Ken Davidoff's baseball insider

Here is my Sunday Insider, discussing the Mets' catching situation. They expressed an interest in Texas' Gerald Laird earlier this offseason _ they also asked about Laird last offseason _ but they have bigger problems. The state of catching throughout the game is so poor that the Mets could do worse than Ramon Castro and Brian Schneider.

Big assist to JE for providing the defensive measure to which I referred. Thanks, JE.

Turned out to be a pretty quiet week, and then I missed my usual Friday morning slot for this feature, thanks to a rough Thursday night that had nothing to do with pigging out and everything to do with 5-year-olds' immune systems. Anyhow, the little guy is doing better, and here, belatedly, are our best comments of the week:

The bronze goes to Gerry, regarding the "Comment Submission Error" problem that just isn't going away:

The Glauber / Sandy fix is flawed...maybe Obama will fix this.

The silver goes to Andy, who checked in on my second annual "Overrated and Over-hated" list.

And you're spot on with Male Pattern Baldness. Totally overrated. I really thought I'd gain more respect with my follically-challenged look, but so far? No dice.

And the gold goes to Tim N., who railed against the "Mets have no leadership" complaint:

The more baseball I watch (thirtyCOUGH years now), the more I think this "clutch" and "late and close" stuff is just nonsense. ...How come no one is looking at Ryan Howard's or Jimmy Rollins' "late and close" numbers for '08? Is it because their team won?

It does seem like an annual rite of winter that we take the biggest stars on the most disappointing teams and bang out some number that says, "He doesn't hit when the game counts." The game counts for nine innings.

Here is the story I wrote for today's Newsday, discussing the competition to acquire CC Sabathia. I think Angels owner Arte Moreno, above, is one of the most interesting characters in this saga. He is not to be taken lightly, by the Yankees or anyone else.

More important, Newsday teammate Bob Glauber just might have come up with the solution for the dreaded "Comment Submission Error." The next time you want to make a comment, press "Control" as you're hitting "Post." It worked for me.

Have a great day.

UPDATE, 8;41 p.m.: First of all, Sandy is taking credit for this new cure to the Comment Submission Error. But second of all, now it isn't working for me. The most success I've had is when I hit refresh so that I get a new code number.

I can't tell you how much I appreciate all of your determination to post your comments. I'm not sure what's worse - trying to post a comment here, or being a Lions fan.

UPDATE, Friday, 9:08 a.m. The Comment Winter Olympics have been postponed this morning due to an under-the-weather child. I hope to have it up tomorrow morning.

Last year, I posted this for fun, and I received a tidal wave of positive feedback on it. In other words, Bob Klapisch told me that he sort of liked it.

So let's do it again: The second annual list of baseball's overrated and over-hated. Let's face it, far too often, our world resorts to black-and-white evaluations of issues, people and concepts. Here, we're all about the gray. So let's cast judgment on who gets overrated, who gets over-hated and, occasionally, who gets both, or neither:

Billy Beane: Over-hated
Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes and David Wright: A big bowl of over-hated
Blogs: Over-hated
Robinson Cano: Over-hated
Brian Cashman: Over-hated
Luis Castillo: Neither, but most certainly overpaid
Joba Chamberlain: Overrated as a reliever, over-hated as a starter and, most important, over the limit. May he learn his lesson.
Citigroup: Out of their minds, for not reconsidering this.
Roger Clemens: Both
Carlos Delgado: Neither
The Dolans: Over-hated, of course!
Facebook: Over-hated
Joe Girardi: Overrated
HDTV: Overrated
Ryan Howard: Overrated
Phil Hughes: Over-hated
Innings counts: Good Lord, over-hated
Derek Jeter: Overrated
Bowie Kuhn: Overrated
Luck: Over-hated
Male pattern baldness: Overrated
Jerry Manuel: Neither.
Brian McNamee: Over-hated
Gene Michael: Overrated
Mike and the Mad Dog: Over-hated
Mike: Overrated
The Mad Dog: Overrated
Marvin Miller: Over-hated
Omar Minaya: Over-hated
George Mitchell: Profoundly overrated
Perception: Overrated
Andy Pettitte: Over-hated
Pitch counts: See innings counts
Manny Ramirez: Over-hated
Willie Randolph: Overrated
Reality: Over-hated
Alex Rodriguez: Over-hated, but he's got to quit it with the public lifestyle. With such drama, he keeps on pushing my love over the borderline.
Francisco Rodriguez: Overrated
Rich Rodriguez: Overrated
Johan Santana: Neither.
Bud Selig: Both
Setup men: Overrated (although, poor Aaron Heilman is over-hated)
John Stearns: Both, undoubtedly. He nearly took down this blog single-handedly!
Hal Steinbrenner: Neither
Hank Steinbrenner: Overrated
Joe Torre: Both
The U.S. two-party political system: Overrated
The Wilpons: Neither

