The LoHud Yankees Blog

Just like he does every day of the Winter Meetings, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman just met with the beat writers. We all rode the elevator to his floor, we gathered into his hotel suite and then we waited.

“I know there’s a lot of noise out there,” Cashman said. “Clearly I can’t speak to the noise.”

Noise became the code word for the Curtis Granderson trade, but Cashman would not comment on the ”noise” in any way, shape or form. Someone asked whether the Yankees need for Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui had changed. Cashman couldn’t say. Someone asked how long it might take seven hypothetical players to take seven hypothetical physicals. Cashman wasn’t sure.

“I know a lot of this is silly,” he said. “I apologize.”

Not that any of us expected anything different, it was just funny to play the game for a while, to ask about the trade without asking about the trade. When its finalized, Cashman will talk about it, but he said he didn’t expect to be able to talk about anything new tonight. For tonight, it’s all just noise.

• Cashman met with the agents for both Hideki Matsui and Andy Pettitte today. He called the meeting with Matsui’s agent, “informative.” He said he met with Pettitte’s agents more than once but he wouldn’t say whether things have moved forward. “We’ll just keep talking,” he said.

• There is a report that Matsui has been working in the outfield, trying to prove he can play the field. Cashman said he understood that Matsui would like to play the outfield again, and that Matsui’s value as a free agent will go up if he proves he’s able to do so, but “my interest in him would be as a DH,” Cashman said.

• The Yankees spent part of the day finalizing their plan for Thursday’s Rule 5 pick. “We’re lined up and prepared to go and have someone in mind,” Cashman said. There were “a few guys we had interest in” leading into the Brian Bruney trade discussions.

• Cashman has literally not left his room all day. He said he was working on things until 12:30 in the morning last night and he wasn’t sure how long he’d be up tonight. All agents have come to his room and so far all other teams have come to his room when discussing trades noise.

• In case you’re interested, Cashman said he gets a lot of trade offers through text message. Wonder how many of them get a : ) and how many get a LOL.

Just making sure everyone realizes what number Curtis Granderson wears.

Even after a three-for-one trade, additional players within the Yankees organization cannot be added to the 40-man roster for protection from the Rule 5 draft. Players acquired in a trade can be protected, but the Yankees’ chance to protect their own came and went on November 20.

That means the same guys who were Rule 5 eligible yesterday will still be Rule 5 eligible on Thursday. The Yankees can’t protect Colin Curtis now that they’ve traded Austin Jackson. The trade does kind of make the Curtis Rule 5 situation a little more interesting. Beyond him, there really aren’t a lot of could-be-called-up-for-outfield-depth options in the upper levels of the system.

The good news for the Yankees is that I’ve heard Rule 5 infielders stick as much as three times as often as outfielders. I honestly don’t know if that’s true, but that’s what a minor league guru once told me. It helps explain why the Yankees protected three infielders, but left Curtis exposed.

UPDATE, 6:55 p.m.: There has been some discussion about the Yankees possibly taking one of their own players in the Rule 5 draft, and then sending him directly to the minors. Over at Baseball America, Jim Callis actually touched on the rules of sending a Rule 5 pick to the minors. He even specifically mentioned what happens when a Rule 5 pick is traded.

First reaction: Trading for Curtis Granderson was a strong move by the Yankees. I’ve said before that I liked Granderson, but I understand there are those who think GM Brian Cashman screwed up. So let’s take the common criticisms one by one:

1. “He can’t hit lefties”: No doubt, Granderson’s lefty splits last year were bad. But for those who use this as the cornerstone of their argument, how about you take a guess at how often the average player faces a lefty pitcher in a given season?

Last year, the Yankees faced lefties in just about 30 percent of their plate appearances – to me, that’s hardly enough to use it as a determining factor, especially when a) you have a hitting coach who you ostensibly trust to improve your players; and b) you’re talking about a correctable skill.

Consider this: In 1993, the Yankees brought in an outfielder who had an OBP of .273 against LHP the previous season. By 1994, he had a .439 OBP against lefties. That player was Paul O’Neill.

2. “The Yankees gave up too much” But did they? Coke wasn’t a closer of the future, which means that – as a bullpen piece – he’s certainly expendable; and Kennedy, while certainly talented, wasn’t nearly on the same level as Hughes/Chamberlain and had irked some Yankee officials with his ego. So basically it comes down to how you feel about Austin Jackson and, as I’ve said before, when you’re talking about a team like the Yankees it’s almost always the right play to go with the established player over the player who is only potential.

Anyone who says they know what Jackson is going to be is lying. No one knows. Those who say the “best he could be is Curtis Granderson” don’t know that, just like those who say “he’ll be better than Granderson in three years” don’t know that either. All we do know is that RIGHT NOW Jackson is a player who has done very well in the minor leagues and Granderson is a player who has done very well in the major leagues. To me, that’s the part that makes this trade a steal – you traded a player who MAY be good for a player who IS good, and also happens to be young and economically friendly.

