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A Yankees Blog by Journal News beat writer Peter Abraham

Today in The Journal News

July
10

The Yankees won their fourth straight by beating the Rays 2-1 in 10 innings. Mike Dougherty has the tale.

Sam Borden writes that the Yankees and Rays are in it for the long haul.

At Lawrence Taylor International Airport here in Newark about to head to Pittsburgh. Check back later for the lineups and other news.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 10th, 2008 at 8:12 am by Peter Abraham.
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221 Responses to “Today in The Journal News”

  1. Russell NY

    Bad day for Yankee fans.

    First, hitters get two, TWO, 2, hits off Aceves. Ouch!

    Second, the Yankees have to face Roy Halladay!

    Third, the City of Boston still exists.

  2. John in Ohio

    Flying out of LT International, the Yanks are gonna go into Pittsburgh like a pack of crazed dogs!!

  3. Brent (Never Should Have Traded Away Damaso Marte For Enrique Wilson!)

    Let’s say theoretically that Dan McCutchen , Alfredo Aceves, and Jeff Karstens all pitch spectacularly their next 2-3 starts..Just blow the competition out of the water.

    Who do the Yankees call up? Aceves for his age (experience), McCutchen (to see what their draft pick can do in the majors), or Karstens (a familiar face/already been here)

    (BTW, you’re right, Russell, Boston still exists. But not for long…muahahahahah!)

    ::puts on snidely whiplash mustache::

  4. TurnTwo

    “Who do the Yankees call up?”

    noone, as long as Rasner and Ponson continue to give 5-6 decent innings a start.

  5. Fredo Corleone

    noone, as long as Rasner and Ponson continue to give 5-6 decent innings a start.

    Rasner hasn’t been terribly consistent in that regard of late. Hasn’t seen the 6th inning in any of his last 5 starts and gave up 6 or more runs in three of them. 23 ER and a whopping 52 baserunners allowed in his last 23 and 2/3 innings pitched.

  6. jennifer

    Power of the ’stache!

    http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/galleries/power_of_the_stache/power_of_the_stache.html

  7. DMan

    Yikes, have to face Doc… Hopefully we can wear him down early. If he gets into a groove, he can pitch a complete game.

  8. Fredo Corleone

    “Yikes, have to face Doc… Hopefully we can wear him down early. If he gets into a groove, he can pitch a complete game.”

    Unlike a Kazmir or Matsuzaka, you know Halladay is going to throw strikes. Yankees will have to hit him to wear him out.

  9. TurnTwo

    “Rasner hasn’t been terribly consistent in that regard of late.”

    i dont disagree at all. in fact, i wouldnt mind if they pulled him from the rotation right now altogether, but they dont have any alternative.

    but if they are going to make a move, i personally think theyd import a player via trade to take Rasner’s spot rather than promote any of those 3 pitchers in the next month.

    if they dont make a move at the deadline, i guess McCutcheon goes first, depending on Aceves’ health. i dont think Karstens is much more than a complete emergency spot starter at this point.

  10. bru

    karsens keeps showing his inconsistantcy,acevez needs another start or two but at 25 or 26 yrs old if he does well in his next start or two he needs to be given a chance.that is the perfect age for a pitcher.hughes i hope will come around but 22 yrs old is too young but he should stay in the rotation when healthy as the 5th starter.joba will be great,he is 22 yrs old and putting up great numbers.not many 22 yr olds have an era at 2.5 and a whip ast 1.00 at that age,he will only get better.they need an ace in 2009.if they can have 3 great pitchers like sabathia,wang,joba at 1-2-3 followed by pettitte,hughes with brackman and others waiting in the shadows i like their chances.they can trade the surplus for outfielders,catchers,first baseman,relief pitchers.next year they are going to be in a fantastic position with tons of pitching prospects and 87 million coming off the books to tweak the lineup and if they let most of their free agents sign with other teams they will get a ton of compensation picks for mussina,abraeu,farnsworth,hawkins,pavano,pettitte.they should and probably sign pettitte but not both him and mussina and might not get draft picks for giambi because of the option year but should get a few nice picks.they got joba and kennedy when they lost flash gordan and got hughes when they lost pettitte to houston.that is the way to build a team that competes for years while lowering payroll instead of signing free agents and losing picks or trading talent for players,very nice job by cashman.

  11. TurnTwo

    here is Dan Shanoff today at the Sporting News online:

    “The Opening Pitch: Vote Longoria. If you haven’t voted yet for the MLB All-Star “Final Vote” (or even if you have), you have until 5 p.m. ET today to do a few things:

    (1) Ensure that the best story in baseball gets the face of its franchise — and the AL’s top rookie — into the game, holding off a challenge from New York’s own Jason Giambi.”

    people, i think we all know what we have to do… keep pumping in those votes for the ‘Stache!

  12. Patrick â„¢

    “they will get a ton of compensation picks for mussina,abraeu,farnsworth,hawkins,pavano,pettitte”

    I doubt they will offer arbitration to Farnsworth. Hawkins will likely bring back no picks even if they do offer arb. Pavano will bring back nothing. If Pettitte plays another season it will be with the Yanks or noone. I could see the Yankees getting picks from Giambi, Abreu and possibly Mussina.

  13. Fredo Corleone

    “but if they are going to make a move, i personally think theyd import a player via trade to take Rasner’s spot rather than promote any of those 3 pitchers in the next month.”

    Think I disagree. While you’re talking about a 4/5 starter, the market for that is still relatively pricey (Example: If the Tribe traded Paul Byrd – they’d want something pretty useful from the Yankees’ system). If what you trading for isn’t significantly better than what the guys already in the system might offer, then why bother???

  14. DMan

    I’d like to know if Rasner is doing something differently that they can fix, or if the other teams have spotted something…

    It seems like the Yankees think he can be a decent #5 starter if he makes the adjustments, but his last 4 or so times out, he hasn’t… He’s gotten knocked around, and the ball has been hit hard.

  15. TurnTwo

    “If what you trading for isn’t significantly better than what the guys already in the system might offer, then why bother???”

    but i think you can find a pitcher who is definately more useful than what they have in the system. at this point right now, its really not that hard considering the options in-house.

  16. Fredo Corleone

    “I could see the Yankees getting picks from Giambi, Abreu and possibly Mussina.”

    If Mussina is offered arbitration, I think he accepts. Abreu is the one guy I think brings picks. Can’t see him accpeting arbitration with this being his last shot at a decent contract thru free agency. Not even sure Giambi will be a Type A (previous two seasons are the determination as I understand it). Anyone know on this????

  17. retire #51

    the yanks have a loot of hole to fill on offense next year. but the pitching is gonna dominate

  18. TurnTwo

    “If Mussina is offered arbitration, I think he accepts.”

    i agree. and honestly, it wouldnt be the worst thing for the yankees in the world to have a veteran starter on a reasonable one year contract.

    i also think the Yankees will definately offer Farnsworth arbitration, knowing that he’d decline to make money on a multi-year deal elsewhere.

  19. Fredo Corleone

    D-Man:

    Rasner is a fringe MLB starter at best. The more teams have seen of him, the more his exceedingly ordinary stuff is exposed.

  20. randy l

    from sam borden : “when Christian – a rookie pinch runner playing his sixth major-league game – took off for third in the bottom of the ninth yesterday, stealing the base successfully in a situation when getting thrown out would have been catastrophic.”

    Christian was ultimately stranded, but the point was symbolic: The Yankees know they have to start moving now.”

    why does it take so long each year for this team to get in a deep hole before it plays like it’s hair is on fire?
    don’t get me wrong, i’m thrilled they took 4 in a row against the red sox and rays, but the early complacency that seems built into the organization seems like a dysfunctional characteristic of a cashman team.

    there is always the PLAN. then the plan doesn’t work. but it’s not the PLAN’S fault.
    it’s the worst injuries known to a modern baseball team.
    patience is called for.
    when patience doesn’t work, the real team is put together from the scrap heap of spare parts that no one else wants.
    then the team finally get’s ticked off after some humiliating defeat and jeter says if they play like they can , he likes their chances.
    now playing wih their hair on fire, they win 65- 70% of their remaining games.
    ..and exhausted they lose the first round of the playoffs and go home for the winter.

    i think this pattern results from cashman’s managerial style.
    he falls im love with his PLAN.
    takes too long to admit he was wrong.
    then works his butt off to get it right and keep his job.

    the problem is this leaves nothing left for the playoffs.

    the good news is that the team should be fun to watch from this point onward.
    the big question is why does it take so long each year to get ready to begin?

  21. Fredo Corleone

    Farnsworth bring picks??? I’d guess he’s a Type B? What’s that get? A 2nd rounder?

  22. TurnTwo

    “Farnsworth bring picks??? I’d guess he’s a Type B? What’s that get? A 2nd rounder?”

    yeah, i would figure a minimum Type-B, which i think nets the team thats a pick after the second round.

    as frustrating as he is, theres no doubt in my mind he can get a multi-year deal from someone.

  23. retire #51

    exciting blog today..

  24. Brent (Never Should Have Traded Away Damaso Marte For Enrique Wilson!)

    “but if they are going to make a move, i personally think theyd import a player via trade to take Rasner’s spot rather than promote any of those 3 pitchers in the next month.”

    If the Yankees weren’t willing to make a trade 2 weeks ago, why would they be now when Sabathia and Harden are already gone?

    Cashman said he wanted to keep it in-house. If they can’t find someone to pitch better than Rasner out of McCutchen, Aceves, Horne (long-shot possibility), Karstens, Kennedy (if he gets out of his funk), Pavano (I can’t believe I just said that), Hughes (if he can get healthy), then we have huge problems.

    Granted, Hughes, Kennedy, Pavano, and Karstens are long-shots to be saviors…but Kennedy is healthy and just has to pitch well to regain his spot.

    Rasner has not been getting it done lately. Laboring for 5 innings and always being on the verge of giving up 3+ at any moment is inconsistency that the Yankees don’t need right now. I don’t want them to make a trade. Find someone in the farm that can help. I guarantee there’s someone better than Rasner who won’t cost them prospects.

  25. Brent (Never Should Have Traded Away Damaso Marte For Enrique Wilson!)

    Think I disagree. While you’re talking about a 4/5 starter, the market for that is still relatively pricey (Example: If the Tribe traded Paul Byrd – they’d want something pretty useful from the Yankees’ system). If what you trading for isn’t significantly better than what the guys already in the system might offer, then why bother???”

    Exactly!

  26. Someone Else

    Would you give up a Horne for a Paul Byrd?

    Because that’s what it would cost to get you a #4/#5 ‘experienced’ pitcher.

    I’d rather see what we have in AAA than pay for someone who’s not all that much better.

  27. TurnTwo

    “If the Yankees weren’t willing to make a trade 2 weeks ago, why would they be now when Sabathia and Harden are already gone?”

    no trade market existed two weeks ago, and Cashman was never going to make a move on Sabathia or Harden for the price of prospects that would have been needed.

  28. Patrick â„¢

    Fredo,

    Yeah I’m pretty sure it counts the last two seasons. If Giambi has as good a year as I expect he could be a type A. If the Yankees offer him arb I highly doubt he would accept. Same with Abreu. Moose, you are right he might accept but its not guaranteed. I think he could get a 2 year deal somewhere else. I don’t think the Yankees would offer Farns arb but its possible I guess.

  29. Brent (Never Should Have Traded Away Damaso Marte For Enrique Wilson!)

    I know the old saying “You can never have enough pitching”, but I’ve heard continuous reports claim that Pettitte feels the itch of the new Yankee Stadium and that he would love to pitch there. Also, if Mussina continues to reinvent/dominate, you’re looking at a possible 15-20 win season this year (more towards 15, I would guess).

