Hot Stove Mailbag No. 8
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Jan 25, 2008 
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Andy writes: Does Alex Rodriguez’s new contract contain an opt-out clause? I didn’t see anything that would indicate it did. However, I hadn’t seen or heard any discussion about this possibility at all.
Answer: There is no opt-out clause, mainly because Scott Boras was not involved in the negotiations. Just a hunch, however, that the idea of Alex going to another team will come up at some point in the next 10 years.
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Sunny writes: Given that Brian Cashman has admitted to a change in job status since Hank and Hal took over, do you think he’ll renew with the Yanks at the end of his contract or move on to other places that he’ll have more autonomy that he originally sought for this current contract? Also, do you think it’s a breach on the part of the owners to usurp the powers that were promised to Cashman in order to get him to agree to his current contract?
Answer: This is a question that will be asked repeatedly in the coming months. Gun to my head right now, Cashman will leave. Hank and Hal will be too much to deal with and he’s at just the right age to try something else. But if the Yankees have a good season, it’ll be hard to turn down the money they will offer him to stay. I don’t think the Yankees are breaching the current deal. Even if they were, Cash is not the kind of guy who would call them on it in public.
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Ryan writes: I was just wondering; what’s the chances of the Yankees going after someone like Huston Street as a set-up man? Call me crazy but I’m not too confident in Hawkins and Farnsworth. I know I’ve heard talk about Joba moving back there to start the season but I don’t really wanna see that. With Oakland pretty much selling off all their players it seems, do you think Cashman and the Yankees would make a play for Street?
Answer: You’re not confident in Hawkins and Farnsworth? What a cynic. I still hope you’ll buy my new book: Can You Believe The Yankees Signed Us? The Story of Hawk and Farnsy. Huston Street would make sense. But Billy Beane has been already gotten a pile of good prospects from the Diamondbacks and White Sox. He’ll want a lot for Street. I bet he waits until July to deal him when teams are desperate.
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Shane writes: What is your take on Humberto Sanchez’s role in 2008 given he is healthy and MLB ready by the All Star break? Is there a chance we could see him starting any games or does he project as a 7th/8th inning guy? Obviously we have plenty of starters going into the season, but injuries can change that very quickly.
Answer: The Yankees aren’t sure what they have in Sanchez because they haven’t seen him pitch. You always try and make a talented kid a starter first and Sanchez has that kind of ability. But he could well project best as a reliever, especially if he doesn’t get into better condition. The first year after Tommy John surgery is always a mystery as some guys regain their command faster than others. The best bet for Sanchez could be getting a look in September.
Pete Abe
I really do enjoy your blog…It helps me get through the day at work especially during the season…Your content is great and your insight is really a breath of fresh air…You are really honest about your thoughts on the Yankees and that means a lot coming from someone so close to the team…You covered high school basketball the same way…You really knew what you were doing in that capacity as well…Keep up the good work…You may or may not remember me…I was the manager of the JFK Catholic basketball team from 1998-2002 and was good friends with your favorite player other than Ben Gordon, Donnie McGrath…I did rankings for high school players in
westchester and the city…Keep up the good work my friend.
Best,
Matt Grasso
Love the answer to the Huston Street question =D
Boy I really hope Cashman sticks around..
I’ll also be very interested to see what Sanchez can bring to the table. And trading for Huston Street will be a road that is well-traveled by many teams. Mr. Beane is in a good position because he could get some good return for Street. Will the Yankees go down that road? We’ll see.
I just can’t envision Street going to the Yankees, primarily b/c Beane will get more from a team who will use him as a closer. Beane will want at least 2-3 legitimate MLB ready prospects. If they were looking at Street, they should aim for the stud that is Joe Nathan.
J-Dawg: I’ve heard Sanchez is supposed to be good but the one we should be keeping an eye on this year is Melancon.
“If they were looking at Street, they should aim for the stud that is Joe Nathan.”
