CIA Considers Intentional Talk Over Water Boarding

If the CIA ever hires these two guys the world is in big trouble!

2013 Baseball Winter Meetings Coverage A Crashing Bore So Far!

The 2013 Baseball Winter Meetings have been painfully boring so far. In fact they kinda resemble a cross between Geraldo Rivera's classic "Al Capone's Safe" show and one of Mary Tyler Moore's dinner parties. Nothing happening at all!

Look For Yankees To Deal Mason Williams & Gary Sanchez

The last time the Yankees built their team from within they won four World Series titles in five years. However, since 2001 the team has gone right back to the formula that ran the team aground in the 1980's and turned them into a laughing stock in the early 90's. Instead of trying to build a solid nucleus like teams such as the Cardinals, Reds and Rays, the Yankees continue to throw money at their problems, hoping they will go away. 

The Yankees have recently added new names to their roster of aging, overpaid players. Firstly, the signed an aging catcher in Brian McCann. A catcher who hit .250 last year and has a lot of miles on him. This signing makes it appear that top Yankee catching prospect Gary Sanchez will soon be shipped out of town. Their next curious move was grossly overpaying brittle free agent centerfielder Jacoby Ellsbury and signing him to an insane 7 year contract. This probably means that Yankee centerfield prospect Mason Williams will also not be long for the Bronx. While both Sanchez and Williams struggled a bit in the minors in 2013, both are immensely talented.

Then the Yankees added senior citizen right fielder Carlos Beltran (another soft player with a history of injuries.) Add him to a senior citizen brigade that includes old man Jeter, Mark Teixeira, Ichiro and a fading CC Sabathia and you have baseball's version of the "over the hill gang." 

In addition to their aging position players, the Yankees have  virtually no starting pitching and a bullpen with no proven closer. Do Yankee fans really confident with Ivan Nova in a big spot? The Yankees seem to be trying to catch lightning in a bottle again with aging players. This has the potential to really blow up in the Yankees faces in a couple of years, and quite possibly this year. 

If the Yankees don't address their woeful player development issues pretty soon they could soon be in the position they were in during the Stump Merrill years. 

Players Who Should Be In The Hall Of Fame Part 1: Ted Simmons

Former St. Louis Cardinals/Milwaukee Brewers/Atlanta Braves catcher is a slam dunk Hall Of Famer. While never the defensive catcher that Johnny Bench was his offensive numbers compare favorably with Bench. Check out the numbers:

Ted Simmons

AB 8680

AVG .285

HR 248

RBI 1389

Hits 2472

Doubles 483

Johnny Bench

AB 7658

AVG .267

HR 389

RBI 1376

Hits 2048

Doubles 381

Joe Torre Not A Hall Fame Manager

As a manager Joe Torre was extremely lucky to be in the right place at the right time. He was NOT a great manager. Torre had numerous times to prove himself as a manager prior to landing with the Yankees in 1996 and he failed miserably at every stop (Mets, Braves, Cardinals.) Torre's one success was the 1982 Atlanta Braves, who got off to a torrid start that season, only to do a colossal flop in the season's second half (the Braves would barely hold on to win the West Division in 1982, but were swept away by the Cardinals.)

When Torre walked in the Bronx in 1996 he inherited a team that was ready to win. A team that was molded by Buck Showalter. Buck was given the boot for not bowing down to Baron Von Steinbrenner, while Torre came in and got all the credit for his work. Buck was the man who took over the lowly early 90's Yankees and prepared them to win. Torre just inherited the car keys.

While you can't take away Torre's championship rings, they are somewhat tainted in the following ways. #1 Torre managed the Yankees when they had an economic stranglehold over baseball. It was a period when the "haves and have not's" issue favored the "haves" by a country mile. The Yankees could do whatever they wanted with impunity during this period and Torre was clearly benefactor of this. #2 On top of his Yankees having a gross financial advantage over every team in the sport during his run as manager, his team were the worst PED offenders of the era.  Half his team was on roids and Saint Joe knew nothing about it? C'mon.

Then there were the Yankee teams from (2002-2007) who had the top payrolls in baseball by a mile and underachieved every single season, finally leading to Torre's exit in 2007. Torre would then have mixed results with the Los Angeles Dodgers before hanging them up.

Torre was joined in today's Hall Of Fame selection by managers Bobby Cox and Tony LaRussa. As a manager and GM Cox turned the 1977 expansion Toronto Blue Jays into a powerhouse. He then turned around the hapless Atlanta Braves and turned them into a juggernaut for two decades. On the other hand Tony LaRussa first turned around the sad sack Chicago White Sox before taking over the truly awful mid 80's Oakland A's and building them into a wrecking crew that dominated baseball in the late 80's. He ended up his career cleaning up Torre's mess in St. Louis and winning two World Championships along the way. 

Both Cox and LaRussa are Hall Of Fame caliber managers. Joe Torre is NOT!