The Yankees will try to sign Cliff Lee this offseason, but it doesn’t look like they’ll bid as aggressively on the top free agent bats. At this point, they don’t plan to pursue Jayson Werth and Carl Crawford, according to Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News.
Brett Gardner, Nick Swisher and Curtis Granderson give the Yankees a capable and relatively affordable outfield. Crawford and Werth will require tens of millions of dollars and multiyear commitments, so the Yankees are reluctant to enter the bidding for them.
"We are better with Crawford, but at that price?" a Yankees source asked Feinsand. "I'm not sure it's that good of an upgrade."
Of course we didn’t expect the Yankees to end up with Mark Teixeira two winters ago, but they swooped in with a last minute bid. The Bronx Bombers could get by without Crawford and Werth and it appears that they don’t intend to sign either outfielder, but let’s not rule them out completely until it’s official.
Doubt this.. I can see them Trading Swisher
I doubt it. Swisher is serviceable in the outfield and has a good switch hitting bat and is a perfect fit in the clubhouse. I don’t know if I see the Yanks re-signing him because of needing to move older guys around (and his woeful post-season performances), but I don’t see them trading him at all.
Last year at this time, a high-placed Yankee insider called Crawford “as good as a Yankee-in-waiting,” which is far more credible given the ways their supposed non-interest now could affect the price. I think the Teixeria saga is a great comparison, and I would be surprised — not shocked — to see the Yankees miss an opportunity to make a last-minute bid for Crawford, especially if the Angels are the only other serious suitor, which they may well be.
Not a chance in hell
And get little in return and have to eat some salary? I doubt it.
Is it just me or when I see the Yankees say they’re NOT going after a perticular free agent that actually means they ARE going after that perticular free agaent?
NO. It’s not just you. It’s the Yankees.
Yup, just typical Yankee misdirection baloney. I think Cashman has a psychology degree. LOL
Come to think about it Granderson will be gone before Swisher.. and they get in a bidding war with the BoSox and win Crawford, and play Gardner in CF
who’s taking granderson though?
realistically gardner is probably the most valuable OF they can dangle on the trade market.
I just don’t think they would let him go… after Jeter is gone he will be the next home grown face of the Yankees imo
how about cano?
Yeah, Cano will definitely be the next home grown face of the yankees, by far. Great bat, great fielder, he has future MVP and Gold glover written all over him, and this is coming from a Red Sox fan.
its funny, he’s the one player whos just too good and to likeable on the yankees to hate.. maybe moe too, its tough to hate moe.
Even more likeable than A-Rod??? Wow!!!
^ Sarcasm of course.
Gardner is vastly overrated, IMO. One decent season where he’s batting 9th in an All-Star lineup.
but he’s still worth more then Swisher and Granderson, because he’s under control and making no money..
Yeah, vastly overrated for a $500k a year player.
How is he vastly overrated? Granted, he probably sees good pitches due to the lineup, but how does that explain his 79 BB’s in 569 PA’s, great speed, and fantastic defense?
because every Yankee fan in this city thinks he’s better than granderson or crawford. because his is the david eckstein of the yankees. because he (again) has one decent season under his belt. put him on another team (see Melky Cabrera) and see what he does…
Comparing Gardner to Melky…seriously? Think about what you are saying..
So you’re equating him to Melky Cabrera just because they have both donned a Yankees uniform? Seems like a good argument.
Gardner is just continuing where he left off in the minors–being a great OB, speed, and defense guy. It’s not as if he’s going to hit 20 HR.
no, i’m comparing their hype. not their game.
Well, you just lost the argument. If Gardner’s “game” isn’t being argued, then the so-called “hype” surrounding him is justified.
worst logic ever. gardner is better than cabrera, therefore his hype is legitimate.
You are really grasping at air. Gardner had a great season by all measures, yet you’re trying to claim he’s overhyped like Melky–even though you just admitted Gardner is in a different class than Melky! When a player has a great season like Gardner did, it’s not hype, it’s talent. Just accept it.
again. be honest with yourself. put gardner batting 8th on the dodgers, between russell martin and clayton kershaw. does he have the same results as he does on the yankees? not a chance.
He would be hitting leadoff for the Dodgers. But regardless, great plate discipline, speed, and defense has nothing to do with where you hit in a lineup or which team you play for. If you wanted to argue about R, RBI, or HR totals, maybe you would actual point instead of what you’re spewing.
Gardner is the only real dynamic player that can manufacturer a run by himself, ya granderson can do it too but not as well as gardner when we’re talking about getting on base. Discount Gardner’s bad september (quite frankly he’s still young) you have a great player on your hands who is extraordinarily different and adds a whole new dynamic to a line up of just power bats.
No Yankee fan or any baseball fan said Gardner is better than Crawford. It’s just you wanting to put words in people’s mouth.
come to new york, talk to yankee fans.
I do live in New York, and that point isn’t being made.
The only point that is getting lost in this is whether the Yankees should go after Crawford/Werth. Since they already have Gardner/Granderson/Swisher set in the outfield, there’s no need to chase Crawford/Werth–however, if the Yanks decide to sign one of them, a trade will have to be made in order to open an outfield slot.
Already live here, and am a Yankee fan. Nice try.
How about you tell people to go to Philly, talk to Philly fans. Who have said (before this year) Ryan Howard is better than Pujols because he hits more home runs.
Now when he K’s to end the NLCS, I was over on the ESPN boards, where Philly fans were saying he’s overrated.
Gardner is flat out better than the Melk man
He had a 5.4 WAR this year, second only to Cano’s 6.4. He is that good.
By comparison, Swisher was at 4.1 and Granderson was at 3.6.
He should be batting leadoff. Outside of Robinson Cano, he had the highest OBP of any Yankee and by far and away the most stolen bases on the team.
He needs to bat lead off full time, not Jeter.
Well, Jeter will probably hit behind him and GIDP. So batting second should be the righ choice for him.