Nathan’s a rental for a team with a closer, though. Which should lower his price, so maybe that’s ok.
Rebecca- That’s right. I know that SJ44 has been very high on Melancon. There is quite a bit to be excited about. This team brings excitement to the table. The Yankees are chasing greatness, and that will be my motto for this season, “chasing greatness.” Hopefully they will be able to catch it. Sounds a bit corny and cheesy, but I think it’ll work.
J-Dawg: You can’t get too corny for Optimist Prime. Trust me.
MLBtraderumors brings up the return of Nick Johnson and the logjam that creats for Washington with “Pork Chop” Young.
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/.....on-re.html
With a line of .290/.428/.520 over 628 PA in 2006, would it be a good idea for the Yankees to look into if they could score Nick on the cheap?
there’s a thread on RAB about the Nick Johnson issue. general consensus says yes, make the deal.
and by make the deal, i dont mean there is one officially on the table, but that Cashman should be looking into it for the right price (which really shouldnt be more than a couple mid-level guys).
“With a line of .290/.428/.520 over 628 PA in 2006, would it be a good idea for the Yankees to look into if they could score Nick on the cheap?”
I doubt it. Manny Acta was just waxing poetic the other day about how good a player Nick Johnson is and how valuable he is by being able to get on base 40 percent of the time. If the manager knows this then the GM has to know it and he’ll be looking for a ton of prospects from the Yankees in order for them to get back Nick Johnson.
Arguably, the worst trade of the Cashman era, although at the time a lot of people though Vasquez was going to be a stud pitcher for the Yanks.
Forget Street. He will cost 2 Blvds and an Interstate.
Lets hope Hank doesn’t drive Cashman out.
Let’s hope that Cash wants to stay around and see the team he’s putting together win a string of championships. If he leaves, it gets dismantled, and someone else will swipe the credit for any successes.
Nick Johnson? I like Nick a lot as a player and he’s a good guy. But part of being a productive player is actually getting on the field and he’s not too good at that. Beyond his health, the Nationals are going into a new stadium and aren’t going to suddenly shed a player they need for prospects.
Bowden is hard to make a deal with. I don’t see the Yankees brining in a first baseman, at least not now.
Cashman in all liklihood is not going anywhere. Maybe I look at it differently than most but, ask yourself why would you change jobs if you had the opportunity. 1. More money. No one is likely to pay more than the Yankees.
2. An increase in responsibility. Ok, this may come into play because Hank has obviously taken some of his responsibility. However, factor in…
3. Job satisfaction and sense of self worth. To me, being the GM of the Yankees makes any other team GM job pale in comparison (admittedly I’m biased). Cash has obviously felt a sense of this or he would not have stayed and put up with George et. al for THE PAST 20 YEARS!
Bottom line, 75% chance he stays.
TurnTwo,
The Yankees are considering trading for Nick Johnson?
If so, that’d be interesting…not sure it makes sense with the current logjam at 1B, but I love that guy. He is from Sacramento and I have seen him around town a few times. Nice guy for sure and he works very hard.
I hope his return is swift and successful.
YanksRule57,
I hope he sticks around, but think of it this way:
If the Yankees do crappy in 2008, you know Hank is going to blame in on Cash for not going and trading for Santana. He is a Steinbrenner, he is rash.
If they are successful in 2008, the Yankees will make Cash an offer (as they should), but his decision to stay will depend largely on his role (as Peter alluded to). Why would he stay around as the “GM of the Yankees” if Hank is taking on his tasks? I wouldn’t, regardless of whether it is the Yankees or not.
Yanks Rule 57 – I agree with you 100%. The Yankees job is one of the most prestigious in baseball.
