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.

Vegas, Baby, Vegas!

Brian Cashman's quest to rebuild the Yankees begins today in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is being speculated that Cashman will meet with C.C. Sabathia in a sit-down meeting either today or tomorrow. The general consensus in Yankee land is that it's only a matter of time, but some nervous-nellies in the media caution against such confidence. Whatever. Wake me up when you've got something besides an opinion.

The random rumor mill is also spinning wildly away. Apparently we're interested in Raul Ibanez now. Great, it makes perfect sense to go after a 36 year old outfielder. Oh, did I mention signing him would cost a draft pick. I'm not even going to link this one. It's ridiculous.

With the Brewers facing the possibility of losing both Sabathia and Ben Sheets this winter, expect to see a renewed interest in Mike Cameron this week. This move was rumored way back when the Yankees first offered Sabathia that 140 million dollar deal, that was 1989, I believe... (Kidding! But the way some Yankee fans and writers are looking at you'd think this was the case. I quote the immortal Axl Rose when I say "All we need is just a little patience".) Anyway, Cameron is apparently a good chum of Sabathia's and may make the move to New York a little more appealing. I'm guessing it's a black thing.

That's all for now. The stupid time difference is going to make this a little difficult. Everyone's still sleeping off the after parties from the big fight last night. Poor Oscar. It's never fun watching an elite athelete come to terms with his career. I digress. Enjoy the NFL today!

Decisions, Decisions....

There has been this ever-growing and ever-confounding assumption within the media that the Yankees will immediately target Mark Texiera to play 1B if they fail to sign C.C. Sabathia. This has to be one of the single dumbest things I've seen surface this Hot Stove season. It makes no sense. None. It's asinine.

If you've been a fan of the Yankees your whole life or even if you've just started following the team, the one constant thing you've see them express interest in, pursue, fawn over, drool on, and all but fall over themselves for has been starting pitching. (Especially this century -- Roger Clemens anyone?)

If you looked at the roster today, you'd see the fact that we only have 2 starters, both coming off injury shortened seasons. If you've been even remotely following what the Yankee-decision makers have been saying thus far you'd also know that everyone has expressed a need for starting pitching above all else. So with all of this information freely out there, why in the blue fuck would the team be interested in locking up 1B with another long term deal?

We all love Mark Texiera. What's not to love? The guy's 28, he's a great switch-hitter who can get on base and hit with power, and he carries a gold glove caliber first baseman's mitt. In a perfect world he'd be starting at first and hitting behind (or in front of) A-Rod on a daily basis.

We all know it's not a perfect world. There are many problems that surround Texiera. The worst of which is agent. And while Scott Boras does have a seemingly good working relationship with the Yankees and despite the fact that Brian Cashman met with both the agent and the player yesterday, getting a deal done will not be an easy or smooth transition. The worst situation I can think of would be one in which Anaheim gets Sabathia and replaces Texiera with Adam Dunn leaving the Red Sox and the Yankees to try and outbid one another for Texiera's services.

Boras has had wet dreams about this. The price tag and length on Texiera's contract would skyrocket past absurd.

The most ridiculous thing of that scenario is that neither team really NEEDS Texiera. The Red Sox would love his bat, but are set defensively unless they can somehow find a way to move Mike Lowell (Good luck with that!). And if the Yankees got him they'd essentially be forcing Jorge Posada to catch for the life of his contract and forcing the infield to essentially stay the same for a very long time. This would all be done despite Posada's surgically repaired throwing shoulder and A-Rod's and Jeter's increasing age and decreasing defensive abilities.

It would also be done despite the Nick Swisher signing and the emergence of Juan Miranda's progression in the Arizona Fall League. Miranda hit .295 with a .423 OBP and .551 slugging this season for the Javelinas. For a full, in depth look at Miranda go here. Big ups to the boys at River Ave. Blues. 2nd best Yankee blog I can think of....

I really hate to do this because it's so far away, but if Mark Texiera signs it's going to be for a very long time -- at least 8 years if you ask me. This signing would no doubt affect a guy like Jesus Montero, who some call the future of the Yankees. And while Montero sits behind the dish now as a catcher, most project him, due to his size, power, and hitting ability, to become a corner outfielder or firstbaseman. Why get Texiera when you've got 2-3 years until this kid is ready?

I dunno. Seems to me that if the Yankees don't get C.C. they'll just target another pitcher and stay in on Texiera to push the price higher. Not to sign him. The business nature of baseball pretty much dictates it. I mean the Yankees are trimming enough money to be able to sign both Sabathia and Texiera and still be in the black. Why wouldn't they just be in on both?

The simplest answer is that they're both Type A free agents and would cost draft picks. These are arguably the two best free agents on the market. The problem is that they are not interchangeable talents. Mark Texiera won't help our starting pitching and C.C. Sabathia won't help the Angles score runs. If the Yankees have the capabilities to sign both the fact that they don't, in the first offseason of the past 13 in which they failed to make the playoffs, should be very telling.

What they are telling me is that if C.C. makes up his mind to pitch someplace else the Yankees will move onto Derek Lowe and ask on A.J. Burnett (Also Type A free agents). They will not pursue Mark Texiera first or for first. So stop it.

Saturday's Attempt at News

College Football will no doubt take up the majority of my day, so I'll get to the news quickly and check back in periodically if anything happens. There ain't much.

The New York Post has this neat feature they run on Saturdays called Prospecting. Unfortunately, they only provide information on Melky Cabrera and Robinson Cano's stints in the Dominican Winter league this week. (Naturally I skip the crap about the Mets.) Both players are doing well. Cano, limited to DH duty, is batting .317 with a .404 OBP the Melk-Man looks even better with a .326 avg and a .380 OBP. Really makes you want to rethink that Cano to Dodgers bullshit that LA seems to be pushing for.

I really haven't been doing this for more than a week, and it's already cracking me up. If you remember, a few days ago Tony Masarotti of The Boston Globe broke the story that Cashman was flying out to California to meet with Scott Boras. The next day, Tyler Kepner of The New York Times had the story that Cash meet with Boras, but in this one, Boras requested the meeting at the behest of client Mark Texiera. The interesting thing is that this meeting took place in the D.C. area. This meeting was primarily used to get the Mark Texiera race off and running as the meeting apparently took place in Texiera's Maryland home. No deals were offered, but Cash it is rumored also asked on Derek Lowe specifically. It is also assumed that Manny Ramirez and Oliver Perez were discussed as well. It gets just ridiculous here though because today Newsday happily leads with the information that Cash and Boras met in Southern California!?!? Which is it? D.C. or California? It's not like these areas border each other or are even in the same region.

Nice work guys apparently its not about being right anymore. I guess just being printed is enough for most.

Let's Play The Dating Game!

Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman gives us a Winter Meeting Preview in his Daily Scoop. In it, an anonymous friend of C.C. Sabathia reveals two mystery suitors have offered up deals. These unnamed teams and unknown deals are indeed curious, but I have to think if they were substantial or attractive we'd know about them by now. It's not like there's been a lot of news lately on the Sabathia front.

Heyman also notes that Cashman expressed "heavy interest" in Derek Lowe when he met with Scott Boras yesterday. There's something very off-putting about the phrase "heavy interest" in this situation. The mental picture I get isn't pretty.

Seriously though, I am not enamored by Derek Lowe. There's nothing negative about the guy I can pin point though. His numbers, durability, and big game status is impressive. The worst thing I can come up with is his age, agent, and affiliation with Red Sox. I just don't like Lowe I guess.