Where Do We Go From Here?

The Mark Teixeira acquisition was certainly unexpected from where I sit. I went on record, several times and to any and all who'd listen, that there was basically no room for his services. My reasoning was solid. Youth in the form of Juan Miranda and, eventually, Jesus Montero would be more than adequate at 1B. Posasda's injured shoulder may force him to log some innings at 1B. And the 30+ crew on the other side of the infield may need to switch positions some time in the near future. There was always Nick Swisher too.

I was wrong. No big deal. But all those things don't disappear with Mark Teixeira on the team. So where do we go from here?

Joel Sherman writes in his blog that going forward, the Yankees will now try to move one of the four of Hideki Matsui, Nick Swisher, Johnny Damon, and Xavier Nady. Essentially making that expensive corner OF/DH/1B quartet a trio.

I really love this idea. If getting younger and more athletic is really the plan, dumping one of these guys has the potential of netting you a good young infield prospect (SS anyone?) and a decent OF prospect to boot. Plus you're shaving a hefty chunk of salary off of a much improved and already cheaper team It's win-win-win.

Unfortunately, I do find fault with the Yankee he expects they part with. Sherman writes that Yankees have the most interest in moving Matsui and he cites a few teams that have interest in him. The thing is, to me, Matsui could easily be the best DH in baseball in 2009. Why go out of your way to greatly improve another American League rival? If you're going to move one of those four, it's imperative that you send him to the National League. They are still good to very good players.

Hideki Matsui isn't an attractive NL option however. His injury history and that league's lack of the DH position, oh, and his full No Trade Clause make any sort of move incredibly difficult.

Enter Johnny Damon.

He's serviceable enough in the outfield to play in the NL and is a premiere lead-off man for his career. He's also my LFY (Least Favorite Yankee). The Chicago Cubs, to me, are the perfect team for him. Tell me you couldn't sell that egomaniac on ending 101 years of misery in Chi-Town. He'd love it. There's enough media there to appease his post game gab fests as well. I also hate him. I don't think I can be more blunt in this regard. With Giambi gone, Damon is the new bane of my Yankee existence. Getting rid of him would greatly improve the joy I find when I watch my team.

For those of you who ask "Who's gunna lead us off?" Allow me to reintroduce you to Derek Jeter: Lead-Off hitter Extraordinaire. For those who don't remember, there were a few years in the early 2000's (it's almost been 9 years, where's the nickname for this decade?) where Derek exclusively lead off. In fact, I've always thought he was a better lead-off hitter than Damon was in 2004, despite those HRs in game 7. For his career, Jeter's a .315 hitter when leading off the game. He's got an impressive OBP of .389 and an SLG of .471 in that lead off spot as well. These numbers are in 448 career games too, or a little under 3 full seasons. They're all substantially better than Damon's career line of .289/.355/.438 as lead-off batter too.

The 2 hole is tough to fill going forward, but I really like Swisher there for a while or Cano if that doesn't work. And the best part about this scenario is it's not set in stone by any means. All I'm doing is buying time for Brett Gardner to hit 9th and prove he can consistently get on base. In the event he can do that, he's my lead-off hitter after the All Star Break. He's already proven he can steal bases, score runs, and make a big difference when his on-base. A full season of Johnny Damon blocks any possible progression Brett could make in 09.

After all we are tying to get younger and more athletic, right?

Manny, oops I mean, Many Questions Remain

Question of the day:

Why is it considered shrewd negotiating when the owner of the Boston Red Sox publicly fires off e-mails indicating they're no longer a factor in Mark Teixeira bidding? And when a spokesman within the Anaheim Angels organization says basically the same thing, the Angels are officially out of the race. Why is that?

The Red Sox are clearly the media darlings this millennium. They know no wrongs. When they "say" they're out of the Tex race it's seen as a coy strategy for dealing with a snake of an agent in Scott Boras. When they break a gentleman's agreement with the Japanese Nippon league, it's heralded as a new way to get talent. When they spit in the face of history and tradition by making a mad marketing cash grab by adding alternate jerseys, caps, and logos it's viewed as a progressive and unique maneuver.

And now that Anaheim is "out" of the Teixeira race, Boston will no doubt emerge as the desired destination. And if they do sign him, no matter what the cost, it will be considered a BIG get despite the fact that they don't need him. It will also be considered a moral victory when The Little Baseball Club That Could stares the big greedy agent/bully down and gets their man. That only happens course once they find a buyer for a 36 year-old 3B coming off of hip surgery or move the best 1B in baseball, Youk, out of town.

I still think this market is based on need. Anaheim needs Teixeira the most. Therefore they should get him despite the rampant rumors and assumptions that say otherwise.

