Ken Davidoff's baseball insider

Trading Farnsworth sure felt good because the guy was so bad for 2 1/2 years. I couldn't stand seeing him on the mound. So my first reaction was one of pure joy upon hearing he was gone. But, Pudge doesn't provide what the Yankees needed or need. I also feel it can be counterproductive to change starting catchers in the middle of a season. After all, Posada was the original catcher and now we are on the third one. I have also seen the Yankees bullpen fall about a couple of times since the trade. Now we all know Farnsworth fell apart for more than two years, but he seemed to put that constant failure behind him. So far, the trade is a loser for the Yankees. Ken is looking good on this one so far.

Jim is pretty on point. I did not want Farnsworth on the roster because I couldn't trust him in a crucial game in July, let alone September or playoffs in October. The Yanks aren't the A's or Twins, who are happy to reach the craps table and hope for a miracle.

I do have a leadership question. Where is Derek Jeter regarding the addition of Ivan Rodriguez and where was he when Farnsworth was (mostly accurately) getting ripped? "The Captain" appears to have stage fright in addressing questions about hsi teammates, be it ARod, Kennedy, Fransworth, etc.

I don't get the feeling that Jeter is standing up and taking charge of the integration of the new players as he should.as captain - and that he is as hollow a person as all claim ARod to be.

He has the moral capital and stature to smooth out the problems that occur but doesn't appear to use it.

I like Jeter but also wonder about him as captain. He shows good on field characteristics, but on the leadership end of the equation it is hard to see what he is doing. Now, I understand he could be doing a great deal behind the scenes and he has intimated as much over the years. But, it isn't apparent to fans and sometimes it needs to be. It's no secret that Jeter doesn't really care for A-Rod, hence letting him twist in the wind with the fans. Farnsworth didn't seem like the kind of guy that was warm and fuzzy. Jeter probably got tired of all his screw-ups. But, as the captain, he doesn't really have the luxury of saying "I am not going to tell the fans what to think or what to do." I understand the sentiment, but if you want the title, sometimes you have to do things you really don't want to do.

Bonds received a deafening standing ovation in SF yesterday during a special ceremony honoring the team's best outfielders throughout history. Interesting. The fans there certainly love Barry.

Unless you can get a jury of 12 Dodger fans in SF, Bonds won't be convicted. Frankly, due to the misconduct of Jeff Novitzky and his end run for warrants around Judge Susan Ilston in the Quest/CDT matter and the fact that many of the perjury charges are for taking THG (which was not illegal until the end of 2003), I can't see how the Feds will get any favorable ruling from her as judge in the Bonds perjury case.

Jeter is a far inferior SS to ARod, but implicitly refused a move to third when Alex came to the NYY that would have made the team better defensively (funny. ARod moved to thrid for Jeter and also Cal Ripken in an All-Star Game in one of his few high character moments). Jeter is having a career low BA/OBP/SLG year by significant margins. Jeter's fielding range has been below league average for almost every year in the majors. And I see no evidence of leadership from his comments, which are designed to NOT be quotable or useful to the press in any way, shape or form.

Yes, he made a great catch hurtling into the stands a few years ago, but what has he done lately?

Does the injury to Jose Contreras mean that Freddy Garcia is on his way to the White Sox?

Bob, when A-Rod was traded to the Yanks, the Yanks never ask Jeter to change position. A-Rod volunteer to play 3rd Base out of respect.
Jeter and A-Rod clearly don't get along off the field like they used to. The article in Esquire magazine in which A-Rod knock Jeter clearly turn Jeter off and their friendship has strained since.
While Jeter is the captain of the Yankees, he is not the type of captain that gets in your face. He's more of a quiet leader who doesn't make any bold statements. Jeter is clearly getting up their in age. His numbers this year are not good. His range has decline, but he can still make plays defensively.
When the Yanks traded Farnsworth for Pudge, I said that the Yanks solve one problem and created a new one. Well so far the pen has been terrible since Fransworth left, and Pudge is having issues catching the pitching staff. Meanwhile, Fransworth has turn back to the old Farnsworth who stinks with the Tigers.
The only city that Bonds gets cheer is in San Francisco. Its no surprise that he got a standing ovation from Giants fans yesterday.