Even thoguh the Yankees will never do this, although it isn’t a bad idea regardless, how about batting 9th? Unless he repeats his 2009 season and not his 2010. Although I’ll settle for the in between
Well you didn’t answer my question about granderson though.
He’s owed 18 million the next 2 seasons. He started to come around in the second half last year, but I don’t know if you’ll get anything back to justify trading him off.
Face? I don’t think so (see: Cano). But definitely the new lead-off hitter of the future.
I think they like how Granderson turned it around this year.
As a die hard Yankees fan and have been since 1980 this kinda upsets me. But I look back at the signing of Tex and they said the same thing. As much as I love Granderson I would trade him and put Gardner in CF and Crawford in LF. This also could be their way of saying we are going to get Lee at any cost. If they don’t go after Crawford and they don’t get Lee it will be just because he loves Texas which from what I hear is not the case. If Lee goes to the highest bidder he’s a Yankee.
Aww poor guy. Your team isnt going to open up the checkbook and snatch up all the best free agents this offseason. I cant imagine the agony.
Agreed–it must be tough for Yankee fans to know that their team won’t buy every top notch free agent. Imagine they may only land Cliff Lee-what a terrible off season
I think there are more non-Yankee fans speculating that the Yanks would sign CC or Werth than there are Yankee fans that feel that way. But it’s ok. Expecting the worse might soften the blow if you expect your own team to do absolutely nothing this winter. Focus your hate eastward while the Angels, Tigers or some other team signs CC to a mega deal.
You know what would be awesome? If the Yankees signed no meaningful free agent this winter.
Well that’s what happened last winter.
That would make it awesomer then, no? 😛
That would make it awesomer then, no? 😛
Feel free to be jealous at any point in this discussion. Oh wait..
That’s also funny. Same joke every year….how deep are the Yankee pockets?
We got jokes today!
They didn’t do it last year. Matter of fact they were amongst the bottom teams to do so last year. They mostly do it when they have a lot of payroll coming off the books like they did after 2008 when they had $80 million coming off. That’s why they got CC Tex and AJ
Matter of fact, on the Yankees roster, those are the only 3 players on the team whom they acquired via free agency, unless you count A-Rod coming back. Everyone else is eitehr homegrown or came via a trade.
True, but without two of those guys (and Burnett is NOT one them) the Yankees don’t make the playoffs this year or win the Series in ’09.
And that’s why they got them. To improve the team at a weak positions- SP and 1B. Giambi at 1B made Bill Buckner look like a GG. With Mussina out, Joba on an innings limit as a starter, and Pettitte who was thinking of retirement, they got Sabathia and Burnett. Pettitte I believe signed in January, a month after they got those guys.
I think the rotation going into the season was CC, Wang, AJ, Pettitte, Joba.
That’s funny. Had to laugh.
And after the 2005 season Cashman said they were planning on giving Bubba Crosby a chance to be a starter… a few weeks later they signed Damon. So yeah, I believe the phrase is “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
Yankees never said they were not interested in Damon.
Great use of double negatives… My point was when they don’t try to sign a high price free agent they’ve been rumored to like then I’ll believe it.
I’m for the most part good when using them. A common phrase you hear with double negatives is “I didn’t do nothing”
I can bet you everything, bearing an offseason injury to a Yankee OFer or bearing a trade of an OFer, the Yankees will not sign Carl Crawford. They don’t need him.
Since when does “need” matter for a team with a checkbook?
I don’t know. Let’s ask the Red Sox the same question who have the checkbook. They didn’t need Lackey when they had Beckett (healthy at the time), Wakefield, Dice-K, Lester and Buchholz.
Although he came via trade, they didn’t need Gagne in 2007 when they had the best bullpen as is, except he was horrible for them.
I do not recall if Lowell was healthy or not healthy before this year started, but if he indeed was healthy, at the time of the signing, they didn’t need Beltre.
I’m not sure why you’re disagreeing with me on this or what your argument is. You’re acting as if I’m saying they can’t afford him. Well sure they can, but despite him being a great player, he’d be a waste of money for the team. Better to use the money on soemthing they do need, which is pitching and that’s why they want Lee, who would help the Yankees about 2304982304972x more than Crawford.
Totally Disagree, they NEEDED Lackey because they had Wakefield and Dice-K and Buchholz was still unproven LOL
Buchholz pitched the entier 2nd half in 2009 and was fully ready. But they still had a 5 man rotation after 2009. The Yankees did not after 2008.
The Yankees primary rotation in 2008 was Wang, Mussina, Rasner, Pettitte and Ponson. Going into the offseason they had only Wang guaranteed to pitch in 2009. Mussina retired, Darrel Rasner was traded to Japan in November, Pettitte didn’t re-sign until January and might do the same this year, and Sidney Ponson went to KC I believe. Joba was a starter for some games in 2008 and they knew they’d have an innings limit on him in 2009
The only full time starter for 2009 they had going into the offseason after 2008 was Wang.
3 of the others were gone, 1 was unsure of whether he would return. CC and Burnett made perfect sense to come here.
While I can’t say the Red Sox acquiring Lackey was a bad move, despite him having an average year, he wasn’t needed desperately.
I should correct myself and say acquiring CC and Burnett made perfect sense for the Yankees. Just like attempting to acquire Lee does this year. As of right now, they only have a 3 man rotation set. 2 of the 3 are inconsistent.
Matt Holliday, Jason Bay and John Lackey were all linked to the Yanks. Yanks have three needs. Starting pitching (at least 1 front of rotation), bullpen upgrades and a RH replacement for Thames. Other than than trying to sign Lee I expect all other pickups to be of the Thames, Winn or Park variety.
Brett Gardner is world’s better than Bubba Crosby though–that’s the key difference.
And Werth and Crawford are worlds better than Gardner… not sure what your point is.