    If both of those guys continue to contribute, I think they’re irreplaceable to start next year’s campaign. So say both of them take less money and come back. That would give you the following rotation:

    Wang
    Chamberlain
    Pettitte
    Mussina
    Hughes/Kennedy/Farm Help

    Although I thought Hughes/Kennedy would be the real deal this year and was sorely mistaken, It’s way too early to give up hope. It’s a relatively safe bet that one of them (if not both!) could pitch decently enough to maintain the 5th spot (If Rasner can do it, I have no doubt that they can).

    That’s a pretty formidable rotation consisting of youth (Wang/Chamberlain/Kennedy/Hughes) and two top veteran starters (Pettitte/Mussina).

    This is considering that they don’t make a free-agent splash in the off-season (Sabathia).

    If they did that, it could be..

    Wang
    Sabathia
    Chamberlain
    Pettitte
    Mussina
    (Hughes/Kennedy/farm help to round out inconsistency and injuries)

    What do you guys think?

  30. Brent (Never Should Have Traded Away Damaso Marte For Enrique Wilson!)


    no trade market existed two weeks ago, and Cashman was never going to make a move on Sabathia or Harden for the price of prospects that would have been needed.

    ..both Sabathia and Harden have already been traded. You’re trying to tell me that they weren’t available a few days before then? And who would you like the Yankees to go pick up? (I’m not trying to argue..I really want to know who’s available)

    As much as it would have hurt to give up top guys for a Sabathia-caliber player, it would have hurt me just as much to give up B-prospects for a Paul Byrd kind of guy. Why even make a trade if that’s the kind of guy you’re going to get?

    I seriously think that with the guys we have in the minors, we can find someone to replace Rasner.

  31. Brent (Never Should Have Traded Away Damaso Marte For Enrique Wilson!)

    Would you give up a Horne for a Paul Byrd?

    Because that’s what it would cost to get you a #4/#5 ‘experienced’ pitcher.

    I’d rather see what we have in AAA than pay for someone who’s not all that much better.

    That’s exactly what I’m saying. I would much rather have the Yankees give the 5th starter position to Horne on a silver platter rather than trade him for Byrd.

  32. retire #51

    i dont think they will sign both muss and pettite. I think its one or the other. and i think its pettite.

    Sabathia
    Wang
    Joba
    Pettite
    Hughes
    No need for muss. That is downright dirty

  33. TurnTwo

    “..both Sabathia and Harden have already been traded. You’re trying to tell me that they weren’t available a few days before then? And who would you like the Yankees to go pick up? (I’m not trying to argue..I really want to know who’s available)”

    what im saying is while im sure they were available, the yankees were never in on them. they werent going to give up the players necessary to bring in either player, so it actually doesnt matter when they got traded, and where.

    noone knows who is actually available, but i made a case at RAB for a guy like Derek Lowe; Lowe is a FA after the season, so he’d be a rental, and i dont think he’d be near as costly as a Sabathia would be.

    I also think someone like a Tim Hudson could be had. he’s under contract thru 2009, and has an option for 2010. he’d cost more, but is durable and dependable, and would be a short term contract at a reasonable salary. Braves are on the fence now to buy or sell, but i think eventually you’ll see them drift further away as the deadline approaches.

  34. Brian Cashman is watching

    A type B free agent nets a supplemental first rounder. Luis Vizcaino netted Jeremy Bleich, while a previous supplemental pick netted Joba Chamberlain. The formula to determine what type of free agent is in what class is not well known (Elias ranks free agents), but the top 20% of free agents at a position are type As while the next 20% are type Bs. A supplemental first rounder is typically in the top 50 picks of a draft.

  35. retire #51

    wow farnsworth for a supllemental first rounder. That is so unfair, and awesome.

  36. JohnC

    I could see a potential trade for AJ Burnett. Jays are pretty much out of it, and Burnett will likely opt out of his deal after this season anyway. Yanks could take the financial hit, and he’d certainly be a better option than Rasner and Ponson.

  37. Peter Rabbit

    Alright ya’ll, stop all this jibber jabber and vote for Giambi!

    You can make a difference! The margins are slim!

  38. retire #51

    i dont think the jays will let him stay in the AL east. I could see that otherwise though. Still i think the cardinals might go after him to keep up with the jones’s.

  39. Brent (Never Should Have Traded Away Damaso Marte For Enrique Wilson!)

    noone knows who is actually available, but i made a case at RAB for a guy like Derek Lowe; Lowe is a FA after the season, so he’d be a rental, and i dont think he’d be near as costly as a Sabathia would be.”

    You’re right..nobody knows who is to available, so all of this could be moot…but I think that trading for Derek Lowe would take away at least 2-3 B-level prospects..He’s a good pitcher. I don’t want to do that, and I don’t think the Yankees are going to.

  40. Brent (Never Should Have Traded Away Damaso Marte For Enrique Wilson!)

    i dont think they will sign both muss and pettite. I think its one or the other. and i think its pettite.

    Sabathia
    Wang
    Joba
    Pettite
    Hughes
    No need for muss. That is downright dirty

    If you sign Sabathia, then yes, Pettitte/Mussina would be expendable..with Mussina getting my call for the boot. However, if you DON’T make that FA signing, then you have to bring both of them back (if they want to, and if they accept a reasonable salary decrease). The injuries and inconsistencies of Hughes and Kennedy are enough to tell you that you can’t just pencil them in for stardom.

  41. Francis The Praying Mantis

    other than the strike outs, AJ Burnett isnt much better than Ponson

  42. TurnTwo

    “but I think that trading for Derek Lowe would take away at least 2-3 B-level prospects..He’s a good pitcher.”

    and dont you want good pitchers? i know i do.

    if you can hold onto your couple untouchables and get a pitcher like Lowe for the stretch run, you do it.

  43. raymagnetic ®™

    “Fredo,

    Yeah I’m pretty sure it counts the last two seasons. If Giambi has as good a year as I expect he could be a type A.”

    Arbitration rules are here

    Giambi could net a first round pick depending upon how he ends the year. Moose I don’t think so. Abreu probably. Farnsworth will like net a sandwich pick.

  44. TurnTwo

    “If you sign Sabathia, then yes, Pettitte/Mussina would be expendable..with Mussina getting my call for the boot.”

    disagree. if you sign Sabathia, you definately bring back Pettitte, too. you go Sabathia, Wang, Pettitte, Joba and a 5th starter of choice.

    thats starting rotation depth.

  45. Patch

    Does anyone know where I can find (or has) the SWB Yanks pitching order for this weekend?

    I live in Columbus and am going to go to a couple of games.

    Thanks!

  46. retire #51

    i agree with no free agent signging we take them both back. but i think cashman has been excitedly waiting for the yankees to dump all of tese overpriced contracts. And i agree hughes is not a shoe in. but i think out of hughes/horne/kennedy/aceves: one of them can be a damn good 5th starter. Hughes has the potential to be much more. We need sabathia, plain and simple

  47. retire #51

    turntwo: i think he meant either pettite or moose, not both

  48. JoeyA

    signing Sabathia would gives us a HUGE amount of flexibility. Sabathia Wang Pettitte Joba and a 5th. That gives us a 1-3 for the enxt 6-8 years. Phil could come in @ 4 if we don’t use him in a trade. Ultimately, signing Sabathia would give us room to use other pitching prospects to strengthen our minor league positions – i.e. SS, C, and 1B – and may also get us an outfielder

  49. TurnTwo

    “turntwo: i think he meant either pettite or moose, not both”

    yeah, if thats the case, then i agree. it seems pretty clear Pettitte wants to be here for at least one more year, so i dont see why that cant get done.

  50. vinny-b

    didn’t the pimp in charge (Ricciardi), say the yankees were like the mafia. And it is where you have to go to, when you need $$$. Maybe he will take a prospect, for Burnett.

    by the way, why was Newark airport, referred to as Lawrence Taylor International?

  51. retire #51

    yea ss,c,1b are looming future issues

  52. nyyanks23

    Pete, have you ever thought of having video contests for the yankees on the site?? Winner gets free tickets to the stdium or something??

  53. Someone Else

    “yea ss,c,1b are looming future issues”

    Hopefully by the time they ARE issues, Montero will be the C or 1B; 2010 at the earliest, probably 2011 if all goes well.

  54. JoeyA

    1B is a next year problem. C and SS are problems in 2 to 3 years. I’d say C in 2 SS in 3. The Yankees are very lucky in that they have regular, everyday SS and C. If they were smart, they would start to build up prospects for those 2 positions so a smooth transition takes place a la Girardi to Posada

  55. Drew

    Brent, we already know what Karstens can, and more importantly, can’t do. I don’t think McCutchen is ready, so I would give Aceves a shot. Actually I might give Jason Jones a start before all of them.

    LTI airport? are the white lines on the runway coke?

  56. Someone Else

    “1B is a next year problem. C and SS are problems in 2 to 3 years. I’d say C in 2 SS in 3. The Yankees are very lucky in that they have regular, everyday SS and C. If they were smart, they would start to build up prospects for those 2 positions so a smooth transition takes place a la Girardi to Posada”

    Well, it’s tough to ‘build up prospects’ for those positions – they’re the shallowest positions in baseball.

    As for C, I’d say one of Max Ramirez/Saltalamacchia from the Rangers will be available eventually for trade, and the Rangers are in -dire- need of pitching, which is the Yankees’ depth.

    The Rangers would need -solid- prospects, and most of the Yankees AAA guys have big ? marks, but I’d hope something could be done on that front.

  57. retire #51

    yea hopefully posada’s shoulder can come back strong after surgery, or else it could be an issue. I still am in favor of teixera + CC. i know im probably dreaming, but i think that would dismiss the 1b and really make our line up dominant. He isnt having his best season but still. 17 hr 54 rbi’s and batting .278 isnt bad for an “off” year

  58. retire #51

    how about RF, do you think we will resign abreu?

  59. raymagnetic ®™

    “The Yankees are very lucky in that they have regular, everyday SS and C. If they were smart, they would start to build up prospects for those 2 positions so a smooth transition takes place a la Girardi to Posada”

    They have two catchers and a shortstop in A ball right now. One of the catchers will probably be ready by the time Jorge’s contract is up. Don’t know what the timetable is on the SS (Angelini) or if he’s even the SS of the future.

  60. retire #51

    yea i dont know about angelini.. we did sign 2 top SS prospects from international signings. but god knows what we will get from 2 17 yr olds

  61. Brent (Never Should Have Traded Away Damaso Marte For Enrique Wilson!)

    If they were smart, they would start to build up prospects for those 2 positions so a smooth transition takes place a la Girardi to Posada

    Or another way they could attack it is by continuing to do what their current draft strategy entails: “Pick the best player available”. Think about it, if the Yankees get too worried and start drafting 3-4 SS’s and catchers, they might pass up better talent just because of the position someone plays. Young players oftentimes switch positions, and they’re never a shoe-in. Of course if the best player available happens to be a shortstop, then great.

    If they continue to draft the best players available, they can then trade them to get the exact players they want..not just prospects. (e.g. trade 2 A prospects and a B for Hanley Ramirez when he becomes a free agent.)

    Note: In no way do I think the Yankees will definitely go after Ramirez, but he’s a top-tier shortstop that could be made available in the future (when the Yankees might require an everyday shortstop instead of Jeter) since the Marlins probably have no plan to sign him to a high-paying contract. The same thing happened when Burnett, Beckett, Pavano and Penny were all Florida Marlins.

