Too Early to Burn Wood
First off I’d like to apologize to Mark Feinsand for disparaging remarks I made about him in my post yesterday. He seems like a nice man, does a good job as a Yankee Beat writer, and to opine in a negative way about his lisp and the fact that he looks like someone dipped his head in a bucket of olive oil or that he never met a midnight pizza run he didn’t like was inappropriate on my behalf. So Mark keep up the good work and I’m looking forward to reading your column and watching you on any future YES Shows.
I saw something in a Feinsand column yesterday about Brandon Phillips the Cincinnati 2nd baseman who could hit the market this winter. I also keep hearing Robbie Cano as trade bait for Carl Crawford come trading deadline time in 2010 if TB is out of reach to make a playoff spot. It’s amazing how one bad post season and a relaxed attitude automatically puts a guy in the daily specials isle at Stop and Shop. Well if some of you GM’s out there want to sample Brandon Phillips over Cano you might want to take a closer look at the Cincy 2nd baseman’s numbers. He has some pop (20 HR’s) almost drove in 100 RBI’s (98) he hit better then his career BA last year ( .276) he gets on base 33% of the time source
I don’t think Phillips is a bad guy, he’s just making too much dough for a team like Cinncinnati they owe him a tad under 30 million for the next 3 years. Mets Dodgers and Diamondbacks are the rumor. As for hints about moving Cano, the Yanks would have to bring back some type A + talent if Cano was to pack his bags. I’d say leave it alone, the Yankees already have the best infield in baseball and with Jeter in a contract year, Teixeira being Teixeira, ARod in Love, and Cano a special talent who is still growing, I would expect the Yankee infield to be as potent this coming season as it was in 09. Have Kevin Long pay Cano another visit this winter, show him some video, try to teach him how to finish, and Bob’s your uncle.
With the Yankees not in need or as desperate as they were last year the GM meetings have come to a crawl, and the hot stove is nothing but burnt out wood coals. From the articles floating around and I’ll target Jon Heyman, the Teams are looking to unload contracts this winter, so in due time things will heat back up. Guys who are making too much dough in smaller markets will be shopped, while bigger market teams will find those specific players a bargain. Granderson, Inge, Jackson, Arroyo, Cordero, Phillips, to name a few are in the specials bin. Ah I used to love the specials bin at the old record/ Cd MA and PA stores, you could really find some hot deals. Brand names who’s products were left by the wayside due to poor marketing, or the material on them just didn’t warrant the $15 dollar price tag they were asking to get.
It’s to early for any of that to happen yet, we have to wait until the organizational meetings take place in a week or two. The Yanks open shop on November 19th I believe, at that time as a Yankee fan I hope Hal and Hank have a strong opinion at the opening bell, but when it comes to the final decisions I do hope they let Cashman and his posse do their work. I know the SteinBros will be enamored with the Brand names on the market like Halladay and Holliday and Bay and Lackey etc, those luminaries translate into big bucks at the gate, but they don’t necessarily translate to good chemistry in the clubhouse or good play on the field, plus in some of those deals the Yanks could lose some very young talent with upside in trades, not to mention more long term deals with astronomical price tags
Personally I’d love to see another front line starter in the mix, but it’s more important to let Cashman and the scouts determine if it’s worth it to deal away guys like Chamberlain Hughes, Jackson, or Montero, or should they stay the course Cashman set out on when he turned down the Sanatana deal in 08? The 4 guys who represent the core aren’t getting any younger, and one thing we know for sure they know how to close the deal, they’ve done it 5 times in their career, so for me the big question moving into 2010 is do they bring in that one big gun like Halladay to make them the hands down favorite for the next few years while the old core can still produce, or do they hope the Young guns can finally come to fruition and go into battle with the same group?
