RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Sports and Wrestling How 'bout them Yankees- 2008 (and no other team matters!)

Yanks declined options on Giambi and Pavano today; this coming a week after Abreu had filed for free agency. All in all, the Yankees have temporarily lost $89 million in base-salary from their 2008 roster. Moose, Pettitte and Abreu may all return(for less, if the Yankees are smart), but, as anticipated, this does give them some spending room. My guess would be that at least one of the set of Sabathia-Burnett-Lowe-Sheets-Dempster will be in pinstripes next year, and that how much they have left from the trip down "Free Agent Pitcher Lane" will determine how much they put on Manny and/or Teixeira's table.

wouldn't that money have been better spent on any combination of Lowe, Burnett

Also, this doesn't address their other need, namely a first baseman

it really does seem like a "ny" type decision, of "oh shit, we need this teh mostest!!1!"

he's the best pitcher available on the market, but not the best pitcher of all time, so a deal like this is a bit weird. then again, the yankees really are desperate for starters. rookies and injuries aside, it's like they mathematically don't have enough of them, and a guy like CC offers a ton.

he's young (comparatively), healthy (comparatively) and very reliable. really good, solid stats. but can he pitch in the big city? and more importantly, in october? we'll see.

this deal is getting a lot of notice, especially because they yankees passed on the santana opportunity last year. even with hindsight, i like this deal better, as the yankees aren't giving up anything but cash. granted, its a ridiculous amount, but... i also like that its a long-term deal, which although could obviously hurt more, i think has more benefit-potential for the yankees in producing a veteran machine

He's 28, so he's in or near is prime

With the Brewers he agreed to go on 3 days rest down the stretch which in a free agent year taking on this additional risk for the good of the team is something in this day and age.

let's sign all the other big names out there too! Burnett, Lowe, Sheets and Texeira!

sure, we've had years of steroids to alter the stats, but... it just seems like pitchers are able to last much longer than they used to. many of the game's big names are deep into their 30s



i admire that level of work ethic in a regular year, but knowing how much more prone to exhaustion or injury that'd make you in a free agent year is really something.

...er... something good.

It's 80s Steinbrenner all over again!!!

So much for Cashman's plan to develop talent to keep the team competitive, like the Red Sox, Ray, Brewers, and other teams.

The funny thing? If they'd been willing to trade Melky last offseason, they'd have gotten Johan Santana.

So much for Cashman's plan to develop talent to keep the team competitive, like the Red Sox, Ray, Brewers, and other teams. It's 80s Steinbrenner all over again!!!

The funny thing? If they'd been willing to trade Melky last offseason, they'd have gotten Johan Santana.

I think we are doing soemthing right if we are pissing Red Sox fans off this early! Go Obama!

Boston is nothing without Manny. They should be calling him and begging him back.

I would love Manny on the Yanks.

The New York Post's George A. King III reports that if the Yankees can't get Mark Teixeira, they're "right there on" Manny Ramirez.

"If they pass on Teixeira, the Yankees will try and bolster a sagging lineup with Ramirez... And to clear some money, they might entertain offers for outfielder Xavier Nady, who made $3.35 million last year, is arbitration eligible and a free agent after the 2009 season."

The article mentions a 3 year deal despite Scott Boras seeking five.

King suggests Jermaine Dye is another option; however, Dye has the Yankees listed as one of six teams he would veto a trade to.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2008/12/yankees-pursuin.html



I would like to see the Yanks sign Manny and give Xavier Nady to the Reds and some cash as a signal of good will.

Joey is at first!

Say hello to the New York Yankees, still the third-best team in the American League East.

That’s the hard truth of Brian Cashman’s spending spree. Sure, he got plenty of headlines and created lots of buzz, but what he hasn’t done is make his team better than the Boston Red Sox or Tampa Bay Rays.

Want to debate this point?

OK, here goes.

The Yankees are going to run out a rotation of CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Chien-Ming Wang, Joba Chamberlain and perhaps either Andy Pettitte or Ben Sheets.

Nice, huh?

Even with the questions—Burnett’s injury history, Chamberlain’s tough adjustment from reliever to starter and the assorted concerns around both Pettitte and Sheets—the Yankees have closed some ground on the Rays and Red Sox.

