The LoHud Yankees Blog

Fear not Yankees. Bryan Bullington is gone.

The Royals journeyman who held the Yankees to two hits through eight innings back in August has left Kansas City to sign with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of Japan’s Central League.

If his Major League career is over, the win against the Yankees will certainly stand as Bullington’s high point. It’s his only victory in 26 big league appearances. A.J. Burnett threw a complete game that day, but Bullington baffled the Yankees lineup.

The first overall draft pick in 2002, Bullington turned out to be a complete bust. Except for one game.

I’ll admit, I didn’t expect it to come to this.

As Derek Jeter reached free agency, I thought he and the Yankees had too much to lose — too much of a relationship — for this to become a true negotiation. I thought both sides would recognize what they meant to one another, give in a little bit each way, and reach a quiet resolution.

As Tyler Kepner so perfectly illustrated in the New York Times, this has become a legitimate back-and-forth in which no one seems happy.

The Yankees have said they’re making a “baseball decision,” but they’ve also said these will be “business negotiations.” Those are two different things, and that’s why this is complicated.

From a baseball point of view, Jeter is an aging superstar coming off his worst statistical season. The fair market value is a little difficult to determine because it seems no other team has ever considered making Jeter an offer, but the Yankees reported offer of three years, $45 million seems fair. That’s the Yankees argument, and it’s a good one.

From a business point of view, Jeter is much more than his batting average and range at shortstop. He’s the face of the franchise, a man who has done nothing but good for the organization. It’s hard to imagine a more model employee, and in the past, the Yankees have given much more to people who have done much less. As Jeter’s representation, Casey Close has to make those arguments or he’s not doing his client justice.

As Kepner wrote: Is it so hard for the Yankees to recognize that Jeter’s impact goes far beyond statistics? Is it that much of a blow to Jeter’s pride to admit that tying for the major league lead in outs, while playing a young man’s position at age 36, is a legitimate cause for concern?

Both Jeter and the Yankees decided not to make this personal, and if these negotiations are not personal, the only things left to discuss are baseball and business. And those two don’t always agree.

Associated Press photo

Whether things have grown more tense behind the scenes is hard to say, but certainly the public perception of the Yankees negotiations with Derek Jeter have taken a turn in the past 48 hours or so. The latest public comments come from Hank Steinbrenner — not Hal — who spoke to the Associated Press. Here’s the AP story.

NEW YORK (AP) — Hank Steinbrenner has a message as the New York Yankees negotiate to re-sign Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera.

“As much as we want to keep everybody, we’ve already made these guys very, very rich, and I don’t feel we owe anybody anything monetarily,” the Yankees co-chairman said Tuesday. “Some of these players are wealthier than their bosses.”

New York has made a $45 million, three-year offer to Jeter, a baseball executive with knowledge of the proposal said, speaking on condition of anonymity because it wasn’t made public.

“We’ve encouraged him to test the market and see if there’s something he would prefer other than this,” general manager Brian Cashman told ESPNNewYork.com, without confirming the figure. “If he can, fine. That’s the way it works.”

Jeter is coming off a $189 million, 10-year contract that was second only to Alex Rodriguez’s deals of $252 million and $275 million, both over a decade.

Now 36, Jeter hit .270 with 10 homers, down from a .334 average and 18 homers the previous season. While his RBIs increased by one to 67, his on-base percentage fell from .406 to .340 and his slugging average dropped from .465 to .370.

An off year or the start of a career-ending tailoff? No way to tell.

But without the threat of negotiations involving other teams, there’s little pressure for either side to make a deal quickly.

“Do we want to keep Derek? Of course we do, obviously,” Steinbrenner said. “Obviously we all want to keep Derek and we all want to keep Mo.”

Steinbrenner remains confident deals will be reached to keep the pair.

“I don’t think in the end they will be unreasonable,” he said. “It’s going to come down to what’s fair for everybody considering all circumstances.”

Associated Press photo

Brian Cashman has said the Yankees will offer arbitration to only one of their Type A-B free agents.

Javier Vazquez will be offered arbitration. No one else.

The plan would be extraordinarily risky, but Ken Rosenthal reported this afternoon that the Yankees have already been assured that Vazquez will turn down the offer. If he were to accept, Vazquez would be in for a hefty payday on a one-year deal. If he declines, Vazquez will land the Yankees a compensation draft pick. He’s a Type B free agent, and already the Nationals and Marlins seem to be showing interest.

The Yankees elected not to offer arbitration to any of their other compensation-eligible free agents: Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera, Lance Berkman or Kerry Wood.

There was initially a report that Wood would be offered, but the Yankees already refused an option in his contract, and arbitration would have amounted to roughly the same thing. There was never much reason to expect an arbitration offer for either Berkman or Pettitte.