And Cashman has put up with George all of this time. It’s not like Hank is doing anything different than his father has with Cashman all these years.
if you’re Cashman, you’ve already dealt with Bowden this offseason (bringing in Albaladejo for Clippard), and its known that the Nats are rebuilding their farm system from the bottom up.
between Dmitri Young and Nick Johnson, you’re locked into 25% of your projected payroll, and if everything pans out for the Nats and their young OFs (Pena, Kearns, Milledge, Dukes, and Logan among their options), one of them will be on the bench. Dmitri Young is going to be viewed as a leader for these guys like Dukes and Milledge to look up to in the clubhouse…
with the Phillies, Braves, and Mets ahead of them in the division, I have more respect for Bowden to think he has some warped sense of how competitive they’ll realstically be, and for a team to simply burn $5 million on a player because they are playing in a new stadium isnt sound reasoning.
For a team that is rebuilding their system, they can certainly use the mid-level players/prospects to continue that goal.
i personally think its worth a chance. Johnson immediately becomes the Yankees’s best defensive 1B, and when he’s healthy, he’s an OBP machine.
I wouldnt expect anything like this to pan out until the end of Spring Training, when Johnson has some time on the field to show he’s ready to go… and with Bowden offering Young an extention, maybe he thinks that he could get more value back for Nick Johnson once he’s healthy and back on the field than what he was being offered for Young at the deadline last year.
Larry, its complete speculation that was brought up at RAB, and its just being discussed by the fans… there hasnt been anything published in the papers or online that would prove otherwise, thus far.
It will be interesting to see what $man does. If was the Mariners or the Marlins– he could be the president of the club– with more than enough power. But if he wants the $$$$ and to be the one to take credit for the resurrgence of the Bronx Bombers…. then in yankeeland he will be.
Nick Johnson healthy? I don’t know…..
What’s his status right now?
TurnTwo,
Thanks for the info.
I have a Jeter poster at home that says “DJ Turn 2: The Mad Prince in Pinstripes”. Your name reminds of it. Jeter is such bada$$.
Also, regarding Nick Johnson, he’s got to get healthy and THEN he’s got to get back to being able to hit again. He didn’t play all last year. I just don’t see this making any sense.
“What’s his status right now?”
Expected to be ready for spring training.
The only problems I have with Johnson are the injury thing and that he makes the lineup even MORE left-handed.
“he’s got to get healthy and THEN he’s got to get back to being able to hit again.”
We’ll see what happens by the end of spring. I think the deal is that he is healthy (or close) and this spring will show whether he’s still got it in terms of hitting.
agreed, whozat, which is why this would only possibly be discussed towards the ned of spring training, at the earliest… nothing would or should be imminent at this point.
there is an article on mlbtraderumors.com where he talks about how he’s trained very hard and lost a bunch of weight to get back to game shape and be ready to produce.
Can we hire Steve Phillips as GM?
I kid I kid.
I like Nick Johnson – wish they hadn’t lost him to begin with. But, as Turn Two says, it would be premature to do anything right now. IMHO, of course!
IF and I say if $man left, who would be the next GM?
Steve Phillips obviously.
i’d have more faith in Dotel staying healthy than Nick Johnson… sayin…
Nathan’s a rental for a team with a closer, though. Which should lower his price, so maybe that’s ok.
Do you think that Bill Smith is gonna settle for less from the yankees b/c they already have a closer? thats crazy!
this time of year, teams think that 3 or 4 of thier guy’s might be able to step up and become the closer. Some will make it (Gagne was a shot in the dark for LA) most will crash and burn. Just past the all-star break, some teams will come to realize that they have a shot at the PS if they only had a real closer. At this point, Bill Smith and Billy Beane will be waiting, dangling street and nathan in front of all these teams without closers and they will score Big.
nobody’s gonna give the yanks a discount because they already have a closer. the closer market is ALWYAYS a seller’s market and the trade deadline is when the market explodes.
We already have a GM, Hank Steinbrenner.
left out the quotation marks on top of that post
“Do you think that Bill Smith is gonna settle for less from the yankees b/c they already have a closer? thats crazy!”
No, I don’t think that at all. I don’t think he’s going to give up his shot at free agency, which means he’s a rental for anyone. THAT will lower the price Smith can get for him.