The big problem is everyone in the media is trying to get the story. And they're missing it big time. The story isn't where Texireira goes. It's all based on who gives him the most money. Boras and Tex expect a certain amount of money to come their way over a set amount of time. No one has approached that amount yet. Why would teams drop out now? Why not get creative with opt outs or lower the deal to 5 years with a greater annual salary? It's called a negotiation for a reason. But the thing is the media only thinks that one team, Boston, is really negotiating.

A lot of this has to do with the notion that Teixeira want to play on the East Coast and reporters are running with this concept as if it's gospel truth and as if C.C. Sabathia and his "West Coast preference" never existed. You can't get a straight story on the numbers either. All teams involved have as little as 150 mill or as much 180 mill on the table. And Washington is out there ready to drop 200 mill in some stories. I don't think anyone's got a clue at this point, me especially, and anything could happen between now and when Mark Teixeira actually signs.

In other news, Holy Shit!!! Manny says we offered him a 3 year deal worth about 75 million dollars. I'd link it, but the paper of question is the Dominican Republic based Impacto Deportivo. I can't speak or read Spanish, so I linked the story that broke on MLB TradeRumors. Impacto Deportivo has a spotty record with breaking news like this so take it all with a grain of salt.

I'm pretty salty about it myself. All I can really say is "No Fucking way"! Damon in CF is a recurring nightmare I still have and Manny would get lost in the vastness that is Yankee Staduim's LF. I'm telling you, any offense we gain is lost defensively. While we win the 14-7 blowout game we still lose the 3-1 pitching battle, even with C.C. and A.J. The best thing for us going forward is a better defense, not a more potent offense.

C.C.'s On Board, Who's Next?

The good news is that the Yankees' major, primary off-season target has been acquired. The front office put pitching at a premium and they went out and got a premium pitcher. And as expected the media is nit-picking, negative, and unenthusiastic towards the signing. Is there a journalist you wouldn't enjoy smacking around more than Mike Lupica? It's the day after and all he can say is "Johan's better". What a fucking douchebag.

Watching ESPN has become a rage-inducing pageant of smarmy talking heads shooting down the significance of that type of quality arm atop our rotation. I nearly threw my remote through the screen when Steve Phillips said Sabathia only replaces Mike Mussina. Huh? We didn't have Wang for a big part of the season, you know the 2 time 19 game winner. I don't know why I even expect an objective factual analysis anymore. I guess that's why I do this.

When was the last time the Yankees had a no shit power lefty with a 200 inning guarantee below the age of 30 anyway? Ron Guidry?

While I see the Sabathia signing as a positive, some moves on the horizon do look a tad disconcerting. First and foremost is the emergence of a trade for Mike Cameron. I definitely called this one and the Yankees home site even has a story. In it the Yankees part with Melky Cabrera. I guess that's better than the Dan Graziano piece that expects the deal to include Cabrera and pitching. Anyone who can tell me why we'd part with a switch hitting 23 year old at the league minimum in Melky and pitching for a 36 year old career .250 hitter owed who made 6.4 mill last year in Cameron without using the words "C.C. Sabathia" and "friends" should do so now. I hate this idea. Cameron lacks any upside at this point in his career and while he has 3 gold gloves on his mantle, Melky, to me, was the ultimate 4th outfielder because of his ability to play the 3 OF spots and his big arm. I don't get it, Cameron hit .243 last year. So did Melky, yet he finished his year in Scranton. Looks like you're getting the same guy for a lot more money.

Despite this Cameron mess, A.J. Burnett has emerged as the next big deal acquisition. Reports have it that several Yankee players are urging Burnett to take the reported 5 year $85 million deal the Yankees have on the table. 5 years of Burnett is a little much considering what we just went through with Carl Pavano. I think Ben Sheets at a 2 or 3 year deal is a much more prudent investment. Joba and Wang are young enough to be a part of the rotation for years. You've also got a bunch of young arms in Hughes, Kennedy, Aceves, Brackman, and Betances emerging this year or in the coming years. Burnett at 5 and Sabathia at 7 pretty much block a number of these guys' ability to be a part of the rotation -- unless of course we're operating under the assumption that Sabathia bolts in 3 years when the weight of the Zito deal isn't burying the Giants as much. We will see.

Until then, keep checking back. It's obvious the Yankees aren't done yet and both Cameron and Burnett could be on board by noon.

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.

Arbitration Schrmarbitration

Well, the deadline for arbitration came and went and the Yankees stayed put on the sidelines, silent and confidant in their decision to essentially do nothing. Either the Yankees are shrewdly dissecting and analyzing the market and the state of the game or they're vastly undervaluing the type A status of their premiere, big name players about to hit free agency. Time will ultimately judge this decision.