As for Jeter and Rivera: A one-year deal does not seem to be a bad scenario for the Yankees, but those would be for substantial money, and it seems the Yankees aren’t willing to risk that sort of payment, even on a one-year deal.

UPDATE, 6:57 p.m.: For the record, the Yankees also declined to offer arbitration to Austin Kearns, Nick Johnson, Chad Moeller and Marcus Thames.

Associated Press photo

Last we heard, Andy Pettitte was leaning toward retirement.

Now Ken Davidoff cites an industry source who tells him Pettitte has started leaning the other way, toward rejoining the Yankees for one last season.

The Winter Meetings are two weeks away. My guess — and it’s absolutely a guess — is that’s the earliest we’ll know Pettitte’s final decision.

The Yankees passed along this statement from Robinson Cano.

“I would like to congratulate Josh Hamilton on winning the MVP. He is a great player and deserving of the award. I am very proud of my season and expect nothing less of myself. I will continue to work hard and play hard, and along with my teammates, do everything I can to help the Yankees get to and win the World Series.”

It’s pretty well established that the Yankees will not offer arbitration to Derek Jeter.

When I checked with Brian Cashman earlier this afternoon, he said the Yankees were “still deciding” whether to offer arbitration to their other Type A and B free agents.

Now Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the Yankees have decided to offer arbitration to Javier Vazquez, but only after making sure Vazquez will turn it down. I wrote yesterday that an arbitration offer to Vazquez seemed far too risky for the Yankees — the last thing they need is to bring him back at $10 million-plus — but if Vazquez and his agents have assured the Yankees that they’ll say no, then it’s a no brainer the other way. Might as well lock up the draft pick.

Wally Matthews just reported that the Yankees are “likely” to offer arbitration to Kerry Wood. The Yankees already turned down an $11 million option on Wood.

Robinson Cano finished third in the American League MVP race.

Josh Hamilton won the award with 22 of the 28 first-place votes. Five first-place votes went to Miguel Cabrera, one went to Jose Bautista and none went to Cano.

Cano had the most second-place votes with 12.

CC Sabathia finished 13th, Alex Rodriguez was 15th and Mark Teixeira was tied for 20th, having received one 10th place vote.

QUICK TAKE: Cano’s season was easier to appreciate day-by-day. The final numbers were impressive, but it was the consistency — especially while the bigger names around him had their ups and downs — that made him such a terrific player this season.

That said, I have absolutely no problem with Hamilton winning the award. It’s easy to knock him for missing the final month, but I also tend to believe (just a guess) that he might have missed less time had the Rangers still been in a pennant race. Hamilton sat down, got himself healthy and still had massive numbers at the end of the season. From June 1 until the injury, he was unreal. That’s a good choice for MVP. I believe he was the best player in the league.

ONE OTHER THING: There are voters who think the MVP should go to the best player on a winning team (those voters seemed to go for Hamilton). There are other voters who think the MVP should go to the most productive player, period (those seemed to go for Cabrera). That’s why Cano didn’t get a first place vote.

The fact one outlier voted for Bautista is fairly meaningless. It didn’t change anything about Cano’s spot in the final standings.

With this morning’s news that Victor Martinez will agree to a four-year deal with the Tigers, the winter’s free agent market is beginning to establish itself.

Martinez is the first big name to sign. Some good second tier players — John Buck, Jake Westbrook, Joaquin Benoit — came off the table last week, but Martinez is the first established star to sign. That could begin setting the rest of the market in motion.

Not long after the Martinez news broke, it was reported that Aubrey Huff is close a two-year deal with the Giants.

How much the free agent market as a whole impacts the Yankees is up for debate. The Yankees are kind of working within their own market, going after Cliff Lee — who will set the value for starting pitchers — and two of their own superstars, who aren’t really interested in other offers. It’s good to get the ball rolling, but the Yankees are more or less playing their own game here.

Speaking of which: Marc Carig reports that Derek Jeter will not be offered arbitration. I don’t think arbitration would have been a factor one way or the other, but it’s interesting that the Yankees won’t make it an option.

The American League MVP will be announced this afternoon. It’s the final award given by Major League Baseball, and Robinson Cano is in the mix.

Although Jose Bautista and Paul Konerko will get some support, the award is — in my mind — a three-man race.

Miguel Cabrera
.328, 38 HR, 126 RBI
Statistically impressive, including the league lead in OPS+ and RBI, but the Tigers were terrible and Cabrera’s numbers might be enough against guys who played for winners.

Robinson Cano
.319, 29 HR, 109 RBI
As steady as anyone in contention, Cano’s consistency — plus the fact that he played Gold Glove defense — might be enough to push him over the top.

Josh Hamilton
.359, 32 HR, 100 RBI
A heavy favorite before a late-season injury cost him most of the final month. Even with the injury, the overall production remains awfully impressive. Led in average, slugging and OPS.

Associated Press photo