The point is that Gardner is a starting player, whereas Crosby was not. If the Yankees were to sign Werth or Crawford, they would have to make room for him–which was not the situation with Damon. Now do you understand the point now?
Crawford, maybe. Werth? He is not “worlds better” than Gardner. Gards is a much better fielder, and has adequate offensive tools for what the Yankees need.
WAR
Crawford 6.9
Gardner 5.4
Werth 5.0
Crawford is way better, but as I wrote, Yankees do not need him.
Werth is indeed “worlds better” than Brett Gardner.
If you say so. I don’t use WAR much, but for those who do, WAR says Gardner is. Or at least was, in 2010
And if you mean “worlds better” being more power, I agree. But Gardner gets on base more, steals more and plays better defense. 2 different types of players.
By your logic, an OFer with good power is “worlds better” than Ichiro.
I think you have to seperate the situations. In one case you had a virtual nobody who had a career year @ .276/.304/.327 @ age 28 and a minor lge pedigree of .277/.346/.417 in 7 seasons. In the other case of Gardner, you have a guy coming off of a .277/.383/.367 w/ 47/56 SB. In one case you’re going into a season w/ a virtual unknown. In the other you have more of a known quantity that helped you finish 1 win shy of the best record in the AL.
I would be shocked if the Yanks made a serious play for CC or Werth. I think these Yankees are a little diferent from the Boss led Yanks. I don’t think they make moves for the sake of making moves. How many wins will CC or Werth add above Gardner or Swisher? I think the Yanks know they have to improve the rotation and even if they miss out on Lee they will try and acquire someone and that someone isn’t going to be making lge minimum. So whomever they acquire along with either CC or Werth pushes the Yankees to the $220-$225 range and an additional 40% luxury tax rate for every player they acquire while they are over the threshold which they will obviously be. So instead of paying CC $20 mil per it acutally $28 mil per. Is it worth paying CC $28 mil per when Gardner @ $400k gives you just about everything CC does except for 15 hrs?
Probably not going to happen, but I’d love to have the Dodgers go after Crawford to round out the scariest outfield in baseball. Kemp could use a guy like Crawford to push him…
Surprise ,surprise who didn’t see this coming?They’ll probably end up with Lee ..I just got 1 question about this statement “We are better with Crawford, but at that price?” a Yankees source asked Feinsand. “I’m not sure it’s that good of an upgrade.”
Since when has money been an issue for the Yankees ? 🙂 Didn’t they say the same about Mark Teixeira or CC Sabathia and boom!! they signed Tex,CC,and AJ?
I think I know why. Look at the money they are paying Mark Teixiera, A-Rod, CC, AJ. Look how much Crawford or werth would cost. Look at how much Jeter, Pettite, and Rivera are going to cost. Look at how much Cano’s, Gardner’s, Hughes’ and Jobs’s eventual raises are going to have to be…even the Yankees run low on money at some point. Giving away all that money would put them around 350mil a year I would think. Not even the Yankees are that good.
oh and add LEe too lol
Did you not get my sarcastic smile?
oh, didn’t see the smile actually lol
Sigh…big difference to having $80 mil coming of the books and using it to acquire CC, AJ and Tex. This year (assuming the Yanks bring back Mo, Jeter and Pettitte) Yanks have about $20 mil coming off and adding Lee and CC/Werth equates to a net salary gain of $25 mil and another $10 mil in luxury tax. So the difference is going into the off season coming off of a $200 mil payroll and ending at a $200 payroll with CC, AJ and Tex added vs going into winter of 2010 w/ a payroll of $210 and coming out with a $230 mil payroll and more money spent on the luxury tax. Big difference.
I shake my head when ppl can’t fathom what happened in 2008. They had..
-There best starter retiring in 20 game winner Mussina
-Starting LF (Abreu)
-Starting DH/1B (Giambi)
-Pavano
-I-rod
This year they only have Vazquez and Johnson as the big money guys coming off so unless they don’t mind going into the $225-$230 range then they have to be carefull. Even with Lee they are pushing against thhe $210-$215 range and then have to go cheap to fill the other spots.
Lee will probably won’t go to the wankees. After the Wankee fans ruined it with the whole incident with Lee’s wife. When it comes down to it his family has the last say and they made it loud and clear that they don’t like NY and their fans.
I’m sure 160 million will change her attitude pretty quick
There is no way he will get 160 million. 20 mill a year sounds more realistic.
No way he only gets 20, He’ll be looking for a 6-7 year 23-25 mil a year contract..
Yeah and guess what. The Yankees will not participate at those levels. Lee gets offered a 4 year deal, maybe adds a fifth max, if needed to seal the deal. Yanks are treading on dangerous ground with a lot of “older” high dollar contracts. Yeah they are aggressive spenders, but they are not stupid. Quite frankly, I think many of us are wrong. The Yankees may set the market for Lee, but I’m not persuaded he is going to the Yanks, coming from a Yank fan. I think many neglect to consider Cashman is a shrewd and very good negotiator. That being said, with the Lee thing becoming such a spectacle, I wouldn’t rule out Cashman blowing our minds with some big trade. For who, who knows, but you serve up Montero, Joba, and one of the other many highly rated arms they have, well that’s a serious package to get a serious discussion going, a package that could match or better any team in the league this offseason.
but why give up montero or betances, both could be future all stars, for a pitcher who probably wont be as good as lee, unless they trade for Felix Hernandez, which would prob take a bigger package.
Money is their greatest resource, why not just sign lee and keep their prospects.
I mean if you are right and Lee doesnt age well, the team will still be better with Betances and Montero then without them.
Especially Betances, I mean ever seen this kid pitch?? He has Ace written all over him.
I agree with some of this. We just don’t know.
I don’t know, almost every Yankee fan wants to trade them for a pitcher. I don’t know about them but I can handle losing a couple seasons just so our prospects could transition.