If what leaked out about Freddy's workout are to be believed, it won't be of much help to anyone for a while, if at all this year. Maybe they will spend the bucks for Washburn.

Does Kennedy get another start on Weds? Do they ship him back down now? I am for letting him start one more time this year and then, if he bombs again, banishing him to the minors for the rest of the season.

Some of Jeter's fielding "gems" would be semi-routine for a SS with better range. He is making these plays look like highlight film stuf even though a major league shortstop should be able to consistently make them. Clearly Jeter has lost a few steps.

And how did Jeter treat ARod? Like a doormat. Outside of a few unusable comments, Jeter backed as far away from ARod as possible on day one and throughout their years together in NY.

Leadership cannot be quiet. Jeter's captaincy is quiet and almost a corporate PR agent's style of controlled blandness. There is no sense of urgency from him that the Yanks are 5 years removed from a series and 7 from their last series win - and it rubs off on the other players who follow his lead.

I don't know if Jeter's leadership is quiet with his teammates or not. His leadership is not evident from my public view and he hasn't used opportunities to demonstrate it publicly. Jeter doesn't like A-Rod. He merely co-exists. A-Rod himself said as much. I don't necessarily blame Jeter for his feelings, but then again, it hampers his captaincy. Posada would make a better captain, not that I am advocating him, just comparing him to Jeter.

Posada is more outspoken to the press than Jeter. Posada would say what is on his mind and sometimes take out his frustration. The one thing Jeter hasn't lost is his arm strength. He would make the play in the hole, jump and throw at the sametime and get the runner at 1st. Jeter still has the zip on his throws.

As for leadership, I wish Joe Girardi had buried Ian Kennedy in the press for his cokments post-game in Anaheim, as opposed to chalking it up to an inability for the poor Ian to be able to deal with the press.

A simple "that attitude won't fly, and he's got one more start to prove he gets it" would suffice. But if the Yanks are too scared to offend one of their dream prospects because they are too desperate for hurlers, shame on them.

Jeter has the same zip that all major leaguers have. A couple of times I thought he might have lost a little, but I can't really tell. He has clearly lost some of his range. It was very apparent when Gonzalez filled in for him. Obvious.

Being a captain isn't for just anyone. If it's going to be more than ceromonial, you have to be vocal. Mussina had no problem calling out Pavano. It has to be done in certain circumstances.

It seems as though Kennedy's minor league handlers forgot to talk to him about some things. I thought for sure this would be one of them since the Yankees were publicly annoyed with him earlier in the season. Either he is dense, or someone dropped the ball.

I think Hughes is such a person/player/competitor than Kennedy. Thank God for that. Let's hope he isn't a pitcher's version of Nick Johnson.

We are once again getting what we deserve in Russia invading a city Georgia. The New York Times is reporting a sharp escalation in this war. This has now gone beyond any reasonable explanation. They are now not only occupying the separatist regions but also directly invading the country. This is completely due to Georgia's president being very pro-West and pro-American. Meanwhile we have looked the other way while Putin and his thugs have completely erased whatever democratic and capitalistic gains were made in Russia under Yeltsin. This is outrageous and should be met with extremely stern measures by us.

It is hard to be interested in a baseball game when a major world power is murdering civilians and destroying another country because of its friendship with us.

Ken, Kennedy was drafted in 2006.
Kennedy definitely has some issues he has to deal with. Who knew at the time Kennedy was drafted by the Yanks that his attitde was an issue.

Hughes is a much tougher person mentally than Kennedy. A better pitcher, a better competitor. He comes across as more mature, even though he is younger. (Sorry I spelled competitor wrong earlier. I cringed when I saw that.)

Forget about the playoffs; If the Yankees win 90 games with this team it will be a major accomplishment.

Hello, everyone! The Russian invasion is making life a little crazy; two hours ago, I got woken up from a blissfully deep sleep when someone misread a report claiming that Turkish Airlines jets were not flying over Georgia. (In fact, only flights to Tbilisi and Batumi are suspended.) This would have been pretty significant because I have a bunch of conference panelists scheduled to arrive from the States, most via Istanbul, in the next 24 hours.

Bottom line: I haven't been able to get back to sleep!

Jim, I cannot tell you how unhappy I have been at the administration's initial responses to the invasion, considering how close Bush is to Saakahshvili. McCain's comments from the start have been excellent, while in the beginning it seemed that Obama's people had the senator reading the Russian Federation's talking points.

