That’s it from the GM Meetings
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Nov 06, 2008 
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Hard as it will be to leave the posh St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort & Spa, that time has come.
The GM Meetings produced exactly … zippo. There were no trades and nothing but a lot of talk. Frankly, these things seem a little too early in the process. They’re still mopping up the streets of Philadelphia after the Series. But we did manage to get a bunch of blog posts and newspaper stories out of the chatter. Such is the hot stove.
“It’s the first dance,†said the always metaphorical Brian Cashman said on his way out the door. “We got it out of the way.â€
Thanks for reading and commenting this week. I have a red-eye flight back to New York and then plan to sleep much of the day Friday. However I will be covering Joe Torre’s Safe at Home Foundation Gala tomorrow evening and will file a report from there.
Joe Girardi, Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada are among those expected to be in attendance. Maybe there will be a little news to report.
So check back tomorrow
Okay. Thanks for the great coverage Pete.
Safe flight home, Pete. Thanks for all of the posts. It gives us something to do during “CC Watch”.
Pete does your paper let you stay at that hotel? IF so I wouldn’t say too loud that nothing came of it, next year they might not send you, or stick you in a Motel 6.
I want Carsten Charles Sabathia at any and all costs
Pete you did a great job, you got all those juicy quotes from Cashman first (before the other sites picked up on it).
Great work as always
peavy and hughes will be wearing pinstripes at opening day i say it
Next up Winter meetings where the magic happens!
i’d wanted Cashman back. however, some of these moves – dumping Marte, apparently playing games with Pettitte – just strike me as so blatantly stupid that i’m now wishing he left.
the Marte move is unbelieveable in that the Yanks gave up Ohlendorf and Tabata, and now just have Xavier Nady to show for it. That ticks me off. Nady’s a decent player, but if he’s the RF next year that’s a huge step down from Abreu. it just seems that Cashman’s acting on some genius plan to make the team worse on all fronts.
george
Yanks are working on inking Marte to a longer deal.
Buddy, that would be fine if it happens. but then why decline the option – it just opens a door for Marte to leave, what’s the benefit?
signing him to a longer deal at a reduced rate, like 3 for $12M
two high draft picks
Karstens was in the deal too.
So we let a quality lefty reliever that we’ve been trying to get for 6 years walk in favor of draft picks?
So Cashman can draft another injured pitcher, reach for somebody, or not sign whoever we take? It’s not like whoever we draft will be as good a prospect as Tabata anyway.
When Coke becomes Sean Henn, Veras/Edwar/Robertson/Sanchez are middling in AAA, and Melancon proves he is a 7th inning guy at best, we will regret this.
this year the Yanks didn’t even sign the top draft pick. draft picks are nice, but a professional lefty reliever’s a more tangible asset.
Marte’s the first professional lefty reliever they’ve had since Stanton. before that, Cashman picked up a series of clowns – Heredia, Mike Myers, Hammond, Wayne Franklin. well, i hope Buddy’s right.
Terrific coverage, Pete, thanks, as always.
Have a safe flight home.
How many weeks ’till spring training?
the thing is that you have to draft right. remember the yank got hughes because pettite left and i think it also that was how chamberlain was pick
and now that i think of it, Cashman’s the doofus who traded Marte for the immortal Enrique Wilson.
Enrique did provide some amusement in that he would always hit Pedro. but other than that, he was horrible. anyway, i do have to wonder if the Yanks would’ve won in 2004 if they had Marte instead of Felix Heredia
Thanks for all the updates Pete. Safe flight home.
Pete: thank you, for the excellent coverage.
Thanks Pete. Travel safe. Is Cash on your flight again?
am i the only Yankee fan who doesnt really want Peavy? i’ll take Sabathia (with AL experience) and AJ Burnett over him. I’d also rather keep the prospects that we would have to unload for him.
pat- Pete said Cash left the hotel this afternoon, so I doubt it.
Thanks for the around the clock updates Peter.