“THAT will lower the price Smith can get for him.”
Lower it from what Street would command, that is, given that Street’s not an FA for a couple years yet.
whozzat
doesnt seem to be lowering the price for santana
imb,
I think Smith’s a little disappointed that there wasn’t a feeding frenzy. I feel he thought he’d have his pick of deals. Wait, there was a frenzy and he had his pick. Never mind.
i think smith already turned down terrific offers from both the yanks and sox b/c he feels that he can get even more from somebody
Who? You mean the Yankees and the Sox? Nobody seems to be stepping up and I don’t think anyone’s going to blink. Feeble attempts to try to move the market have failed. Personally, if I was Santana I’d want to make it to FA.
what kind of crap is belichick trying to pull with this Brady ‘injury’. c’mon this mystery injury thing he likes to pull is getting so old. Time for this genius to be toppled!
And can we all agree that putting Hughes and Kennedy in a deal would be crazy? Not even Hank would do that, right? If that’s the case, then Cashman shouldn’t be blamed for not getting Santana because that’s reportedly what it’s going to take.
imb,
Brady didn’t practice yesterday. At all.
“doesnt seem to be lowering the price for santana”
You don’t think that Santana would command more if he had two years left on his deal?
Believe me, getting a player for two months costs less in trade than getting a player for two years.
i am shocked that santana’s people didnt put a time limit on this by giving a drop dead date for waiving the no-trade. The only thing i can think of is that he would really like to be traded so he’s letting it go on forever.
imb,
Because a drop dead date would make him a Met.
mel are we so sure about that? The media is only allowed there for the first 15 minutes, maybe he came out after that.
Dealing for Street would be ridiculous, because we’d be giving up top young talent to do so, same reason we should remain clear of any Santana trade. We don’t need a setup man after the All-Star Break, the job is taken. By mid July, there will be no eighth-inning issue on this club. Just pencil in Mark Melancon right now; he’s feeling great, and really, he’s astonishing. Somebody worried about his command post TJS. He’s having no such issues, in fact, his command is actually even better than it was before. The only thing that stops this kid is injury, which can happen to anyone. The guy is just so ready to be a Major-League closer RIGHT NOW, and he’ll get to see it done, up close and personal, by the best – Mariano Rivera, from whom he will eventually inherit the job.
jennifer,
I heard it on ESPN radio. Will investigate now. I know you want it to be true, but I’d rather it not be!
Apparently he’s missing. There’s two internet rumors. One that he’s aiding and abetting fugitive Chuck Knoblauch, former teammate of Brady’s good friend Derek Jeter.
Another rumor has him in Cabo San Lucas on a charter recommended by former Yankee pitcher Roger Clemens. Also sighted were Giselle and Jessica. (Guess who’s older? You’d be surprised)
Several years ago MLB owners were scolded for using collusion with players in trying to contain themselves into fiscal sanity.
Today in a similar fashion, there’s a handfull of teams going thumbs down to a general manager for his demands for a quality pitcher. It can’t be called collusion but they are policing themselves to a point.
Alan,
This is an extraordinary case that’s unique because while several teams are able to pay Santana what he’s worth, few are willing to do so. Despite Boston fans’ claims to the contrary the Sox are not one of those teams. Ironically, the Yankees, the only team willing and able to pay Santana his weight in cash is unwilling to part with the talent. Thus the last player at the table is the Mets. They’ll pay Johan a princely sum, but he would’ve gotten a king’s ransom from the Yankees. Because they overpay to show how much they value a player.
The Yankees need to keep the talent. Dotel got $11M. Soriano got $9M from the Braves. Both deals are for 2 years. Both are relievers. The market’s really thin and, as a result, very expensive.
Maybe Tom Brady will show up next Sunday with a “bloody” sock.
