Anywho, if you aren’t as sick of this story as I am, go read more about it. Short version is, it looks like Alex Rodriguez will remain with the Yankees.

Go on, act like you care. I dare you.

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The 36-year-old Posada is coming off a career year in which he hit .338/.426/.543. Perhaps more impressively, he has caught at least 130 games in each of the past eight seasons. Put those two together, and the chances of Posada’s coming anywhere near his 2007 levels again fall somewhere between slim and none.

Here’s your list of catchers since 1961 who logged at least 300 plate appearances in their age 36 season and had an OPS+ of 100 or better:

• Sherm Lollar ‘61
• Carlton Fisk ‘84
• Ernie Whitt ‘88
• Mike Piazza ‘05

Here’s that same list for 37-year-old catchers:

• Fisk ‘85
• Whitt ‘89
• Benito Santiago ‘02
• Greg Myers ‘03
• Piazza ‘06

No 38-year-old catcher has met these criteria in the Expansion Era (the last was Gabby Hartnett in 1939), and only Fisk (’87) has done it among 39-year-old catchers since 1961.

History tells us that shelling out top dollar for the age 36-39 years of a catcher is not the best investment, but it also tells us that the Yankees can pay to make their mistakes go away when the time comes.

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Girardi probably deserves better. As he was in Florida, he’s being set up to fail. With the Marlins, his problem was that he couldn’t drive that franchise into the ground and force the team to move elsewhere. Now he gets to succeed one of the most successful managers in big-league history while one of baseball’s most notorious owners hands the reins over to his sons, who appear eager to leave their mark on the club they’re inheriting.

And you can be sure, they will leave a mark.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, Grady Little has resigned as manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Presumably this opens the door for Torre, while Little gets to make good on his plan to “play with my grandkids.”

Despite Torre’s track record in New York, I’m not sure he’s the right guy for the Dodgers. My gripe isn’t so much with Torre as it is with the fact that I don’t think the Dodgers are quite where they believe they are in terms of being competitive in the NL West.

As we saw down the stretch in ‘07, this division has become very tough. Frankly, if the Dodgers are going to be a serious player next season, they’ll need to make some aggressive moves over the winter. Actually, they were plenty aggressive last winter; this time they need to be smart as well.

Torre has demonstrated the ability to work well with big-league egos, with guys who are accustomed to fighting for (and winning) championships. How will he respond to a team that isn’t assured a spot in the postseason? How will that team respond to him?

And can his grandkids play with Little’s grandkids, or would that be awkward?

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American League

• Indians at Tigers, 4:05 p.m. PT — Just a half-game separates these AL Central rivals. Paul Byrd vs Justin Verlander looks like a mismatch, and I suppose it is. Byrd, though, is a crafty veteran with freakish control (18 walks in 143 IP). Verlander’s ERA is 4.89 in seven starts since the All-Star break. Detroit’s offense is crazy good — Magglio Ordonez is a legit MVP candidate, Gary Sheffield is having a monster year (including 20 SB for the first time since ‘98), and now phenom Cameron Maybin is up with the big club. Cleveland counters with a nice corps of young talent in Victor Martinez, Ryan Garko, Jhonny Peralta, and Grady Sizemore. These two franchises have set themselves up nicely for the next few years.
• Yankees at Angels, 7:05 p.m. PT — Anaheim has won the first two games of this series, by a combined score of 25-15. Garret Anderson drove in 10 runs during the Angels’ 18-9 win on Tuesday; that represents 20% of his RBI total on the season. Andy Pettitte and John Lackey hook up in the finale, as the Yankees look to avoid a sweep.

