Yankees announce Prior signing, plus spring training invites
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Misc on Dec 15, 2010 
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The Yankees have officially announced the Mark Prior signing, and they’ve added a list of spring training invitations that includes a few new players who have agreed to minor league deals. I’m a big fan of the Doug Bernier signing. He didn’t hit with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in 2009, but the coaching staff loved the guy, and he can really play some defense. If it’s only for help at Triple-A, he’s a good guy to have in the organization. Here’s the press release.
The New York Yankees today announced they have signed seven players to minor league contracts with invitations to Major League spring training, including right-handed pitcher Mark Prior.
Prior, 30, was originally selected by the Yankees in the first round (43rd overall pick) of the 1998 First-Year Player Draft, but instead chose to attend Vanderbilt University. He was later selected by the Chicago Cubs as the second overall pick of the 2002 First-Year Player Draft. He owns a 42-29 career record with a 3.51 ERA (657.0 IP, 256 ER) in 106 Major League starts over parts of five seasons with the Cubs (2002-06). In 2003, Prior went 18-6 with a 2.43 ERA and was selected to the National League All-Star team, placing third in the N.L. Cy Young Award voting. He last appeared in the Majors in 2006 and has missed the last four seasons recovering from shoulder surgeries performed in 2007 and 2008.
In August 2010, the San Diego, Calif., native signed with the Orange County Flyers of the independent Golden Baseball League, where he did not allow an earned run in nine relief appearances (11.0IP, 5H, 1R, 0ER, 5BB, 22K). In September, he signed with Triple-A Oklahoma City—a Texas Rangers affiliate—where he tossed 1.0 scoreless inning in relief (2H, 1BB, 2K).
RHP Brian Anderson, 28, saw his first action as a pitcher in 2010, combining to make 14 appearances (four starts) with the ASL Royals, Single-A Burlington and Triple-A Omaha (0-0, 2.08 ERA). Originally drafted by Chicago-AL in the first round (15th overall pick) of the 2003 First-Year Player Draft, Anderson converted to pitcher following the 2009 season, having spent the first seven seasons (2003-09) of his professional career as an outfielder in the Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox organizations. He has appeared in 355 career Major League games as a position player, batting .227 (181-for-799) with 108 runs, 47 doubles, 22 home runs and 80 RBI.
INF Doug Bernier, 30, will attend his second spring training with the Yankees after also being signed as a non-roster invitee in 2009. Bernier has played in two Major League games in his career, going 0-for-4 with Colorado in 2008. In 69 games with Triple-A Indianapolis in 2010, Bernier hit .240 (48-for-200) with 14 doubles, one home run and 15 RBI. Originally signed by Colorado as a non-drafted free agent in 2002, he owns a .238 (576-for-2,420) career minor league batting average with 101 doubles, 12 triples, 20 home runs and 239 RBI in 809 games.
RHP Buddy Carlyle, 33, spent the 2010 season pitching for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters of Japan’s Pacific League, going 0-3 with a 4.88 ERA in seven appearances (27.2IP, 35H, 18R, 15ER, 11BB, 14K, 2HR). He last appeared in the Major Leagues in 2009, pitching with Atlanta and going 0-1 with an 8.86 ERA (21.1 IP, 21 ER) in 16 relief appearances. In 104 career Major League appearances (27 starts) with San Diego (1999-2000), Los Angeles-NL (2005) and Atlanta (2007-09), he is 11-11 with a 5.61 ERA (245.2 IP, 153 ER). Carlyle was originally selected by Cincinnati in the second round of the 1996 First-Year Player Draft.
LHP Neal Cotts, 30, was originally selected by Oakland in the second round of the 2001 First-Year Player Draft. He owns a 10-12 record with a 4.63 ERA (256.1 IP, 132 ER) in 284 appearances (five starts) over seven Major League seasons (2003-09). Cotts was signed by Pittsburgh to a minor league contract and invited to spring training in 2010, but missed the entire season recovering from “Tommy John” surgery performed in July 2009.
