The LoHud Yankees Blog

MLB just hosted a press conference to honor Bobby Cox, Cito Gaston, Lou Piniella and Joe Torre, and the room was packed. The reporters spilled well beyond the seats. Tony LaRussa was in the crowd. My plan was to stop for a few minutes to listen while I finished my coffee, but it was too engaging to walk away. If nothing else, baseball is a game that appreciates it’s history, and it’s hard to ignore that group.

Torre was, of course, asked about Derek Jeter.

“No question, I don’t wear those rings without Derek Jeter on our club,” Torre said. “We were fortunate to have Derek (at) my Safe At Home Foundation. We honored him in November before he signed. He’s a very private person. I said at that time, and I’m glad it turned out that way, it’s hard for me to believe the Yankees wouldn’t want him back. And I know that’s the only ball club he ever wanted to play for. I’m just happy it worked out for him.

“I talked to him a couple of times over the last, well actually, I talked to him once over the last few weeks and we’ve communicated through the texting, which my daughter taught me how to do. As I say, he’s very private. I’m sure he’s happy it’s over with. What can I say? He’s a special young man, not only the baseball part of the game, but he’s just been a great role model for all the young kids. To do that in New York, especially as a single player where there are a lot of distractions that can certainly cut into what you do, I think he’s been tremendous. Hopefully he continues to stay healthy.”

Looks like I’ll be driving to Tampa in a few hours.

The Yankees just officially announced the Derek Jeter deal, and there’s a press conference scheduled for this afternoon at Steinbrenner Field.

And now that I’m no longer standing in line for coffee, here’s the full press release from the team.

The New York Yankees today announced they have signed shortstop Derek Jeter, Major League Baseball’s active hits leader and the Yankees’ all-time hits leader, to a three-year contract through 2013 with a player option for 2014.

Among all active players with at least 1,000 games played, Jeter, 36, owns the Majors’ highest personal career winning percentage (.601, 1,379-914-2), and has appeared in more Yankees victories (1,379) than any other player in franchise history according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Jeter is also the Yankees’ all-time leader in hits (2,926), at-bats (9,322) and singles (2,163), ranks second in games played (2,295), doubles (468) and stolen bases (323), is third in runs scored (1,685), fifth in batting average (.314), sixth in walks (948) and extra-base hits (763), ninth in RBI (1,135) and 10th in home runs (234).

Jeter is an 11-time American League All-Star and earned his fifth Gold Glove Award in 2010. He led all Major League shortstops last season with a career-best .989 fielding percentage and committed only six errors – the fewest miscues in a full season in his career and the fewest among all shortstops in the Majors in 2010 with at least 110 games at the position.

He has scored at least 100 runs 13 times in his career, tied with Lou Gehrig for the most 100-run seasons in franchise history and tied for the second-highest total all time, trailing only Hank Aaron’s 15 such seasons. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, his 15 consecutive seasons (since 1996) with at least 10 home runs and 10 stolen bases is the second longest streak all-time behind only Barry Bonds (16 straight from 1986-2001).

Jeter, a four-time Silver Slugger Award winner and 1996 AL Rookie of the Year Award winner, owns the most hits in Major League history as a shortstop. With 2,274 games played at the position, he is second on Baseball’s all-time list in games at shortstop for one club, trailing the Orioles’ Cal Ripken, Jr. (2,302). According to Elias, it marks the third-most contests among players who never played a game at any other fielding position, trailing only Luis Aparicio (2,583) and Ozzie Smith (2,511).

Jeter has appeared in the postseason in 15 of his 16 Major League seasons and is Baseball’s all-time leader in postseason games (147), runs scored (101), hits (185), doubles (30) and extra-base hits (54), ranks third in home runs (20) and is fourth in RBI (57). Of the 2,295 games in which Jeter has appeared, in only one were the Yankees mathematically eliminated from postseason play (September 26, 2008).

In 2010, Jeter hit .270 (179-for-663) with 111 runs, 30 doubles, three triples, 10 home runs and 67 RBI in 157 games with the Yankees. He ranked second among all Major League leadoff hitters with 104 runs and 60 RBI, and fifth with 167 hits.

Jeter was originally selected by the Yankees in the first round (sixth pick overall) of the 1992 First-Year Player Draft.

