The LoHud Yankees Blog

The weekend has come and gone, the ALCS has started, and it seems time for the Yankees to move on.

It’s rare that a team makes too much noise before the end of the World Series, but the Yankees will at least begin the process of moving forward when Joe Girardi holds his end-of-the-season press conference tomorrow. Girardi has already received a vote of confidence from his general manager.

“I thought he did a great job, I really did,” Brian Cashman said. “I thought Joe did a great job. This team, I don’t think by anybody — including myself — was picked to have the best record in the A.L. And we didn’t really change that roster much at all, other than promotions. We found a way to slot people in and make them believe in themselves. Like (in Game 5), unfortunate circumstance with Nova, and every time we opened that bullion door, guys found a way to hold it. There wasn’t really much of an opportunity for him to do much other managing than mixing and matching throughout the day.”

If the Yankees are going to make any real news this week, it’s likely to include Cashman himself. His contract doesn’t expire until the end of the month, but Buster Olney has already reported that Cashman and the Yankees are working toward a new deal that could be finalized before the end of the week.

“I promise the owners will continue to put that effort forth to find a way to put us in a position to have success in October,” Cashman said. “I don’t want to be talking about the failure side of it at all, but that’s what we have to do.”

Associated Press photo

If CC Sabathia’s planning to play hardball with the Yankees, he’s not doing a very good job hiding his love of New York. Just a few minutes ago, the Yankees ace posted a new Twitter message:

Missing the Bronx already,my daughter just asked me “can we go to Yankee game” I love NYC

The Tweet seems to have been a direct response to a typically terrific story from Ken Davidoff showing exactly how committed CC and his wife Amber have been since purchasing a house just outside of the city.

Sabathia might very well opt out, but given the Yankees focus on pitching and Sabathia’s love for New York, it’s still hard to imagine him ending up anywhere else.

Just got in from running some afternoon errands, and when I checked my email, I thought surely I’d missed something and the Yankees were, in fact, playing in the American League Championship Series.

This is the email from MLB:

Game Two of the 2011 American League Championship Series between the Detroit Tigers and Texas Rangers at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington has been postponed due to inclement weather and field conditions.  Game Two of the ALCS has been rescheduled for Monday at 4:19 p.m. (ET)/3:19 p.m. (CT) and will be televised by FOX Sports.

Sounds far too familiar, doesn’t it?

Picking up Robinson Cano’s option for 2012 is a no-brainer. Picking up Nick Swisher’s could be nearly as cut-and-dry, but there is an alternative. As Joel Sherman mentioned this morning, the Yankees could go after Carlos Beltran.

Coming off a strong return-to-form season, Beltran is one of the best bats on the market. He’s a switch hitter, he’s more than capable in the field, and his postseason track record — although both distant and relatively limited — is strong.

The downside…

It starts with the fact Beltran is 34 years old, and Sherman predicts a three-year deal worth $42 million. Putting Beltran in right field adds another name to the list of aging players with multi-year contracts for the Yankees. That’s especially worrisome given the fact Beltran hit just .255 in 2010 and has a series of health concerns. He didn’t play more than 81 games in 2010 or 2009, and this season he was hurt soon after being traded to the Giants.

To me, one of the biggest perks of re-signing Swisher is that he comes with no long-term risk. One year at $10.25 million isn’t a bad contract for a guy who gets on base and hits for power the way Swisher does. Given the way the corner outfield market exploded last winter, Swisher’s option isn’t a bad deal at all. From June 1 through the end of the regular season, he hit .283/.393/.513.

Granted, he’s never done much in the postseason, but Beltran hasn’t even been to the postseason since 2006, and there’s little guarantee that he’d be healthy enough to play in October next year.

It may be that none of this matters anyway. Brian Cashman has already made it clear that pitching is his priority this offseason, and he hinted that the Yankees might not do much to tweak the lineup.

“Our offense, despite (Game 5), is an area of strength,” Cashman said. “Offensively we should be OK.”

Associated Press photo

One thing to know about that first hour or so after the Yankees were eliminated: Derek Jeter spoke to a large group of reporters, went back to the players-only part of the clubhouse, then came back out to speak again. He might not say much, but when The Captain speaks, it carries weight, and everyone listens.