National League

• Dodgers at Phillies, 4:05 p.m. PT — Not a marquee pitching matchup, but that’s usually the case when the Phillies are playing. Derek Lowe got off to a fine start for the Dodgers this year, but has struggled of late (1-4, 5.06 ERA over his last seven starts). J.D. Durbin, meanwhile, has pitched surprisingly well so far in the second half (5-0, 3.12 ERA) while splitting time between the rotation and the bullpen. Ryan Howard notched his first career stolen base on Tuesday. Rudy Seanez and Russell Martin should be ashamed of themselves.
• Padres at Mets, 4:10 p.m. PT — The Padres try to put Tuesday’s late-inning meltdown behind them. Ace Jake Peavy makes his first start since making controversial comments about his future. His former teammate, Brian Lawrence, gets the call for New York. Lawrence has made three starts with the big club after missing all of 2006 due to injury.
• Brewers at Diamondbacks, 6:40 p.m. PT — Brandon Webb takes aim at Orel Hershiser’s consecutive scoreless innings streak against a potent Milwaukee lineup. Actually, Webb is 17 innings shy, so it won’t happen on Wednesday regardless. Still, 42 innings is pretty darned impressive. Everyone (myself included) talks about Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun, but Geoff Jenkins is enjoying a fine resurgence this year for the Brewers, and Corey Hart is quietly putting up some nice numbers. Something’s got to give tonight; we’ll see what it is. Oh yeah, both teams are fighting for a division title.

One game: I’ll be tuned to the Mets/Padres contest, but I have a vested interest in that one. The most compelling storyline probably is Webb vs the Brewers lineup. Happy watching…

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Congrats to Rodriguez on his achievement!

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After hearing of Giambi’s comments, Selig offered the slugger a deal: Talk to [lead investigator Sen. George] Mitchell and “cooperate fully” or you will face disciplinary action.

Is it me, or does this sound like an offer Giambi can’t refuse? Look, I’m no great fan of the MLBPA — it’s difficult to sympathize with the working conditions of millionaires — but when stuff like this happens, I’m reminded of why it has become so powerful. At virtually every point in MLB history, owners have tried to screw players in one way or another. The current witch hunt is no exception.

Make no mistake, I don’t condone the use of performance-enhancing drugs. Far from it. But I fail to see how the current “solution” of threatening every worker is going to help matters.

There’s a colossal difference between seeking cooperation and unilaterally forcing compliance. Too bad the distinction is lost on some people.

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But I’ll give it a shot anyway.

In Clemens’ big-league debut, on May 15, 1984, he faced the Cleveland Indians and got a no-decision. Clemens didn’t pitch particularly well, but he played alongside or against a Hall of Famer (Wade Boggs), the father of a current big leaguer (Tony Armas), a front-office staffer (Reid Nichols), a field manager (Mike Hargrove), and… wait for it… Julio Franco!

I love Franco. That dude will survive a nuclear holocaust.

Wait, this post was supposed to be about Clemens. Oh well…

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I crack myself up. That makes one of us, eh?

So it seems that reliever Kyle Farnsworth isn’t real thrilled about the arrangement Roger Clemens has made with the New York Yankees. You know, the one where Clemens gets to show up in June and dominate the league for an obscene amount of money?

Farnsworth evidently made some comments on a radio show:

It might cause some friction. Granted this is going to be his (Clemens’) 23rd or 24th year and he can get the opportunity to do that, but still, I think if you’re going to be part of the team you should be there always.

You win as a team, you lose as a team. I respect what he’s done and I respect him as a person and a player but to be a part of the team you have to be there with the team.

Here’s the thing. I’m not a huge fan of Clemens. His public persona rubs me the wrong way. It bugs me that all his kids have names that start with the letter “K”; it shouldn’t, but it does.

That said, Clemens is one of the all-time greats to play the game of baseball. If anyone has earned the right to do what he’s doing (a matter of debate, but consider the perks offered in the corporate world), it’s him. And I’d just as soon folks like Farnsworth stop talking crap about this, because I hate defending Clemens.

But in this case, I’m kind of obligated to do so because Clemens hasn’t done anything wrong. Seriously, the Yankees could have said no.

Just sayin’…

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