C Gustavo Molina, 28, spent the majority of the 2010 season with Triple-A Pawtucket, batting .241 (27-for-112) with eight home runs and 18 RBI in 35 games. He also played in four games with Boston, going 1-for-7 (.143). Molina has played in 23 career Major League games with Chicago-AL (2007), Baltimore (2007), New York-NL (2008) and Boston (2010), making 11 starts at catcher. The Venezuela native was originally signed by Chicago-AL as a non-drafted free agent on January 3, 2000.
LHP Andy Sisco, 27, made 48 relief outings for Double-A Richmond in 2010, going 4-4 with one save and a 4.32 ERA (66.2 IP, 32 ER). In 151 career Major League outings with Kansas City (2005-06) and Chicago-AL (2007), he has gone 3-9 with one save and a 5.18 ERA (147.2 IP, 85 ER). Sisco was originally drafted by Chicago-AL in the second round of the 2001 First-Year Player Draft.
This is a very important month for Cashman, especially if Pettitte retires. Let’s see how good of a gm he is. Amaro and Theo get players to take less money to sign with them, Cash is never given a dicount and our players ask for extra money and years to sign. Cash has to give up top prospects for decent players, Theo gives up spare parts for all stars. Cash thought he had 2 trades done for all star pitchers(lee and Haren) and at the last minute he didn’t get the job done. I understand that he has no control over another gm pulling out, but not including someone like Nunez is ridiculous. Let’s see what Cashman can pull off here
a molina who isnt a molina brother….
Neil cotts……wow!
# Carl December 15th, 2010 at 4:56 pm
“Despite rumors circulating yesterday the Yankees were in hot pursuit of Kansas City outfielder Reggie Sanders, a team official claimed there have not been detailed talks between the teams since the Royals changed GMs two weeks ago. The Yankees last month rejected an offer of Sanders for top pitching prospect Phil Hughes.”
Life as a Yankee GM is hard.
This is getting bizarre:
Ledger_Yankees AJ’s agent did not rule out taking legal action against radio host Colin Cowherd, who claimed on air that Burnett went thru nasty divorce
Amaro and Theo get players to take less money to sign with them
This is such nonsense.
Ledger_Yankees Also, another person close to Burnett, who requested anonymity, also shot down the rumors of an AJ Burnett divorce.
Whatever it was, divorce, family problems, drug or money problems… gambling… who knows.
Who cares.
Something was up… and the Yankees have gone to great lengths to keep it quiet (just like the eiland disappearance), but you can’t just show up one day to work with a black eye and have no reasonable explanation.
Burnett was clearly struggling with something last year, his lack of consistency showed that. Hopefully that will be past him now, and he can go back to making batters look silly.
Life as a Yankee GM is hard.
–
Everyone wants a big piece of the new york apple
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs.....a-deceive/
Nice article on ERA’s deception.
hey Cashman is brian bullington available?- afterall he pitched great against the yankees last year….lets give sidney ponson a call as well – you know what they say third times a charm…
Cashman’s new name – The King of Catching Lightning in a Bottle…for a 210 million dollar team – how sad….
184 million dollar team atm
So I guess AJ just sucked then last year. No excuses.
“This is such nonsense”
———–
Really…Halladay took a lot less that he could of got as a free agent, Lee also. Ortiz signed an extension that paid him nothing. Pedroia and Youkilis also signed very cheap extensions. Posada wanted the 4th year or he claimed he would sign with the Mets, Mo used Boston to get the 2nd year, Jeter negotiated like he was 26 years old.
If memory serves, Sisco was a hard throwing lefty who couldn’t figure out where the ball was going. Could be interesting.
If a divorce complaint has been filed in a court somewhere, it is a matter of public record.
Why not just leave the guy alone?
Erin please fill me on aj
What is going on?
As a person, I’m a huge fan of Brian Cashman. As a GM, I really don’t know what to make of him. You could claim that having the most money to spend in baseball is an advantage. You could also argue it’s a huge disadvantage because everyone else out there knows it. Cashman is absolutely brilliant at dealing with the media, but being GM of the New York Yankees makes it almost impossible to conduct your business in private. Would Cashman have been able to fly under the radar and pull off a deal like Ruben Amaro Jr. did for Cliff Lee? Unlikely. There’s no mystery about the Yankees when it comes to their targets. Come to think of it, I hadn’t even heard the name Amaro until this week. Cashman is going to have to get creative now to sign a pitcher or two before spring training starts. And looking at what’s left on the market, he’s going to have to catch lightning in a bottle.