If that were ever going to change, this might have been the year.

Jeter spent the first half of this season repeating last year’s production, and although he remained in the leadoff spot, he was quickly becoming a more and more marginal piece of the offense. He was still Derek Jeter — still The Captain — but he was become more an elder statesman than a key piece of the puzzle.

Then everything changed.

Jeter’s second half: .327/.383/.428
Jeter’s career: .313/.383/.449

“He was the player we’re used to seeing,” Brian Cashman said.

When Jeter went on the disabled list in mid-June, he seemed all but finished. He was still a capable big league player, but he was nowhere close to the Derek Jeter. It was a matter of time before his status was similarly marginalized.

By the end of the season, he was the same as ever. He was The Captain in every way.

“You’re never satisfied,” Jeter said. “I’m not satisfied. I’m happy with some of the adjustments that I was able to make, but I wouldn’t say satisfied.”

Associated Press photo

Can you tell I’ve been going back through the Brian Cashman post-elimination interview today?

The Yankees will do an official end-of-the-season press conference at some point next week, but for now, what we have are snippets from the GM, the manager and a handful of players, all from immediately after the game, without time to digest what just happened. It some ways, that makes the comments more interesting.

Did the Yankees underachieve in the division series?

“I couldn’t say that,” Cashman said. “I think they did everything they could possibly try to do to win a series, but unfortunately you have to go up against a team that was extremely strong and well prepared as well. And talented. And this, going in, wasn’t going to be an easy series. Unfortunately they were better than us. It’s as simple as that. They didn’t want it any more than we did, but they found a way to get three wins to our two. And that’s it. There’s nothing more I can about it. Now is our time to look at 2012.”

Did the team overachieve in the regular season?

“No, I think we grew,” Cashman said. “I think there were question marks on people’s capabilities. Were they capable of doing it here? Some had a history of success elsewhere, some had a history of injuries in the most recent seasons, so I think there were a lot of questions as we exited spring training. And I think over time those questions got answered with real legitimate contributors. This team got stronger and mentally tougher along the way and showed themselves as a formidable opponent for a world championship. So I think Joe did a good job of bringing everybody together. So do I think it overachieved? I wouldn’t say overachieved. I would say there were certain areas that surprised us, and obviously we embraced those surprises very well.”

Associated Press photo

On the night the Yankees were eliminated, they were beaten by a starting pitcher who easily could have been pitching for them.

Doug Fister was traded at the deadline. He came to Detroit with reliever David Pauley for a package of four young players. He came with a miserable 3-12 record, but he also came with a 3.33 ERA, a 1.17 WHIP and a contract that had not yet reached arbitration. With the Tigers, Fister was a difference maker, going 8-1 with a 1.79 ERA.

Should he have been with the Yankees?

It’s easy to look back and say, yes. Fister is still just 27 years old, and although he’s not an overpowering pitcher, he doesn’t walk many guys and he’s been a reliable starter for two and a half seasons now.

It’s also easy to look back and remember what the Yankees were on July 31. They were a team with too many middle-of-the-rotation starters as it was. They needed a clear upgrade, and although Fister looks like that today, back in July he was a guy with a 4.40 ERA on the road and a 3.42 at spacious Safeco Field. He was a nice pitcher, but not one who was clearly better than Ivan Nova or Freddy Garcia or the freshly healthy Phil Hughes or the still-pitching-well Bartolo Colon.

Ubaldo Jimenez looked like a real upgrade, but he went to Cleveland and pitched to a 5.10 ERA in the last two months. His worst starts were against — who else? — the Detroit Tigers. Edwin Jackson was a nice addition for the Cardinals, but he fits the Fister profile as a not-a-sure-thing addition for the Yankees. Hunter Pence helped balance the Phillies lineup, but the Yankees had no pressing need in the outfield. Francisco Rodriguez helped the Brewers advance, but the Yankees bullpen was a strength, not a weakness.

