What do the Yankees offseason mean?

Mark Prior, Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia, Eric Chavez, Ronnie Belliard, Andrew Jones and Russell Martin; sounds like the all-star team from 2003, right? Wrong, it’s the new part of the rotation, bullpen and bench for the 2011 New York Yankees.

I know you’re all saying, “Wait Pete, you’re not serious, they’re all has-beens,” and yes, you are right, but you are also wrong.

You are right in saying that they are all possibly washed up and that Brian Cashman has lost his mind. Mark Prior hasn’t pitched in the MLB since ‘06, I was still going to Sweet 16s at that point, and Bartolo Colon is still pitching in the majors, where have I been? Freddy Garcia hasn’t made an all-star team since ‘02; Eric Chavez hasn’t played in over 100 games since ‘06, and who is Ronnie Belliard? Andrew Jones, the same Jones that left the Atlanta Braves for a huge contract and then batted under .200, and Russell Martin, who went from top tier catcher in baseball to sitting on the bench in Los Angeles. What is Cashman thinking?

Depth is what he is thinking. One thing the Yankees lacked last year was depth on the bench and in the bullpen. Last season the Yankees had Marcus Thames as their fourth outfielder. For those of you who don’t know, Thames should never own a baseball glove ever again. Ramiro Pena was their extra infielder, great glove, but it looks like he is swinging a stickball bat when he’s up at the plate. And who could forget Nick Johnson, the man with the third best OBP in baseball in 2009? He batted lower then my weight and I weigh 170 lbs.

Let us not forget about their bullpen. With the exception of Mariano Rivera, Kerry Wood and Boone Logan no one had lower then a 3.00 era, no one was close. Our go-to guy before we got Wood was Joba Chamberlain and David Robertson, who both sported over 3.80 era. That’s not good at all for guys whom we expect to get big out late in games.

Adding these so-called “has-beens” gives the Yankees options, more options then they had all of last season. They are all low-risk, high-reward players, all of them except Martin received major league contracts. These players will have to earn their money. So if they don’t make the major league roster out of spring training they are gone, no money involved, and if they do make the team and play well, then they are steals.

In 2009, when the Yankees won their last championship, they had players like Brett Gardner, Eric Hinske and Jerry Hairston, Jr. coming off the bench. Their bullpen had guys like Alfredo Aceves, Chad Gaudin, Phil Hughes, Phil Coke and late in the playoffs, Damaso Marte.

If Yankees fans want their team to get back to winning championships, this is the route to go.

Strap on that belt Rodgers, you earned it

What else could you, as a fan, have asked for from this game? A one-possession game with less than two minutes left. Big Ben Roethlisberger, who had already led his team to a comeback victory with two minutes left against the Arizona Cardinals a mere two seasons ago, couldn’t deliver on the final drive.
On fourth down with five yards to go, and the game on the line, Mike Wallace wasn’t able to haul in a Roethlisberger pass, even though there might have been contact, and the chances for a Steelers victory ended with that play. Rodgers knelt on the ball two times and the first ever Super Bowl Champions, brought the Lombardi Trophy back where it belonged, to Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Right off the bat it looked like the Packers would be taking home the Lombardi Trophy as they led 14-0 after the first quarter. But Big Ben and the Steelers fought back, cutting their deficit to only 11 points at halftime. Even though the Steelers outscored the Packers in the second half, it wasn’t enough.
Aaron Rodgers played like the quarterback that Packers General Manager Ted Thompson thought he would be, when he decided to let Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre go. He proved all of the naysayers wrong and led the sixth seeded Packers to a Super Bowl Championship.
The Packers played to their strengths only running the ball 13 times the whole game, leaving the Steel Curtain’s run defense in shambles. They threw the ball 39 times and let their best player, Rodgers, take over the game.
Whether or not Troy Polamalu was 100 percent healthy or not, might be the reason it seemed as if Rodgers was just having a good ole time picking the Steelers’ pass defense apart. Rodgers didn’t turn the ball over once the entire game, and never once did a Packers fan jump out of his chair and say “oh no” when the ball left Rodger’s hand.
With all the injuries the Packers faced all year, losing their starting running back, Ryan Grant in week one, starting tight end Jermichael Finley and starting middle linebacker Nick Barnett, the Packers weren’t phased. They even lost their number two receiver and leader in the clubhouse Donald Driver and former defensive player of the year Charles Woodson during the Super Bowl, but they kept on playing their game.
They didn’t sit around and feel sorry for themselves, they went out and won football games. That is what made them successful this season, they had depth. Their backups were ready to play when their numbers were called. That is what takes teams from good to great. Strap on that belt Rodgers, you and your teammates deserve it.

In the wise words of coaching great Vince Lombardi, “teamwork is what the Green Bay Packers were all about. They didn’t do it for individual glory. They did it because they loved one another,” and indeed these Packers do.

Leave Cutler Alone

Last week, the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers punched their tickets to the big stage, Super Bowl XLV, but what everyone is still talking about is Jay Cutler and his leg.

Why, you ask? Because Cutler, who left last week’s NFC Championship game with an apparent injury to his leg, was seen riding a mechanical bike and standing on sidelines with a dumbfounded look on his face. Football analysts and fellow players in the NFL were blowing up Twitter, calling him a quitter. They were saying, for example, as former Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Derrick Brooks put it, “Hey, there is no medicine for a guy with no guts and heart.”

No heart, no guts, why? Because he hurt his leg and the medical staff told him he wasn’t allowed to go back in after he tried to go back on the field. Or is it because Cutler doesn’t show any emotion whatsoever? So what? He doesn’t frown or throw a fit when things don’t go his way or he doesn’t look like a fool celebrating a touchdown like it was his first touchdown pass ever like some other players in the NFL, cough, cough, Chad Ochocinco and his partner in crime Terrell Owens.

Cutler plays the game of football, it’s that simple. He is just seen as a bad guy for no reason. After throwing four interceptions, all to Washington Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall, Cutler was quoted after the game saying if they played them again the next week he would throw to Hall’s side again. If Tom Brady, Drew Brees or Peyton Manning had said that, everyone would say that they’re gamers and they have no fear. But because it was Cutler, everyone said he was dumb and should just admit he didn’t play well.

Cutler has always stayed out of the spotlight. He’s not a spokesmen for UGGS, like Brady, or on an assortment of commercials like both Manning brothers. He went to a low-key football program at Vanderbilt University and he was the third quarterback taken in the 2006 draft behind Vince Young and Matt Leinart.

I don’t understand why Bears fans and other fans just don’t leave the guy alone. He is a very good NFL quarterback. He has thrown for over 20 touchdowns and over 3,000 yards in every season as a starter. He also just led his team to the NFC Championship game and lost to a better team. What more do you want from him? A lot of NFL franchises would pay a hefty price for Cutler. But the way the public views him makes him out as a bad guy.

ESPN recently did a poll of the most hated quarterbacks in the NFL, and Cutler won ahead of bad guys like Ben Roethlisberger and Michael Vick with all of their legal issues. Does that make sense? Leave the man be, he hasn’t done anything wrong.