I don't need to tell you that officials in many countries, from Estonia to here in Azerbaijan, who are nervous as Hell and are watching the US response very carefully....

Jeter is the captain because he leads by example, not words. He's not the type of guy to rip people, plus he doesn't want to tarnish his marketing image. He is also a shortstop, historically the on field leader along with catcher. Until this season he always played on post-season temas and many many people think he is the reason why the Yankees had made the post-season all those years. Not necessarily so. I think Posada was the real captain of the team. I don't think it is much of a co-incidence that Posada has been hurt most of the year and the Yankees are playing like crap
JE: Obama is on vacation in hawaii, I doubt he is even saying whatever his PR people are sending out to the papers. And what the hell are you doing over there anyway?

I was asked to put together a policy conference on US-Azeri relations, Sandy, which will certainly be a helluva lot more lively than anyone had anticipated. (Frankly, I always thought that Putin would test Obama or even McCain with an attack on Georgia in early '09, not now.)

Here's one of the participants:

http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/2008/08/the-explosive-c.php

JE, we should react very, very strongly to this Russian aggression. My undergrad degree is in history and without detailing the examples here, we have heard all the excuses in the past ranging from Germany to the Soviet Union as to why they were justified in invading another country. There was no reason whatsoever for the Russians to have done this. Georgia is a very good friend of the US and wants to be in NATO. They should be, especially after this. If the Russians overthrow the government we should do everything to bust their jobs. You can bet this is also tied into the missile defense system we want to place in various Eastern European countries. This invasion is designed to scare the heck out of several countries. If we let them get away with this it will come back to haunt us. We have already appeased the Russians for years while they stripped away the rights of their people. Putin is an ex-KGB chief and nothing but an old line communist with a better tailor.

I would have given Kennedy one more start before banishing him to the minors for the rest of 2008. But, I can't really argue with what they did.

Agreed, Jim.

I am going to try to go back to bed in a few secs. Before I do, though, please tell me who will be replacing Kennedy in the rotation.

Also, what is Jerry Manuel thinking by hitting A. Reyes and his sub-.300 OBP second in the lineup? What, was Anderson Hernandez not available?!? ;-) If the kid, David Murphy, is doing so well, why not see if he can hit in the two-hole? I know Murphy has had only a handful of at-bats, but so far he is seeing a lot of pitches, drawing walks, and hitting the ball pretty well....

Just watch President Bush on Live with Costas in Beijing. Costas bought up a number of different topics including the situation with Russia attacking Georgia. Bush talk about telling Putin at the opening cermonies that what Russia did was wrong. They also talk about performance inhanding drugs in sports, especially basebll and the olympics.

We are wimps. I just heard the presidential press secretary serve up cream puffs to the Russians. Georgia did nothing wrong. They have a situation which would be the equivalent of New York saying it isn't going to abide by national laws, etc. and go its own way. They had every right to send in troops to get this area back under control. This is the excuse the Russians used to invade a country and now they have moved beyond that breakaway area and gone into the heart of the country. This is complete lawlessness. Look at the photos on the NY Times website. The Russians are killing civilians. They are ruthless. Bush should have flown home immediately, if not flown to Georgia to stand shoulder to shoulder with the president there. He's laughing at the Olympics while a country is conquered for no reason other than its friendship with us and our allies. This is sickening. We are fast becoming a third rate power.

JE - Rasner will probably get Kennedy's spot according to the media.

JE - Best wishes for doing some good work on our our country's behalf. Be well!

The Russians are pretty much following the Prussian army model of the 1860's and 70's when they carved off areas of influence in France, Denmark and Austria. (The Victory Monument where Obama spoke is dedicated to these triumphs.).We cannot sell out the Georgian people or those in Tadjikistan who aided us.

We have to lead. Europe has no taste for acting until the fascist element has already won. I fear what the reaction of the Iranians, Hamas, Hezbollah etc. will be to our inaction and the fate of the US and Israel.

Moral equivalence is the tool of the weak mind

Thanks, guys. I'll be back in touch soon.

Meanwhile, here's one of the most poignant news articles that I have read in the past few days:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article4500362.ece

"We helped in Iraq - now help us, beg Georgians"