It’s easy to look back at Fister as a missed opportunity, but it’s also easy to look back at the Yankees situation in late July and believe Cashman when he says, “I don’t see there was any missed opportunity I could have done differently.”

Associated Press photo

Most of Brian Cashman’s outside-the-box winter moves — Freddy Garcia, Bartolo Colon, Eric Chavez, Luis Ayala — gave the Yankees a greater-than-expected boost this season. These were players fresh off the bargain rack, and they gave the Yankees the depth they needed when inevitable injuries struck.

In the case of Garcia, Cashman landed a low-cost, low-profile addition that became the Yankees third-best starter this season.

Ultimately, Cashman had a better offseason than most imagined eight months ago. And he managed to fortify the roster with another low-profile, mid-season addition: The minor league signing of Cory Wade.

At the trade deadline, though, Cashman was silent. Did that quiet July affect the Yankees in their brief October?

“I can just tell you I tried to do everything I felt was right and hoped it would be enough,” Cashman said. “I was comfortable with the decisions I made. I wish I could have made us better so we weren’t sitting in this position, but I’m comfortable with everything I did. I don’t see there was any missed opportunity I could have done differently.”

Associated Press photo

As Thursday night gave way to Friday morning, Brian Cashman walked into the Yankees clubhouse through the door in the back of the room. He looked around at groups of reporters gathered around Alex Rodriguez and a few other players, then found himself a seat on the couch in the middle of the room.

He was waiting his turn.

As reporters finally gathered around the Yankees general manager, the conversation inevitably turned to the winter. Problem was, no one could say for certain that Cashman would be the man making the decisions this winter.

“That’s not for me to say,” Cashman said. “I have a contract that runs until the end of the month, so it’s going to be a long month.”

Does he want to be back?

“Yeah, that hasn’t changed,” Cashman said.

Publicly, the Yankees front office has been supportive of Cashman. Of course, losing in the division series — in a year when Cashman did not upgrade the team at the trade deadline — does leave some level of uncertainty.

“I’m disappointed for our fans and I’m disappointed for ourselves,” Cashman said. “I’ll sit down with ownership. Obviously they’re going to be very disappointed and rightfully so. We’ll deal with that on another day. I wasn’t prepared to talk about it tomorrow or tonight, for any aspects of our club, including myself. So that’ll be for another day. Unfortunately we’re going to have to deal with all that stuff sooner than we wished.”

Associated Press photo

The Yankees today released a statement from Hal Steinbrenner.

I’d like to thank our great fans for their support throughout the entire 2011 season. We shared a number of memorable moments, including Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera’s historic achievements, while earning the right to play in the postseason for the sixteenth time in the last seventeen years.

I personally share in our fans’ disappointment that this season has ended without a championship. That is, and always will be, our singular goal every season. I assure you that this disappointment will strengthen our resolve to field a team in 2012 that can bring a twenty-eighth championship to the Bronx. That work starts now.

We played a very talented team in the Detroit Tigers and they deserve to play in the American League Championship Series. I congratulate Mike Ilitch, Dave Dombrowski, Jim Leyland and the entire Tigers organization. Their team has given the city of Detroit something to be very proud of.

A few other notes from today.

• Joel Sherman reported that Eric Chavez is “leaning heavily” toward retiring after this injury shortened season. If the Yankees want to give Alex Rodriguez regular DH at-bats next season, they might need another Chavez-type to play the corners, or they could trust Eduardo Nunez with a more regular role.

• A lot of questions in today’s chat about Yu Darvish, who is certainly the biggest name on the international free agent market. Bob Nightengale reports that “rival teams are predicting” the Rangers will be the team to land Darvish. The Yankees would have to be convinced Darvish wouldn’t be another Kei Igawa, and by all accounts, he’s not.

• TBS announced that last night’s Game 5 drew 9.72 million viewers and was the most watched LDS game in cable television history. It was the most watched LDS game on television — network or cable — since the 2005 Game 5 between the Yankees and Angels.

• Baseball America’s latest minor leagues transactions say that Gustavo Molina has elected free agency. That was inevitable. Also inevitable: The Yankees finding a veteran catcher just like him to play a similar role next season.