I hate that David is being mentioned in the same sentence as a prospective
player and "reduced rate" just makes him sound like a blue light special...
just makes me a little sad! I do hope he comes back tho!!

have a good night!
Laura

That is a little sad, but nonetheless it's the truth of the situation right 
now.  I'm just glad to hear they're still considering Cone for their 2001 
rotation.  *cross fingers*

--Britt

Friday,November 17,2000
By JOEL SHERMAN


Steve Fehr, David Cone's representative, indicated his client will not
retire. "He'll definitely be back, I just don't know where." The Yanks
are considering bringing Cone back for about $500,000 for one year.

----------

I assume there will be some incentives in this deal if it's true.
Please be true, please be true....

--
susan peters ~ [email protected]

New York Times
November 18, 2000

Yankee Welcome Mat Is Out for Mussina

By BUSTER OLNEY

The Yankees want Mike Mussina. They're calling Mussina, they're
courting Mussina, they're about to offer Mussina a huge contract. And,
as a rival executive conceded earlier this week, "If the Yankees want
Mussina and he's not morally opposed to playing in New York, they've
got him."

But the Yankees are not taking any chances. They are doing everything
to woo the pitcher except sending him candy and flowers.

Yankees Manager Joe Torre called Mussina last week, and General
Manager Brian Cashman spoke to him a few days later. Those calls have
been followed by pleas from Yankee players. 

Dollars will soon back those words, perhaps as soon this weekend, in
the form of an official offer which could be in the range of $15
million a season for six or seven years.

Mussina rejected a six-year deal from the Baltimore Orioles that would
have averaged about $12 million a year. His agent has been asking for
$16 million to $17 million a season. Mussina is expected to meet with
the Yankees in the next 10 to 12 days and make his decision within two
weeks.

The Cleveland Indians, once seen as the Yankees' primary opponent for
Mussina's services, are probably out of the running for the right-
hander.

"We're interested in Mussina," said Mark Shapiro, assistant general
manager for the Indians. "But we're realistic about our chances of
competing with the Yankees."

The St. Louis Cardinals and the Los Angeles Dodgers have expressed
interest in Mussina, but they do not appear to rank among the
front-runners.

The Mets and the Boston Red Sox have met with Mussina's agent while
they pursue other options. Both teams are also negotiating with the
left-hander Denny Neagle.

But the Yankees seem to be in excellent position to sign Mussina,
assuming he does not decide to return to the Orioles.

Interestingly, signing Mussina would increase the Yankees' chances of
signing the veteran pitcher David Cone to a low-salaried contract, for
a base between $500,000 and $1 million. He would be the fifth starter
in a rotation that already includes the left-hander Andy Pettitte, the
five- time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens and the right-hander
Orlando Hern�ndez.

The thinking is that with a strong foursome besides Cone, the Yankees
could make a small financial gamble that Cone's poor performance last
season was an aberration.

Cashman did not return a telephone call yesterday. Others in the
organization say that George Steinbrenner, the Yankees' principal
owner, is upset with Cashman for acknowledging that he had breakfast
with Mussina's agent on Wednesday and has ordered Cashman to stop
talking to the news media.

The Yankees' front office folly aside, officials with other teams are
becoming more and more convinced that Mussina is going to sign with
the Yankees.

"He's going to be great for them," one high-ranking executive said. "I
wish we could do something to stop them, but they're the Yankees and
they're in a great position to make moves like that."

Clemens, Pettitte, Hern�ndez and Mussina would give the Yankees the
most dynamic starting foursome in baseball. Those four pitchers have
combined career records of 548 victories and 314 losses, and all of
them have had great success in the regular season and the postseason.

The Yankees would have, though, an aging rotation: Clemens is 38,
Hern�ndez is 35, Mussina turns 32 next month and Pettitte is 28. But
the Yankees' experience and ability to generate quality outings of six
or more innings consistently would seem to be unmatched in the
American League.

Pettitte and other Yankees have made calls trying to persuade Mussina,
a longtime rival, to join them.

---------

Well baseball gives me more mood swings than PMS! This is the most
optimistic article yet. Let's keep hoping!!

--
susan peters ~ [email protected]

Thanks for the article, Susan!  That's definitely good news...I hope it works 
out.

Jen

Hi everyone!

Well, I don't have any contract news, but as your resident stat guru, I 
thought I'd present you with some numbers you might appreciate.

I was reading the annual report by a guy who uses an interesting statistical 
method called "Support Neutral Wins/Losses".  I don't understand all the 
intricacies of how it works, but it's basically what it says in the title:  
the wins and losses a starting pitcher would be likely to get if his run 
support and bullpen support was average for the league.  This statistic has 
been around for a while and is considered to be a reliable one.