“I think many neglect to consider Cashman is a shrewd and very good negotiator”
Cashman may be shrewd, but he’s got Hank to contend with. Never underestimate a guy who overstepped his GM to sign A-Rod to that last monstrosity of a contract.
Maybe Hal got Hank to back off forever, I dunno, I don’t work there. Hal is clearly the smarter of the two as far as baseball minds go, that said, the precedent has been set that Hank MAY overreach Cashman at any time and we simply can’t put it past him, especially in a circumstance like this where if Pettitte retires and the Yankees don’t get Lee, their rotation could become a huge weakness.
Hal controls anything and everything to do with the teams finances, Hank is more hands on with the baseball operations just to clear that up
its easy to be a good negotiator with $160mil in your hand.
It makes perfectly good sense for the Yanks to sign Lee. Ppl make way too much of the state and age of the Yanks lineup. The two most integral parts of the Yanks future might be Montero and their minor lge pitchers. We keep talking about the three killer B’s but we won’t know which ones might hit and which ones might miss. Montero is the best shot we have of adding a dynamic bat to the lineup w/o spending millions upon millions. IF Posada retires after this year (which I’m sure he will) and if Arod and Jeter didn’t just have a bad season but was actually the start of their offensive decline then we need a powerfull bat, especially from the right side, to pick up the slack w/o costing millions and if you look carefullu we don’t have too many places to make those improvements position wise. Keep in mind that Pettitte is probably not going to be around after 2011 and AJ comes off in 2013. If we don’t sign Lee then we are forced to use Montero and one of Bets/Ban/Brack as trade pieces. Whomever we acquire will most likely be a pitcher being moved for salary reasons (what other reasons do you ever see front rotation guys traded these days) and will probably either be under contract for $15 mil + or require an extension of $15 mil or plus.
So why not just spend $20-$25 to get Lee as opposed to Montero + ble chip pitching prospect + others + $15-$20 mil in salary??
SIGN LEE AND KEEP THE PROSPECTS. Then we can gradually use those prospects to replace our own aging pitchers and/or acquire pieces in the OF to replace Jeter or someone else at the end of their deals.
If Halladay took a paycut for $20mil a year, and Lee already has said he won’t do that, he’ll be making more than $20mil a year.
If no MLB offers that, he’ll listen to offers from outside North America.
Then why wouldn’t he get 160 million? He’ll probably get 20 mill a year for 8 years, which equals: 160 million!
Put your monopoly money down for five minutes and think, dude..
CC’s deal is not a template for a Lee deal, as others have compared. CC is a far more durable pitcher, who was younger. CC had been dominant since day 1, where as Lee not so much. Most of Lee’s success has come in the last 2-3 season, starting around age 30. Lee will be a force for the next 2 seasons, beyond that, we’re talking risky business.
Lee is a greatly different pitcher than CC, The only risks you’ll have when signing Lee is his occasional abdominal strains; Control pitchers don’t light up the radar guns but are effective even in their mid to late 30s. You could safely sign lee to a 7 year deal and be confident he will be effective in his late 30s. CC is supposed to be an overpowering pitcher, Lee is by no means that. He’s a pitcher not a thrower, he’s mastered his craft at a level most pitchers will never achieve.
i agree CC’s contract isnt a template for lee, but i also think the yankees are feeling a little bit desperate for pitching.
also, a contract for any pitcher is risky, 100% of the time. i hope the yanks dont end up with lee, and i dont think they will. there are a few other AL teams with money to spend that need him real bad, and i think they will shell out.
I disagree. FA is a fluid situation and no team or player operates in a bubble. I think there’s a natural succession and escalation of top free agent pitcer salaries.
Zito @ 18
Santana @ 22.9
Sabathia @ 23.5
Halladay took what I think was a salary discount when he signed the extension with the Phillies at $20 mil per. I think Lee’s floor is $20, his mean is $23 and his ceiling is $25. Because Lee is friend with Lee and because I don’t think any other team will go above $20 then I think inorder to avoid controversy, if Lee signed w/ the Yanks it won’t exceed $23.5
8 years for a 32 year old pitcher is too long. I think CC was 28 when the Yanks signed him for 7 years.
It didn’t change Mauer’s mind. He knows he would have gotten much more than what Minnesota gave him except for one thing. He’s known as “Joe Mauer, the hometown boy who bleeds dark-blue and red”. In a Yankee uniform he’d be known as “Just another ‘yankee kinda guy’ who was lead away from his team and fans that loved him for who he is and not just his baseball skills.”
right, because Mauer was an FA right?
And Mauer also didnt say “i’ll play in Alaska if thats where the money is”
Mauer was going to be a free agent this year. Yes, they were actually planning a year ahead.
well thats the big difference
Maeur was giving that contract a year before hit free agency..
he could have said no, played the year, and hope that money is still out there and that he doesnt have a bad year or get seriously hurt, or he could agree and not have to worr
I meant the yankees were already planning on getting him a year in advance not Mauer/Twins working out a contract a year in advance.
A very accurate and intelligent analysis of absolutely nothing.
Cashman saying he won’t go after Crawford and Werth is like Boehner saying he’ll compromise with Obama.
I don’t know, I don’t trust anything said and this is coming from a Yankees fan. We hear all of this “not worth the money”, but it all depends on how negotiations go with Cliff Lee and to be honest I don’t really know how much better our rotation will be with him. The guy is good and can pitch, but I feel a flop season coming on. I don’t like Crawford, doesn’t seem like a clubhouse guy compared to guys like Nick Swisher. And Werth could be good inside Yankee stadium, but he is asking for a lot. Didn’t he turn down a $60 million offer already?
what is it about crawford that makes people say that?
and ANY rotation is better with Cliff Lee. Even the Giants.
Please no more giants talk! Sick of hearing them all day and living in the bay area. Their first and only ring they will get. Giants are a one year sensation. Next year it won’t happen again. Especially with half their team not coming back
believe me dude. i’m a dodgers fan. i actually cried last week. but still – they have a solid rotation, that shut down a team that sabbathia, burnett, hughes, and petite couldn’t shut down. they would be better with Lee. that’s all i’m saying.