Captain Clutch – Lee did not take a lot less. That is factually incorrect.
Halladay was traded and signed an extension to get out of a horrible situation.
Pedroia and Youkilis are idiots, and will never see a big payday because of the contracts they signed.
Mo did not “use” boston to get the second year, you are making that up.
Jeter negotiated like he was the only SS available to play for the NYY, and he was right.
Posada got his 4th year, what can I say.
It’s called negotiating, you have no idea how any of their talks went, you just make up some craziness and try to pass it off as fact.
Nothing you said shows that Amaro or Epstein are the root cause of those players actions.
It is factually correct that the NL is the easier league to pitch in. Obviously pitchers are going to make deals to go to teams in the easier league and have a shot at winning the same prize at the end of the year.
The Yankee’s path to the postseason is hard, as a young pitcher why would you want to get involved with pitching against boston/tampa/toronto/nym every single year? I’d rather pitch against the marlins and the nationals.
there were some rumors posted on here during the season about AJ or rather what AJ’s wife may have been up to
# pat December 15th, 2010 at 5:13 pm
If memory serves, Sisco was a hard throwing lefty who couldn’t figure out where the ball was going. Could be interesting.
——————————–
exactly who he was and likely still is.
cotts was very good for a few years with chicago…..maybe he can find it again. he is the one name on this list that could be a sleeper. lefty reliever who threw hard pre tommy john.
# tampayank December 15th, 2010 at 5:17 pm
there were some rumors posted on here during the season about AJ or rather what AJ’s wife may have been up to
——————————————
i dont recall that……what was it that she was supposedly up to?
http://captnsblog.wordpress.co.....ee-offers/
As illustrated by the charts above, Cliff Lee has essentially taken a calculated risk on his own health. If he is able to meet the sixth-year option threshold (200 innings in 2015 or 400 innings in 2004/15), the present value of the two contracts would be separated by $9 million dollars, meaning Lee would only have to sign a $12 million deal in 2017 to come out even.
someone posted on here during the season that his wife was cheating on him w/ another big league player (could be completely false)………..but just remembered that since someone mentioned that Cowherd was talking about AJ’s situation this morning
thanks tampayank…..i knew about cowherd comments but didnt know people here had surmised that she was cheating with another player. interesting. likely nonsense, but interesting.
Carlo
As a kid, I can remember my dad saying sometimes lefties take longer to figure it and people have more patience to wait.
Hopefully Sisco’s figured out how to sacrifice a little velocity in favor of control because what I remember is him striking guys out or hitting them.
BloggingBombers Professional Baseball Athletic Trainer Society named Yankees’ Gene Monahan & Steve Donohue as the ?Best Athletic Trainers in MLB? for 2010.
# pat December 15th, 2010 at 5:27 pm
Carlo
As a kid, I can remember my dad saying sometimes lefties take longer to figure it and people have more patience to wait.
Hopefully Sisco’s figured out how to sacrifice a little velocity in favor of control because what I remember is him striking guys out or hitting them.
———————————————————
Haha – let us hope.
The Red Sox just develop really stupid players who can’t do math. What can you do.
# LGY December 15th, 2010 at 5:34 pm
The Red Sox just develop really stupid players who can’t do math. What can you do.
————————————————–
Youkillis is like my wife…..we went to buy a Christmas tree last week and the price was $25 on the ticket so she said “we’ll give your $30 for it”. She doesnt look like him though so I keep her around.
Andrew Frank Cisco LHP is 6ft 10 along With Brackman and CC a good three man basket ball force in Spring training.
SI_JonHeyman matt guerrier has physical w/ #dodgers tomorrow. agreed to $12-mil, 3-yr deal. had 2-yr offers at higher salaries. col, bos bid
——–
The Sox didn’t get someone they wanted..woohoo!!
Ken_Rosenthal
Source: Choate to #Marlins: Two years, $2.5 million plus incentives in each year. #MLB
So only 2 lefties are left – Feliciano and Fuentes.