  62. Someone Else

    “yea i dont know about angelini.. we did sign 2 top SS prospects from international signings. but god knows what we will get from 2 17 yr olds”

    Kinda does show you though, they plan on getting as many prospects as they can, and hope one pans out.

    ‘Unfortunately’, they can’t get a Jeter in the draft, unless they decide to lose 100 games.

  63. TurnTwo

    “Note: In no way do I think the Yankees will definitely go after Ramirez, but he’s a top-tier shortstop that could be made available in the future (when the Yankees might require an everyday shortstop instead of Jeter) since the Marlins probably have no plan to sign him to a high-paying contract.”

    didnt they just sign him to a 6 year extention, something like that?

  64. Someone Else

    “didnt they just sign him to a 6 year extention, something like that?”

    They bought out his arbitration years, and maybe 1 or 2 of his Free Agent years.

  65. Brent (Never Should Have Traded Away Damaso Marte For Enrique Wilson!)

    I hope the Yankees re-sign Abreu. He’s a good stick, has a good OBP (lower than previous years, but still respectable), and he’s a great fit in front of A-Rod. Also, he can hold down the fort until Austin Jackson is ready for center (at which point you can move people around and find someone to play right).

    Question 1: If the Yankees don’t resign Abreu, who are some options that could replace him? (not necessarily free agents).

    Question 2: Is there a chance (even the tiniest chance) that the Yankees re-sign Giambi AND go after Teixeira?

  66. raymagnetic ®™

    “‘Unfortunately’, they can’t get a Jeter in the draft, unless they decide to lose 100 games.”

    Angelini was a highly touted draft pick even though he wasn’t a first rounder. He was supposed to play for Rice on a full scholarship so I know he’s talented. I’m not saying he’s the next Jeter but his ceiling is pretty high.

  67. whozat

    “Question 1: If the Yankees don’t resign Abreu, who are some options that could replace him? (not necessarily free agents).”

    Juan Rivera is an option I like. Solid righty bat, could probably be got from the Angels for not THAT much.

    Q2: What would be the point? Spend 30 million dollars to have Matsui and Giambi rotate at DH??

  68. Brent (Never Should Have Traded Away Damaso Marte For Enrique Wilson!)

    “didnt they just sign him to a 6 year extention, something like that?”

    If that’s the case, then I need to start doing some more research before posting. Maybe the Marlins are trying to hold onto him instead of shipping him out like times past. But one would think he would still be available in a trade if the deal was sweet enough. Especially if prospective teams knew that he would be “under their control” for years to come.

    Who are some other shortstops that the Yankees could look at 3-4 years down the road?

  69. JoeyA

    Brent-
    excellent point and well taken. Better than using prospects of different positions to gain a SS prospect, with the addition of CC, they could use major league ready pitchers to gain a number of prospects. i.e. Kennedy, Hughes, Karstens, etc…all in all, the biggest signing we need to make this offseason isn’t even a player, but the CASHman. if this plethera of young talent and re-emergence of dominant Yankee pitching has taught us nothing else, it has shown us that CASHman is still one of the best GM’s in the game and knows how to win championships, remain contenders and stay competitive, all while replenishing the farm system @ every position. I’m very happy the direction the core and upper management this team is taking

  70. Patrick â„¢

    “Question 1: If the Yankees don’t resign Abreu, who are some options that could replace him? (not necessarily free agents).”

    Melky in right, Gardner in center would be light offense but great D. I doubt it will happen but its a possibility.
    Milton Bradley is a FA, I’d strongly consider signing him. RF’s are pretty easy to come by, I could see a trade for a vet.

    “Question 2: Is there a chance (even the tiniest chance) that the Yankees re-sign Giambi AND go after Teixeira?”

    Only if Matsui is traded IMO. Both Matsui and Giambi should be full-time DH’s. No point in having both.

    Heres a question of my own: Which signing would you want more, Teixeira or Sabathia?

  71. Brent (Never Should Have Traded Away Damaso Marte For Enrique Wilson!)

    Q2: What would be the point? Spend 30 million dollars to have Matsui and Giambi rotate at DH??

    Good point. So are you concluding that Matsui is going to be their full-time DH from now on?

    Maybe I should pose a different question..

    If the Yankees don’t sign Teixeira, is Giambi 100% back? or do they look for others to fill his role? If so, whom?

  72. JoeyA

    SABATHIA hands down. he gives us so much flexibility, not only @ SP, but the added bonus of being able to than deal other pitching prospects and major league ready guys (hughes, kennedy, kartstens).
    As far as Abreu, i like him and want him resigned. I agree he is a great fit in front of A-Rod and i believe he likes not being “The guy” on this team. he gets on base and gets the job done, while having a good arm in right as well. we have a lot of OF prospects but Abreu resigning makes that transition a whole lot easier given that this should be the last year Matsui sees grass outside of the infield.
    I think despite his poor O, Melky is still at high trade value and should be considered being traded, especially if we don’t win it all this year and he continues his terrible offensive numbers. plenty of teams need good D in the OF.
    Sorry if im down on Melky, but yesterday was the last straw with em and that guy

  73. Ty

    Re: Giambi and arbitration

    It’s one thing to get excited about getting a top draft pick for Giambi, but it’s another thing for a team to want to surrender a 1st rounder for an oft injured slugger pushing 40. It might behoove the Yankees to just let him walk.

  74. Brent (Never Should Have Traded Away Damaso Marte For Enrique Wilson!)

    Only if Matsui is traded IMO. Both Matsui and Giambi should be full-time DH’s. No point in having both.

    Heres a question of my own: Which signing would you want more, Teixeira or Sabathia?

    You’re right..I guess I just want the Yankees to keep everyone. I don’t see the yankees trading away Matsui if he’s healthy..He’s been one of our most productive hitters this year. If that’s the case, then I don’t see the Yankees resigning Giambi.

    To answer your question, I would want Sabathia more. Teixeira is an amazing player (.272/16 HR/67 RBI as of this writing), but good pitching beats good hitting any day, even when it comes to trades.

    If the choice was “Sign Sabathia and stay with Giambi at first” or “Sign Teixeira and fill out the rotation from within”, I would go with the second choice. Giambi in his current offensive form is good enough to outweigh his lack of defense, but I don’t see anybody from our minor-league system being able to go toe-to-toe and put up similar numbers to Sabathia.

  75. Brent (Never Should Have Traded Away Damaso Marte For Enrique Wilson!)

    “Sorry if im down on Melky, but yesterday was the last straw with em and that guy”

    I would have thought that Kazmir striking Melky out 3 times while he flailed at pitches above his head would be the last straw compared to last night.

  76. Brent (Never Should Have Traded Away Damaso Marte For Enrique Wilson!)

    “If the choice was “Sign Sabathia and stay with Giambi at first” or “Sign Teixeira and fill out the rotation from within”, I would go with the second choice. Giambi in his current offensive form is good enough to outweigh his lack of defense, but I don’t see anybody from our minor-league system being able to go toe-to-toe and put up similar numbers to Sabathia.”

    Ahhh I meant I would take the first choice! The FIIIIRST CHOOOICE!

  77. mel

    Good morning, guys.

    Looks like you have a lively conversation going on here. Here’s some quotes from Hal. In a weird switch Hal and Hank have switched off in the good cop/bad cop routine.

    Seems like the Yankees are in sink or swim mode. Hal expects the Yankees to make their moves in the offseason.

    I expect them to go hard after CC and Teixeira (haven’t had a legit 1B in years). And even though this one last fling with Giambi’s been fun, I don’t expect them to bring him back next season. He’s a great clubhouse influence, but he’s old and expensive when they’re trying to go young. They’ve waited 6 years for this day and bringing him back is like re-marrying a woman who’s seen better days.

    http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3480942

  78. retire #51

    yea i was wondering what shortstops will be available in a few years. (catchers too, if montero needs to go to 1st)

    Also in regards to replacing abreu if we didnt resign him:

    milton bradley will be a fa (injury prone + attitude)
    we could trade for nady and hopefully not dunn
    vlad will be available
    pat burrell will be a fa
    Manny???

  79. Upstate

    MELKY.
    How useless and over-rated is this guaranteed rally-killer ?
    He kills the Yanks.
    Cant bunt (certainly cant hit).
    Swings at any crap that any pitcher throws (promptly misses and strikes out)
    Throws well.
    More triples are hit over his head than any major leagues since Jose Canseco.
    Just simply useless.
    Cute name; useless ballplayer.
    Trade him for Moises Alou.
    Melky can play ‘everyday’ (badly though)- Mets will be happy.
    Moises can pinch hit two times a week and actually hit – Yanks will be happy.
    Melky experiment….failure. (nice guy – lousy ballplayer)

  80. Eric

    Signing Sabathia is infinitely more important than signing Teixeira. A Sabathia / Wang / Joba top 3 would be one of the best young top 3’s in baseball. With the Mets signing Santana to a 6-year contract and that already looking like it could be a potential bust by the end of it, I hope they can sign Sabathia to a 5-year contract. I’d prefer something like $110 / 5 years as opposed to $120 / 6 years. I’d like Teixeira also, but don’t think he’s really worth more than $15 mil / year, and he’ll probably end up getting $20+.

  81. retire #51

    can we get tex and cc? if we didnt have moose,giambi, farnsy, hawkins contracts? (assuming we were to resign pettite and abreu)

  82. mel

    Upstate,

    LOL. The “Bench Melky” rally cry would be replaced by “Moises to the DL AGAIN?!?”

  83. JoeyA

    a perfect world:
    CC is signed, as is Tex, both for big money, but not big years. I’d say CC @ 5 yrs. 140 and God knows what for Tex, i dont know enough about him, but that gives CC free agency @ 33-34, which is perfect for a SP. one last big contract. Pettitte is given a 1 year. We get a lefty reliever. Abreu is resigned. everyone else leaves, which is fine by me. offer giambi a 1 or 2 year @ 6-8 a year. trade Matsui/cabrera/pitching for a productive OF. that leaves us with:

    1B Tex
    2B Cano
    SS el Capitan
    3B Madonna’s new husband
    C jorge
    LF Damon
    RF Abreu
    CF OF’er picked up in trade (havnt done research enough to suggest anyone in particular
    DH Giambi

    CC/Wang/Joba/Pettitte/whomever doesn’t get traded (hughes/kennedy/aceves/etc.)

    anybody have OF suggestions and/or problems with my perfect dreamworld scenario?

  84. raymagnetic ®™

    “Sorry if im down on Melky, but yesterday was the last straw with em and that guy”

    Yeah, because Melky is the 20 mil dollar all-star on the team that’s not pulling his weight, right?

  85. retire #51

    still, we would be paying G 22 mil next year. Why not double up on CC and tex, i know its absurdly expensive, but i would drop both moose and pettite, giambi, farns, hawkins for that.

    Thats about 60+ million dollars off the payroll. add 20 for tex and who knows 22+ for CC. I think its worth it

  86. Patrick â„¢

    “but good pitching beats good hitting any day, even when it comes to trades.”

    I’m not sure I agree with that. In the playoffs yes thats true but over the course of a season a position player has more to do with a team’s success than a pitcher. Its a tough choice for me. The farm system has good depth in starting pitching and not so good for first base.

  87. TKinDC

    mel –

    I TOTALLY agree with your thoughts on the Big G – it has been a nice last season with him as long as it is the last season. I am sure he will get a nice contract elsewhere.

