Inside Pitch

Teixeira headed for the Bronx

The Yankees reel in another one: Mark Teixeira gets eight years and $180 million (according to the AP) or $170 million according to ESPN.com. Sickening.

What this shows is that GM Brian Cashman's theories on developing from within got overruled by Hank and Hal Steinbrenner. Hope the Yankees enjoy paying their heavy luxury tax next winter thanks to Teixeira, CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett -- especially if they finish behind the Rays and Red Sox again.

Oh sure, Teixeira is a nice player and all. But would someone tell me exactly what this guy has won in his career? Does he put the Yankees over the top in the AL East or is he just another expensive Jason Giambi type who won't win anything?

---Mike Harrington

Funny number from Bisons' name game

Here's a pearl from Bisons media relations maven Brad Bisbing, lifted from the team's announcement that Dunn Tire Park has become Coca-Cola Field:

"The Bisons have hit 1,271 home runs at home [since the ballpark opened in 1988], which would be the same distance as over 1.2 million Coca-Cola cans placed on their side, one after another."

Don't know how they'd come up with that figure but it's cool nonetheless.

Kind of weird to think a home-and-home set with Lehigh Valley could result in the teams playing back-to-back series in Coca-Cola Park (in Allentown) and Coca-Cola Field. At least I get rid of all those tire references about seasons on the scrap heap and flat play, etc. Come to think of it though, pop could bring the flat jokes back too if the Mets' first season here goes awry!

Any problems with the new name or is everybody still calling the place Pilot Field?

---Mike Harrington

Could Manny be Manny in the Bronx?

Check this one: The New York Daily News says the Yankees are thinking long and hard about bringing in Manny Ramirez. That would definitely make for a much stronger lineup and would make for one incredible daily circus in the Bronx. Joel Sherman of the New York Post gives some terrific insight as to why he thinks the team should not sign MannybeingManny.

At an expected tab of $22-$25 million per year, would Manny be worth it for the Yanks or would he just be too much trouble?

---Mike Harrington

New Herd logo: Yea or Nay?

The Bisons' new logo was unveiled Tuesday and it's certainly reminiscent of the New York Mets' circular logo. This one, however, features the charging Buffalo in the middle rather than the cartoonish Buster characters the team has always used. You can click on the logo for a closer look at the details.

The Bisons' first two modern-era logos are below. The one on the left was used from 1985-97 while the one on the right was the primary logo from 1998 until today. So what do you think? Big improvement? Step back?

---Mike Harrington

Giants taking a new approach to tickets

Think the Sabres' platinum pricing is goofy? Well, check out what the San Francisco Giants are planning for 2009.

They're going to use about 2,000 upper-level seats in AT&T Park in an experiment that will see the face-value price of tickets altered as often as once a day depending on demand -- which will be determined by night of the week, opponent and perhaps even the starting pitchers. Kind of like airlines change prices for all kinds of factors.

Look for higher prices, for example, when Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum is scheduled to pitch or when the Dodgers come to town. Or if a surprise team is high in the standings late in the season.

How do you think this one is going to work out: A forerunner for all pro sports teams or a foolish idea?

---Mike Harrington

Blackout relief coming?

Just stumbled upon this story from the Las Vegas paper during the meetings. Looks like MLB is finally going to work to cut down on silly blackouts on MLB.com and Extra Innings. Of course, not as big a deal in Buffalo now that we're not with the Indians.

But look at what the folks in Vegas can't see -- A's, Giants, Dodgers, Angels, Diamondbacks, Padres. Up to six games a night! Bet that makes for lots of frustration from out-of-towners in sports books. With The Baseball Channel starting in '09, MLB should just drop all out-of-market blackouts. What's the point? The whole thing has been a goofy vestige of the pre-cable days for far too long.

---Mike Harrington

Interesting spot for Oberkfell

What we reported during the World Series became official today: The New York Mets have named Ken Oberkfell, left, manager of the Buffalo Bisons in 2009. Seems like a good choice. Oberkfell had a 16-year career as a big-league player -- more than any other manager in the team's modern era -- and has a history of recent success as a skipper in the Mets' chain.

It will be interesting, however, to see how he reacts to being back in Triple-A. He got the coveted call to the big-league club in June, albeit because of Willie Randolph's firing, and served on Jerry Manuel's staff the rest of the season. But Manuel did not pick Oberkfell to stay on the staff on a permanent basis and he agreed to return to the minors.

I know several folks have emailed me wondering if the Mets would put a former "name" star at the helm for their first year in Buffalo. There were no real candidates. Howard Johnson stayed on as the big-league hitting coach -- although you wonder why given the way the Mets' offense fell apart at the end of the season. The only former '80s-era Met in the minors is Tim Teufel and he managed last year at Class A St. Lucie, so he wasn't ready to jump this high yet.

Oberkfell did a good job in 2005 with a Norfolk team that won the IL South and got to the PCL playoffs with New Orleans in 2007. Not often we've had a manager dealing with a trip back to Triple-A like players often do. So this should be interesting.

---Mike Harrington

'Hanging Sox' will be Boston's new look

Just in time for Christmas -- and certainly a way to distract folks from the fact they didn't sign Mark Teixeira or anyone else in Las Vegas -- the Red Sox unveiled a whole new look for their uniforms Thursday. The main feature is a scaling back of the circular logo that says "Boston Red Sox" and the "B" on the caps, replaced by stand-alone hanging red socks.

Check out this Boston Globe gallery for the full new look. The "new" road grays look like the 80s version the Sox where wearing when they Bucknered that World Series against the Mets. Weird they want to relive that time.

Sox fans out there: Likes? Dislikes?

---Mike Harrington

Herd through the grapevine

---The Bisons lost a potential power bat late Wednesday night when the New York Mets included 1B/LF Mike Carp in the three-team trade with Seattle that got J.J. Putz to New York. Carp, 22, was expected to be one of the better prospect bats in Buffalo this season. He hit .299 with 17 homers and 72 RBIs last year at Double-A Binghamton. That trade also saw ex-Bison Franklin Gutierrez go from Cleveland to Seattle.

---The Bisons will be unveiling their new logo and new manager (expected to be Ken Oberkfell) Tuesday in Dunn Tire Park.

---I was thoroughly underwhelmed by the Mets' first nine minor-league free agent signees. About the only significant name was pitcher Nelson Figueroa, who has a 10-20 record in the big leagues but is 104-66 in the minors and had 12-win seasons for Nashville in 2003 and 2004.

---Cleveland left ex-Buffalo first baseman Jordan Brown unprotected in today's Rule V draft but he was not selected. Knee injuries set Brown back in '08 after he was a league MVP the previous two years. And now that the Tribe has Matt La Porta and a need to use Victor Martinez some at first base, it may be tough for Brown to get anywhere with Cleveland. The Mets drafted OF Karl Loadenthal from Atlanta in the Triple-A phase. He hit .278 with no homers and 13 RBIs in 68 games last year at Richmond.

---Mike Harrington

New York, New York

Big news out of the winter meetings in Las Vegas: Francisco Rodriguez gets three years, $37 million from the Mets. And now it looks like CC Sabathia is getting seven years, $160 million from the Yankees. Two pretty prime free agents getting to star in New York's new baseball palaces next spring.

I say the Mets get more benefit and are much closer to a World Series now with K-Rod than the Yankees are with CC.

It's your pitch. Which team has the better deal?

---Mike Harrington