Nothing was ever mentioned about the cause of Burnett’s shiner last season. It can’t be the blame for the stinkers he pitched. The incident happened in the late summer.
No one is blaming the shiner, it is simply a sign of strife. Months of fighting with someone has never, ever resulted with a punch in the face. Ever.
Youkillis is like my wife…..we went to buy a Christmas tree last week and the price was $25 on the ticket so she said “we’ll give your $30 for it”. She doesnt look like him though so I keep her around.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Real good Carlo …… LOL !
“The Red Sox just develop really stupid players who can’t do math. What can you do.”
no , it’s the stockholm syndrome:
Stockholm syndrome is a term used to describe a paradoxical psychological phenomenon wherein hostages express adulation and have positive feelings towards their captors that appear irrational in light of the danger or risk endured by the victims, essentially mistaking a lack of abuse from their captors as an act of kindness -wikepedia
ZMan,
And Yanks should consider getting both.
Boston is in on both guys (trying for 1.)
Someone might overpay for Fuentes. so Yanks should sign Feliciano quickly before prices go up.
I believe JC Romero is still available.
Exactly from where is the bullpen improvement to come. Downs out because of draft pick and price, Soriano out because he will want closer pay, Wood may be the same story.
Soon there will not be any of the pitching Cashman readily acknowledged was needed. I am generally not an alarmist, but the starters and pen are noticeably worse without Pettitte, Wood and Moseley.
This has been an off-season of hope for The Yankees. Hope for Lee, hope for Pettitte, and hope for Wood.
Feliciano appeared in a league high 92 games and is purely a situational lefty.I’d rather spend a little more on Fuentes who has success against both righties and lefties. JC Romero walks too many.
“Soon there will not be any of the pitching Cashman readily acknowledged was needed. I am generally not an alarmist, but the starters and pen are noticeably worse without Pettitte, Wood and Moseley. ”
did you really just include Moseley…really?
Downs is out because he is already signed with the Angels.
randy,
Your post on “the Yankee way” with regard to an organizational pitching philosophy was interesting.
I thought Nardi was trying to do that, but it’s definitely a good point and something worth following.
Cowherd has a history of this stuff, remember this:
Cowherd said on his show Monday that he he’s been told Lee “will not re-sign with Texas” and that he wants to be on the Yankees or be with “an elite team.” He added that Lee mailed it in against Baltimore over the weekend and that he’s showcasing his talent when he pitches against an elite team, but that he “he doesn’t care about Baltimore and he doesn’t care about Texas.”
“It’s a lie,” Lee said. “Write that. Are you writing? Write that it’s a lie. I did not say that and nobody close to me would say that. Either say who the source is or shut up because I am saying it is not true.”
“I think that’s funny,” Lee said. “If it’s someone close to me, they’re not afraid to put their name behind it, so it’s obviously not a reliable source. I didn’t tell anybody that and I definitely didn’t tell him that. I don’t even know who he is.”
Jason Frasor, Dan Wheeler, Grant Balfour would all be good pickups.
Yeah, Moseleys 65 innings of poop will be hard to replace.
Anybody else really hoping we re-sign Chien-Ming Wang?
Yankees may look At Chris Young from SD he`s 6ft 10 and a lefty like Jeff Francis of CO.
Sox are also in on Fuentes and Jesse Crain.
Wouldn’t be shocked to see them (or the Yankees) jump in on Soriano either if he is willing to be a SU man.
Yanks need to get moving on some of these relievers soon, they are starting to get gobbled up.
Chris Young is a righty and pitched well in September after injury.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/.....yerId=6073
Chris Young stats
Chris Young is a righty and pitched well in September after injury.
–
Fastball was 85 mph. I don’t care how tall he is, that boy’d get crushed in the AL east. Francis and young are recoverring from shoulder injury, pass.
If the Yankees wanted Pavano 2.0 they could just sign him. No reason to look at Young.
randy l. December 15th, 2010 at 5:55 pm
“The Red Sox just develop really stupid players who can’t do math. What can you do.”
no , it’s the stockholm syndrome:
———————————————————————————————————————-
alright, Cashmam. This is getting ridiculous. Now, the Red Sox are in the Swedish talent pool before the Yankees. DO YOUR JOB. at least sign Swedish cheerleaders.
at least sign Swedish cheerleaders
Ahhhh, GB7. Finally you and I see eye to eye.
