Kevin Baker's book is here!

Kevin Baker's book is here!
"... an exemplary sports book..." Kirkus Reviews

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

10 true things you didn't care to know about new Yankee Jonathan Niese

1. He was born on the day the Mets won their second World Series. (That makes him 30.)

2. He hails from Defiance, Ohio. ("The Man from Defiance looks in, gets the signal...")

3. He was an all-state soccer player in high school.

4. He was a little league teammate of Chad Billingsley.

5. He gave up a homer to the first major league batter he ever faced. (Rickie "Wikileaks" Weeks)

6. In 2010, he threw a one-hitter against the Padres.

7. He had a nose job, paid for by Carlos Beltran. (Not making this up.)

8. In 2013, he was the Mets' opening day starter. (Don't snicker; we once had Pavano.)

9. This winter, the Mets bought him out for $500,000, making him a free agent.

10. He'll make a baseline $1.25 million for the Yankees - plus $750,000 in incentives, and we have to extend him by $100,000 before spring training ends, or he becomes a free agent.

5 comments:

SanJoseKid said...

Sorry to take us off track, but a question. Dellin Betances gets $3 million but Chris Carter gets $3.5 million? Cannot be right (or wise). Carter is a strikeout-prone back-up, right? Betances is the lynch pin at the back end of the bullpen.

Anonymous said...

BELTRAN NEEDS A REFUND ON THE NOSE JOB!....HAVE YOU SEEN NEISE'S SHNOZZ???

Alphonso said...

If you look carefully, in the far right bottom frame of the Cashman oil painting ( meant for hanging in George's suite ...still occupied only by the dead ), I autographed this work for Brian. My notation says, " you are an asshole Brian, and rewarded by fools for failure. "

Alphonso said...

Jonathan Neise was once a good pitcher and prospect. Now, he'll be another DH or back-up first baseman who can't hit or field.

A fine investment, I say. More garbage for the Yankees to re-cycle.

KD said...

SanJoseKid,

Levine screwed Betances for the betterment of the game, don't you know. "setup" men just aren't worth that much money and Levine wanted no precedent set. It be the unwritten rules! Closers win games. The setup men that come in during high leverage situations ain't worth much. It's those final three outs that matter. so sayth the ancient and Holy binders.