Although the GM meetings seem insignificant, you managed to squeeze all that could be squeezed for information.
Hopefully Cashman laid some groundwork for free agent ventures starting on Nov. 14 and player deals at the Vegas winter meetings in a month.
hopefully he lands peavy without giving hughes
I bet that Marte will end up signing a more sensible deal with the Yankees. Why turn down the option before the new deal is agreed to? Because there is always a DEADLINE to pick up or decline an option and those invariably come up before negotiations conclude.
The Yankees have a week where no one else can talk $$ with Marte and they’re bound to get a deal done in that time. If they don’t, THEN complain about Cashman, but not before.
The plan is to let Marte walk, get the two compensatory draft picks, and then use both of them on Gerrit Cole. If they draft him twice, he has to sign, right?
“Marte’s the first professional lefty reliever they’ve had since Stanton. before that, Cashman picked up a series of clowns – Heredia, Mike Myers, Hammond, Wayne Franklin. well, i hope Buddy’s right.”
What part of it don’t you understand ? he has a time limit of probably 2 or 3 yrs. they get 2 high draft picks if another team signs him. A BP arm is unprdictable year to year especially a guy like Marte, a high draft pick can land you a future stud in your system. Dropiing Marte was the thing to do.
To play devil’s advocate, draft picks are unpredictable too, right?
george
November 6th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
and now that i think of it, Cashman’s the doofus who traded Marte for the immortal Enrique Wilson.
Enrique did provide some amusement in that he would always hit Pedro. but other than that, he was horrible. anyway, i do have to wonder if the Yanks would’ve won in 2004 if they had Marte instead of Felix Heredia
Enrique cost us the 2001 World Series, if you think about it.
“To play devil’s advocate, draft picks are unpredictable too, right?”
Ofcourse it is just like predicting Marte yr. to yr. or day to day in the AL. Phil Coke took over this role and pitched 5 points better. Micheal Dunn is a very impressive LHP wo can also close or start w/ his arsenal, Wilkins De La Rosa the best of the 3 will be in NY by 09′ he is that impressive. The Yankees system is not LH starving like it was, Marte can also accept arbitration if he doesn’t hey 1st and 2nd rd. picks , would you rather have Marte or possibly the next Justin Smoak or Gerrit Cole except this one would accept to play and stop making BS excuses ?
It’s a crap shoot either way but Marte was just a blanket a soft one who didn’t pitch well under pressure.
“and now that i think of it, Cashman’s the doofus who traded Marte for the immortal Enrique Wilson.”
Meanwhile when this deal was first done people credited Stick Micheal and was doing flips now that Marte’s option isn’t picked up blame Cashman, grow up the Wilson deal was another regime and Micheal Fishman, Damon Opp. nor Eppler were in the positions that they are now.
Brandon — Respectfully gotta disagree with you man.
If you’re going to give me Coke, Dunn & De La Rosa, 3 pitchers who have proven NOTHING at the big level as the reason why we let the first solid LH reliever we’ve had in years walk, I tell you to open your Yankeography of this past season and tell us what we learned.
If Cashman has some side deal with Marte that we get him locked up before he goes free, it’s a great move.
If Marte bolts, it’s a horrible move and you of all people who went ape**** over trading Tabata in that deal should understand that.
If Marte walks, those picks may turn out to be something or they may turn out to be CJ Henry or Gerit Cole…the latter of whom was drafted when we supposedly has our “big brains” in the front office who knew who to draft.
If Marte pitches for the Red Sox or the Mets next season or ends up closing for Detroit or something, Cashman’s trade deadline move is a D- then. The only thing he can hope is that one year of Nady and 2 draft picks saves his bacon.
But depending on 3 minor league arms, 1 of whom was a Sept. callup as the reasoning why we don’t need Marte is just plain dumb.
I like Coke. However, I (and many other cautious fans who want to win next season) are not ready to anoint him.
