mariners knew that Pineda was hurt, that there were idiots and schemers."

Olney then goes on to explain some facts of the Pineda for Jesus Montero trade, here's 1:

"At the time of the deal, the overwhelming majority of rival executives thought this was a great trade for the Yankees. Not a good trade, but a great trade. A lot of the same executives understood the rationale of the Mariners and liked Jesus Montero as a prospect, but they loved the Yankees' end of the trade."

Right... got it.  Buster's a smart guy, I think he understands that all this doom an gloom all over the net is just a sign of the times, more technology, faster news and information at your finger tips in seconds, and that leads to immediate conversation, on your phone to Twitter and Facebook.  Couple that with us Yankee fans who are never unhappy unless we win 162 games, and I think it all makes sense.  Look, I'm not saying all the bitching and moaning is the right way to go about it, I'm merely suggesting to Olney..."What do you expect?" To be honest, it didn't even phase me the way the Internet blew up on Wednesday when news broke that Pineda would be out the entire season.  It's instant conversation, unhappiness, laughter, depending on which side your on.  So many of us deal with the every day hustle and bustle of life, sometimes we need to blow off alittle steam... that's where social networks come in.  Wednesday's report of Pineda was a serious blow to the Yankees rotation as well as a human being in Pineda, but does that mean we CAN'T talk about it?

I like Buster, but I didn't like to feel like I was being reprimanded, like I needed a refresher course on the facts of the trade.  We all were there when news broke that Jesus Montero was traded for Michael Pineda, it was a big day in Yankeeland and on that day, I remember the same thing happening, social networks going bonkers.  That's sports in 2012 Buster, it moves pretty fast these days and sure all the sports writers utilize it too and to be honest, it's amazing. All I'm saying is, Buster, we love you pal, but open your mind... go with it... it's gonna be OK pal... I swear.

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