What up with Ben Sheets?
I’m all for the new, “hip” suggestion of trading for Carlos Zambrano. I don’t know how much I’d be willing to give up, though, given that he’s recently reiterated his intention of retiring after the 2012 season.
The guy was lights out down the stretch last year, and only really had one or two terrible outings all of last season. Never finished a season with an ERA over 3.95. Lots of Ks.
I’d take Carmona, but I think Big Z is closer to a “sure thing” than Fausto is.
Carlos Zambrano? No way
That dude is a headcase there is no way he’d last in NY
Tom,
Ben Sheets had surgery to repair multiple tendons in his elbow. Tommy John surgery is when they reconstruct the ulnar collateral ligament. Well in his surgery they repaired the UCL, and the flexor tendon and the pronator tendon. He will be lucky if he ever pitches again
“Now, the Red Sox are in the Swedish talent pool before the Yankees. DO YOUR JOB. at least sign Swedish cheerleaders.”
gb7-
did i ever tell you about the time when i was playing for the umass summer semi pro team( mostly umass and amherst college players) when after a game we were out in a place called the pub where we met the women’s swedish national soccer team that was at umass for a series of exhibition games?
the next exhibition game they had we were their cheerleaders.
ah, the good old days. swedish women’s soccer meets american baseball.
Yankee Trader says:
December 15, 2010 at 5:59 pm
Jason Frasor, Dan Wheeler, Grant Balfour would all be good pickups.
—-
Hahaha I’m assuming you meant to say “Dan Wheeler would be a good pickup for the Red Sox” they guy was awful for Tampa last year. It would be like having another Joba(pre august when he seemed to get better)
Ill pass on Wheeler, Balfour isn’t so bad though.
Patrick December 15th, 2010 at 6:22 pm
Carlos Zambrano? No way
That dude is a headcase there is no way he’d last in NY
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It’s not so bad that the Yankees would have a white van parked in front of the Stadium with engine running and attendants ready to throw a net over him with NYPD escort direct to Bellevue.
Larry Rothschild is the authority on whether Zambrano is a headcase – or not.
“Yeah, Moseleys 65 innings of poop will be hard to replace.”
Ouch!
randy l. December 15th, 2010 at 6:29 pm
“Now, the Red Sox are in the Swedish talent pool before the Yankees. DO YOUR JOB. at least sign Swedish cheerleaders.”
gb7-
did i ever tell you about the time when i was playing for the umass summer semi pro team( mostly umass and amherst college players) when after a game we were out in a place called the pub where we met the women’s swedish national soccer team that was at umass for a series of exhibition games?
the next exhibition game they had we were their cheerleaders.
ah, the good old days. swedish women’s soccer meets american baseball.
———————————————————————————————————————-
LMAO. And you ruined it for the rest of us. They’ve never come back to the States. Even the Swedish Women’s Ski team quit coming around.
Somebody should have told them that we’re not all as old as you.
game #7, 1960 WS starts at 8:00 PM on MLB. Watch the guy that starts warming up in the Yankee bullpen in the 2nd inning. He warms up in every inning after that. By the 9th inning, he’s totally gassed. Also watch Mantle’s base running move in the top of the 9th inning.
Carlos Zambrano in NY:
Supposedly, Rothschild is pushing for it. Zambrano would be a mid rotation starter and he wouldn’t cost any top prospects. The Yankees can use their financial muscle to their advantage since Lee didn’t take their money. It’d be tough to find a good starter without sacrificing Jesus Montero or the Killer B’s. Personally I’d rather have Carlos Zambrano + Montero + the Killer B.’s over all available starters on the market.
The Rothschild connection should be obvious.
The spending power of the Yanks coming into play in a situation like this should be equally evident.
I think Zambrano is the guy. Joba + B prospects.
I’m not saying that Dustin Moseley was anything particularly special, but lest we forget, he did his job for the Yankees. Short memories around here sometimes.