For David, the numbers came out to a support neutral 7.5-11.8 record.  In 
other words, if his actual performance was matched with average support, he 
would have gotten either 7 or 8 wins and about 12 losses.  Now 8-12 isn't 
the greatest record for a guy to post, but it looks a lot better than 4-14.  
(And it could easily have been *higher*-than-average support; Andy Pettitte, 
on the same team with the same offensive support and the same bullpen, 
earned a support neutral 13.1-10.8 record, yet ended up at 19-9.)

"What if"s never get you anywhere, but just for your own sense of 
confidence, isn't it comforting to have it statistically verified that David 
was the 10th unluckiest pitcher in the majors, and the seventh-most hurt by 
his relievers?  I mean, John Halama had virtually the same, slightly worse 
support-neutral numbers (7.2-12.0) and yet ended up with a 14-9 record!

Oh, by the way-- if you want another reason to root for Mussina coming to 
the Yankees besides the fact that it'll make it more likely for Cone to come 
back, Mussina was the unluckiest pitcher in baseball.  Support-neutrally,  
his win-loss record was 16.1-9.4, so his actual 11-15 record tells you very, 
very little.  He was the 5th-best pitcher in baseball in 2000 by this stat.

Yours,
Britt

P.S.  The link to this stuff is 
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/current/snwlreport00.html .

That is interesting!  It backs up what we've all said 
all year, that if Coney had decent run support, he would 
have had a much better record, and it's nice to know 
that it's not just a "fan" perspective - the numbers 
back it up!

Thanks! :)

BTW, if I don't get a chance before then, I want to wish 
all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving! :)

Ally :)

Britt, thanks for the analysis. You really do have to look at so many
stats to get an accurate gauge of performance, especially for
pitchers.

I remember at one point of the season Andy Pettitte had the highest
run support, which was about 10 runs per game! It came down a bit
later on in the season. Not to take anything away from Andy, but it
makes you wonder why one particular pitcher is lucky that way. His
style of pitching only effects the way the other team hits him, not
the number of hits and runs our guys score for him. Is it just luck?

When you look at Mussina's stats, not just his w/l record, you can see
why so many teams are after him. Let's hope we see him in pinstripes
next year! Wouldn't that be a nice Christmas present from George to us
Yankee fans? Especially if it means keeping David!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!
--
susan peters ~ [email protected]

Hey Britt!  

Thanx for the great stat... it just proves exactly what we've all been saying 
all year long.  Did you also notice that Coney is #7 in "pitchers most hurt 
by their bullpen"? Damn that Grimsley!!!!>:(
(Also of note... Andy Pettitte is #14... makes you think...)

~PEN~

Torre wants Mussina 

By RONALD BLUM
AP Sports Writer 
November 20, 2000 

NEW YORK (AP) -- Yankees manager Joe Torre sounds like a college coach
trying to recruit Mike Mussina. 

``I hope he's interested. We are, obviously,'' the New York manager
said Monday at a news conference for the release of the World Series
video. 

Various Yankees have reached out to the right-hander, who turns 32
next month, trying to convince him that the New York area is a nice
place to live. Many Yankees live in suburbs less than a 30-minute
drive from Yankee Stadium in midafternoon. 

``I just wanted him to know that New York is more than just Manhattan
and traffic,'' Torre said. ``New York isn't just a place with a lot of
people.'' 

Mussina has repeatedly rejected offers to return to Baltimore, the
last for $72 million over six years, saying they were for less than he
is worth. Orioles owner Peter Angelos said if the Yankees want Mussina
and he wants them, Baltimore will lose its ace. 

Boston and the New York Mets also are interested, and Atlanta,
Cleveland, Los Angeles, St. Louis and Texas may be, too. The
large-market teams have worried he might not want to play for them
because he was born in Williamsport, Pa., and lives in Montoursville,
Pa. 

``At this time, Mike is quite comfortable with playing with either of
the New York teams,'' the pitcher's agent, Arn Tellem, said Monday.
Mussina probably will make a decision in the two weeks following
Thanksgiving. 

``It's now completing the process of talking with teams, and Mike
getting as much information as he can from the players and teams
directly,'' Tellem said. ``The last point is agreeing on economic
terms with the team.'' 

Mussina would join a rotation that will include Roger Clemens, Orlando
Hernandez and Andy Pettitte. 

On a terrible Orioles team last season, Mussina was 11-15 with a 3.79
ERA, leaving his career record at 147-81. 

Torre made clear the Yankees are interested in having David Cone
return as their fifth starter -- if the price is right. Cone, 37, went
4-14 with a 6.91 ERA after agreeing to a $12 million, one-year
contract, and New York would bring him back only under a deal for a
small guarantee plus performance bonuses. 