Associated Press photos

Could the Nationals be a legitimate threat to disrupt the Yankees offseason?

There are growing reports here in Orlando that the Nationals are legitimately involved in the Cliff Lee sweepstakes. There are rumors of big money, and there is speculation about a seven-year offer.

Washington jumped into the big-contract arena with Jayson Werth, and some of the chatter among writers was that the Nationals would have been better off spending that money on Lee. Now it appears the Nats might have more money to spend than ever imagined.

You can’t predict baseball.

This could very well be the day Derek Jeter officially re-signs with the Yankees. If that happens, it could easily overshadow anything else that happens with the team down in here in Florida.

Then again, there’s always Cliff Lee.

Jeter is the Yankees icon, but Lee is their primary offseason target and Ken Rosenthal reported last night that there are some who expect Lee to receive a seven-year offer. The Yankees don’t seem likely to offer that many years to a 32-year-old.

It’s easy to look at Jayson Werth’s seven-year deal and believe that creates precedent for Lee, but Werth is a year younger and a position player. Cashman made it clear yesterday that Werth’s deal will have no impact on his offer to Lee.

“I know what and where we’re willing to go,” Cashman said. “It’s not going to impact us.”

Among the Yankees secondary concerns this winter is their lack of depth in the outfield. The roster has a few young players who filled holes last season, but the Yankees need a fourth outfielder who they can count on for occasional starts in the corners, especially against left-handed pitching.

That’s where Matt Diaz comes into the picture.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the Yankees have shown some interest in the former Braves outfielder. He’s a free agent, and he seems to fit all the necessary criteria.

1. He hits lefties. With a switch hitter and two lefties in the starting lineup, the Yankees could use someone from the right side. They don’t necessarily need to setup a platoon, but adding a righty makes much more sense than adding a lefty and basically just as much sense as adding a switch hitter. Diaz is a right-handed hitter who’s hit lefties to the tune of a .335/.373/.533 slash line in his career. Even last season, in down year, Diaz had a .512 slugging percentage against lefties.

2. He’s not a bad everyday option. If someone gets hurt and the Yankees need a bench player to make regular starts, they could do worse than Diaz. He’s actually been at his best when’s seen regular playing time. He’s had more than 300 plate appearances in a season three times. Those have been his best years, hitting better than .300 with a .360-plus on-base percentage and a slugging percentage of .475 or better. As recently as 2009 he hit .313/.390/.488. Is he a sure thing? Of course not, but sure things don’t settle for bench roles.

3. He’s readily available. No need to get tricky here. Diaz is a free agent, having been non-tendered by the Braves after making $2.55 million last season. I don’t want to venture a guess at how much he might cost, but he wouldn’t cost anything in terms of prospects or young players. He’s not the only guy who fits the Yankees needs — and the Yankees surely aren’t the only team interested – but he at least seems like an option worth considering.

When the Yankees beat writers walked into Brian Cashman’s suite early this evening, the Yankees general manager was sitting in a chair in the corner, spinning a football in his hands and occasionally tossing it into the air. He was wearing jeans, flip-flops, a faded Yankees t-shirt and a dark, zip-up hoodie.

Cashman had been meeting with teams and agents all day, and said he never changed out of that outfit. This is going to be a long week in Orlanda, and Cashman plans to be comfortable.

“My whole day has been on a number of different players,” he said. “Some you probably wouldn’t think would be on our radar. We covered a lot of ground today to try to assess expected value and see if it matches up with something we’re trying to do.”

Obviously, Cashman met with Cliff Lee’s representation. “While we’re in the same area, I’m going to try to meet with him as much as I possibly can,” Cashman said.

Cashman wouldn’t go into detail about those Lee conversations — and he wouldn’t say exactly which other teams and agents stopped by his suite today — but it’s clear that Lee is a primary target. When Jayson Werth signed a massive contract yesterday, it might very well have affected Lee’s asking price, but it hasn’t affected the Yankees offer.

“I know what and where we’re willing to go,” Cashman said. “It’s not going to impact us, but it may impact them.”

• The only other free agent camp Cashman acknowledged talking to today was Kerry Wood’s. The Yankees have interest in bringing Wood back for the eighth inning, but Cashman realizes Wood could get a closer opportunity elsewhere. “If he does he won’t pitch here,” Cashman said. “I won’t compete with closer money.”

