The Super Bowl is America’s most-hyped sports event of the year, so it’s perhaps no surprise that there are plenty of oddities that go with it—such as half time act Madonna getting her very own press conference. Among the questions asked was one about the rumored painting of Rodriguez ...

Shane Spencer slugs: Remember him in 1998? (AP) I was out to dinner last night with two old pals who used to be in the baseball business and Shane Spencer came up. I hadn’t thought about Spencer in any great detail since 2004 or so, so it was pleasant to recall 1998, a year in which just about everything ...

Except for one horrendous, torturous, all-manner-of-bad-things eighth inning on an October night in Chicago in 2003, Jim Hendry might have a much different résumé. Jim Hendry and a ball just out of reach. (AP) It’s amazing that in baseball, a sport where the most respected statisticians preach ...

Rumors are being nosed about that the Yankees are looking hard at Bill Hall and have thought about old man Raul Ibanez for their open designated hitter position. Raul Ibanez is likely past his sell-by date. (AP) Let’s start with the former. It’s good that the Yankees are looking for a utility player ...

A funny thing happend on Phil Hughes’ road to stardom. Phil Hughes: Here he comes again... again. (AP) In his second-ever start, Hughes flirted with a no-hitter, and then he got hurt. Injuries returned again in 2008, limiting him to just 34 innings that season. In 2009, Hughes moved to the bullpen to ...

I’m pleased to welcome the latest contributor to the Pinstriped Bible, Rebecca Glass. Rebecca has written about baseball for ESPN and You Can’t Predict Baseball and will soon be joining me at Baseball Prospectus as well. In the short time I have known Rebecca, she has not only become a good ...

Who wants to see a great player struggle? During this offseason, there has been much speculation as to when Mariano Rivera will choose to retire, something he dropped hints about last season. My only preference is that whenever he does it, it’s too soon rather than too late. I don’t want to see Rivera ...

Last season, the average designated hitter batted .266/.341/.430 with 20 home runs. That figure is dragged down by absurdly low production at the position from three-fourths of the AL West. A more appropriate reflection of what the Yankees might want to look for from the position can be found in what ...

This trade came down while I was co-hosting BP’s Friday night radio show on SiriusXM, and as we chatted about the deal, I could only look on helplessly as Twitter filled up with invective directed against the trade by Yankees fans. I understand the disappointment at losing Jesus Montero, but if you ...

I’ll have more to say later, but for now, may it suffice to say that he was one of the most important least-appreciated Yankees of all time; his glovework was never pretty, but his bat helped the Yankees conceal many a sin at other positions. Here is what I wrote about him for the Baseball Prospectus ...

The Yankees won’t be signing Hiroyuki Nakajima, but that’s probably not a big deal anyway. I spoke with Ichiro Kubota at Japan’s Slugger magazine to get a scouting report on the infielder. What I heard wasn’t all that exciting. “Like Jeter, he has a good inside-out swing,” Kubota said, ...

With the Red Sox trading Josh Reddick and two other prospects to Oakland for closer Andrew Bailey and outfielder Ryan Sweeney, the reassembly of AL East 2011 is almost complete. Jon Papelbon fled to the Phillies, so the Red Sox needed another strong arm for their late-game activities, particularly with ...