    It seems like the Yanks have viewed 1st base as a dumping ground for marginal defenders and signing Tex would put an end to that while allowing us to get younger and more flexible offensively (switch hitter)

    CC Sabathia would give us a ton more latitude in developing our young pitchers at the right pace for them rather than force-feeding them into the rotation in the Big League.

    So in the true spirit of Yogi – I say when we get to the fork in the road between Tex and CC – take both.

  88. mel

    retire#51,

    We can get them if they want to come here, no matter what’s coming off the books. There hasn’t been a FA pitcher like Sabathia in a long time (well, since Zito, haha).

  89. raymagnetic ®™

    “MELKY.
    How useless and over-rated is this guaranteed rally-killer ?
    He kills the Yanks.
    Cant bunt (certainly cant hit).
    Swings at any crap that any pitcher throws (promptly misses and strikes out)
    Throws well.
    More triples are hit over his head than any major leagues since Jose Canseco.
    Just simply useless.
    Cute name; useless ballplayer.
    Trade him for Moises Alou.
    Melky can play ‘everyday’ (badly though)- Mets will be happy.
    Moises can pinch hit two times a week and actually hit – Yanks will be happy.
    Melky experiment….failure. (nice guy – lousy ballplayer)”

    Right, makes since to pay 8 mil for a guy who can’t stay healthy for two games. Moises Alou has 45 at bats this year. Yeah that’s really valuable.

    I’m beginning to really dislike a certain faction of Yankee “fandom”

  90. mel

    Joey,

    The only problem with your scenario is that the Yankees won’t trade Matsui. He’s consistent (when his knees aren’t killing him) and valuable to the organization.

    He’s also not so great a trading chip because of his knees.

  91. JoeyA

    Ray-
    who cares about what we are paying him. He is one of the 9 guys in the lineup. it’s not like it’s coming out of my pocket. Would you ever say, “I can deal with Melky because we aren’t paying him alot?”
    Secondly, if you are referring to Jeter, I say to that “Do you really think he will not end up with a .300 avg. by years end, or at least +.295 with 100+ RS.
    Bottom line, when Melky gets to the plate and a runner on first, I not only don’t expect anything out of him, but i root for a K just so he doesnt ground into a DP. I still see Jeter, or anyone else for that matter, at the plate and expect prodution. Melky just looks lost – AND he can’t bunt! and doesn’t walk! All of this for an arm in CF?

  92. retire #51

    yea there is no way the get stache and tex. that is unrealistic. Giambi will try to get 10 mil at least. Hell he is almost an all star. also if we resign abreu, I dunno that we will necessarily trade for a new OF with ajax on the way.

    C posada/molina
    1b Tex
    2b Cano
    SS Jeter
    3b Arod
    LF Damon
    CF Melky/Gardner (melky+prospects for LH relief)
    RF Abreu
    DH Matsui

    CC/Wang/Joba/pettite/Hughes

    Bullpen: veras roberston melancon Sandman

    Also i am aware Garnder is probably not a yankees starting CF, but with that lineup who gives a shit if we have some speed and fielding until Ajax comes in 2010

  93. JoeyA

    Mel-
    I can give you at least one team that could use a DH as productive as Matsui and not need to play him in the field EVER, thus nipping the knee problem in the bud. Here are some hints….
    In our division
    we just beat them 2 games in a row
    they don’t have an allstar .219 16% CS catcher

  94. LathamJoe

    Brent:
    I think the Yankee Front Office goes after
    Teixeira early and aggressively – IF he isn’t traded by July 31. And if he’s not signed by Cashman, only then do they refuse Giambi’s $22 Million Option and negotiate with him for less.

    For those of you that are down on Melky’s offense..Yes he’s slumping right now. He has become impatient and is not being selective at the plate. But Melky is still fairly young, a decent hitter (.270 – .280), and will come out of his slump.

    Remember, a month ago Robbie Cano was hitting under .200!

  95. TKinDC

    I would have a hard time believing that we will start next year with Damon and Matsui on the team. Eat a portion of their $13M next year and move one of them.

    I would also let Abreu go if he wants a 3 year deal. One year would be fine, two would be a tough call.

  96. billy

    I really think Aceves would have been up if he hadn’t got hurt. Says a lot about him missing time and still going three strong innings in a pseudo rehab start in his first time in AAA. I like McCutchen but he needs more seasoning. He has been more consistent lately so it would be nice to string together a few more great starts to boost his confidence.

  97. Guiseppe Franco

    The Yanks should let every one of these guys walk no matter what:

    Bobby Abreu, Mike Mussina, Jason Giambi, Carl Pavano (duh!), LaTroy Hawkins, Kyle Farnsworth, and Wilson Betemit.

    As long as his elbow feels good, Pettitte will be back and should be back.

    If the Yanks do go all out and sign Sabathia – they should have a very strong rotation (Sabathia, Wang, Pettitte, Joba, and Hughes) that will put them in a position to win almost every night.

    That would make some of the young starters in the minors expendable. And with the plethora of young starters, they could package some of them together (McCutchen, Horne, Kennedy, Aceves, Marquez, etc, etc.) to use in a trade for a right-handed outfield bat to take Abreu’s vacated spot.

    Young pitching is like cigarettes in prison. Use them for currency to trade or buy what you need.

    The bullpen should be in pretty good shape with a lot of young arms battling it out and competing for prominent roles in the bridge to Mo (Robertson, Cox, Melancon, Veras, Ramirez, Ohlendorf and Bruney).

    This team should have a lot of new faces next season and that’s a good thing.

    And I’d stay away from Teixeira. They’ve already been burned way too many times by big long term contracts to aging position players.

    We’ve already seen the likes of Matsui, Abreu, Jeter, and Damon start to slow down by the age of 33 and I’d rather not see Teixeira added to that list in a few years when they’ll already have two infielders close to 40 (A-Rod and Jeter).

  98. TL

    I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Braves step up their efforts to sign Texiera. That trade continues to look like highway robbery for the Rangers.

  99. whozat

    “I would have a hard time believing that we will start next year with Damon and Matsui on the team. ”

    Why? They’re two of the most productive hitters on the ballclub.

  100. JoeT 28 in 09!! LESS POSTING, MORE VOTING!! - .220 average, 17% CS = AL ALL STAR!!

    Saucy you better have brought your charger to work today!! VOTE STACHE!!

  101. JoeyA

    Latham Joe-
    EXACTLY!! that’s why Cano is a good hitter and Cabrera isn’t. Cano is making necessary adjustments and coming out of this. Melky is still where he was at at the beginning of the season. The only way I can deal with Cabrera is as a #4 outfielder with more playing time than a usual #4, being that Damon is getting old. maybe even splitting time with Damon.

  102. raymagnetic ®™

    “Ray-
    who cares about what we are paying him. He is one of the 9 guys in the lineup. it’s not like it’s coming out of my pocket. Would you ever say, “I can deal with Melky because we aren’t paying him alot?”
    Secondly, if you are referring to Jeter, I say to that “Do you really think he will not end up with a .300 avg. by years end, or at least +.295 with 100+ RS.
    Bottom line, when Melky gets to the plate and a runner on first, I not only don’t expect anything out of him, but i root for a K just so he doesnt ground into a DP. I still see Jeter, or anyone else for that matter, at the plate and expect prodution. Melky just looks lost – AND he can’t bunt! and doesn’t walk! All of this for an arm in CF?”

    I wasn’t necessarily referring to Jeter but he hasn’t exactly pulled his weight this year. I’m sure in the end he’ll be back to Jeterian level but is that even worth 20mil?

    The amount you’re paying a player does matter if you’re talking about value of a player. That’s what the whole moneyball thing was about. How much value is a player giving you for whatever salary you’re paying him.

    Melky is a good defender and a subpar stick. For what they are paying him he has value whether you want to believe it or not.

    Melky also isn’t a strikeout artist. He makes contact a lot whether you want to believe it or not. On the year he has struckout 45 times which isn’t terrible at all.

    The Melky bashing is just stupid to me. Melky most of the time is the #9 hitter in the lineup. His presence in the lineup isn’t killing the team. You guys here just want someone to attack every day.

  103. mel

    Joey A,

    Yes, they’d be a great fit. What percentage of trades are intra-division, though?

    I like Matsui and I think the Yankees do, too.

    Matsui’s another candidate for 1B if we fail to get Tex. He said (the time he and Shef were both coming back) that he’d give 1B a try if that’s what the team wanted him to do. Not too proud like Posada (an infielder!).

  104. Miller

    Guiseppe I agree that the Yankees need to package some arms but I wouldn’t expect to get an impact bat. The Yankees have shown that young bats are a premium and basically gone by the comp picks they are getting. For a team to give away offense, they will want some in return.

  105. TurnTwo

    “The Melky bashing is just stupid to me. Melky most of the time is the #9 hitter in the lineup. His presence in the lineup isn’t killing the team.”

    agreed. with Damon and Matsui out indefinately, everyone should be thankful you at least have Melky to play CF everyday or this team would really be screwed.

  106. raymagnetic ®™

    “Latham Joe-
    EXACTLY!! that’s why Cano is a good hitter and Cabrera isn’t. Cano is making necessary adjustments and coming out of this. Melky is still where he was at at the beginning of the season.”

    What? So what happened to Cano for the 2 months when he was god awful?

    Melky had an .864 OPS in April so no he’s definitely not where he was at in the beginning of the year.

    I get it, you do not like Melky but you’re making ridiculous statements.

  107. whozat

    “Melky is still where he was at at the beginning of the season.”

    If that were true, we’d be agitating for him to be in the All-Star game. Go look at his April.

  108. Brandon (Jeter GIDP: 13) (Johan Santana HR count: 13 and a SP)

    As for C, I’d say one of Max Ramirez/Saltalamacchia from the Rangers will be available eventually for trade, and the Rangers are in -dire- need of pitching, which is the Yankees’ depth.

    The Yankees signed to putting depth at the SP position that way when they need to (injury replacing) they can dip into thier system instead of outside of the organization, we also have 3 catchers in waiting Cervelli, Romine, Montero

    The Rangers would need -solid- prospects, and most of the Yankees AAA guys have big ? marks, but I’d hope something could be done on that front.

    who Hughes ? that’s not gonna happen would an Alan Horne land Saltalamaachia I doubt it.

  109. Patrick â„¢

    I think Cashman will be more inclined to sign Teixeira rather than Sabathia. Big time pitchers are much more risky than big time hitters. Also the organization has depth at starting pitching. The team will need a veteran starter next year to eat innings (LIVAN!) but I’m not sure if it will be CC.

    Also look at the past signings. When was the last time a position player he traded for or signed was a bust? Tony Womack? Then look at all the veteran pitchers he has gotten over the years that have failed: Pavano, Wright, Johnson, Brown, Vasquez, Contreras, Weaver, Igawa.

  110. whozat

    “Matsui’s another candidate for 1B if we fail to get Tex.”

    Matsui went down after playing the field two days in a row. Granted, it was the OF. But…playing the infield does not seem like something a guy with Matsui’s knees would be able to do for any length of time.

  111. TKinDC

    The reason I want Johnny or Godzilla out by next year is age and increasing injury problems. (As well as the overly lefty nature of the offense)

    Tex is either 28 or 29 – We would be getting him in his prime – not in his decline.

  112. Jorge Steinbrenner

    “1B Tex
    2B Cano
    SS el Capitan
    3B Madonna’s new husband
    C jorge
    LF Damon
    RF Abreu
    CF OF’er picked up in trade (havnt done research enough to suggest anyone in particular
    DH Giambi

    CC/Wang/Joba/Pettitte/whomever doesn’t get traded (hughes/kennedy/aceves/etc.)

    anybody have OF suggestions and/or problems with my perfect dreamworld scenario?”