Just not enough. The Rays are still better. James Shields, Scott Kazmir, Matt Garza, David Price and Andy Sonnanstine still comprise baseball’s deepest rotation.

They’ve been on the big stage, too. No one will wonder any longer how they’ll handle pennant-race pressure. They did just fine.

There’s depth, too. Three youngsters—Jason Hammel, Jeff Niemann and Mitch Talbot—appear just about ready for the big leagues. Free agency can’t buy that kind of depth.

The Red Sox? How do you like a rotation of Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Justin Masterson and Tim Wakefield?

Don’t write that group in stone yet. Boston may spring for a starter in free agency, possibly Derek Lowe.

The Red Sox and Rays both have deep, talented bullpens. They don’t have Mariano Rivera, but Jonathan Papelbon is in the discussion about baseball’s best closer.

Rays manager Joe Maddon did a terrific job mixing and matching his relievers late in games. Troy Percival will be back in the role of closer, but playing two months without him allowed Maddon to discover just how many options he has.

In other words, don’t feel sorry for the Rays. Don’t fret that last year’s amazing run was lightning in a bottle.

The Rays are built for the long haul. There’s no artistry to overwhelming a free agent with dollars.

There’s plenty of artistry in attempting to keep the A.L. champions at the top of the heap with a limited payroll.

“We demonstrated last year that payroll doesn’t necessarily decide the standings,” Rays GM Andrew Freidman wrote in an email.

The Rays got better, too, when Friedman last week traded one of his starters, Edwin Jackson, to the Tigers for 24-year-old right fielder Matt Joyce.

“He’s above average defensively,” Friedman said. “We like what he brings to our club. … We feel like he can help us for many years to come.”

Tampa Bay’s outfield of Carl Crawford, B.J. Upton and Joyce might just be the best in baseball.

The Yankees? How does an outfield of Xavier Nady, Brett Gardner and Johnny Damon ring your chime?

Not impressed? Didn’t think so. Boston’s is also better: Jason Bay, Jacoby Ellsbury, J.D. Drew.

But Yankees aren’t done yet. Mark Teixeira and Manny Ramirez are on their radar screen.

Yet we’ve learned the last few years that chemistry and grit are as important as pure talent.

The Yankees left spring training a couple of years ago with 18 former all-stars on their roster. That team didn’t get out of the first round of the playoffs.

The Rays and Red Sox have a clubhouse chemistry that is impossible to overestimate. They’ve got managers—Maddon and Terry Francona—brilliant at making the pieces fit and keeping the club headed in the right direction.

Talent, of course, is important, too, but in this era of parity, it’s tougher and tougher to buy a championship.

The Yankees have spent more on payroll than any other team for several years. They haven’t gotten out of the first round of the playoffs since 2004, haven’t been to the World Series since 2003, haven’t won a championship since 2000.

They tried buying a championship with Jason Giambi, Jaret Wright, Carl Pavano, etc. Never mind that chemistry and toughness were a huge part of how they won four World Series under Joe Torre.

Cashman has attempted to steer the Yankees back toward becoming a scouting-and-development organization, but after missing the playoffs in 2008, he felt he had no choice but look for a quick-fix through free agency.

Meanwhile, in Tampa, the Rays are keeping an eye on the Yankees while taking care of their own business. Friedman did a brilliant job building a pennant winner last year with under-the-radar signings like Eric Hinske, Gabe Gross and Cliff Floyd.

As long as Friedman and Maddon are in charge, the Rays will be competitive. How do they feel watching the Yankees build a roster with the checkbook?

“It wasn’t unexpected,” Friedman wrote. “We knew going into this off season that they would basically be immune from the economic downturn. We can’t get too caught up in what the Yankees and Red Sox do. We’re confident that if we are able to accomplish our goals for this off season that we’ll be in good position to defend our American League Championship.”

The Red Sox and Rays both plan to get better by opening day. Tampa may make offers to Milton Bradley and Jason Giambi. The Red Sox likely will be in the Teixeira sweepstakes until the end and might trade a pitcher (Clay Buchholz) for one of the Texas catchers.

Regardless, there’s a confidence around the Red Sox. They’re not going to react to the Yankees. “We’re optimistic about where we are as an organization and our foundation,” Epstein said.