If I were a G-men fan, I wouldn’t pin my hopes on Tom Brady NOT playing or even not playing well. With 2 weeks to get better, unless he’s got a broken bone(which I doubt) he’s playing. You really need to worry about what Moss, Welker and Faulk are going to do to your secondary. And OBTW before you accuse me of just sucking up to Pete A., I am a Bucs fan.
lol pat
Brady is fine, this is just one of Belicheat’s tricks to get into Big Blue’s head.
Why would Beane trade Street? He’s rebuilding his team, but that doesn’t mean trade a young stud, even if he had injury problems last year. That would be like the Yanks trading a more experienced Hughes.
Crazy idea that i shouldn’t be suggesting because i know nothing about the topic: anyone think the Yanks should try and get Billy Beane to be their GM if Cash leaves next year? Could they?
Just read this q&a with Jim Callis. He has the Yanks missing the playoffs! Foo-ee!
http://mlbfleecefactor.com/200.....im-callis/
“Crazy idea that i shouldn’t be suggesting because i know nothing about the topic: anyone think the Yanks should try and get Billy Beane to be their GM if Cash leaves next year? Could they?”
i doubt it. when his last contract came up, the A’s gave Beane a (small) partial ownership stake in the team.
i don’t think he is going anywhere.
Jaewon,
I was thinking that before. But I don’t know if I want Beane. I don’t know if I like Beane. Would he try to be more like the Yankees of the ’80′s because of the financial backing he would have? OR would he be as smart as $$$$man? How about Darren Hoppenheimer (Sp.)?
Oppenheimer– looks better.
Oppenheimer*– the draft specialist
Did anyone catch Olney’s latest comments about Johan? Curiouser and curiouser….
>>Buster Olney on Johan’s warning signs: I talked with evaluators and scouts with three other teams since then, and they all saw the exact same thing in Santana: diminishment in velocity, relatively few sliders thrown, subpar (for Santana) performances. But two of the three believe the regression could be attributed to the Twins not being in the race, Minnesota not playing in a high-adrenalin situation, and Santana coping with a cracked nail. The third evaluator wonders, too, if Santana is OK. “If a deal is made, you could see there would be a complete physical, given the money involved,” said the evaluator.
The G-Men are less than a week removed from an overtime win and hungry. They haven’t had a week off since their bye week.
The Pat-riots on the other hand have played 2 games in 5 weeks amd may have lost some competitive edge.
The so-called Brady ankle injury is a smoke screen. The pass rush of Big Blue will show no mercy.
i doubt it. when his last contract came up, the A’s gave Beane a (small) partial ownership stake in the team.
i don’t think he is going anywhere.
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Hmmm is exactly right. Beane turned down the Red Sox GM offer after initialing agreeing to it to be near his family that lives in NorCal. Plus the ownership in the A’s would be a conflict of interest.
Heyman reporting that Yanks and Cano reach preliminary agreement…
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.c.....index.html
“Just read this q&a with Jim Callis. He has the Yanks missing the playoffs! Foo-ee!”
Every year these so called experts have the Yankees missing the playoffs, last year Olney was predicting they’d miss the playoffs along with a bunch of other ESPN pundits. Eventually one of them has to be right, it’s the law of averages.
It’s “IN” to be anti-yankee now so I’m sure everyone will be picking them to miss the playoffs.
BA had a debate about Joba/Clay in the prospect rankings. It was split down the middle, but two panelists were very vocal about their choices. Jim Callis was pro-Buchholz. His views may be more in line with Peter Gammons than the one or two guys who actualy look at the Yankees without a jaundiced eye.
Dirk-
It’s also Damon not Darren
Pete
I read somewhere that Cashman is on vacation this week. If that’s true, who was Cano’s agent working with to get a deal done?
wood is good:
A cracked fingernail?
Does Olney have Santana confused with Wang or something?
If Cashman gets another job, he should be required to take Kei Igawa and his contract off their hands. As noted cretin Chris Russo once said “I know what I wouldn’t have done if I was Yankee GM. I would not have given Jaret Wright $21 million and I would not have given Kyle Farnsworth $16 million”.