    A couple of adjustments I’d make to that for 2009.

    1) Your CF is either Melky Cabrera or Brett Gardner. I understand both have their detractors. They’re also both young and more than good enough (who cares what some troll posted on here)to hold down the fort until we figure out what we’ve got in Austin Jackson. Whoever doesn’t start out of the two is our fourth outfielder. He’ll be needed.

    2) Abreu doesn’t return. I think we need to slowly wean ourselves out of our mid-30’s OF/DH obsession. Of course, I’m going to make a suggestion later which will contradict that.

    3) I lean towards losing Giambi.

    4) It’s eitehr Moose or Pettite at the #4. I don’t think we should bring back both, and I don’t even know if Pettite wants to pitch next year. I agree we put a lot less pressure on a youngster at the #5 spot, and it’ll probably be Hughes.

    5) i think we use our FA money on Tex and C.C. I’m also going to suggest one more controversial signing, if the money is right…..I’d like for Manny Ramirez to be our permanent DH for the next two years. I understand the jams it creates with the rest of our slightly broken-down veterans (solution: too bad. drink a protein shake or retire), and I understand it may be shelling out too much money to three FAs. i also understand he will continue to be a lethal bat, that there is a Yankee tradition of stealing BoSox from under their noses, and that I have a hunch he secretly REALLY wants to see what pinstripes feel like.

    6) The bullpen stays young. Our biggest bullpen aquisition should be, frankly, Mark Melancon.

    Not a much younger team than 2008, but one that’s in motion to become younger. like Joel Sherman alluded to, you hope there are some Hamilton-for-Volquez type matches out there which will help bring us younger position players who can make an impact in 2010. you hope to install A-Jax in the outfield in 2010 and lose Damon/Matsui. the transition continues.

    before anyone comes down too hard on me, i’m paid to be a social worker, not a GM. i fully intend on remaining a social worker, so this is all in fun.

  113. Buzz

    looks like giambi not gonna go to the all star game unless a miracle happens

  114. 27 this year

    The Yanks will not get Hanley. Jeter plays better defense then Hanley. Hanley is a beast hitter but defense wise, they don’t expect him to last much longer there. Right now his bat carries his mediocre defense.

    Also, I heard the Jays offered Burnett for JJ Hardy of the Brewers but the Brew Crew passed and went for Sabathia.

  115. whozat

    “we also have 3 catchers in waiting Cervelli, Romine, Montero”

    That’s pretty drastically overstating the situation.

    Cervelli had a good second half last year and was robbed of the chance to show it was for real by a chump. Hopefully, he can put together another good couple months at AA this year, putting him in AAA next season. But, he might regress to his norms, in which case his upside is a backup catcher.

    Romine and Montero are in low A. They’re not “in waiting”, they’re “a long ways away”.

  116. retire #51

    “And I’d stay away from Teixeira. They’ve already been burned way too many times by big long term contracts to aging position players. ”

    then who plays first…
    I do like the matsui at first idea, however i dont know that he is durable enough. We could risk having him at DH, because Posada could just fill in. And tex is only 29, we could sign him for 4 years big money. Why not?

  117. Francis The Praying Mantis

    McCutchen had a very good game the other day in his second start for AAA….9ip 5h 0er 0bb 10k. It seems like he bombs every time he gets promoted in his first start then dominats in his second. I have to say that he is the yankees best pitching prospect above A ball….that is until Garcia goes to Trenton….who k’d 10 in his last outing as well…now if he can only stay healthy.

  118. whozat

    “Tex is either 28 or 29 – We would be getting him in his prime – not in his decline.”

    And we’d have to sign him through his decline phase to get him. You think the Mets won’t go hard after him?

  119. mel

    Whozat,

    Sorry, my suggestions assume that his knees aren’t like rice crispies.

  120. JoeT 28 in 09!! LESS POSTING, MORE VOTING!! - .220 average, 17% CS = AL ALL STAR!!

    The rotation of

    Sabathia
    Wang
    Joba
    Pettitte
    Hughes

    is certainly a possibility… and wouldn’t even be fair. If they could stay healthy (cough cough PHIL FRANCHISE!!) they would all be capable of putting up good numbers. The top 2 you would expect 17-18 wins (and would not be surprised at more). Joba if he pitches the way he has been could without a doubt surpass the 17-18 win mark, Pettitte could win 15 in the 4 slot and Hughes if he stays healthy, we’ve all seen what he has the potential (there’s that word again) to do.

    I’ve always been a fan of the #5 starter being a young guy. You don’t expect much out of the 5 slot other then keeping you in the games and giving you a chance to win and I’d rather have a guy like Hughes, who has a chance to move up and be a top of the rotation guy, get the experience.

  121. DMan

    whozat is right on about our catching prospects…

    They all still have a lot of proove…

  122. 27 this year

    I think you could say Giambi was a bust. We gave him over 20 million a year where he was injured all the time. This is really his only good season and that is only because it is a contract year.

  123. JoeT 28 in 09!! LESS POSTING, MORE VOTING!! - .220 average, 17% CS = AL ALL STAR!!

    Giambi overall was definitely a bust… a lottttt of money for close to no production for a few of the years, they even wanted him to go to the minors for a little bit and get his act together. That said – vote stache! lol

  124. Jorge Steinbrenner

    “I think you could say Giambi was a bust. We gave him over 20 million a year where he was injured all the time. This is really his only good season and that is only because it is a contract year.”

    I think you’d be wrong. Even through the “stuff” related injury years, he managed to put up about a half a productive season each time. He was absolutely productive before the, er, “stuff” related stuff came up as well.

    I wouldn’t call him a bust. I also don’t think we should be giving him another contract unless there’s no better option out there.

  125. 27 this year

    Why would you go after Salty?

    When we played the Rangers, everyone made of fun of his arm and how bad he is behind the plate and now all of sudden you guys want to trade for him? What kind of world is this? He is not the catcher we look for.

  126. TKinDC

    The Metropolitians know that they can’t outbid the Yanks when push comes to shove for a free agent. It is likely that they won’t even try for fear of losing face.

    If you think that it is going to take a 7 year deal to land Tex then Boras has already gotten to you! The real market for him should be much more reasonable imho.

  127. whozat

    “And tex is only 29, we could sign him for 4 years big money. Why not?”

    Because someone else will offer him 6-7 years at big money.

    “I think you could say Giambi was a bust. We gave him over 20 million a year where he was injured all the time. This is really his only good season and that is only because it is a contract year.”

    This is blatant revisionist history. Go look at his numbers over his time as a Yankee and tell me if you still think this is his first good year.

  128. 27 this year

    He batted like 230, 240 in most years with the Yankees when we paid him after he batted 320, 330 and then we also paid him to play 1B everyday and only this season has that seemed plausible. I am not saying I don’t like him for the price we did not get what we paid for.

  129. DMan

    Heres a list of the players who will be free agents at the end of the year, who have played the majority of their time at First Base…

    First basemen
    Ben Broussard (32)
    Sean Casey (34)
    Tony Clark (37)
    Carlos Delgado (37) – $16MM mutual option for ‘09 with a $4MM buyout
    Nomar Garciaparra (35)
    Jason Giambi (38) – $22MM club option for ‘09 with a $5MM buyout
    Scott Hatteberg (39)
    Eric Hinske (31)
    Doug Mientkiewicz (35)
    Kevin Millar (37)
    Richie Sexson (34)
    Mark Teixeira (29)

    Not to many options… Other than Tex, Hinske’s not having a terrible season… But overall the list isn’t that great.

  130. Neil

    Christian didn’t steal third yesterday until there was already two strikes on Melky and Melky was in defensive swing mode to prevent the K. Sure he struck out and left the runner on third, but maybe it would have turned out differently if the count wasn’t so favorable to Balfour at the time.

  131. 27 this year

    Ok his first two or three years were good but the last like three years we couldn’t count on him being healthy and not distracted. He wasn’t worth the 22 mil a year but still not a complete bust. maybe I exaggerated but he wasnt worth what we paid.

  132. Brandon (Jeter GIDP: 13) (Johan Santana HR count: 13 and a SP)

    When we played the Rangers, everyone made of fun of his arm and how bad he is behind the plate and now all of sudden you guys want to trade for him? What kind of world is this? He is not the catcher we look for.

    Seriously I thought I was the only one that picked that up, but I guess the bat is that important :? Meanwhile I love how everyone thinks Texas is pitching starved I mean they fleeced Atlanta on the Tex deal, they fleeced Boston in the Gagme deal. I doubt they are SP starved.

  133. whozat

    “The Metropolitians know that they can’t outbid the Yanks when push comes to shove for a free agent. It is likely that they won’t even try for fear of losing face.”

    Likely that they won’t even try? Are you drunk?

    Say the Yanks offer Tex a 4 year deal. Why won’t the Mets go to 5 years? Because they think the Yanks will go to 6 if they do…so they won’t bother and the Yanks will get him on a 4 year deal?

  134. Jorge Steinbrenner

    “Ok his first two or three years were good but the last like three years we couldn’t count on him being healthy and not distracted. He wasn’t worth the 22 mil a year but still not a complete bust. maybe I exaggerated but he wasnt worth what we paid.”

    is anyone worth 22 million dollars? really.

    especially in the days of backloaded longterm contracts, there’s more of a chance that you’re going to be paying a whole lot of money to someone on the decline than there is of the opposite.

  135. Patrick â„¢

    Francis-

    McCutchen has actually had 9 starts in AAA. 59 innings with a 3.36 ERA. I think he’s nearly ready for a call-up. Christian Garcia is still on the DL I believe. He hasn’t thrown since June 7, that 10 K game you’re talking about was in May.

  136. whozat

    “Meanwhile I love how everyone thinks Texas is pitching starved I mean they fleeced Atlanta on the Tex deal, they fleeced Boston in the Gagme deal. I doubt they are SP starved.”

    Um…how much pitching did they get in those deals? They ARE pitching starved. At least according to everyone who evaluates minor league systems…

  137. retire #51

    no someone else will offer him 6-7 for say 18, we will give him 4 for…22. thats what giambi was gonna get.

  138. JoeT 28 in 09!! LESS POSTING, MORE VOTING!! - .220 average, 17% CS = AL ALL STAR!!

    Dman…. that’s pretty ugly. I think first base might fill itself though. We really don’t know how bad this injury to Posada is, he hasn’t caught in a week. Posada might become the everyday first baseman and the real hole will be behind the plate. I love Molina back there, a catchers job is to catch and not hit – but there has to be someone available with good D that can hit a little bit!

  139. retire #51

    a lot of people are saying they will offer cc a 4 yr extremely high contract

  140. Brandon (Jeter GIDP: 13) (Johan Santana HR count: 13 and a SP)

    Not to many options… Other than Tex, Hinske’s not having a terrible season… But overall the list isn’t that great.

    We’ve gone through this how many times ? Tex is in his declining phase of his career, there is no way this should be a thought in Cashman’s head for all the talk about Tex Giambi’s been hitting better than Tex has and most likely would cost less.

  141. TurnTwo

    “I am not saying I don’t like him for the price we did not get what we paid for.”

    people need to stop with the literal get what we paid for stuff. you dont ever get what you pay for. and these players are paid what the team offers them.

    while he was here, did he help the team win games? more often than not, he did. so over the long haul, yes, he has been at least a decent pickup for the yankees.

