Caution: Hot Stove

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Hot Stove season is in full swing! Let's check in on yesterday's action to see how it all shook out. (I just returned back to work yesterday, so updating my blog may be more erratic than usual. Sorry for the inconvenience.)

There were tons of news items that passed my desk yesterday. Funny thing though, there were just as many retractions to those "news" stories. 'Tis the season for unsubstantiated rumors to get printed. As I said, it's the most wonderful time of the year.

Ken "Scoop" Rosentahl was the first to report yesterday that the Yankees were in discussion yesterday for a Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera swap to the LA Dodgers for Matt Kemp and pitching. This rumor sent my little world into a tizzy. Thoughts of pushing Jeter to 2B and getting a no shit defensive SS like Raphael Furcal or even the slightly available Michael Young were soon dashed as the retraction from Dodgers GM Ned Colletti shot down any meetings, discussions, or even sightings of Yankee higher-ups. Nice one, Ken. NO LINK FOR YOU!

And how could they when they were too busy meeting with C.C. Sabathia and giving him a glimpse at big city life. This was primarily an information gathering session as C.C. no doubt was curious as to what 140 million dollars can buy in the Big Apple. Apparently you can buy a lot as this meeting was roughly 2 and a half hours long. The Yankees and Mr. Sabathia met again later that day and notables in attendance were Brian Cashman, Joe Girardi, and Reggie "Mr. October" Jackson. The assumption is that C.C. will ultimately decide his fate sometime soon and either inch closer to putting his name on a Yankee contract or make a lot less money someplace else.

Yesterday, George King reported that Milwaukee was thinking of sweetening the pot and adding more money, another year, and an opt out clause a la A.J. Burnett to land Big C.C. Today though, Mark Feisand has got the inside scoop that the Yankees plan to offer a 2-3 year deal for Ben Sheets. It's going to be hard for C.C. to commit to Milwaukee knowing that his deal pushes any all other talented players Milwaukee has out the door. I don't see C.C. wanting to be the Steve Carlton to the Brewers. Big ups again to the boys at riveraveblues.com for this one, but it's kinda easy to break news when you're in Las Vegas! (Yeah, I'm jealous.)

On the lighter side, Carl Pavano spoke with A.J. Burnett about pitching New York. Surprisingly enough he was trying to sell Burnett on pitching in the Boogie Down Bronx. I can only imagine how this conversation went.

Burnett: Tell me about New York, Carl. Is it where I need to be?
Pavano: Yeah man! It's great! If you get hurt, they just keeping paying you!
Burnett: What about city life? Is it a tough adjustment to the hustle and bustle?
Pavano: What city? Tampa Bay? I love it! Amazing! I spent 3 years there and just hung out and drove my Porsche around. The women are outstanding too. You got a Porsche, A.J.?
Burnett: What? No.
Pavano: Don't get one. They don't handle well in the Tampa rain.

The Yanks do plan to offer up a deal for A.J. today and some think that A.J. could even sign somewhere as early as today. So stay tuned.

And finally, it wouldn't be hot stove season if you didn't have to caution yourself from getting burned. Apparently, Brain Cashman has been in communique with the agents of Andy Pettite through e-mail. He's trying to make the case that a 14-14 record with 4.5 ERA isn't worth 16 mill. I concur. Anyway, the Brothers Hendricks seem to be playing hardball here as rumors are swirling in regards to The Boston Red Sox inquiring about Pettite. Tony Masarotti reports that while it's more a case of the Red Sox just being inquisitive, Pettite's postseason resume speaks for itself and he could be very valuable in the back-end of the rotation for a team with postseason aspirations.

No shit. That's why we want him too. I fucking hate the Red Sox. Unoriginal bastards.