Those successes he had for the NYY are what allowed him to find himself a better deal elsewhere.
Doreen ~
I would tend to agree that the more accurate statement would have included a disclaimer (as in “not ONLY a financial decision” or, “not the PRIMARY factor” in the decision). Maybe it was intended to be inferred, since we are talking about a contract, of course there is a financial consideration.
As for when the Phillies got involved, maybe we’ll never know. But, it’s certainly apparent from Jamie’s comments, on his interaction with former teammate, that Cliff really preferred the Phillies for a myriad of reasons. Just seems like, when all things were considered (competitive team, clubhouse chemistry/manager, contract structure, family satisfaction and maybe the fact that it was the NL, etc.) Cliff’s P/C notepad showed the Phil’s with the most “P’s”.
I heard a comment on the radio this morning from Dom Amore (Hartford Current) …
basically, it was his thought that Cliff was “turned off by the perception that it was a foregone conclusion that he would go to the Yankees”. I think that’s a bit simplistic and would highly doubt he would make the decision not to go to NY just because that’s where everyone thought he was going to go, but it was sort of an interesting observation.
“Supposedly, Rothschild is pushing for it.”
——————
link?
Bret – IF (capitals intended), IF, the Yanks decide they’ll take on Carlos Zambrano and his salary, then, based on the financial info about Cubs’ debt load posted by CB earlier today, it should not take Joba to get it done. Just take on his salary, or a significant portion of it. If the Cubs get a major league capable player, then the Cubs send money. If not, then they don’t get a ML player.
My take, for whatever you want to make of it.
gb7-
that team was really fun to play for. one summer when major league baseball was on strike, jeff reardon ,who lived in pittsfield,ma ,played under an assumed name for the pittsfield team against us.
we knew who he was and when he came in to save the game, we scored 4-5 runs off him and beat them. he threw nothing but fastballs which explained why he got hit so hard.
Doreen, I agree with you about Moseley. For a guy that was only a minor league signing and late addition I would say he did a pretty decent job for us. His scoreless relief work in the ALCS is probably the only thing that prevented us from getting swept. I hope he does really good for the Padres.
L . o . l .
Just reading through some of the posts today, I fully support Jerkface’s Thome campaign.
The Yankees need to keep their valuable assets in case they need to acquire SP at the deadline. They can’t go into the deadline needing a bat or bullpen help this year.
Shore up the bullpen with Wood and a LOOGY and get Thome as the bat, even if it means overpaying. The Yankees have the money to do so now.
Then it will be very unlikely you have to worry about the BP or offense come trade deadline and can focus on the SP market.
L . o . l .
.301 OPS
L . o . l .
I would trade Joba for Zambrano in a NY minute. I think the relative peace of the Yankees clubhouse would keep Mr. Hyde at bay, and we’ve seen all we need to see of Joba. I’d actually applaud this move.
“Doreen, I agree with you about Moseley. For a guy that was only a minor league signing and late addition I would say he did a pretty decent job for us. His scoreless relief work in the ALCS is probably the only thing that prevented us from getting swept. I hope he does really good for the Padres.”
Not a decent enough job for the Yankees to keep him.
However, he should do better in the NL West.
How bout an Over/Under on Jeter HR’s in 2011. Setting the line at 9 HRs. I’ll take the under.
(per Zombrano)
first, no way in helll do the Yankees make that trade, unless the Cubs will pay 40-50% of his salary. If they won’t, i put down the phone.
*If* the Cubs will pay 50% of Zombrano’s salary, they can have Joba Chamberlain. If they will only pay 40%, they can have a lesser prospect. Maybe someone like Phelps/Warren?
LGY
How are you going to use Thome when Posada is your DH?
Hey Vinny — you seem to be forgetting that there aren’t many remaining options out there . . . and NO ONE wants to see the American Idle.
“How are you going to use Thome when Posada is your DH?”
——-
The way Jerkface laid it out.
Pinch hit, maybe platoon with Jorge, injury insurance for Jorge, and Jorge not getting it done at DH insurance.
The Yankees best bet without Lee is to strengthen and insure as many areas as possible.