And despite having Barry Zito they have the best rotation in the majors on a team not named the Athletics… by the way, your face looks red from jealousy.
They have a stadium. That’s all they have over the A’s. No reason to be jealous. Our pitching era was best in AL. So we have that too. We have 4 rings to their 1. They can thank us for their stadium as we gave them the territory rights to the south bay which gave the giants enough revenue to get the park. In reality giant fans here are jealous of us haha. It’s actually pretty funny.
And yet the Giants won this year…
And look a heck of a lot closer to winning it all again than the A’s do.
if you want to be even more sick get the MLB Network. They have done almost nothing but rave about the Giants for the last few days. They had an episode of “All-time games” on yesterday and it was Game 1 of the world series.
It’s been less than a week since they won it all for the first time in five and a half decades, get over it. Let them have their fun.
You’d think it was CNN headline news in mid-February. The Series just ended this week, the parade was like two days ago and people are complaining about it being overcovered on the MLB Network and in their own neighborhood?
Jeez, out here in Boston we wouldn’t shut up about our rings until October of ’05 when it was absolutely guaranteed we wouldn’t repeat. I seem to recall White Sox fans doing the same. Heck, the Yankees were all over everything for months after they won after a devastating close to a decade long “drought.”
Just tip your caps and let them enjoy their time at the top rather than crying about it, people.
I’m not sure what the guy I replied to meant by that but I’m just being sarcastic lol. If the Braves had won it I’d be dissappointed when they stopped talking about it
You shouldn’t take it personal.
Crawford is a player who has a lot of his skills tied up in his speed. Sure he has power, but not what you’d expect out of the prototypical left fielder. Add to that he’s leading the pack among free agents and could potentially get a 6+ years contract with something around $15M-$19M a year and you have a team that might be regretting those last 2-3 years…
Don’t get me wrong, I think Crawford is a great player, a real gamer. But I personally have doubts about a long term contract with him.
how does that address his clubhouse presence?
lol do you really need someone to answer or rebuttal you, you’ve never met him or heard reports on how he is, you’re just speculating. Here I’ll do the sameCarl Crawford is the ultimate club house presence, last year evan longoria was going to quick baseball to be a fulltime actor, after watching CC hustle down the first base line, he quickly changed his mind.
Edit: sorry i responded to vincent, should have responded to jljr222
What?
FA markets are so weak, everyone gets paid more then they should.
This one especially. Crawford, Werth, Lee, Beltre, and Martinez have no real competition… a few teams will bid without a clear secondary plan. All 5 will get contracts more than what they are worth… recession is over.
Every game I have watched with the Rays playing I always see him quiet, just emotionless. Maybe I have caught them at rough patches, but I am sure they had to be doing well at some point in those games I have seen. Just does not seem lively to me, no personality.
Our rotation would be strong, but we also have other issues, I could see it being good if we get Lee and keep Andy, but Lee will become a solid replacement for Andy if he goes and we still have issues with AJ and a Vasquez replacement looming. But anything at this point is better than Javy…
if he was a yankee you would be saying oh crawford is amazing,he has a quite confidence about him that really brings a lot to the clubhouse
Weird, because I’m a Yankee fan I must love every player who dawns the pinstripes right. Let me know when you get off your high-horse and have something of use to say.
you just have no legitimacy to any of your claims or concerns about CC’s presence or attitude
Just a typical yankee fan that when it comes out a player is not going to be pursued or doesn’t want to sign, the inevitable rumours of clubhouse cancer or attitude problems all of a sudden comes to light
Oh Grienke doesn’t want to come to NY, oh its because he sucks and his arm is weak and he cant take it in new york
Oh CC isn’t going to be chase by the yankees, ahhh probably better off that way he doesn’t show emotion and has no personality.
please. spare me.
No sir, please spare me. You don’t know me nor my posting habbits. I have been posting for a quite a while even into the early parts of the season that I didn’t like crawford when hints of the Yankees approaching him were evident. But of course just like you assume all Yankee fans think a like and agree on just about everything, I suppose all Yankee haters are just short-sided…or maybe that’s just you? God forbid a fan have a different opinion about a player, my goodness lol. I don’t doubt his skill on the field or level of play but just like I have never liked A-Rod, I will never like CC. That’s my right and my opinion as a fan to feel that way. Get over it troll and move along.
how many words can you type without even attempting to prove a point?
and no im not a yankee hater, just a hater of people who come to bogus conclusions with zero evidence at all.
My point is simple, this is my opinion. You’re trying to argue someones opinion of a player? What do you hope to prove? Change my mind and say “hey, he is a great guy on the field, generates so much energy now!” Well sorry moonraker45, you’re wasting your time. I didn’t say “Oh man, Crawford is such a slouch, he generates no energy at all, why would anyone like him!” I’m not crusading to get others to feel the same way I do about a player. So, you’re telling me that with all going on in the baseball world, you’re sole job today is to argue my opinion of a player? Come on now…
Just yesterday you said “I hate the Yankees as much as the next guy”
its called a joke u unintelligent troll.
haha nice… yeah I’m the troll, ok. You’re all up in this guys business for making a simple statement of opinion and I’m the troll. Laughable.
Well said sir…. well said
Exactly, the only time I’ve ever really seen himwith emotion is when he was walking off the field after being hit in the family jewels with the baseball
Just because you’re quiet, it means you’re emotionless? Not everyone is as outgoing as Swisher. Don’t pretend you know Crawford, because like me, and nearly everyone else, you don’t.
I never claimed to know the guy, and I’m not talking about his actions outside of the game. This is how I feel, doesn’t mean this is a fact mind you, about him when I see him playing. And my comparison to Swisher was one extreme to the next, not exactly a picture of how someone should be all the time. What is with the hostility? I thought this was a place where you can post your thoughts. Didn’t know there were so many baseball police on here. Never touted anything I put up as fact.