(By the way, it’s natural to compare Jackson and Granderson but the two aren’t similar players; Jackson has more speed, but also has yet to show anything close to the kind of power that Granderson has shown.)

3. “I’d rather have Johnny Damon” This leads to the second part of the post — to me, getting Granderson doesn’t mean Johnny Damon is no longer an option for the Yankees at all.

Put it this way: The Yankees are hardly done dealing this winter. With Hughes/Joba/Montero still on the roster, they can still at least talk about Roy Halladay. And with Granderson in the fold, the Yankees can take a harder – and appropriate – line on Damon.

Scott Boras has said Damon has multi-year offers and this is the Yankees calling that bluff. If Damon would come back for one year (or at most two), then he gives the Yankees a DH who can play the OF on days when someone else needs to DH – or just what they’re looking for in that spot. If anything, the Granderson trade may affect Hideki Matsui’s chances of returning to the Yankees more than it does Damon’s.

I know we just had a post about the Curtis Granderson trade, but the situation is considerably different now, so let’s start a new post for information as it comes in.

As of 2:10 p.m., multiple outlets are reporting that the deal is done. Diamondbacks manager A.J. Hinch is currently addressing the media and started the session by saying he can’t comment on any potential deal. “We are doing everything we can to make our team better,” he said.

Literally two minutes ago I got a text message from Austin Jackson that said simply, “No, I haven’t heard anything.”

UPDATE, 2:30 p.m.: To get a sense of how much youth is going to Detroit, check out these numbers: The Tigers get five years of 25-year-old Max Scherzer, six years of 23-year-old Daniel Schlereth, five years of 27-year-old Phil Coke and six years of 23-year-old Austin Jackson. That’s a total of 22 years suddenly under Detroit’s control.

UPDATE, 3:31 p.m.: It seemed for a while there that news would be flowing in, but apparently the players involved have still not been told that a deal is final.

UPDATE, 3:46 p.m.: One thing to like about Granderson: He’s at his best when he’s pulling the ball. And managed to pull the ball roughly 50 percent of the time last season. And pulling the ball is a good thing for a left-handed hitter to do in Yankee Stadium.

It’s been cold down in Texas. It might not be cold and snowy like in Indianpolis, but it’s been below freezing where Yankee center field prospect Austin Jackson has been working out, hitting in a cage and getting occasional updates on the latest trade rumors involving his name.

“I haven’t really followed it,” Jackson said. “But I’ve had people call me.”

Jackson’s agent called to say there are rumors of a trade to Detroit, but said there’s nothing set in stone.

“My agent is calling me, but I don’t think even he knows very much,” Jackson said. “I don’t know how I’d hear anything, but he said if I hear anything, let him know. If he hears anything, he’s going to let me know.”

So far, Jackson hasn’t been told anything that isn’t popping up on Twitter or various baseball blogs. He said he’s not bothered by the rumors. If he’s traded, it’s because another team wants him. If he’s not traded, it’s because the Yankees want him.

“Whatever happens, it’s a win-win for me,” he said. “That’s how I feel about it. I can’t control what goes on anyway.”

And so, he sits in chilly Texas and waits. After taking a few weeks off — he needed the break after a second straight 500-plus at-bat season — Jackson has started hitting again and he’s working with a trainer. His focus is on spring training, specifically on big league camp.

“I took a good little break, but I wanted to start a little bit earlier this year just because I want to start preparing for next year,” Jackson said. “I’m training right now to be playing up there. That’s my mindset right now is to be up there in the big leagues, wherever I am.”

UPDATE, 1:54 p.m.: It was less than thirty minutes from the time I got off the phone with Jackson, wrote this post and clicked submit. In that time, it looks like the trade was finalized.

On thing you have to respect and love about the Japanese baseball media: They leave no stone unturned. It seems that every baseball executive who takes time to talk is inevitably asked about Hideki Matsui. One of the latest was Angels general manager Tony Reagins.

“He’s a person we’ve talked about,” Reagins said. “But we have a lot of scenarios we can attack, whether through trade or free agency.”

There aren’t a lot of places where Matsui makes sense, but Los Angeles is one of them because of Valdimir Guerrero becoming a free agent. Brian Cashman has said the Yankees won’t make designated hitter a priority — which I think is the right decision — and you have to wonder if some other team could take advantage of that hesitation. If not, or if the market for Matsui is even more limited than believed, the Yankees might be able to get him pretty cheap.

———

One other thing, the Granderson-to-the-Yankees rumors haven’t gone away completely.