  142. Chris

    Given a choice of Sabathia or Teixeira then Sabathia being a lefthander is the choice. There just isn’t a surplus of lefthanded starters in MLB.
    Teixeira is a Scott Boras client and will want mega dollars for multi years. The Yankees should have learned from Giambi about such a thing. Teixeira is good but not a true difference maker. He’s a late starter and we have one of those already at 2nd base.

  143. billy

    “It seems like he bombs every time he gets promoted in his first start then dominats in his second. I have to say that he is the yankees best pitching prospect above A ball”

    McCutchen didn’t exactly dominate in his second start. His adjustment to AAA has been a slow adjustment but one that is going well now after nine starts. I love his as a prospect but he was slow to adjust to AAA so it seems fair to think he will have the same adjustment in the bigs. I would like to see his get several more AAA starts.

  144. TurnTwo

    “We’ve gone through this how many times ? Tex is in his declining phase of his career”

    thats certainly your opinion, and not fact.

    noone is 29 years old and already declining.

  145. CB

    Teixeira is a very good player who has somehow become perceived to be a great player. He has fast become one of the more over rated players in baseball.

    There’s a huge difference between very good and great. Great players make $20M/ year for 5/6 yrs and are worth it. Very good players aren’t worth close to that much – but they often get paid that way and turn out to be bad values.

    If Tex had anyone else as his agent besides Boras no one would be talking about him getting the kind of money that he’s going to get as a free agent.

    In many ways he’s the worst kind of free agent to sign in NY because he’s going to be a relative disappointment.

    He signs with the yankees – people will expect and demand greatness from him. And they should for that kind of money. But then he’ll do what he’s always done – be very good and people will kill him for it much like they do with Carlos Beltran (another very good player who got perceived as a great one one the free agent market).

    Are Tex’s numbers good? Sure. But when people talk about his production they really don’t think about the position he plays. First baseman as a whole is perhaps the biggest offensive run producing position in the game. The average firstbaseman is very good to begin with.

    Giambi has an OPS+ of 148 right now. Tex has only had an OPS+ of 148 or higher twice in his career. Good chance they sign Tex and their offensive production at first base goes down next year.

    Last year was probably the best year of Tex’s career. When you factor in both his contributions on offense and defense he was around 30 runs better than a league average first baseman.

    To put that in perspective – ARod was 73 runs better than the league average third baseman. 73 runs. That is mind boggling. That is a great player – one who is worth $20M+ a year. Pujols last year in what was an average year for him was 45 runs better than a league average firstbase man. Chase Utley was 63 runs better than a league average second baseman.

    In his best year Tex was 30 runs better than other players at his position.

    He’s not even close to being worth $20M/5-6 yrs. Not even in the ball park.

    Would you pay Jason Bay $140M? Go look at Bay’s career production and Tex’s – its very comparable and Bay plays a position where less offense is generated so in many ways he’s more valuable than Tex.

    And I know he’s won a Gold Glove – he’s actually a very, very over rated defensive player – nowhere close to as good as Pujols, Kotchman or Youklis. He won the gold glove for reasons similar to why Jeter has – the award makes no sense. That said the 30 runs figure from last year already accounts for his defensive contributions (he was anywhere from 1 run better to around 5 runs worse than a league average first baseman depending on which stat you use).

    The yankees have gotten into trouble again and again in free agency by paying players more than they are worth.

    Tex will get paid to be a great first baseman. But he’s just not a great first baseman.

  146. raymagnetic ®™

    “a lot of people are saying they will offer cc a 4 yr extremely high contract”

    I don’t think 4 years will be enough for CC unless we’re talking about 30 mil a year for four years.

  147. whozat

    “Ok his first two or three years were good but the last like three years we couldn’t count on him being healthy and not distracted. He wasn’t worth the 22 mil a year but still not a complete bust. maybe I exaggerated but he wasnt worth what we paid.”

    Giambi games played, OPS, OPS+ by season:
    2002: 155, 1.033, 172
    2003: 156, .939, 148
    2004: 80, .721, 90 (hideous)
    2005: 139, .975, 161
    2006: 139, .971, 148
    2007: 183, .789, 108 (very bad)
    2008: 79, .928, 148 (thus far, very good again)

    So…how, again, is this Giambi’s only good year? How, again, are those not potent offensive numbers?

  148. Jorge Steinbrenner

    Molina can most certainly hit “a little bit.”

    I’d also caution as to using first base as a respite home for banged-up 37 year-olds. That’s creating a huge defensive liability for the team.

    Which is why I’m willing to sit here in 2013 and cry about how that bum Texiera isn’t earning his salary anymore and how he’s blocking Tino Martinez, Jr. in AAA. :)

  149. mel

    That FA list may push Tex out of our price range. No, really.

    If it’s going to be a Giambi type of contract, forget it. If Lowell were available, I would’ve grabbed him and plopped him at 1B.

  150. Jorge Steinbrenner

    “noone is 29 years old and already declining.”

    Lindsay Lohan’s about 22 and way declining. ;)

  151. billy

    “Um…how much pitching did they get in those deals? They ARE pitching starved. At least according to everyone who evaluates minor league systems…”

    I guess you didn’t see that Harrison baffled the Angels the other night in his first start. The sky’s the limit for Feliz. Um … that ain’t bad paired with Andrus and Salty.

  152. Brandon (Jeter GIDP: 13) (Johan Santana HR count: 13 and a SP)

    Um…how much pitching did they get in those deals? They ARE pitching starved. At least according to everyone who evaluates minor league systems…

    Whozat me and CB had this talk

    Matt Harrison and Neftali Feliz in the Tex deal
    Kasson Gabbard for Gagme
    FA will play a big part for Texas this offseason since thier owner is willing to break bank. I doubt they are SP starved. Although from reading posts here people think they are about to deal Saltalamaachia or Max Ramirez (who’s a good hitter not much of a fielding C either of them) from everything I heard Laird is the expendable one, I doubt the McCutchen and JB Cox lands those type of C, and I hope no one here is even thinking Hughes (THAT’S NOT HAPPENING)

  153. Francis The Praying Mantis

    Patrick…weird, the site I got the stats from must be messed up…it says garcia last pitched 7/5 and that mccutchens last start was his second in AAA also on 7/5…weird.

  154. TKinDC

    I’m not drunk yet Whozat – but the day is young :)

    Seriously i think you are drunk on the Boras Kool-Aid. Baltimore will make a run at Tex and the Mets will throw their (lame) hat in the ring too, but when a GM sees that the Yanks have as much latitude financially as they have lined up for next year, they won’t bite.

  155. Brent (Never Should Have Traded Away Damaso Marte For Enrique Wilson!)

    To everyone who is so inclined to see the Yankees let Abreu walk: Who do you want to replace him with?

    I think Abreu is a great fit in NY, and he’s a great guy to hit ahead of A-Rod (high OBP, takes pitches, works the count, GREAT at moving runners over). You really want to let him walk and take your chances with Milton Bradley? Bradley will be getting a pretty hefty contract anyway if he continues to play well.

  156. Patrick â„¢

    CB, nice analysis of Teixeira. Now how about some insignt on Sabathia. Is he going to be worth the contract he gets?

  157. TurnTwo

    “I don’t think 4 years will be enough for CC unless we’re talking about 30 mil a year for four years.”

    agreed.

    if you think about it, he was offered 4 years/$72 million reportedly by the Indians and declined.

    that sets the bar at least at $80 minimum over 4 years, prob moreso in the range of $100 million over 5 years. minimum.

    you could prob offer him 5 years at $125 and get him to sign, but then you are paying your pitcher, who plays 1 out of every 5 days, as much as you are your HoF 3B.

    for me, i could care less about how much money he makes. i would prob prefer to go higher AAV than 6 or 7 years, but people here would be barking when they see that kind of price.

  158. Brent (Never Should Have Traded Away Damaso Marte For Enrique Wilson!)

    “Lindsay Lohan’s about 22 and way declining. ;)

    Yeah but I think she can still play a decent 1B if given the chance, and the Yankees won’t have to pay much to get her. I say if they can’t get Tex, go hard after Lohan.

  159. TurnTwo

    ha! Jorge, well done.

  160. DMan

    Brent (Never Should Have Traded Away Damaso Marte For Enrique Wilson!)

    “To everyone who is so inclined to see the Yankees let Abreu walk: Who do you want to replace him with?”

    Well I don’t know, but since I have the list up, heres the RF free agents after this year;

    Right fielders
    Bobby Abreu (35)
    Casey Blake (35)
    Milton Bradley (31)
    Cliff Floyd (36) – $2.75MM club option for ‘09 with a $0.25MM buyout
    Brian Giles (38) – $9MM club option for ‘09 with a $3MM buyout
    Ken Griffey Jr. (39) – $16.5MM club option for ‘09 with a $4MM buyout
    Vladimir Guerrero (33) – $15MM club option for ‘09 with a $3MM buyout
    Jacque Jones (34)
    Bobby Kielty (32)
    Brad Wilkerson (32)

    Also heres the other OF free agents
    Rocco Baldelli (27)
    Mike Cameron (36) – $10MM club option for ‘09 with a $750K buyout
    Jim Edmonds (39)
    Jacque Jones (34)
    Mark Kotsay (33)
    Corey Patterson (29)
    Moises Alou (42)
    Garret Anderson (37) – $14MM club option for ‘09 with a $3MM buyout
    Milton Bradley (31)
    Emil Brown (34)
    Pat Burrell (32)
    Adam Dunn (29)
    Cliff Floyd (36) – $2.75MM club option for ‘09 with a $0.25MM buyout
    Luis Gonzalez (41)
    Raul Ibanez (37)
    Jacque Jones (34)
    Kevin Mench (31)
    Jason Michaels (33) – $2.6MM club option for ‘09
    Craig Monroe (32)
    Jay Payton (36)
    Wily Mo Pena (27) – $5MM club option or $2MM player option for ‘09
    Manny Ramirez (37) – $20MM club option for ‘09
    Juan Rivera (30)

  161. TKinDC

    CB

    IDK – We are paying Abreu $16M and no one seems to complain about that contract so much as the fact that he is wall-shy (not that big a deal to me btw)

    If we went 6 years at 16M for Tex I think it would be fine. If the Mets want to pay him $120 over 6 years then they can have him.

  162. raymagnetic ®™

    “for me, i could care less about how much money he makes. i would prob prefer to go higher AAV than 6 or 7 years, but people here would be barking when they see that kind of price.”

    Me too. I’d rather see 5 years 125mil than 7 years 142mil. Maybe CC accepts the 5 year deal at 25 per. You never know.

  163. nyyfaninlaaland

    Were talking about filling the system for future needs above, and a response came about drafting the best available player.

    This is a concept that has always thrown me in the baseball draft. By the time you get to say the 3rd round, do you really think there’s a significant difference between players selected 105th vs 110th? If the draft was that predictable Tampa would have been in first 3 years ago. By the 3rd round teams should be able to draft to need to some degree. This year the Yanks drafted middle IF’s in the 3rd and 4th, OF in the 5th (another position of need), a C in the 7th. 3 of the 4 were HS players, always more of a signing challenge since they have the college option, hence why they’re selected in higher rounds. The 7th round C -from a HS 3 mi. from me in SoCal. Another in the Yanks Orange Co connection (Hughes, Kennedy, Romine, Cole) – remains unsigned.

    To me 1B is the bigger system hole – nothing coming anywhere – so that’s the best spot to fill with a big acquisition. But a top end SP is a good get as well, with all the money going off the books. RF needs addressing as well – Tabata looks 2 years away at best. I like Bradley there, but his knee is becoming a chronic issue. Nady in trade now should be an option, especially since he can also play 1B. Would love to see a package of him and Marte. Shorter term Abreu resign also a possibility.