• Cashman on Jorge Posada: “He’s our DH. That’s what he is, unless he plays himself off of it.”

• With that in mind, Cashman mentioned Francisco Cervelli, Jesus Montero and Austin Romine as internal options at catcher. “I think we have the catching answers from within,” he said. “But it doesn’t mean that you don’t make sure that you explore additional opportunities at the same time.”

• When the Yankees non-tendered Alfredo Aceves, they made sure to let Aceves know that they’d like to have him back on a minor league deal. Cashman called that “less risky” than keeping Aceves on the 40-man.

• Before non-tendering Dustin Moseley, the Yankees offered Moseley a Major League contract that would keep Moseley out of arbitration. “They wanted to pursue something greater,” Cashman said. “I wasn’t going to tender it if I was going to be put in arbitration. I need to control our costs.”

• The three key players who had, or will have, surgery this winter — CC Sabathia, Jorge Posada and Brett Gardner — remain on track for spring training. Mark Teixeira has also progressed to the point he’s back on his normal winter routine.

• Cashman on the Yankees outfield depth: “That’s an area that we could upgrade on. Our backup situations aren’t as strong as our everyday situations.”

• There will probably be more discussion about this in the coming days, but Cashman said he doesn’t believe there are any lingering issues because of the occasionally tense Derek Jeter negotiations.

• Cashman on George Steinbrenner: “He’s a Hall of Famer. They just haven’t made it official yet.”

Associated Press photos of Cashman and Wood

When the season ended, Andy Pettitte told Brian Cashman that he was leaning toward retirement. As far as Cashman is concerned, that’s still the case.

“I talked to his agent about it maybe a week to 10 days ago, that position hadn’t changed,” Cashman said. “That’s where it’s at as of right now.”

Pettitte’s retirement decision is nothing new, but a stated preference for staying home is unprecedented.

“That’s the first time he’s ever done that, told me that directly,” Cashman said. “That’s not an official anything, other than that he’s a very honest communicator. I just think that as every year goes by, that tug is a lot harder.”

So where does that leave the Yankees rotation decisions?

“I move forward like I’ve done the past few winters,” Cashman said. “This is what Andy does. He goes home and deeply thinks about what’s the best next step for him and his family. He’ll come to some sort of decision on that. It’s usually not too shortly thereafter this time frame. That’s where we’re at right now.”

Associated Press photo

Ron Washington just said the Texas Rangers are going to do what they can to bring Cliff Lee back to Arlington.

“We’re going to put our best foot forward,” he said. “I’m always optimistic. I think we just have to wait and see what happens, but I stay optimistic.”

Washington praised Lee’s work ethic and overall impact on the Rangers pitching staff, saying he made all of the Texas pitchers better from the moment he arrived in Texas. He also said he believes Lee wants to come back to Texas, though he has not spoken to Lee at all this winter.

“I don’t think my talking to Cliff is going to determine what Cliff wants to do,” he said. “… You talk about the caliber of pitcher that Cliff Lee is, it’s quite important. Does it make or break the Texas Rangers? No it won’t. We’ll certainly do the best we can to make that happen.”

According to Bob Klapisch, the Yankees heard three weeks ago that Andy Pettitte is definitely retiring. The news didn’t come from Pettitte himself. It came from a “friend of Pettitte’s.”

Obviously Pettitte hasn’t announced anything himself, which indicates a decision has not been set in stone. Plus, that conversation with the yankees seems to have happened early last month, and a lot could have changed between now and then. Klapisch himself notes that the Yankees are still waiting for Pettitte’s decision.

But things have been pretty quiet on the Pettitte front, so any sort of news carries considerable weight. One of these years, Pettitte is actually going to retire. Could this be the year?

UPDATE, 3:28 p.m.: And just like that, Craig Calcaterra cites a source close to Pettitte who expects him back next season.

Cliff Lee’s agent gets surrounded by reporters and announces that it’s too early to announce anything. To early to know anything, even.

That’s the big Yankees news of the early afternoon, the fact that there is no news.

Brian Cashman will meet with the beat writers at some point tonight. There might be some Yankees news, or at least some Yankees quotes, that come out of that session. There will be more Cashman for those of you back in the New York area.

Check out YES Network tonight at 6:30 p.m. ET. Cashman is going to be a guest on their Hot Stove show.