UPDATE, 1:05 p.m.: Much of the Granderson blockbuster rumors have been coming from New York and national baseball writers, but now some Arizona writers are in on the action. Diamondbacks beat writers Steve Gilbert and Nick Piecoro agree that a deal is “close” to happening.
*Tip of the hat to MLBTradeRumors.

As Day Two gets started in Indianapolis, there are some important facts and one rumor that probably won’t go away anytime soon.

Potential free agents who were offered arbitration had until midnight last night to accept. Most declined and became free agents. Relievers Rafael Betancourt and Rafael Soriano (who’s been linked to the Yankees) were the only Type As to accept arbitration. Carl Pavano was the only Type B to accept.

That’s significant only because it further defines the free agent market. Getting Soriano would require a trade with the Braves, but Jason Marquis, Mark DeRosa, Justin Duchscherer, Brandon Lyon and the rest are fair game.

The rumor that’s sure to generate discussion — and was already creating buzz last night — is the proposed three-way trade that would send Curtis Granderson to the Yankees, with Ian Kennedy, Austin Jackson, Phil Coke and Mike Dunn being shipped to the Tigers and Diamondbacks. The blockbuster was apparently proposed by Arizona and – no surprise – the Diamondbacks would seem to be the obvious winners in the deal. The Yankees would have gotten the best player while also giving up the best prospects. The Tigers would have given up the only proven big leaguers.

Stay tuned, but early word was that the deal was rejected by at least one team, maybe two. A trade like that will create buzz whether it has legs or not.

UPDATE, 9:50 a.m.: It now seems that every report on the three-way Granderson trade says it’s either highly unlikely or completely dead.

Truth is, you never really wrap up a day of the Winter Meetings. You never know when someone is going to get a returned phone call, stumble into an executive with news or land a valuable piece of information. It’s an on-going… what’s the word?

The other truth is, the Winter Meetings are everything I was told and nothing I expected. You can see pictures of an overflowing lobby — that picture, by the way, is roughly one-third of the Marriott lobby – and you can be briefed by those who have been there, but experiencing the Winter Meetings is like nothing else. Much of the day is spent standing around doing nothing, but doing it frantically.

Here’s what we’ve learned on Day 1…

• The Yankees have talked to Andy Pettitte’s agents, and Pettitte is open to coming back to the Yankees.
• The Yankees have discussed Jason Marquis (but it’s impossible to say whether the Yankees are interested in Marquis, or Marquis is interested in the Yankees).
• Brian Bruney is going to the Nationals.
• The Yankees have the first pick of the Rule 5 draft (that’s a fact, not a rumor).
• Left field is a priority, designated hitter is not.

By the way, here’s the full Brian Cashman quote about where DH ranks in his list of offseason priorities. Doesn’t mean they won’t sign a DH right away, just means it’s not close to the top if their must-do list.

“Pitching, pitching, pitching, and then obviously left field,” Cashman said. “Those are the obvious areas we need to focus on. The DH spot is important, there’s no doubt about that. There are players like our own, Hideki Matsui, who can fit that bill. There are players on the current roster who could fit that bill. We have players from within the system that could be promoted to fit that bill. There are a number of ways that we could go there that can be answered at a later date.”

Brian Cashman said he has not spoken directly to Andy Pettitte, but it’s his understanding that Pettitte wants to pitch next year under “the right circumstances.” Those right circumstances mean, the right contract.

But Pettitte is not the only starting pitcher the Yankees are discussing. Cashman flew to the winter meetings with agents Seth and Sam Levinson and discussed free agent pitcher Jason Marquis.

Cashman would not say whether the Yankees have made any contract offers, but he did say that “starting pitching is the first priority.” He also said last year’s incentive based Pettitte contract had more to do with timing than health concerns. The Yankees were at their budget limit, and convincing ownership to spend more meant an incentive contract. Worries about Pettitte’s health were not an issue then and surely won’t be now.

• Cashman’s list of priorities: “Pitching, pitching, pitching. And then obviously left field.” Finding a DH, he said, is a secondary concern with multiple options — including in-house options — as candidates.
• Making a bullpen move isn’t off the table, but Cashman acknowledged that relievers are “volatile” and it might be better to stay in-house with ”people you believe in, who can do the job.”
• On needing a backup catcher: “Cervelli can do that job. Right now, I’m not focused on backup catcher. We have Posada. We have Cervelli. That doesn’t mean I won’t look at it.”
• The entire major league coaching staff either has been or will be offered a job for next year.
• A decision on what to do with Chien-Ming Wang hasn’t been made and Cashman said he will get the latest medical information before setting anything in stone. That said, it seems difficult at best, impossible at worst, to predict how effective Wang will be next season. ”I can’t predict because he’s not pitching right now,” Cashman said.
• Not sure I ever saw or read this officially: “It was going to cost us Austin Jackson to get Washburn (last year) so we didn’t do it.”