Maybe if Crawford was “crawforliscious” he would like him more.. clearly hes a nerd who’s never played sports, linking quietness, with no emotion is like linking arrogance with passion.
completely absurd
So you making assumptions about me even though you don’t know me is valid, but me making an opinionated statement about how I FEEL about a player is somehow absurd? I like how you’re arguing someone elses feeling about a player. You amuse me.
No, the Yanks didn’t whine about money with respect to CC and AJ. They just did the deals. As far as Tex goes, they only made that commitment after thinking long and hard about carrying a $200+ MM payroll. Still, they didn’t ever say they couldn’t afford him. And here again, the Yanks are not saying they can’t afford Crawford … they are talking about “value,” not money. But this rumor is very practical. Pettitte is probably retiring. The weak spot for the Yanks is starting pitching, especially left-handed starting pitching. Lee will demand a boatload of money to sign on. Jeter and Mo will be commanding above-fair-value extension salaries. Even the Yanks, with the money to do so, don’t find it practical to carry a $250MM payroll. They already have a relatively inexpensive and “very good” outfield crew. And they do need to spend some money/effort on solidifying their middle relief/setup portion of the bullpen, too. Its not surprising that a practical guy, like Cashman, would float this and mean it, unless of course, circumstances change.
Crawford strikes me as a guy who will end up taking a little less money to play for the Angels. His years as a Ray, despising both the Yanks and the BoSox, make me believe that rumor.
“As far as Tex goes, they only made that commitment after thinking long and hard about carrying a $200+ MM payroll.”
I am far too lazy to look this up right now, but I’m reasonably sure the Yanks carried a $209 million dollar payroll in 2008.
Nevermind, I’m apparently not too lazy. Just ran to Cot’s, the Yanks actually had a LOWER payroll in ’09 than ’08. The Teixeira thing was 100% posturing, nothing to do with concern over carrying a $200MM+ payroll.
I have a solid question here? Exactly what is wrong with posturing? The Yanks don’t need to run out make every intention public. The Yanks love for Lee is obvious since they tried to trade for him.
As for Tex, they went out and aquired Swisher early in the offseason. They spoke to Boras and Tex and made an early offer and told them to look around and to contact them before they signed w/ anyone. They got the call, Cashman looked at the 2009/10 class of FA, knew they weren’t going to be players in it, knew that Matsui and Damon were coming off of their expensive deals and convinced the heads to go all in with Tex, CC and AJ. Easy to understand and brilliant move on his part. If Tex was serious about signing w/ the Nats or Orioles for $200 mil then it probably would’ve been a different outcome and Swisher would’ve been the 1B in 2009.
“I have a solid question here? Exactly what is wrong with posturing?”
Nothing when it comes down to it. The one thing you can say against it, though is that MAYBE if they’d come out and said in the early going that they were interested that it might’ve scared off the likes of the Nats or Orioles and kept the bidding war a bit lower. That said, with the Sox involved, I don’t honestly believe that anyway.
I believe the Nats were willing to offer him $200 million, although at 10 years, not 8 years, so even though he would have made more with teh Nationals, the rate he made would have been higher with the Yankees.
One thing that gets overlooked, especially by Red Sox fans is that their FO botched up the Teixiera signing big time. Boston believed that the NY was truly out of the picture after their declaration of budget constraints and proceeded to over play their hand and insult Boras and actually give a signing deadline. Basically a ‘take or leave it’ offer. While Teixiera wanted to sign with the Yankees, he was willing to go to the highest bid from a viable contender. It’s always amusing to hear from all the haters about the Yankees buying Tex and how the always leave out that small detail.
Not exactly true. The 2008 payroll was originally slated to be under $200MM, but ended up being $201MM due to earned bonuses coming “into the money.” On top of that, the league hit them with a $26.9MM luxury tax on the $201MM, which had to be paid early in 2009. I don’t believe Cashman was posturing at the point he spoke about not chasing after Tex. By the time the Texeira negotiations came to a head, however, circumstances with his roster and the FA market had changed. Besides that, Tex practically dropped into his lap on the basis of player preference. I still don’t believe that Cashman “chased” him. Part of his being the best GM in the business is also being forthright.
I don’t think they’ll end up with either, but like most people have said, usually when the Yankees say they’re “not interested” in one of the top available Free Agents they usually are, and I could honestly see them going after Crawford just to make sure he doesn’t end up in Boston.
if the yankees sign lee and one of werth or crawford as a braves fan ive been for a long time its tempting to jump wagons and become a fan of the yankees because if you cant beat them join them but i will always be a braves fan to
haha nice
Yankees need to improve their pitching. Bullpen is their top need. Guys Guerrier, Putz, Roush
come to mind. Starters – Harang, Pavano, Webb and Westbrook. Could probably get most of those guys for the price of Crawford.
Carl Pavano will never wear pinstripes again.
But I agree SP is the main concern. Bullpen is different, each year just about every team looks for BP help from within the org, come middle of the year/trade deadline is when you make BP moves, not big FA signings for RP. Bullpen pitches are very streaky, good year last year doesn’t mean anything. Very few have been consistent BP pitchers (I am not talking about closers, I am talking about middle relief)
I completely agree with them on this not being their plan. A team does not need an all star caliber player 1-9 in the lineup. They led the league in runs scored, they led the league in OBP, probably the 2 most important categories to lead in to win some ball games from the offensive side.Their issue, especially towards the end of teh year, was the starting pitching. Going after Lee is the right move. It’s the amount of money he gets, the amount of years he gets, and if he is fully healthy will determine if it is a good move though.Also a chance he doesn’t even come to NY.And for those who are bringing up the incident with his wife, I hope you read what his agent said afterwards. It did not change their feelings of NY whatsoever.Lee himself said, when you have 50,000+ fans in a stadium, you have to figure there will be a few sections with the rowdy ones. Not saying he won’t stay in Texas because he likes it there, but apparently the incident did not change his mind, or his wifes mind about anything.I think the only thing the Yankees need are A- 1 or 2 starting pitchers. 2 if Pettite retires, otherwise it’s CC, Lee, Pettitte, Burnett Hughes. And if not Lee, then somebody else of course.B- A lefty reliever and maybe sign up a set up man or re-sign WoodTheir OF is fine as is. Does Crawford make the team better? Of course. Is he better than Gardner, Granderson and Swisher. Arguably yes. But is he needed by the Yankees? No.I just hope they have a good off-season like they did 2 years ago. And I don’t mean good as in the amount of money they spent, but good as in improving their weaknesses.
really? they didn’t know they were getting tex? it must be nice living in your own fantasy world.