Screw time though. Who wants to wait anyway? Let's actually break this thing down and see if Cashman and Co. did the right thing. Patience be damned! Before we start though I suggest you head here if you're not familiar with the arbitration process for a refresher.

The Yankees had 4 type A players facing arbitration in Bobby Abreu, Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez, Andy Pettite, and the newly retired Mike Mussina. (The only reason Mussina would be offered arbitration would be to prevent another Roger Clemens situation in which the good ol' Rocket announced his retirement in New York only to un-retire in Houston. The decision to not offer Roger arbitration in the '03-'04 offseason cost the Yankees a precious and delicious sandwich pick. The Yankees seem confidant in the fact that Moose isn't a piece of shit like Roger is though, so they really only had 3 type A guys.)

It's important to note that of the 3 remaining players, only one, Andy Pettite, had a team expressing any interest in him. Equally as important is the fact that Andy Pettite is the only player who actually fits into the Yankees future plans. And to be honest, when Dodger's GM Ned Colletti said there was "some" interest in Pettite, no one blinked in the Bronx. And rightly so. After all, Andy has gone on record numerous times expressing his desire to retire a Yankee and open the new Stadium. If the lure of LA can transplant the "family" man -- so be it. Besides, what GM would ever deny interest in any player when posed the question?

The tricky part is deciding whether or not the Dodgers have any interest in Andy Pettite, especially if it costs them upwards of 16 million dollars and a draft pick. I say there's no way. Cashman concurs. Therefore, it's practically impossible to take advantage of Andy's class A status. The 16 million dollars he made last year makes him untouchable to rival clubs.

Andy's greatest quality was always his big game ability, strength down the stretch, and second half numbers. Then the Mitchell report labeled him as an HGH user and then he admitted his guilt. His second half numbers in 2008 speak for themselves: 4-7 with a 5.35 ERA. His batting avg. against was .302 and he gave up a whopping 96 hits in a meager 79 innings down the stretch. It's important to note that historically Andy Pettite has posted a .713 winning percentage after the All Star Break as of 2007 and went 11-3 down the stretch for the Yankees in '07. Would you offer this guy arbitration based on this kind of drastic drop in production? Would you let this guy explore the market with at least a 16 million dollar safety net?

Me neither. That's 1 good decision for Cash and crew.

Bobby Abreu had expressed interest to both stay in New York and receive at least a 3 year 45 million dollar deal. The silence was and still is deafening. Nothing against Abreu. He's a fine player. In fact, the argument can be made that he was our most productive player last year. When we take our uncharacteristic power outage into account from 2008 it really almost looks like we can't afford to lose him at all.

Bobby Abreu really only produced for himself though. The season's over and all that production was for naught. All it does for us in December is ensure a pay raise from the 16 mill he made last year for 36 year old Bobby if we offer him arbitration. Outside of us, there's not a team in baseball that wants Bobby Abreu at 16 mill or can even pay him that much. That's how we got him, remember? The Phillies back loaded that deal and had to send him to the only team that could afford him.

We've already got built-in, cheaper, and younger replacements in Xavier Nady and Nick Swisher, if necessary. Neither will approach Abreu's individual numbers, but there's no room left at the Inn for Bobby. A third party arbiter would no doubt decree Bobby earned a raise based on what his bat did in '08 and not one single team in baseball would jump on Bobby at that price. This fact would create a domino effect across our outfield and the last dominoes to fall would be any sort of youth you could inject onto the team. The crap outfield of Nady LF, Damon CF, and Abreu RF I cursed and despised so vigorously last year would be ensured. So would my tragic suicide.

That's 2 for the brain trust from the Bronx. One left.

Pudge Rodriguez made something ridiculous like 15 million dollars last season. Jorge Posada, our starting catcher makes 13. Obviously, you can't run the risk of having a back-up catcher who makes more than your starter. Whether or not Pudge would be the kind of guy to do this is debateable, but what do you think the market for Pudge Rodriguez really is? It can't be 15 million. I'm thinking you cut that 15 million in half and you're approaching it.

What these guys actually fetch on the open market will really decide all this, but this is another good move for the Yankees if you ask me.

Essentially the stance that they're taking is one of complete disinterest in Abreu and Pudge -- a big thanks, but no thanks, if you will. If there is real interest in becoming younger and more athletic, this is truly the move you need to make. Pettite's case is bit different because the Yankees do want Pettite in pinstripes next year. They just want him on their terms.

It's clear to see what Steinbrenner son runs the show. It's not the blowhard. It's the one with the accounting degree. This all boils down to is 3 individual cases where the risk of offering arbitration far outweighs any reward that would accompany it. The shrewd and prudent maneuver wins out for once.