As always, I am thankful for these needle-moving issues, and for those of you who check in here on them. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your loved ones. And if you don't want to blow me off this weekend, I'll be checking in periodically.

Onto the news of the day...

Here is the story I wrote about the Yankees. I think there's a much better chance that CC Sabathia signs with the Angels than Pettitte signs with the Dodgers. I wouldn't doubt Angels owner Arte Moreno. He's all about being aggressive. If the Angels sign Sabathia, they could trade one of their young pitchers for hitting help like Colorado's Garrett Atkins, Milwaukee's Prince Fielder, Houston's Carlos Lee, Detroit's Magglio Ordonez or shoot - how about Delgado?

One Pettitte development: Friends say he really doesn't want to return to his hometown Astros. He's still upset with owner Drayton McLane and president Tal Smith for how things went down two years ago, when he returned to the Yankees.

Here is the Mets story I wrote. When it comes to rebuilding their bullpen, the Mets really are in an enviable position. They are the lead dog in the race for Brian Fuentes and K-Rod; neither pitcher will make a move without consulting the Mets. And given our horrible economy, you've got to think that the Rockies will eventually move Huston Street, who's set to make something like $4 million in 2009. Colorado already has the much more reasonably priced (and, admittedly, not as good) Manny Corpas for the back of its bullpen.

The Hot Stove League has been progressing like a lazy, dog-dangling day, as Homer put it in this episode. Perhaps that could change quickly if the Angels move on CC Sabathia, as this Los Angeles Times report today suggests.

If the Yankees really do whiff on their goal to upgrade their starting rotation, they are discussing alternative plans.

In the meantime, it interests me how, even in the winter months, we debate players and their values. And we match our perceptions of them against the reality of the statistics.

Let's start with Mike Mussina, since he and his Hall of Fame candidacy remains a hot topic. I opened up my competing newspaper this morning to discover a full-page advertisement from the Yankees, saluting Mussina. The ad read, in part, "During his tenure with the Yankees, no other American League pitcher recorded as many wins as Moose."

If that had been out there already, then I missed it. But the Elias Sports Bureau confirmed it. From 2001 through 2008, only Roy Oswalt (129) had more victories than Mussina's 123. Mark Buehrle and Roy Halladay were next, with 118.

Now, as we know, there are far better gauges than wins to determine a pitcher's success. So I figured, let's check on strikeouts and innings pitched in the AL over the same period. It's a very convenient period to examine, since 2001 marked the return of the unbalanced schedule to both leagues. With the Yankees, Mussina routinely had to face the Red Sox four-to-six times per season.

Here's what the great Bob Waterman at Elias gave us:

AL Strikeout Leaders, 2001-08
1. Johan Santana 1,317
2. Mike Mussina 1,278

AL Innings Pitched Leaders, 2001-08
1. Mark Buehrle 1,796.1
2. Roy Halladay 1,576.2
3. Jon Garland 1,555.2
4. Mike Mussina 1,553

It's interesting, particularly since you could argue that Mussina's "prime" ended after his 2003 season. He turned 35 that December and was pretty up-and-down from 2004 until his retirement.

