Hey Cashman....

[NYHC GIANT]

Give the best closer in baseball history his money so we can put these articles about "no respect" to rest.

 

TAMPA -- Mariano Rivera acknowledged the absence of longtime teammate Bernie Williams on Monday, calling it "strange."

Could players be saying the same thing about the Yankees closer one year from now? Rivera's commitment to the team expires after 2007, and while he said he would love to retire in New York, he realizes that scenario is not yet certain.

 

"Definitely, I want to finish my career here," Rivera said. "But if they don't give me the respect that I deserve, [if]I have to move on, I have to move on. The Yankees always give me respect. When it comes to these times, I don't like to talk about it."

 

Rivera -- with Williams' apparent parting, now the longest-tenured Yankees big leaguer -- met the media near the front entrance of the Yankees' Minor League complex, his words draped by the background of passing traffic.

 

Though he appears to have given some thought to his baseball fate, Rivera insisted that he is not upset. Rivera's focus, he said, remains on helping the 2007 Yankees accomplish their goal of a World Series championship.

 

That mission begins Tuesday, as pitchers and catchers officially report to Legends Field. As Rivera noted, he is under contract with the team, and would not let any uncertainty concerning his future creep into his current obligations.

 

"I'm not that kind of player," Rivera said. "I play for the team. I'm a team player. I don't have to think about that stuff."

[NYHC GIANT]

Hey-he heard me!!!!

 

 

Cashman to speak with Rivera

 

TAMPA, Fla. -- Mariano Rivera spoke softly, and the New York Yankees got the message.

 

A day after the All-Star closer said "if they don't give the respect that I deserve, I have to move on," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said he intends to speak with Rivera -- but would not necessarily offer a contract extension beyond 2007.

 

Rivera seldom says anything controversial, and his remarks dominated the back pages -- and in one case, the front page -- of Tuesday's tabloids in New York.

 

"Mo knows how we feel about him. We care a great deal about him. He's been a great Yankee," Cashman said Tuesday. "Obviously there's a contract in place that we worked out a while before. Let me talk to him first. In theory I would always prefer to wait. Right now I want to concentrate on '07 and worry about '08 at another time. When that time will be, that would be between me and Mo."

 

Rivera and catcher Jorge Posada are entering the final seasons of their contracts and are eligible for free agency after the World Series. Rivera will earn $10.5 million this season, completing a deal that pays him $31.5 million over three years.

 

"The Yankees always give me the respect," Rivera said Monday. "When the time comes, if they want me back, they want me back. Otherwise, I'm not going to sit in my house crying. I have to move on."

 

Cashman said the one time he spoke with Rivera during the offseason, the 37-year-old didn't bring up his contract situation. Rivera's agent and Cashman did have one conversation about an extension.

 

"Every situation has a proper time and a proper place," Cashman said. "My preference is to wait throughout the year on everybody, if I possibly can. We have a lot of people up. I'm going to talk Mariano first, have a conversion with him to see where he's at."

[so-cal dub]

Cashman went loco recently. Watch him offer Mo a minor league deal...

[njsmalls]

Yeah, I saw ESPN blow this story up already. Give him the contract.

[mickeef2]

I don't think you have anything to worry about. I'm sure they'll get something done. Mo doesn't want to leave, and the Yanks would just blow any other offer out of the water if they had to in order to avoid the wrath of the fans. Didn't Mo say after he signed his last contract that he thought he would play just 3 more years and go out while he was still on top? I was kinda counting on him to be a man of his word.

[Herc]

i guess mo's not above the business of baseball. coming out twice now in the media to campaign for a contract extension. regardless, he's one of the best closers in baseball and the yanks would be smart to resign him

[Clarence the Blue Puppet]

I don't think you have anything to worry about. I'm sure they'll get something done. Mo doesn't want to leave, and the Yanks would just blow any other offer out of the water if they had to in order to avoid the wrath of the fans. Didn't Mo say after he signed his last contract that he thought he would play just 3 more years and go out while he was still on top? I was kinda counting on him to be a man of his word.

 

Money can make the most logical man do the most illogical things. I often tell people that I don't have a price, and that I'd never give up my dignity for money, but I've never had millions of dollars at my fingertips. I'd like to think I'd be a man of my word, but you never know.

[mickeef2]

Money can make the most logical man do the most illogical things. I often tell people that I don't have a price, and that I'd never give up my dignity for money, but I've never had millions of dollars at my fingertips. I'd like to think I'd be a man of my word, but you never know.

 

Yeah, it's hard to say when you haven't been in that situation. I always say how lame it is for rock stars to show up at shit like the Grammy awards, but I guess if I were in that situation, I'd like to hang out with a bunch of other famous people, too.

 

I agree with Admiral, though, that Mo is behaving very Tiki-esque (that's a new phrase I've coined). Saying something once, I can understand. Everybody has to take a position and draw a line in the sand when it comes to their contract. But two days in a row? At this point, he should just give a polite "no comment".

[Herc]

make you wonder if he's got some type of injury or something. why the insecurity? if he has a typical mo year the yanks will outspend everyone to resign him.