Yanks salary in ’07 = $210mm
Off the books = $80mm

Yanks have about $50 mm to spend on FAs:

CC – $23.5mm
Pettitte – $12mm
Swish – $7mm
Marte/Misc. player raises – $5mm
Leaves about $3-5mm for another FA

Only way Yanks get Tex is by trading Damon (can’t do — we need leadoff hitter); Matsui (who will take him); Nady (does he make enough to offset addition of Tex $20mm).

While GMs are scared now, next winter will be much worse. A lots of veterans will be forced into retirement. The year after will be very bad as well. I can’t help but think that a team that plays in Detroit, which will lose over 100,000 jobs in the next 2 years, will have a fire sale. The Tigers have the 2nd/3rd highest payroll in MLB. The Cubs already want to dump Soriano, and his meager $18m/yr salary. In the 2009 and 2010 seasons, there will be many expensive players to be had, and the owning team will have to eat part of their salary.

If gasoline can go from $4/gallon to under $2 in 6 weeks, $20m salaries can go to $14 easily. Mid-West teams will be hit especially badly.

It’s too bad we need CC so badly. Andy will sigh for $12-$13. It’s too bad we can’t stay pat this year, and steal Holliday, Crawford and a bunch of talent next year. Who knows, Tex may be back on the market. If I were Cashman, I would talk trades to all the mid-west teams. I believe, next year if not this year, they will happily trade expensive talent for cost controlled kids.

My guess is Tex goes for 7/$133 or 8/$144 at MOST.
Boras can rant all he wants, but GMs are (rightly) scared.

I would also think that Boras, his hubris notwithstanding, is too smart not to realize that what he wants for his guys may/will not be there. “If” he doesn’t go arb with Manny, he would be very lucky to get much more than what the Dodgers initially offered, if that, (and quite possibly not from the Dodgers). Boras too may have to shift to Plan C,

Let’s not get carried away. As SJ correctly points out, there is no plausible way that both CC and Tex will be wearing pinstripes next year absent a total length capitulation by Tex, and that is not going to happen.

Who really called yesterday’s meeting? Does it really matter? Boras may be getting itchy, tho probably not as to Tex; as to Manny, probably so and with good cause.

It serves the Yankees best interests to have had the meet,to let CC know that it’s getting very close to decision time as to a Pinstripe uniform. He either calls the issue with the Mrs., or the Yankees may have to move on with Tex, since it is either one or the other.

Rather significant (possibly, but who really knows at this time of the year), however, was Brian Sabean’s commments that CC is not in the cards for the Giant’s.

If no CC, AJ or Peavy, there is a good chance Cashman may have to go to Plan C, and that (IMO) would be a shift in primary focus to a very strong offense (both big Bats), as whatever would be left, pitchingwise, certainly would not carry the day. Cashman has to remain somewhat fluid.

There are too many loose pieces to really project what is likely to happen.

Then you are paying no attention to what’s happening in the country or in the sports world.

The Yankees now have to pay debt service payments on a 1.2 billion dollar stadium. That’s a long term obligation.

20% of the suites aren’t sold. Or, more accurately, they can’t get the money out of the people who made commitments to them because they don’t have the money.

Same goes for season tickets.

With teams reducing payroll, that could mean a spike in payments for the Yankees to MLB if they don’t reduce payroll.

I don’t care how “wealthy” the Yankees are, they can’t keep wasting 50-60 million a year in costs. Especially when revenues projections made a year ago re: 2009, won’t be met.

They aren’t “broke”. Far from it. They also aren’t as flush as they were a year ago at this time.

I’m not even taking into effect the fact that Goldman Sachs has to divest out of the YES Network. Meaning, they have to find a buyer with a “spare” 3 billion to put into a regional TV network. Not an easy task right now.

In addition, financial projections for the next 12-18 months aren’t pretty. In fact, they are dismal throughout sports.

Any team, whether its the Yankees or anybody else, who thinks they can spend their way out of this is crazy.

That’s why the Yankees aren’t crazy. They will spend up to a certain point and that’s it.

Which means, the payroll will be closer to 180 than 200, regardless of who is on the market. It will be less in 2010.

Its the way they have to operate if they want to achieve their long term goals in this financial quagmire that we are in.

If things go horribly wrong (as in NO pitching additions), I suppose Tex might be in play.

CC AND Tex together ain’t happenin’ folks. They would have to trade Arod and Matsui for it to make sense financially.

There are no homes for guys like Matsui in this marketplace. Teams are looking to stay away from 13 million dollar per year healthy guys, let alone guys who are coming off two knee surgeries.

Before some of you get carried away, Arod has a full no trade and isn’t going anywhere.

Notice it was Boras, not Cashman, who requested the meeting on Tex. Why? Because the Yankees have made no overtures in his direction re: Tex.

Too many people are ignoring the marketplace when discussing the Yankees roster.

Today’s grim economic news: 533,000 jobs lost in November. The worst in 34 years.

Its not a stretch to say some of those folks are baseball customers.

Teams are looking at all this data coming down and realizing, anyway you can cut payroll and costs must be in play.

Its why the days of a 200 million dollar payroll are gone.

As far as people’s “dream” destination, lets not get too carried away with that nonsense.

NY is Tex’s “dream” destination? Really?

Ok, let’s put it to the test.

‘Ya think he takes a lesser deal to play in NY? Say, 15 million a year, with escalators, for 5 years, so the Yankees can fit both he and CC in?

If its his “dream” destination, that should be a “no brainer” move, correct?

There is NO CHANCE of that happening.

His “dream” destination will be who pays him the most money.

Doesn’t make him a bad guy in the least. In fact, he’s one of the good guys (as is CC) in the game. It just makes him smart.

You take the best deal out there. Especially in this economy.

Fans get caught up in the little league stuff. The players do not. Its all business, as it should be.