    On the draft pick compensation, if the departees aren’t signed before the arb offer deadline in Dec. – and many, even all, could easily not be – the Yanks will have to offer arb to get picks. And many of them could accept, since their pay could only be cut 20%. No arb offer, no pick. Don’t count too heavily on those draft picks.

  164. Someone Else

    I don’t get the Tex love. He’s an average defensive 1B (much better than Giambi, but not GG caliber like Pujols or Derrek Lee).

  165. jose

    http://www.replacementlevel.com/index.php/RLYW/direct/al_rf_sorted_by_total_offensive_and_defensive_runs_above_average_july_8_200

    (kudos RAB and replacement level)

    i understand the importance of sabermetrics but i find it shocking the abreu is the worst rf

  166. Andy In Sunny Daytona Beach

    You know what makes me mad about Melky, is that he got on base late in the game with a single, gets sacrificed to center, and then two players could not come through with a base hit. Do you know why, when you have to look at Melky standing on second base it gives you bad thoughts about not being able to hit. That’s why Gardner struck out looking.

    Also Melky not getting the runner home from third with one strike against one of the best relievers in the game this year is crazy.

    I wish Melky was faster, I wish that he would stand at the plate and look for a walk. I would be some much more happy if he stood there and took strike three 3 TIMES.

  167. Peter Abraham

    If anybody is interested, i’ll be on ESPN News in a few minutes

  168. billy

    The offer to Vizcaino was a no-brainer last year but this off-season will be a different story as a lot of our FAs would accept arbitration.

  169. Peter Rabbit

    Keep on voting for Giambi!

  170. whozat

    “I guess you didn’t see that Harrison baffled the Angels the other night in his first start. The sky’s the limit for Feliz.”

    That’s two guys. They still lack the stable of young pitching that you need to hedge against injury and guys flaming out.

  171. JoeT 28 in 09!! LESS POSTING, MORE VOTING!! - .220 average, 17% CS = AL ALL STAR!!

    Brent – I agree with you. I love having Abreu on the team. He’s very expensive for the lack of HR power he puts up.. but the guy gives you a great at bat EVERY time up, he works the count, takes his walks, lets the other players (esp. A-Rod behind him) see the pitcher, makes the guy work – and then bangs a double to the wall. The only thing I have against him is his defense from the warning track to the wall, besides that I love everything he brings to the table.

  172. Brandon (Jeter GIDP: 13) (Johan Santana HR count: 13 and a SP)

    Casey Blake is not a RF, Manny is not FA, Giles is not FA, Griffey will never wear a Yankees uni. I’m wondering do the Yankees promote an Ewar Gonzalez as a plan C or do they go IFA and attempt to sign Dayan Viciedo as a plan D.

  173. billy

    “I don’t get the Tex love. He’s an average defensive 1B (much better than Giambi, but not GG caliber like Pujols or Derrek Lee).”

    It’s the free agent thing:) Obviously those guys aren’t available.

  174. CB

    “how much pitching did they get in those deals? They ARE pitching starved. ”

    Texas has outstanding pitching in the minor leagues. Outstanding.

    They easily have one of the top 5 pitching systems in all of baseball. Probably top 3.

    They have a system right now that is very reminiscent of the Tampa’s – they have several young pitchers who profile to be elite, front end starters.

    In fact their entire minor league system is looking more and more like Tampa’s. I’d guess by the start of next year they may have the #2 rated system in all of baseball – that largely depends on how many of their prospects they leave in the minors or call up and leave on the big league team this year.

    Neftali Feliz, Michael Main, and Blake Beavan are all very young but have great arms – great. On top of that they have Matt Harrison, Eric Hurley and Kasey Kiker.

    Neftali Feliz in particular looks to be a very special young player. He’s on his way to becoming the best pitching prospect in baseball. He’s just fantastic.

    Texas is loaded. People killed John Daniels but he is quietly building the Tampa Bay Rays of the AL West.

  175. jashell2000

    Teixeira will be over paid this offseason, and that is something I think the Yanks need to stay away from. CB you are spot on with your analysis. When healthy, this team will hit, and I would rather have a first baseman that can hit for average and pop 20-25 homeruns. It’s about starting pitching, especially in the playoffs and CC would be a great fit. He is a reigning CY young award winner that is left handed, durable, and knows how to win in his prime. My preference is CC over Tex. 2 cents.

  176. LathamJoe

    Mark Teixeira is 28 years old (Born: April 1980). Most Front Office personnel believe that the Age for decline of a MLB player is around 35, depending on the athlete, the position he plays, and how well his conditioning program is. Teixeira could be signed to a 6-year deal and most of those years should be peak performance – unlike Posada and ARod in all likelihood.

    And Melky – at Age 22 and 23 – averaged .275 BA/.343 OBP/.735 OPS over the 2006-2007 seasons. No, that isn’t Kenny Lofton’s prime year numbers, but it ain’t terrible either! (and he’s a better defensive CFer than Lofton was!) Just because Melky’s going through a rough stretch, don’t you convince yourself that he doesn’t have the ability to hit.

  177. whozat

    “Seriously i think you are drunk on the Boras Kool-Aid.”

    No, I’m not. _I_ don’t think that Tex is worth 6 or 7 years. I’m saying that there are teams out there who HAVE drunk the kool aid and/or feel the need to make splashy signings. One of them WILL sign Tex. Look at what the Angels gave Hunter and Matthews Jr. Look at what the Dodgers gave Andruw. You can’t see Minaya and Coletti or maybe Williams getting into a bidding war over Tex?

  178. billy

    “That’s two guys. They still lack the stable of young pitching that you need to hedge against injury and guys flaming out.”

    Dude you asked who they got in those deals. Two good arms for Tex? That’s pretty damn good whatever way you slice it.

  179. mel

    I bet they’re going to talk about…the ’stache.

  180. Jorge Steinbrenner

    “To everyone who is so inclined to see the Yankees let Abreu walk: Who do you want to replace him with?

    I think Abreu is a great fit in NY, and he’s a great guy to hit ahead of A-Rod (high OBP, takes pitches, works the count, GREAT at moving runners over). You really want to let him walk and take your chances with Milton Bradley? Bradley will be getting a pretty hefty contract anyway if he continues to play well.”

    You replace him in two years with someone younger. That may be Austin Jackson or someone, like Joel Sherman alluded to, that we would acquire in a high-prospect trade. For 2009, you’ve got two corner outfielders signed for one more year. Yes, they’re banged up. They’re also getting paid to do their job more than I am for mine. Get out there and play RF, Johnny.

  181. mel

    Pete’s on the phone on the tv now.

  182. raymagnetic ®™

    “i understand the importance of sabermetrics but i find it shocking the abreu is the worst rf”

    Oy Vey!

  183. TurnTwo

    it’s really only overpaying if you cant afford it.

    the yankees can afford it.

  184. Jorge Steinbrenner

    “Yeah but I think she can still play a decent 1B if given the chance, and the Yankees won’t have to pay much to get her. I say if they can’t get Tex, go hard after Lohan.”

    There’s no way I can properly reply to this without invoking the decency requirements of the website.

    There’s also a joke to be made about scooping up balls in the dirt somewhere…

  185. CB

    “Most Front Office personnel believe that the Age for decline of a MLB player is around 35, depending on the athlete, the position he plays, and how well his conditioning program is.”

    People have analyzed every single player to ever play the game and have looked at when they started to decline.

    The age at which baseball players peak is between 27-30 for position players. That’s based on looking at the careers of thousands of players.

    The age for decline is nowhere near 35 – not even close. Front office people can believe that – but they’d be wrong. Though that would explain the ridiculous free agent contracts that are handed out over and over.

  186. raymagnetic ®™

    “I bet they’re going to talk about…the ’stache.”

    Mel,

    The ‘Stache, and that’s Mr. ‘Stache to most people has it’s own interview later this afternoon.

  187. Champizzi

    some perspective for the posters here…
    A. Melky-Melkman will be fine…it’s the growth of a young player it can be maddening @ times but when you bring as fast as he came(debuted @20yrs old)you have to live with the process.Seems like Melky’s trying to hit more HRs and has expanded his zone too much but rember from jun-sept last year he batted .320 and was a major contributer in the run they went on.Lets say he has a good second half i think he’ll finish the year .280 15HRs 75-85rbis 15-20sbs in his first full everyday starting CF season @ 22yrs old which is very good.Look at Bernies stats his first 2yrs in the league or even Reyes(Mets)you’ll see his curve is similar.and his defense is stellar don’t kid yourself…teams damn sure ain’t going 1st to 3rd on us like the had been the last 3-4yrs.

    B.Sabathis would be great in pinstripes except and this is huge word is he doesn’t really want to play in the big apple.he’s a bay-area kid who is said to prefer a more laid back vibe.While i’m sure yankee$ could change his mind i’d really prefer giving big$ to guys who WANT to be here.It’s a mindset thing that i think is very important to deal with the pressure of being an ace in NY for the Yanks…this ain’t Milwaukee and it damn sure ain’t Cleveland

    C.SS/C/1B inthe system right now we have 3highly rated C prospects in Montero/Romine/Cervilli…Cervilli will prob be the backup to Posada next year,Romine is a stud who projects to be ready for 2010 with a very good bat and Montero @this pace could be up by 2010 also although i don’t think he’ll stick at catcher i think he’ll eventually move to 1B. At 1b we have Miranda who was stud in cuba who is doing real well at AAA right now he’s in the mold of Delgado(young Delgado)who will prob be a sept callup with a good chance to make the ‘09 roster and Brandon Laird who is a beast and next year will be a top 10 prospect in the Yanks system and keep your eyes open for Mitch Hilligoss because he has e great glove and he can flat-out rake…had a 35game hitting streak in Staten Island last year he’s making the adjustment to wood bats but a guy that can hit like him i think will definately discover his power stroke…reminds some of Mattingly when he was a minor leaguer for those who don’t remember Donnie baseball wasn’t considered a high ceiling prospect because he didn’t hit for much power in the minors how did that work out
    SS-between Angillini,the kid we drated this yeak from Kentucky and the 20 dominican kids we signed in the last 2yrs i’m sure we have a future all-star somewhere in the stables.
    the point is we are in phenomenal shape for this next DYNASTIC run…have faith in “Cashman’s Jewels”

  188. retire #51

    obviously tex is not a 20 mil guy. but the market is gonna make him one

  189. Jorge Steinbrenner

    “have faith in “Cashman’s Jewels””

    and there’s another Lohan joke in that somewhere…

  190. whozat

    “Dude you asked who they got in those deals. Two good arms for Tex? That’s pretty damn good whatever way you slice it.”

    You’re missing the context. I didn’t say that the Tex trade wasn’t good. It was VERY good for Texas. However, my understanding was that they were hideously pitching starved before that trade. Adding those two arms doesn’t suddenly turn that into being pitching-rich. That was my point.

  191. Champizzi

    my personal pick to replace Abreu is Jason Werth great athlete good power/speed combo a righty bat 26yrs old cheap a former ROY from the dodgers system can actually play all 3 positions in the OF could be had for a good pitching prospect…hopefully Cash reads this

  192. mel

    Sorry, Gene Simmons, “Cashman’s Jewel’s” is the ultimate reality show.

  193. retire #51

    also vechinoacci, the venezuelan kid who plays third plays is supposed to be a great SS as well. he is hitting .303 i think. although he is close now so he might be a guy who gets traded.