Of course, this list is a bit contrived in that pitchers so often change leagues now. If Sabathia had stayed with Cleveland through the end of the 2008 season, he would've surpassed Mussina in both strikeouts and innings pitched. Mussina placed eighth overall in strikeouts and 13th in innings pitched over the last eight years, although it really must be stressed how much easier it is to pitch in the NL.

What does this say about Mussina's Hall of Fame candidacy? To me, it just magnifies how very good - and yes, often great - he was for a very long time. But again, I'd say it's a pretty decent chance that, by the time Mussina gets on the ballot in 2014, this won't even be the BBWAA's decision.

One other note on Mussina: He picked up 18 wins in 2002, one more than he did in 2001, despite his ERA shooting up from 3.15 to 4.05. If you look at his game logs from '02, you'll see that he pitched on three days' rest on May 21, and that he started getting some really good run support the rest of the way.

He pitched on three days' rest because David Wells' back acted up at the last minute; Mussina took one for the team, in other words. And if you look at Wells' game logs that year, you'll see that, when he resumed pitching on May 25, he received generally poor run support for about two months.

So what did Wells do? Rather than thanking Mussina for picking him up, he moaned about how he lost his "slot" when the Yankees hit big. Gosh, I miss Boomer.

If you're disappointed by the lack of offseason action so far, hang in there. It could be one more slow week before things pick up.

Then again, as I wrote today, the always aggressive Angels could push some transactions into happening this week.

So as we kick off this holiday-shortened week, let's get a feel for where the big names stand. We'll put these in the order that I feel like ordering them:

1. CC Sabathia. I can't recall a case quite like this one, when everyone in the free world knows that the guy would rather NOT pitch for the team that has dramatically outbid all other suitors. Yes, Mike Mussina never thought he'd pitch for the Yankees, either, but Mussina at least was aiming to play in the Yankees' time zone. He thought he'd wind up in Cleveland.

Well, now that I think about it some more, maybe Carlos Beltran signing with the Mets represents a decent comparison...

Forget about Hal Steinbrenner's phony deadline. The indications are that Sabathia himself doesn't want to drag this out too long. He has to be disappointed that none of the West Coast teams have stepped up.

The hunch here is that, next week, Sabathia tells the Yankees all right - for just a little more money than the current offer. I think it could even happen this week, as CC enjoys Thanksgiving in Northern California.

2. Mark Teixeira. There is precedent for a Scott Boras client signing early in the free-agent process. Ten years ago, Bernie Williams re-signed with the Yankees on Thanksgiving Eve. That happened because Bernie took charge of his destiny, insisting on a sit-down meeting with the Yankees brass where he passionately told George Steinbrenner how much he wanted to remain with the organization.

(Of course, the Yankees ultimately re-signed Bernie only because Albert Belle backed out of a verbal agreement and signed with Baltimore instead. Luck, my friends, luck - a huge role in everything in life.)

Would Teixeira be as forceful in getting a deal done with the Angels, with whom he was clearly happy? The one indication to the positive is that, at the GMs' meetings earlier this month, Boras did speak well of Teixeira's experience with the Angels. Usually, Boras won't concede even that much.

3. AJ Burnett. Burnett's agent Darek Braunecker told me on Friday night that his client will have a five-year offer to sign, if that's what he wants. But it ain't coming from the Blue Jays, as Toronto GM J.P. Ricciardi told me, and I don't think the Yankees will go there, not as long as they sign Sabathia. I don't see the Red Sox committing that, either.

The Orioles? More likely, if president Andy MacPhail yields to his owner Peter Angelos. Burnett does make his offseason home in Maryland.

In any case, I still contend that Burnett's free agency fascinates me the most. I think many of the Yankees players would be more excited about adding Burnett than adding Sabathia. That's how good Burnett can be when he's on his game.