Depth and not just flexible depth with crappy guys who can play a bunch of positions. Quality depth.
“I would trade Joba for Zambrano in a NY minute.”
well , i suppose group psycho-therapy would be cheaper having burnett, joba, and zambrano.
# YankFanCA December 15th, 2010 at 6:58 pm
I would trade Joba for Zambrano in a NY minute. I think the relative peace of the Yankees clubhouse would keep Mr. Hyde at bay, and we’ve seen all we need to see of Joba. I’d actually applaud this move.
————————–
I wouldn’t make that trade straight up but if chicago eats half of the salary Id consider it. If Joba is going to be relegated to a RP role here then I think flipping him for a guy with Z’s upside isn’t a bad idea.
Zambrano, if he stays healthy (both mentally and physically), is a legitimate #3, perhaps even a #2. He might enjoy playing for a winner for a change and getting solid offensive support on a consistent basis.
I think Zambrano is the guy. Joba + B prospects.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bret :
It’s doubtful that Cashman would want both Zambrano and Burnett’s salaries but if Jim Hendry of the Cubs is looking for salary relief, he should take $5-8M of Zambrano’s contract and in return get Chamberlain, Kevin Russo, and possibly Cervelli to wrap up a deal.
It’s only a 2 – 3 year bet on Zambrano. Not awful at all. Brian the Elf needs starters badly; he’s got to assume some risk.
lets also not forget Zambrano is a great guy to have on your team in the event of a brawl. Sox added Gonzo to their roster we need another big man! Zambrano is one of those guys who has that crazy switch you don’t mess with!
Carlos Zambrano and Cliff Lee:
One of the main reasons why Cliff Lee was plan A was because he’s an ace who costs money alone. Zambrano, though not quite an ace, won’t deplete the farm. The real advantage here is getting to keep Jesus Montero and the Killer B’s. The Yankees must leverage their money whenever a situation presents itself. They missed out on Lee. They don’t want to trade the farm. They need a solid #2 or #3 pitcher. That’s why Zambrano makes sense. The huge difference in Zambrano’s 1st half 2010 vs. his 8-0 2nd half is he took anger management classes. Rothschild was there to witness the difference so he can testify to it.
Trade Zambrano for AJ. At least with the brick back-stop AJ’s wild pitches would come back to the catcher.
Bret,
I can’t find a link anywhere that says Rothschild is pushing for Zambrano.
If you can get Zambrano for a PTBL and the Cubs pick up half his remaining salary then fine….but otherwise its just too much money and too much risk. His fastball velocity has decreased every year since 2004 and was at 90.1 last year.
Zambrano pitched in a weak division in a weak league. Not sure how he would a lock to be better than what we have now…
“But why would Rothschild want to revisit life with Big Z, who has proven to be more trouble than he’s worth in Chicago?
Z would be great if Rothschild wanted to start a three-ring circus in Yankee Stadium. If he wants a pitching rotation, the Yankees had better keep looking. ”
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/bl.....mlb-296477
NEW THREAD —->
LGY
I read it somewhere and now I can’t find the link. Today was a hectic day for me financial planning for college so maybe I’m imagining things.
Hey Vinny — you seem to be forgetting that there aren’t many remaining options out there . . . and NO ONE wants to see the American Idle.
—————————
YankFanCA:
I believe the parometers which laid out, are fair. Anything less, and the Yanks are suckers. The Yankees will work it out. They will get someone. Maybe am confident cuz a semi-rebuilding year doesn’t really phase me. Will take the 5 year plan. If you have time check Frankie Piliere’s article below. This is the method/strategy which believe in. And don’t mind a lean year in the meantime.
http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2010/1.....rve-youth/
One thing Rothschild taught Zambrano to do is not be afraid to throw inside to hitters. Somehow I believe the so-called anger issue had to do with a Cub teammate or two that instigated Zambrano but then again, Rothschild would be the authority on anything to do with him as the only pitching coach he had in Chicago.
I’d be curious to know if Cashman has approached Rothschild for his opinion. He probably did before signing Mark Prior.
Bret,
No problem. Was intrigued if that was the case.
I wouldn’t trade Joba in any package for Zambrano. Not with the kind of money he’s owed.