The Cold Stove

Not too much going on in the rumor mill as the holidays are around. It seems that even the GMs are allowed to turn off their cell phones and put away their PDAs for a couple weeks. But here's a few things going on:

- Yankees.com has a feature on Don Mattingly being on the Hall of Fame Ballot again this year. It's quite possible that nobody loves this guy more than I do (even though I wanted Girardi to manage), and I'd love to see him in the Hall. I know his numbers come up a little short, but he was an icon in his era and the only bright spot for the Yankees in the 80s. I'm wondering... with the steroid cloud looming over MLB -- should voters look at Mattinglyl's career differently?. (Just to throw some salt on the Mitchell wound) How many players have prolonged their careers due to their use of performance enhancers? Who is more deserving? A guy like Don Mattingly, who played through pain and was adored by his fans (possibly as much as any NY athlete ever); or a bloated needle smuggler like Mark McGwire whose credibility is in question, but his stats are HOF worthy?

- Jim Leyritz got hammered while celebrating his 44th birthday and was dumb enough to get behind the wheel. He struck another car and the passenger in the other car was killed. Good luck dude. Sad situation for both parties.

PS. "You're fucked" - The Management

- The Yanks have ordered Robinson Cano to stop playing in the Dominican Winter League. A no-brainer here as Cano is reportedly recovering from a calf injury that plagued him all year. Some speculate that he was asked to stop playing because he's involved in trade talks. That is just plain stupid. They are not trading Cano, period. Not to mention the timing is retarded, the best rumors on the hot stove involve Darin Erstad signing with the Astros and the Mets being interested in John Lieber. Hard to believe that Cashman is talking Cano with anyone unless the deal includes Kofax, Drysdale, Jackie Robinson, and Duke Snyder.

- Clemens is doing his own probe into the Mitchell Report. If I have to read one more article about this I'm going to shit myself. This is old news and I don't really think anyone cares anymore.

- The LaTroy Hawkins signing is now official. Any idea when Hawkins T-shirts will be available?? I can hang it in my closet in between my Kei Igawa and Kevin Brown shirts.

-There have also been some conflicting reports on whether we'll see Joba in the rotation or the bullpen. If the Santana deal does not get done (which it won't), Joba and Hughes are the only options the Yanks have as shut down power arms for the rotation. Unless Moose has been working out with the Rocket this offseason, I don't see any reason why the rotation should not be the Wang, Pettitte, and the Big Three.