  194. Jorge Steinbrenner

    “my personal pick to replace Abreu is Jason Werth great athlete good power/speed combo a righty bat 26yrs old cheap a former ROY from the dodgers system can actually play all 3 positions in the OF could be had for a good pitching prospect…hopefully Cash reads this”

    now that’s a much better idea than throwing around names like Milton Bradley, and exactly the kind of trade mentioned in the Sherman article.

    and, hey, he’s a Dodger. we can just sign Tanyon Sturtze and trade him for Werth.

  195. CB

    “Now how about some insignt on Sabathia. Is he going to be worth the contract he gets?”

    I have no idea if Sabathia will be worth the contract he gets and I don’t think anyone else does either.

    The main issue as it always is with pitching is injury. You just can’t tell.

    And I am concerned about Sabathia’s career workload – a lot of innings on his arm.

    I’m also concerned about his weight/ conditioning – mostly because it could lead to knee/ back injuries in the future.

    That said I do feel better about signing Sabathia now than I did at the start of the season.

    Sabathia has only had two outstanding years in his career (and no truly great years). He had a bad start this season but has been lights out for the past 16 games. The best he’s ever pitched. That makes me more confident in his performance from 2006-2007, when he stepped it up.

    I think the yankees will sign him. Hopefully it’ll work out – its a huge roll of the dice. People here keep talking about giving him a shorter year deal for more money – not going to happen. He’s going to get exactly the deal he wants. The question is whether he’ll take 6 years – I think he’ll try to get 7. He’s going to get $21-22M per.

    People also talk about him going to the west coast as he’s from Oakland. I don’t see it. Interesting story yesterday by Ken Rosenthal detailing how the Dodgers just completely blew it yet again when coming up with a deal for CC because the ever meddling Frank McCourt got involved. He didn’t want to pay the additional $7.5M that CC would take in salary this year.

    If he didn’t want to pay an additional $7.5M is he going to go in for $140M? Not his kind of deal. Sand Diego – no way. Oakland – no way. The Giants – not with Zito on the books. Arizona – no way.

    He’ll have to take a huge shortfall in money to play on the west coast.

  196. jashell2000

    “it’s really only overpaying if you cant afford it.
    the yankees can afford it.”

    True statement. What the yankees can’t afford is to tie up another bust long term for a lot of money. The unkown of how Tex will do in NY pressure, in the playoffs, and being paid that kind of money is a big risk. Sure he is a great talent, but when you add performing in NY and declining period, it becomes “unaffordable”. 2 cents.

  197. whozat

    “also vechinoacci, the venezuelan kid who plays third plays is supposed to be a great SS as well. he is hitting .303 i think. although he is close now so he might be a guy who gets traded.”

    He wouldn’t be playing at 3B if he was a great SS as well. His value would be WAY higher as a SS. He’s also not “close now”, he got 53 ABs at AA this year before going down with a quad injury that still has him on the DL.

    Also…as for Werth, beware the effect of that ballpark in Philly. It’s smaaaaal and likely inflates his numbers.

  198. whozat

    “Also…as for Werth, beware the effect of that ballpark in Philly. It’s smaaaaal and likely inflates his numbers.”

    He’s had a solid showing the last two seasons in limited time, though. He’d not be a bad complementary guy…his platoon split is a good thing for the Yanks as well.

  199. mel

    Alou pulled himself from a rehab start. MRI on the hammy of the same leg which he was rehabbing a calf injury.

    “I throw my hands up”

  200. retire #51

    vechinoacci will not line up will with replacing jeter. i dont think he will still be waiting in 3 probably 4 years. And he IS supposed to be an unbelievable fielder, and extremely capable of playing ss or 2nd. However they feel he has the bat to still have value at 3rd base

  201. Champizzi

    “Tex is an average defensive 1B”…dude don’t post if you dno’t know baseball…Tex is a gold glove 1B and better than both Pujols and Lee althought both guys have good gloves also..

  202. NYY

    Signing Sabathia is infinitely more important than signing Teixeira. A Sabathia / Wang / Joba top 3 would be one of the best young top 3’s in baseball. With the Mets signing Santana to a 6-year contract and that already looking like it could be a potential bust by the end of it, I hope they can sign Sabathia to a 5-year contract. I’d prefer something like $110 / 5 years as opposed to $120 / 6 years. I’d like Teixeira also, but don’t think he’s really worth more than $15 mil / year, and he’ll probably end up getting $20+.

    Keep in mind the SANTANA deal and CC won CY young just last year. CC already decline a 4Yr/72 mil offer from Indians. CC will be looking for 6-7 Years with 20-22 Mil per Year. I am thinking he will be expecting to top the Santana deal. No way is he going to sign a 5 year deal.

  203. retire #51

    i dunno, not that it means much, but gammons and olney have been saying the yankees are going to try to change the theme of signing old pitchers well into their decline. they feel the yankees will up the price massively in order to make it a 4-5 yr deal. Personally i like the idea

  204. mel

    If you want a good laugh, find the video of minor league manager Kash Beauchamp’s tirade with the umpire. They’re showing it on ESPNews.

  205. Brandon (Jeter GIDP: 13) (Johan Santana HR count: 13 and a SP)

    Mel we were talking about this last night I mean seriously he has found many ways to hurt himself and Minaya lets it go on and on and on and on :lol:

  206. CB

    “Tex is a gold glove 1B and better than both Pujols and Lee althought both guys have good gloves also..”

    Last year Pujols was 37 runs better than a league average first baseman defensively.

    That means he saved 37 runs with his glove. Pujols is arguably the single best defensive player in all of baseball.

    Dereck Lee last year was 11 runs or so better than a league average first baseman.

    Teixeira was anywhere from 1 run better to 5 runs worse defensively than a league average first baseman.

    Teixiera is nowhere near Pujols defensively – it’s a joke to even compare the two. And Lee is also much better defensively than Teixeira.

    The gold glove award is largely meaningless. Jeter’s won a gold glove. Rafael Palmeiro won a gold glove at first base during a year in which he DH’d most of the year and only played around 30 games at first base.

  207. Brandon (Jeter GIDP: 13) (Johan Santana HR count: 13 and a SP)

    “Same leg, different part,” Alou told the Daily News. “I throw my arms up.”

    Alou, who has played in just 15 games this season, said he wasn’t throwing in the towel.

    “I haven’t given up yet – yet,” he said.

    “It’s going to be hard with me and Ryan out,” Alou said. “I mean, they’re playing well right now, but how long can they go without both of us? The injury that Ryan has, we never know when he’s going to come back. I saw a guy walk off the field with a concussion (the Giants’ Mike Matheny) and he hasn’t been back yet – three years ago. And now with me just one thing after another, who knows when I’m going to come back?”

    Has Pavano gotten hurt in a rehab game ?

  208. JoeT 28 in 09!! LESS POSTING, MORE VOTING!! - .220 average, 17% CS = AL ALL STAR!!

    Has Pavano even made it to a rehab game?

  209. mel

    No wonder Longoria’s winning. A mets blog and a rays blog are colluding to vote for Longoria & Wright. Argh!

  210. S.A.- Just win games and can the offense stop being so offensive?

    Alou, who has played in just 15 games this season, said he wasn’t throwing in the towel.

    “I haven’t given up yet – yet,” he said.

    Give it up Alou…it’s time.

  211. SG

    http://www.replacementlevel.com/index.php/RLYW/direct/al_rf_sorted_by_total_offensive_and_defensive_runs_above_average_july_8_200

    (kudos RAB and replacement level)

    i understand the importance of sabermetrics but i find it shocking the abreu is the worst rf

    I ran those numbers and I don’t know that I buy them either. I don’t think Abreu has been good defensively, but I don’t think he’s been 15 runs worse than average either. I’d expect him to hit and field better going forward.

  212. nyyfaninlaaland

    Something to chew on for those ready to bring up McCutchen.

    3 starters in Scranton in ‘08:
    Starts ERA WHIP K/9
    A 5 0.87

  213. nyyfaninlaaland

    Cb – you’d be right about the average player declining around age 30.

    But guys that get 5 year $100 mil contracts aren’t average players. Their rules are simply different.

  214. nyyfaninlaaland

    For those ready to bring McCutchen up, some thing to consider:

    3 starters Scranton ‘08 stats.
    Starts ERA WHIP K/9
    A 5 0.87 0.77 7.84
    B 10 1.98 0.97 7.78
    C 9 3.36 1.20 6.86

    A – Darryl Rasner
    B – Dan Giese
    C – Dan McCutchen

  215. nyyfaninlaaland

    Sorry about the prior botched post.

  216. Patrick â„¢

    Thanks CB.

  217. Patrick â„¢

    nyyfaninlaaland –

    Yeah but how many years in AAA did it take those other two guys to get those stats? This is McCutchen’s first time in AAA. I’m not saying he’s going to be good or even that he’s going to get called up but theres reason to be hopeful.

  218. LathamJoe

    CB:

    Read what I said, not what you’ve interpreted.
    “the age of decline” is not the same as “the age for peak performance”. For example Jeter at Age 33, ARod at Age 33, arguably are virtually at or near their peak performance level. So was Mays, Aaron, Brooks Robinson, Cal Ripken and on and on. One can still perform at a high level at Ages 31-32-33-34-35 and still be very, very productive and valuable – and not necessarily be at their peak performance level.

  219. GreenBeret7

    Champizzi, Werth was never a ROY with anybody. He was a 1st round draft pick by Baltimore, then traded to Toronto, to LA Dodgers and then Philsdelphia. He’s always hurt, usually with leg/muscle injuries. He’s had a few good games in his life. but, he’s certainly not an impact type player. He’s thirty years old and hill give you about 2/3rds of the production of Abreu. He’s never been a full time player. He’s the perfect 4th outfielder and platoon DH type, though. His bad side is he doesn’t walk that much and he strikes out a ton for his number of at bats.

  220. nyyfaninlaaland

    Patrick – I’m not saying that I don’t like McCutchen.

    What I’m saying is that if that’s what those 2 guys did in AAA this year, and that’s what McCutchen is doing this year, what can you expect out of McCutchen at another new level, the majors, this year? Stat lines don’t predict the future, but they can guide expectations.

    To be fair to Giese, he’s never been a starter before this year, so he had an adjustment to make as well. And Rasner’s AAA debut stats in 2006, at age 25 like Cutch, are almost identical to McCutchen’s ‘08:
    Rasner 10 starts, 59 IP, 47 K, 1.20 WHIP, 2.75 ERA.
    McCutch 9 starts 59 IP, 45 K, 1.20 WHIP, 3.36 ERA.

  221. nyyfaninlaaland

    Champizzi, love your faith and positive outlook.

    But Cervelli is probably out for the year, has 10 AB’s at AA. He’s still maybe 2 years off.

    The low A teenager C’s – 2010, really? They could be in AA in 2010- C’s are less likely to jump levels, but Montero could move faster if he shifts to 1B.

    Angelini, also in teen’s, is at the same level, hitting under .250 with 29 E’s in 85 games. He’s got a ways to go too. Why no Ramiro Pena? He’s 22 at AA, in the Futures Game, good defensively, hitting around .280 at the leadoff spot.

    Hilligoss is hitting .244 with 0 HR in Tampa. Jury’s out there for sure.

    ‘07 30th round “beast” Brandon Laird is at .254, SLG .411, OPS .717 in low A as well. Top 10 in ‘09? Top 30 maybe. Brad Suttle (now 3B) and Montero could both be better bets at 1B.

    Miranda’s hitting for a nice average, but his total of 17 XBHs of 56 hits is distinctly Sean Casey like and he often DH’s.

    Look, I love our prospects too, but let’s not oversell them. There still needs to be some proof in the pudding.

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