``I'm still convinced he can get people out,'' Torre said. ``Before he
dislocated his shoulder, I thought he was on his way back.'' 

As for the bullpen, Torre said the Yankees are prepared to go on
without right-handed setup man Jeff Nelson, who rejected a $9 million,
three-year offer and became a free agent. 

On other subjects, Torre said pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre agreed to
return for next season. Stottlemyre, diagnosed a year ago with
multiple myeloma, left the team Sept. 11 to undergo a stem-cell
transplant and missed the postseason. 

Torre said he would wait until spring training approaches to decide if
he intends to manage after the 2001 season, the final year of his
contract. 

Torre thinks second baseman Chuck Knoblauch will get his throwing
problem straightened out during the offseason. Doctors have not
detected anything wrong with the elbow, which caused pain and forced
Knoblauch into a designated hitter role. 

``If he stops thinking about this, it might improve,'' Torre said.
``That's just my opinion. ... It was stressing him out.'' 

Torre has been monitoring the situation of Darryl Strawberry, jailed
in Tampa, Fla., for violating probation. The outfielder, who became a
free agent, also is battling cancer and told a judge he had stopped
his treatment. 

``It's sad,'' Torre said. ``We certainly haven't changed our feelings
toward him as a person. It hits a nerve for all of us.'' 

********************

Yahoo! This will make watching the World Series tape tomorrow that
much sweeter!!


--
susan peters ~ [email protected]

I thought you'd all be VERY interested in hearing this.  Check out the 
article here:

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news/ap/20001121/ap-yankees.html

It's a one year deal at a half million, with incentives.  They want him to be 
the fifth starter!!!

woo-hoo!!!!

my sister sent me this info yesterday!!  I knew it would be waiting for me
here at work this morning!!!  awww Joe truly believes in our SD!!!  That
should make him feel mighty thankful this turkey day and also much loved!!

have a great day everyone!!!

Laura

www.nydailynews.com/2000-11-21/Metro_Sports/Baseball/a-89358.asp

Yanks Toss Cone a Cutter 
Righty's ticket back: accept $11.5M slice 

By ANTHONY McCARRON 
Daily News Sports Writer

hortly after the World Series, David Cone said he knew that he wouldn't be 
making $12 million again next season after enduring the worst year of his 
career.

Try $500,000. That's the base salary of the contract that the Yankees have 
offered the free agent righthander, two baseball sources said. 

The pact also would include incentives that haven't been agreed upon yet 
because Cone told the Yankees he wants to think about the offer, the sources 
said.


David Cone would like to go out on better note than he played with Yanks last 
season but would have to take a huge cut to do so. Cone, who will be 38 in 
January, was a horrible 4-14 with a 6.91 ERA last season. He got his first 
win on April 28 and then didn't win again until Aug. 10, a span of 16 starts. 
One season removed from a perfect game, Cone spent most of last season 
confused and frustrated, tweaking his pitching mechanics, trying to recapture 
that form.

He showed flashes of his former self and seemed to be straightening out his 
season until he dislocated his left shoulder Sept. 5 in Kansas City, ruining 
his final month.

But Cone's courage and flair for dramatics has always been appreciated in the 
Bronx. So were his wins. Before last season, Cone was 60-26 in 115 starts in 
pinstripes, not including a 6-1 mark in postseason games.

So he has plenty of supporters in the Yankee front office, all of whom 
believe he can be an effective starter again.

Joe Torre is one of them. When asked generally about Cone yesterday, Torre 
said, "Coney, I'm still convinced he can get people out. Before he dislocated 
his shoulder, I thought he was on his way back. Not necessarily to a 20-win 
season type pitcher, but between 10 and 20 wins. There's a lot of help a 
pitcher can give a team, and I think Coney's in that area.

"What's going to happen? I don't know. I know we've expressed some interest 
in having him back, and I can understand that David would like to see how 
much interest there is in him."

Cone's agent, Steve Fehr, did not return phone messages yesterday seeking 
comment. Neither did Yanks GM Brian Cashman.

After the World Series, Billy Connors, the Yanks' acting pitching coach, said 
he thought Cone could be an effective starter next season if the pitcher 
followed a strict conditioning program during the offseason.

"I don't think Coney should retire," Connors said. "But he needs to go on a 
major strength program this winter. He's got to do weights, running.

"Coney's got heart. He just didn't do a whole lot last winter and it affected 
him this season."

When asked about Connors' comments, Cone agreed with the coach, saying that 
at his age and with his medical history — he had an operation to remove 
an aneurysm from his right arm in 1996 — his main offseason goal was 
rest.

"It's been a hard run the last five years," Cone said. "You pitch through 
October, it takes its toll. The idea is to rest, save my arm, but in 
hindsight I should've done more.

