Juan Rivera to Yankees only makes sense

With Nick Swisher's defection to Cleveland via free agency this week, the New York Yankees have a hole to fill in the outfield.

But rather than repeat what the Yankees have done so often over the years--offer an overpriced, multi-year deal to a free agent and then lament their diminishing returns at the back end of the contract--the Bronx baseball braintrust should extend a modest, two-year contract to Juan Rivera.

Rivera, who will be 34 on opening day, played the outfield for the Yankees from 2001-2003. He has never been an All-Star and will never be one. But he is a righthanded hitter with a good arm, a good glove and some pop in his bat--just the kind of bench player and occasional starter the 2013 club needs.

In today's free-agent market, Rivera could be had for $8 million over two years. Or the Yankees could offer a one-year deal worth $4 million with a club option for the 2014 season.

Rivera made $4 million for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2012. He hit .244 with 9 home runs and 47 RBI. He can also play first base, which means the Yanks could give starter Mark Teixeira a day off once in a while.

The Yankees are likely to open 2013 with a starting outfield of Brett Gardner in left, Curtis Granderson in center and Ichiro Suzuki in right. That trio should cover plenty of ground in the outfield and steal a ton of bases.

But Granderson, Gardner and Ichiro are all lefthanded hitters. That would leave the Yankees especially vulnerable to lefthanded pitching.

Signing Rivera would allow Yankees manager Joe Girardi to sit the strike zone-challenged Granderson against a particularly tough southpaw; Gardner could move to center when Granderson sits.

Rivera could also fill in for Ichiro, no spring chicken at age 38, or be a righthanded DH--a role in which Andruw Jones struggled in 2012. (Jones has signed a free-agent contract with a team in Japan.)

Admittedly, the Yankees won't make major headlines by signing Rivera. They won't break out the carving board and serve roast beef at a Yankee Stadium news conference to re-introduce Rivera to New York.

However, Rivera can help the 2013 Yankees. The club should not wait any longer to sign him.

An Open Letter to "Papa John"

November 10, 2012

"Papa John" Schnatter
Founder & CEO
Papa John's International, Inc.
2002 Papa Johns Boulevard
Louisville, KY 40299

Dear "Papa John,"

I'm not one of your regular customers. But I'm from New York, and New Yorkers know pizza. I've tried your Papa John's pizza, and let me just say that it pales in comparison to Original Ray's.

Actually, I have little use for pizza. You see, I'm an avid runner. My fiancee and I have qualified for next year's New York City Marathon.

Eating pizza after training for a 26.2-mile race would be about as foolish as claiming to have difficulty running your business just because President Obama, owner of the Affordable Care Act, has been re-elected.

That is why I have taken time to write to you.

You see, Papa, I'm not one of those gullible folks weaned on Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and the Drudge Report. You are going to have to produce some of those convenient things we like to call facts to convince me that you will have to cut your employees' hours--and wages--or lay off many of them because of Obamacare.

With whom would you replace them, workers imported from China?

Or would you have to close locations or, goodness gracious, go out of business?

All because of Obamacare?

Papa, we both know there is no plausible connection between Mr. Obama's re-election and the livelihood of your unfortunate employees.

I'll be blunt because, remember, I'm from New York: If you cannot provide affordable healthcare for your employees with cutting their hours or wages or jobs, then you are as inept at business as Congressman Todd Akin is at discussing the female reproductive system.

You do believe your employees deserve to have access to affordable healthcare, don't you?

Don't you?

Even if your allegation were true, that the barons of American business cannot survive under the yoke of Obamacare, then you should have traveled the country with your man Mitt and spoken at, well, 47 percent of his campaign rallies. You could have been a game-changer.

But then, you probably thought Mitt was going to win anyway, so your presence was not required.

That's what you get for listening to Karl Rove, Dick Morris, Donald Trump and the Rasmussen Poll.

Sorry, Papa.

Just as I'm sorry to see your company's ongoing contribution to America's obesity epidemic. Maybe you should have to close about a hundred franchises, lest Americans stop expanding as if hooked on helium:

"I'll have two Double Bacon 6 Cheese Pizzas, a dozen Cheese Sticks, two Super-Size Cokes and two Hot Apple Pies to go."

"Yes, sir, Governor Christie. Coming right up, sir."

Little did I know, Papa, that you and Herman Cain, the lascivious former CEO of the Godfather's chain, had formed this loony anti-Obama pizza lobby.

And little did I know that your pitiful fear mongering could actually teach me something about your product that is truly remarkable:

Apparently, too much pizza can make you crazy.

Sincerely,
Cecil Harris

The LeBron-to-New York Myth

The myth that basketball superstar LeBron James will sign as a free agent with the New York Knicks picks up steam this week because the influential New York magazine is telling us in a cover story why it should happen.

Nice try, New York.

Particularly cute was the Photoshopped cover image of LeBron appearing to pull an orange-and-blue suitcase on wheels complete with the Knicks logo and an I Love New York button.

But LeBron, the NBA’s most dynamic talent, will not come to the Knicks because there is no compelling reason for him to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers.

First, the supporting players with whom LeBron runs in Cleveland (Mo Williams, Antwan Jamison, Shaquille O’Neal, Anderson Varejao, Delonte West et al.) are far better than his Knicks’ supporting cast would be.

And that would be true even if the Knicks could convince free agent power forward Chris Bosh to leave the Toronto Raptors and join LeBron in New York.

Second, it is no longer necessary for a great athlete to play for a New York team to maximize his earning potential. This is not the late 1970s when Reggie Jackson’s baseball star ascended once he traded his Oakland A’s and Baltimore Orioles uniforms for Yankee pinstripes.

Nowadays, a great athlete in a team sport can play anywhere and rack in major endorsement dollars.

Just ask Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts.

I lived in Indianapolis in 2001 and '02. Even the locals call it "India-no-place" and "Naptown."

Sidney Crosby is the most marketable star in hockey. He’s not a New York Ranger or New York Islander or New Jersey Devil. Crosby works his on-ice magic in a Pittsburgh Penguins uniform.

While it is true that Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter earns more money in endorsements than any other baseball player — a reported $35 million a year — Jeter rakes in the big bucks because his team wins championships — four World Series rings in his first five full seasons — and his image is squeaky clean.

If LeBron stays in Cleveland and lead the Cavs to their first-ever NBA title, he’ll be well on his way to becoming the world’s second billionaire athlete (after Tiger Woods).

LeBron does not need NEW YORK across his chest to become filthy rich. He already is.

If LeBron, a native of Akron, Ohio, were to leave the Buckeye state for New York, his image would change overnight, and not for the better.

No one perceives LeBron as greedy today. But many would consider him greedy if he leaves a place where he is revered to become the latest bold-faced name in New York City.

And athletes who are perceived as greedy and opportunistic do not rank high on the marketability scale.

At least New York put LeBron on its cover in a Cavaliers jersey, not in a Knicks jersey with No. 6 — the number he says he’ll switch to next season because he wants No. 23 to be retired in honor of Michael Jordan. (A New York Post article last week put LeBron in a No. 6 Knicks home jersey.)

By the way, Jordan did not need to play for the Knicks to validate his greatness.

Neither does LeBron.