Ill believe the Yanks arent interested on the day Crawford is signed by another team. The Yankees are like some of those people on the TV show Hoarders. They buy even though they have no place to put the new stuff.
Trust me, I am surrounded by them and you know what their response to that is? “There’s always room for a guy like Crawford”. I heard so many insults towards Joe MAuer last year despite the fact that catcher is one of the least of their needs!!!
A catcher will be their needs next offseason. They’d be fools to re-sign Posada. He’s 23409234x more a liability behind the plate than Jeter is at SS.
what about their two juggernaut catchers in the minors? Jesus Montero and Austin Romine?
Montero isn’t going to be a catcher. They might make him DH/OF but I don’t see eitehr spot available anytime soon.
As far as Romine goes, I haven’t heard much news about him lately. I’ll be honest and say I don’t follow minor league news for the Yankees that much.
You mean like they “bought” Holliday, Bay, Lackey, Cameron, Damon, Matsui and traded for Santana and Halladay? Oh wait….they didn’t.
they’re not exactly the conservative spenders in the league. every team has to say no to someone.
Has nothing to do with being conservative spenders or free spenders. Yanks spend where there’s a need and right now OF’ers aren’t a need. If it’s not a need then why are the Yanks expected to bid on either CC or Werth especially when either would cost $15 mil + per?
Ppl use the Tex as an example but consider this. In 2008 the Yanks went thru Giambi, Sexson and Branyan @ 1B. They were all FA and allowed to walk. Swisher was acquired for nothing. He PRIMARILY was an OF but also could play 1B. He was coming off of his worst year @ .219/.332. He was considered, as Cashman stated, a backup player in case they didn’t sign anyone else. Once Tex’s market was firmed up and the Yanks decided to sign him he wasn’t even considered to be their starting OF. Remember, he was the 4th OF behind Damon in LF, Melky/Gardner in CF and Nady in RF. When Nady went down is when Swisher stepped in as a starter. So the Yanks were in a totally different situation @ 1B in winter of 2008 than they were now w/ regards to the OF. Also, the fact that the Yanks made no attempt to sign Holliday or Bay last year gives me even more reason to think they’ll pass on both CC and Werth this year.
are we talking about the same yankees? the ones i know are willing to do what it takes to win, and last i checked this team failed to even make the WS. YOU may not see a need to improve in those areas, but that doesn’t mean they won’t. the fact of the matter is if they see an area that they think they can drastically improve, they will do what it takes to make it work. it’s not always so black and white, and it in no way suggests that didn’t make those moves for the money.if they think the FA’s this year are going to make a difference for them, they’ll find a way to make it work. and it all has everything to do with not being conservative spenders because it is pretty much a non-issue for them. if it means outbidding every other team by 20 mil, they’re not afraid to do it. no other team in the can be that free with their spending. you can pick apart how he stated it, but the fact of the matter is he alluded to this fact and your rebuttal for it was that they didn’t sign lackey and company. the only problem with that is they just maybe didn’t consider those guys as pieces they wanted….every organization makes that decision, including the yankees. it is what it is. the fact that they passed on these guys doesn’t make them any less likely to spend. passing on holliday and bay was last year. it’s this year now and they didn’t just come off winning a WS. they’re going to find ways to improve and there are some glaringly obvious ways to do so in the FA market.
To continue your analogy, does that make the rest of MLB bit players in “Keeping up with the Kardashians”?
To continue your analogy, does that make the rest of MLB bit players in “Keeping up with the Kardashians”?
I’m not disputing the amount per year for Lee, but this 7-8 year talk here is too much for a 32 year old pitcher. The Yanks signed Sabathia for 7 years when he was what…28.
Yeah 4-5 years sounds more like it… a 7-8 year deal would be a mistake.
The Yanks are going to at least kick the tires on these guys. I don’t think you can say they won’t pursue them because once the market begins to develop and it comes down to the teams with money, you know the Yankees are going to be there.
The Yankees are known liars (both players and management). If they say they won’t do something, that most likely means they will.
haha give some proof… Nobody in the Yankees organization said this. A writer took a quote and interpreted it. It’s not like Cashman held a press conference and said, “We WILL NOT pursue Carl Crawford.” More like writers such as Ken Rosenthal are liars.
And of course the other 29 teams and players are absent of this? Was Arod and Pettite the only players w/ failed drug tests? No other GM lies to the press in order to keep in-house thoughts “in-house”? Managers and coaches don’t say they aren’t interested in jobs just to avoid distractions? Dude, your anti-Yankee sentiments are so obvious and there’s ZERO reasons for it.
I can give you 27 valid reasons for you to hate the Yankees if you want? Don’t use a Gm who doesn’t want to make his plans public one of them. Every GM has done it.