“When we issued our first offseason recommendation back in early October, we advocated picking up Marte’s option. Since Marte is one of those rare relievers who has shown consistency throughout his career, we believed that a one-year deal for him made perfect sense. However, since Marte has acquired Type-A free agent status, it’s made us do some thinking. When a team can acquire two high draft picks (1st round plus supplemental) for a reliever, that’s an opportunity which is difficult to pass up — especially when the Cash/Girardi combo has demonstrated the ability to construct an effective bullpen with low-cost, young arms. So, at this point, we’re letting Marte walk and taking the picks.”
Alex, I am with you all the way for signing CC and AJ rather than trade for Peavy. Peavy is a good pitcher pitching in the large ball park. His stuff is good but not great. He will have a great deal of trouble going up against patient, deep, quick bat, long ball happy AL East lineups. Both CC and AJ have over powering fastball and swing and miss off-speed and breaking pitches. They can dominate great hitting teams. Yankees need the power arms that can dominate. Peavy often has trouble against Bosox, Yankees and other tough lineups.
Keeping the limited high end prospect is important. It is very difficult to go through a season with only 5 starting pitchers. Some where along the way, depth is important to sustain winning a majority of games. Keeping Hughes is a good safety net in the AAA. Even Kennedy might have some value if his velocity is back around 89-91 MPH.
if we can get a 1st and a supp for a 33yo reliever, hell yes i’d do it! but, please dear god, NO manny, bonds or peavey!
with all this talk of injury breakdowns and/or career meltdowns, i wonder if we are only seeing worst case scenarios everywhere. i’d damn the torpedoes and try for cc, aj and tex. if all 3 had to be dragged behind the barn and shot, we’d only be out MONEY not prospects. and who here can possibly foretell the events of 2009 let alone 201*.
Why are people still talking about Peavy when its being reported from a number of sources that the Padres are in deep talks with three NL teams about a deal, that the Yankees are pretty much out of it.
Thanks for all the updates Pete.
Hopeless, mlb.com had a story up today about the Yankees getting ready to overpay for Peavy, or something like that. They’re perpetuating this nonsense…
The only positive for the Yanks trading for Cameron is that he will be a good stop-gap until Ajax is ready and he might lure CC here.
Rumors have it Phillies GM saids no to Manny there going after Holliday.
“Rumors have it Phillies GM saids no to Manny there going after Holliday.”
All points indicate that Manny is a Dodger.
Yup.
Portland game is very good right now.
pete- any updates on whether the yanks are gonna offer arbitration to abreu?
Yep the blazers is a hot game
I can’t see anyone else crushing the Dodgers offer for Man-ram.
only the dodgers are the suckers. LOL
That was a great football game
Cutler threw for 447 yards
Manny will go to Toronto.
He grew up a Bleu Jays fan. They are a semi-contender. He can terrorize the Sox too.
I can see them trumping the Dodgers offer. Maybe a couple million less per year, but for 4 years.
Jon Heyman is reporting that the Yanks and Brewers have discussed a trade that would send us Cameron, but it appears the Brewers are waiting to make sure CC cannot be re-signed. Apparently, Cameron and CC are the best of buddies.
Do you see the Cameron coming East as a “comfort zone friend” for CC? I would rather have Melky – he can only get better and Cameron can only get older.
I think Cameron is more of a comfort zone friend for Arod. They’ve been talking about bringing him here for years to help Arod in the clubhouse.
Hey Pete. I know from reading your blog in the past you’ve talked to phil hughes..?
If you talk to him ask him when is going to blog again? He has a blog but, he doesn’t use it much.
Maybe he’s jsut busy
“I think Cameron is more of a comfort zone friend for Arod. They’ve been talking about bringing him here for years to help Arod in the clubhouse.”
Nope according to reports in Milwaukee that’s another reason MIL picked up his option to see if CC chooses to stay. Cameron and CC are like brother eversince he arrived in MIL he has been very close to Mike and Bill Hall.
The Arod friendship is true but more in a sense because he knows him and Cameron is a hardworker..he is a gamer and one thing people also have to understand is that believe it or not Alex can evaluate talent.