This Yankee team had a nice blend of big shots and role players, they have a great leader in Jeter, an old school no nonesense guy in Posada, a pitcher with the most wins in the post season in Pettitte who helped guide the new Yankees like Sabathia and Burnett and the baby Yankees like Chamberlain and Hughes to success in NY, and of course they have the greatest of all time closing the deal in Mo Rivera leading his young fiefdom into battle out of the bullpen
I personally think Damon will tell his Agent to take a few weeks off and he will sign a reasonable deal to come back. Matsui will be sorely missed if the Yanks can’t find a spot for him. When I look at all the potential lineups that have been posted recently Matsui’s name missing doesn’t leave a warm and fuzzy feeling in old Sally’s gut. The DH position without Matsui will still have the likes of ARod, Jeter, Tex, Damon, and Posada holding down the fort on their days off, but Matsui has brought not only a lethal bat and approach to the plate but an intangible presence to the Yankee team make up
Aroldis Chapman update: the Bling King won’t come cheap source
More Matsui chatter in the Huffington Post from who else, his Agent. I was starting to think Tellem as the anti Boras, but I’ve since dropped that label to just Arn Tellem Agent source
A Fein Mess
Last night I had the pleasure of watching some of the YES Hot Stove Show. My focus was on Mark Feinsand. Outside of a maddening lisp and some greasy hair the little fat guy was an interesting listen. Usually YES is a step behind the internet but last night the one thing Feinsand mentioned that shocked me was his take that Joba Chamberlain is a 50 50 chance to go in a trade. He didn’t give reasons why, just that he thought Joba could be the bait for a guy like Doc Halladay. His take was Hughes back to the rotation.
Also as his coloum stated, Teams all around the majors are putting some of their best players on the block, looking to slash payroll this winter. How does Curtis Granderson look in pinstripes? I always liked CG, and always thought he’s look good in centerfield. Last year was an off year for the likable Granderson .249/.327/30 HR’s. On the D side in 1347 innings, 3 errors 4 assists. He strikes out alot (141 or more in three of the past four seasons) who can’t hit lefties (he hit .183 with two home runs and nine RBI in 180 at-bats last season. Feinsand’s take was If Cashman is going to trade Jackson and/or Montero, it’s got to be for Roy Halladay or another stud starting pitcher. The Yankees are intrigued by John Lackey, but not to the point where they want to give him $90 million. I don’t think anybody is going to give Lackey 90 million, so if the Yanks don’t panic they may be able to get the Texas bulldog for less dough and reasonable years. The good news is the Yankees are in a position of power this off season, unlike last year when it was paramount they reload for all the obvious reasons ( new Stadium, not making the playoffs in 08).
I wouldn’t mind seeing Doc in NY for a few reasons, one the Yanks don’t have to face him ever again, and two Sabathia and Halladay at the top of the rotation would be lethal, 3 Boston is sure to back up the truck to get Halladay in their rotation. To get Doc the Yanks would have to part with some great farm chips and most likely Chamberlain. Halladay will also have to be signed long term for a kings ransom, and next year the Yanks will have to deal with resigning Jeter and Mo. So if you want to see the rest of baseball go completely nuts, then light a candle for Roy Halladay.
No Japan For Matsui source
If they could get Granderson for Melky or Gardner and low-level prospects, they should. But I think the price will be higher. Feinsand on Twitter
Congrats to Jeter and Tex on the Silver Slugger Awards. The hits just keep coming for the Yanks in 09. source
Johnny Too Bad
Signing both Damon and Matsui would finalize the Yankees significant free agent position player signings. “If I did that I wouldn’t have room for anybody else unless I made trades,” Cashman said. To me, that suggests the Yankees are not considering replacing Xavier Nady.” from Chad Jennings.
I’m not sure what Jennings means, Nady is a free agent. Cashman probably wants to be able to negotiate with Bay, Holliday, and any of the type A Free Agents that are available on the market, after all how else can they help drive the price up to aggravate Boston.
As for Damon, most likely he’ll explain to his super agent that he’d rather hit .285, slam 35 doubles, drive in 80 runs, and be on base 35% of the time for the Yankees with a few million less bucks in his pocket, then doing all that for say Washington, Baltimore, and whoever else would be crazy enough to give him more dough, or more years while he’s sitting in the basement and playing meaningless baseball from June until September. He might have to wait until the Yankee front office gets back up off the floor from laughing t the Boras rant of Damon is worth Jeter money and he wants a 4 year deal, in fact hahahahahaha.
Boras more than anybody should know every player on the market will give the Yanks a call before they sign on the dotted line, so come back to us Scott, or better yet just go away, we’ll call you when we need you.
More Yankee Chatter
The Redsox left field position could get Uggla. Theo if your gonna make J Bay jealous at least go talk to a guy who actually plays left field source
Now that the GM meetings are over the AL East will spend Thursday trying to figure out how they will contend with the fact that Jason Varitek will be back in Boston. source