"But this year goes deeper than that."

Cone enjoyed a measure of satisfaction from the one batter he faced in the 
World Series, retiring Mike Piazza in the fifth inning of Game 4.

"That just made me feel better about everything, more a part of everything," 
Cone said before the Yankees' victory parade.

While getting ready for the parade, Cone also said that he still believes he 
can be a starting pitcher in the major leagues.

"I know I can," said Cone, who added that he had no problem with having to 
earn a job in spring training.

Thoughts of retirement also crept into his head during his trying season, 
though he acknowledged they were "down the list.

"Preferably, I would like to still pitch. When you've had the type of season 
I've had, it (retiring) is certainly something you think about. Ideally, I'd 
rather not finish on a year like this. It might not be possible."

Depending on what he thinks of the Yankees' offer, it is.


ARE YOU GUYS AS EXCITED AS I AM??????

~PEN~

hey all,

QUOTE:

>Cone told the Yankees he wants to think about the offer, the sources
said.

oh no.. what does he have to think about :((

do you guys think he's going to go elsewhere!!??? I guess (like Joe Torre
had mentioned) he's going to see how much interest there is in him out there
('out there' meaning other teams).

*YIKES* I guess I'm going to be keeping my fingers and toes crossed for a
while longer ;)

Have a great night
Laura

Oh, good news, very good news... :-)

Laura, it's possible that he may want to see if he can get the offer upped, 
but if they won't, then he'll take what they give.  I think he will 
definitely seriously consider it, and it's great news that the Yankees will 
have him if he'll have them. :-)

I think it's unlikely he'd go to another team unless it's Kansas City, and 
even then, I think he'd probably prefer to stay with the Yankees.  Well, 
we'll have to wait and see.

*crossing fingers*

Yours,
Britt

This excerpt is from an aritcle on the Yanks signing Oliver:


Yankees sign Oliver to $1.15 million, one-year contract 

By RONALD BLUM
AP Sports Writer 
November 21, 2000 

Another Yankees' official, speaking on the condition of anonymity,
denied the team has offered free-agent pitcher David Cone a one-year
contract with a base salary of $500,000 plus performance bonuses. 

The official said the Yankees have talked with Cone's agent, Steve
Fehr, about the possibility of bringing back the 37-year-old
right-hander, who went 4-14 with a 6.91 ERA, but said no offer has yet
been made. Cone made $12 million last season. 

``We've had conversations,'' Fehr said. ``David is in no hurry.'' 

-------------------

It's so confusing. You hear the same story from a few sources, and
then it's denied in another source. I guess we just have to wait and
see what happens.



--
susan peters ~ [email protected]

Very strange, but I still have the fingers & toes 
crossed that the original story is true!!!

That would definitely be another thing to be thankful 
for this Thanksgiving!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!

Ally :)

http://www.geocities.com/coney36_nyy/

Hi everyone!  Wow...a lot is going on....it's all so very emotional and
dramatic!  Thank you all for sharing the articles and snipits to keep us
updated...and Britt, your statistical post was just absolutely
*fabulous*!!  You never cease to amaze me...you manipulate numbers the
same way a poet manipulates words...beautiful! :)

"What's going to happen? I don't know. I know we've expressed some interest
in having him back, and I can understand that David would like to see how
much interest there is in him."

I guess that can be interpreted as Cone wanting to see what other teams
have to offer, but when I first read it, I saw it as him wanting to see
just how interested the Yankees are in having him come back to them...but
Laura, you are probably right in thinking he would like to see what other
teams out there have to offer.  I think he would be interested in seeing
these other offers just for curiosity's sake, to see what the rest of MLB
sees he is worth, but I just don't see him leaving the Yankees if they
make him any sort of offer.  If he said he would be happy with going to
Spring Training to "win a job," then surely he would be satisfied with
signing a contract now and going to Spring Training knowing he has a job.
Plus we all know how he loves living in the NY area and how much he loves
being a Yankee.  I just don't see him going to KC or anywhere else even if
they offer him more money...why would anyone want to leave a championship
team? (Although Nelson did...but this is Cone we're talking about :))  I
see Cone putting more worth in his love and loyalty for the Yankees, NY,
and playing great baseball rather than money.  I hope I am not wrong!!!

And Susan-- You're right...this is all very confusing...I hate how you can
hear one thing from one place and something else from another...did they
make him an offer or not?!  Dangit...I guess we will just have to wait and
see...what an emotional roller coaster!!!

Some more articles have been added to the articles page, and the Other
Links page has been updated as well...go check them out!! :)

I hope you all have a *fabulous* Thanksgiving, and continue to hold high
hopes for Sweet David!! ;)

Take care~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
                    --KC <<<<:)