Miguel Cairo signed with the Phillies. He got a minor league deal and spring training invite. No word on money.
Miggy has a job, but a lot of players still don't. The players' union and MLB have been talking about easing the rules to make it easier for "Type A" free agents to get jobs. They're proposing something called "sign and trade." It will let teams sign their players and immediately trade them (if the player agrees). That way, there's no need to give up a draft pick. Juan Cruz may be the first beneficiary.
And it looks like despite all the brouhaha, Citi's name will remain on the Mets stadium:
WASHINGTON - Citi Field it will be, and Mets fans will just have to live with the name of a tapped-out bank slapped on top of their new stadium, a key House member said Friday.
Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), head of the Financial Services Committee, said Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner had rejected congressional demands to cancel the naming rights deal. Some lawmakers were outraged because $45 billion in taxpayer bailout money had been pumped into Citigroup last year.
The economic crisis is affecting everything; baseball is doing pretty well compared to
Nascar:
For years, NASCAR drivers and teams reaped the riches of a sport confidently bankrolled by corporate America.
Now, with the economy imploding, the good times have stopped rolling for NASCAR.
Even stock car racing's elite teams are trimming the fat from already thin budgets. Hendrick Motorsports, which employs three-time Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson and four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon, finds itself bunkered in a financial hole with some nervous sponsors.
I heard on the news today that Arizona is switching to a four-day school week, in order to save money. California and Kansas are suspending tax refunds and may not be able to pay their state workers. They just don't have any money. New York is in the same boat; I fear they're going to have to make similar drastic decisions.
I am still planning to drive down to Florida for spring training in a couple of weeks, but I'm starting to wonder if I should stay home and save money. This is the scariest economy I've ever seen.
Labels: The Greater Depression