BTW, I get the sense that many Yankees players are on board with prioritizing pitching over the offense. There's hope that Robinson Cano will be more like his 2006 and 2007 self _ Cano apparently has told teammates he's going to be in great shape when spring training opens _ and there's something to be said for having three players (Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui and Xavier Nady) in their walk years. Baseball Prospects conducted a study a few years ago that showed players do tend to perform better when they're playing for a new contract.

4. Derek Lowe. This one figures to take forever, because Lowe is a Boras guy and because it behooves Lowe, anyway, to wait until Sabathia and Burnett decide. He wants to go back to the East Coast; he's said as much publicly. If you're a Mets fan, hope that the Yankees get Sabathia and Burnett so that they'll lose interest in Lowe.

5. Manny Ramirez. One Yankees official told me, earlier this offseason, that they were more likely to get Manny than Teixeira. That looks prescient now. If Manny's price drops enough - I don't know, let's say the two years and $45 million that the Dodgers offered him - the Yankees would have to take him, wouldn't they?

But I still think the Dodgers, who have internally decided that they can't afford Sabathia, will find a way to bring back Manny. They need to build on what they accomplished in 2008, and Manny was a gargantuan part of that, obviously. Joe Torre will be earning that big paycheck with Manny around.

6. Andy Pettitte. If he's truly just sitting back at home, at peace with what the Yankees are doing, then Pettitte has changed. Remember, he left the Yankees the first time because he felt like they didn't show him enough love. He left the Astros two years ago because he felt like they didn't show him enough love. When I write "love," I mean "love and money," but not only "money." Pettitte likes to be appreciated for his work ethic.

I can understand why the Yankees want Pettitte to take a pay cut. At the same time, let's not undervalue too much what Pettitte did in 2008. He struck out more batters (158) in fewer innings (204) than he pitched in 2007 (141 strikeouts, 215 1/3 innings). His groundball percentage (49.8 percent) in '08 was higher than it was in '07 (47.8 percent). With defensive upgrades at first base (Nick Swisher over Jason Giambi) at second (motivated Cano over satisfied Cano), he could pitch the same and get better results.

7. Rafael Furcal. Ken Rosenthal reports that the Giants and A's are most involved with the shortstop, who put up phenomenal numbers in an injury-shortened 2008 with the Dodgers. If the Braves wind up trading their shortstop Yunel Escobar for Jake Peavy, then Atlanta could get involved here, too.

8. Jake Peavy. Speaking of which - sorry, baileywalk. I still don't see Peavy joining the Yankees. It makes all the sense in the world for the Braves and Padres to finish this deal. The Braves can't afford to duel the Yankees for Burnett, and they don't have the Jays' homefield advantage there. The Dodgers could become more involved due to Chad Billingsley's injury, although you'd think the Padres would exact a higher price from the Dodgers since they play in the same division.

9. Orlando Hudson. His representatives have to be disappointed that, at this point, the Yankees and Mets aren't serious suitors. Cano is very likely staying, and Luis Castillo's contrition (scroll down three items) makes his return more palatable. Jon Heyman reported the Indians as a suitor.

10. Raul Ibanez. Mets fans, I know you're not very excited about this one, but the Mets themselves are. They see a needed energy boost and some much-needed production after the cleanup slot. That said, the competition for Ibanez's services looks to be fierce, with the Phillies, Dodgers and Royals among the most interested suitors.

Here is my Sunday Insider, which discusses how the Yankees want to regain the psychological advantage that comes with having an elite starting rotation.

Here is the Seventh-Inning Stretch.

Here is a story about Hideki Matsui not participating in the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

Here is a good story by Neil Best about Mike Francesa, which divulges that Chris Russo wanted to replace Don Imus as WFAN's morning-drive person.

Thanks to the IMDb for the photo. Have a great day.

Here is my update on A.J. Burnett. So far, the Yankees haven't expressed an inclination to commit five years to Burnett. I'd bet that changes only if CC Sabathia signs elsewhere, which appears unlikely at this point.

Here is David Lennon's update on the Mets.

Thanks to