Wow, there are so many comments in here about an obvious statement on an obvious situation.The Yankees won’t pursue an OF upgrade, because upgrading pitching and getting their FA’s to sign comes first. So here is the simplified cheat sheet for what the Yankees are planning:1. Sign Jeter and Mo2. Get another quality starter3. Get another 1 or even 2 quality bullpen pieces4. Upgrade position playersWerth and Crawford aren’t going to get attention from the Yankees unless they’ve gone through numbers 1-3 on their list and found that: there’s still a lot of money left over; or that they can’t do 1-3 leaving 4 as their best option.
besides #1, thats the cheat sheet for any team
Thanks for your obvious statement about obvious statements.
I think the yankees just might to try bid on crawford to raise the price on him for the Red Sox and Angels. At the end of the offseason, i see the Angels with Crawford because they want him more. The Red Sux will propbably sign werth or trade for a dejesus or something else. Crawford in So Cal makes the most sense though
Kind of what the Red Sox always did to teh Yankees. They said they were interested in CC when he was a FA, but they weren’t. They said they were interested in A-Rod when he opted out, but they weren’t. They said they were interested in Clemens, but they weren’t.
But I agree with you, I see Crawford as an Angel next year.
Now, I don’t think the Sox were ever genuinely interested in Sabathia, but what makes you think the Sox weren’t legitimately interested in A-Rod or Clemens? They had a vacancy at 3B when A-Rod opted out, but weren’t willing to pony up $275 million for him (Rightly so, that was one of the worst contract decisions I’ve ever seen) and Clemens thought the Yanks had a better chance at the division as I recall.
They didn’t have a vacancy at 3B, Lowell was healthy and had one of the best years of his career in 2007. Not to mention he was the MVP of the WS that year. Lowell only missed part of April and part of August in 2008. He was fully healthy throughout 2007. No way were they going to bench him making $12 million a year and after the great year he had.
I believe they spoke to Clemens a couple of times but they made no offer to him. They knew he would want a lot of money and the more they talked, I’m sure the more Cashman and the Yankees got nervous which is why they gave him a ridiculous prorated contract
While I can’t say Clemens did not want to go to Boston, I don’t know if Boston wanted him (nor did they need him) as badly as the Yankees did.
“They didn’t have a vacancy at 3B, Lowell was healthy and had one of the best years of his career in 2007.”
He was also a free agent. Lowell’s contract expired in the 2007 offseason. They signed him to a three year deal, but A-Rod was definitely a valid consideration, but Boras was asking way more than anyone but the Yankees were willing to pay. I seem to recall rumors that the top offer he got was $200 million, but that’s fully unsubstantiated.
Well, the Sox did have a genuine interest in Clemens before he came back to NY. For a while, they had been wanting him to end his career with the Sox so they can retire his number when (at the time) he gets in the hall. They took him out to dinner and showed him a good time every time he was a free agent (or to be FA) and was in boston. But they were realistic in the fact that Clemens probably wasn’t coming back to fenway anyway.
With all due respect, I’ll believe it when I DON’T see it.
The word is “plan” and we’ve seen that the Yankees “plans” change with the weather.
Brian Cashman “What’s that, the Red Sox are close to signing Crawford?” “OK then, make an offer, and double whatever it is they were going to give him.”
You mean like they didn’t do with Cameron and Lackey? Are you still feling the sting from Damon and Tex? Get over it.
Lackey and Cameron weren’t exactly top-tier talent. Pretty weak on that one YFS78.
I agree that Cameron wasn’t, but Lackey kinda was.
Lackey was, Cameron wasn’t.
Lackey was the best starting pitcher on the market and the Yanks had an open rotation spot that they filled with Vazquez instead. The Yanks chose a 1 year commitment to Vazquez over a multi year one w/ Lackey. Cameron was a player they coveted for years and were close to trading for several times. Once Gardner showed flashes of talent the Yanks decided to stick with him. Both cases showed where the Yanks were willing to accept what might be considered slightly lesser talented players over players who would’ve cost millions more but maybe provided smaller margins of improvements.
i don’t buy it for one second. there’ two things the yankees do well: develop good players and get the ones they want. not signing lackey and cameron gives me no indication that they did so to “save” money. they like most teams in the league saw that lackey wasn’t really worth signing. just because he was the best available pitcher then doesn’t make him that good. i trust that they assessed this well enough and that’s what the decision was based on, not because they wanted to save money. cameron is the same thing. it’s not like it would put a dent in their wallets signing him. they saw that they had options in their system already, and clearly thought they would do better with those guys.
Crawford goes west and Werth goes to Boston
But I will say that Crawford, Gardner, and Granderson as an outfield trio is some type of range and speed. Good luck finding spot to drop that ball in haha!
Alright. As a Yankee fan I have trouble believing this. But I’ll play good cop and say I do. The OF is great right now. In terms of offense and defense:Gardner with .280+, 45+ SB, 80+ BB, .380+ OBP and a hell of an UZR at 21.9. That’s astronomically good. Also 5.4 WAR.Granderson with his changed mechanics(now hits lefties!) with .275+ 20+HR, 70+RBI, 20+ SB. I also saw him take more walks after he changed his stance. His defense has been top-notch for years.Swisher(after his reworked swing) with .280+, 25-30 HR, 85+ RBI, 70+BB, .360-70 OBP, and his defense has been getting better and has a good arm in RF. Very athletic OF if you ask me, and much cheaper than Werth and CC. Now for pitching. DO NOT, I SAID DO NOT TRADE MONTERO AND BETANCES. EVEN FOR PITCHING. These guys are looking more and more like the future. I guess they can sign Lee if it’s not more than 5 years. It doesent matter to me if we lose a couple seasons just to see our pitching prospects come up to the big leagues. And of all, the AL East should be the AL Beast by 2012. The Blue Jays, O’s, and Rays are getting alot better, and the RS will be up there too. We need to compete with them, trading prospects isn’t the answer.
Annnnd their prices just plummeted. Not too much but I doubt either one of them goes above 5/80 without the Yankees getting involved.
Annnnd their prices just plummeted. Not too much but I doubt either one of them goes above 5/80 without the Yankees getting involved.
to sum up: Bull?