“believe it or not Alex can evaluate talent.”
He was the one who lobbied to bring Olerud to the Yanks and that was a good move.
For those concerned about Alex needing a friend he got tight with Nady. If Cameron comes to NY, it will be to play centerfield and not to hold CC or Alex’s hand.
“He was the one who lobbied to bring Olerud to the Yanks and that was a good move.”
Olerud getting hurt was what did us in 2004, no way he doesn’t hit vs the Boston BP, he atleast hits better than Tony Clark in that series.
OT: Channing Frye looks good in Portland IDK but he seems to growing up as a player. Rudy Fernandez can play out dribble any Knicks PG.
Arod needs another friend on the field?
http://tinyurl.com/5l23aq
Nick com’on
Nick in SF
If she can play first base or centerfield, sign her.
Cameron’s a very mixed bag. He’s 35-year, with a mediocre bat – horrible BA, decent OBP & slugging, some speed, a whiff machine – and of course a great glove.
he’s got his points, but i can’t get excited about that. i think i’d rather see what Gardner or Melky does. certainly i don’t think Cameron’s worth giving up Kennedy a la some of the media reports, or anything of great value.
Hard to expect anything to actually get done this early, but hopefully some reasonable scenarios were put into place to go home and discuss internally. This early resort trip seems like a religious retreat of sorts.
Good Blazers-Rockets game.
knicks should trade for t-mac
That’s the Brandon Roy I know !
The final 10 seconds of that game were awesome
Roy makes the go ahead bucket then Yao Ming gets the and 1..w/ .8 Roy freaking turned pivot and he a nothing but net shot from 35 feet away.
To describe it better
Brandon Roy ran down the clock and hit the jumper there at 2.1 or 2.8, Portland fans go crazy…it’s over right, nope Yao gets fouled on an inbound turnaround jumper AND1 w/ .8 left. Portland now lost all the momentum Yao hits the FT game over right ? NOPE …Brandon Roy my god how did he get that shot off and nothing but net too. WOW what a clutch player.
Ideally: Wang, Joba, CC, Burnett & Moose, with Hughes & Aceves waiting for their shot.
Realistically: Wang, Joba, either CC or Burnett, either Petitte or Moose, with Hughes, Aceves & some other good but less than super FA pitcher as 5th and next starters.
If NY is going to chase prime targets CC, Burnett and Tiexiera, what are the chances they get all three? I doubt they’ll get both top pitchers, and acquiring Tiexiera is as important as acquiring one of those two pitchers. They may have to settle for one stud and a 4th-5th starter thru FA.
If NY lands two of the three prime targets its a pretty good off-season with the FA’s.
As for any acquisitions by trade … we’ll have to see what Cash & the Steins conjure up, scoop up and give up.
Moose & Pettite are ‘officially’ up in the air but I think they’ll both come back. Given a choice between Pettitte & Moose, I’d take Moose at this point. I have a feeling Pettite’s not as solid as he used to be … it could be Hughes’ or Aceves’ chance if he runs into problems mid-season.
I have a theory that after the year 2000 we entered a parallel universe, where Bush became president, the twin towers fell, the Yankees lost, the Red Sox won, the economy collapsed, and we started wars based on hunches. That leads us to the Super Collider project, when they activated it, McCain & the Republican party started to lose traction, Torre’s Dodgers got knocked out of the playoffs, the RedSox lost their comeback magic, and Obama bested the Republicans. So it is quite possible that we have re-entered our own universe again. If the Yankees win the World Series next year, we’lll know that we did
This doesn’t apply to the Mets. They suck in any universe.
don’t look now, the organization suddenly have LHP’s
Marte (hopefully retained
Coke (may contend for starters role)
DeLaRosa (high ceiling starter)
Banuelos (the best NYY prospect you haven’t heard of)
Bleich (may move fast)
Dunn (sleeper next year?)
Chase Wright (HR immortality)
Garrett Patterson (able to hit 97)