Cliff Lee isn't the only free agent left-hander who's drawing interest from the Yankees. The Bronx Bombers have expressed interest in Jorge de la Rosa, according to Mark Feinsand and Peter Botte of the New York Daily News. GM Brian Cashman did not confirm the club’s interest in De La Rosa, but he did acknowledge that he has made “a lot of phone calls” to free agents.
Cashman told Feinsand that he is impressed with Lee's demeanor and postseason experience, but has not yet made the left-hander an offer. Lee and De La Rosa are both Type A free agents, so signing either player will cost a top pick, assuming both receive offers of arbitration from their former clubs.
“Yankees want to buy pitching”! This is going to be the theme to the 2010 offseason.
I don’t understand, let’s say the Yankees sign neither pitchers, won’t some other team have to buy them?
Please no Cashman, Oliver Perez v2.
Well Vazquez is definetly gone, Pettitte is doing his annual Bret Farve impression, and Burnett is hit or miss. That leaves an overworked CC and Phil Hughes to shoulder the load. They have zero chance of acquiring Greinke due to his phobia of big markets. Unless, they are willing to buy up contracts like Derek Lowe, free agency is their only option. I hear Pedro wants to pitch in 11′. Maybe they can convice him to pitch for Daddy!
Pettitte and Favre cannot even be compared to one another. Pettitte doesn’t retire and then come back. There’s a difference between retiring and being undecided.
I think Farve calls it changing your mind. Pettitte has been contemplating retirement since he left Houston! Every year he decides to come back for one more.
Yeah but Favre wastes everyones time, the fans, the media, having press conferences of his “retirement” only to be found playing on the field again 5-6 months later, oh not to mention now all these stories of taking photos of his you know what.
Please, MANY players do what Pettitte does towards the end. Very few do what Favre does.
I think he meant that every year it’s a dramatic wait and see endeavor.
Maybe but don’t you think there’s a difference between having a press conference in a room full of media reporting it saying you’re done for your career, as opposed to just telling a daily reporter I’m Undecided?
Kind of like Lebron telling ESPN to give him his own show for over an hour long so he can join the Heat, as opposed to just every other free agent player just making out a deal with a team.
Loving the cross-sports analogies!
– ECB
Well it’s not always apples and oranges.
Yeah it’s a big difference but I don’t think he was making a literal comparison,
Oh and in case you haven’t heard.
sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5794477
Yeah but even the announcer says “Wait and See”. I’m just pointing out that, like Farve, Andy has no idea if/when he wants to call it a day.
That’s true, but anytime Brett Favre says “I’m done”, the only questions that remain are
1- What team will he play for next?, and 2- Will he return during pre-season or will he actually go to training camp this time.
Right, they’re totally different. Favre was addicted to painkillers while Pettitte was a doper.
Yes and no one on the Twins ever used steroids? Nice try.
As you guys said last year, “maybe next year we can finally beat the Yankees”.
Point is, your NFL team has the biggest drama queen ever, and the Yankees have the biggest drama queen in basebal possibly ever alsol, and no it is not Pettitte (Or Jeter).
I thought babies only cry in the middle of the night…
Not crying, just saying the checks are getting ready to start flying!
Is that how it works? Players become free agents and then teams have to pay them. WOW thanks for the insight
Yup and nothing spurs a economic boom like an embarrassing postseason loss by the Yankees!
Sounds like someone is a little jealous of the Yankee empire. I have to disagree about it being an embarrassing postseason loss. Texas played great ball and took it to us. Making the ALCS isnt all that bad.
I love how much attention the Yankees get each offseason by fans of other teams even though we havent even done anything yet. The only team I have heard so far that has said that they are going to go wild on spending is the Rangers for Lee.
Of course not, the Yankees never blow the market up. They only went out and spent $420 million plus for Sabathia, Tex, and Burnett in 2008. This after loosing to the Sox. The embarassing part is loosing to a team that had a payroll of 65 million. The whole team made less than the Yankee infield. And to boot, their starters had a ERA of 7+ in the Texas series. Who are you trying to kid? The Yankees are going to blow away any offer Texas produces to acquire Lee.
Payroll doesnt=talent. So I guess the Yankees should never loose a game. Again this is all envy on your part. You keep complaining about something that hasnt even happened yet. What a baby
Yanks must get younger – they know it
In case you are not aware, the Braves are an older team (Barely)
5 oldest teams in the majors
1- Phillies (I guess due to Jamie Moyer mostly)
2- Dodgers
3- Braves
4- White Sox
5- Yankees
Yes, but Wagner is gone so that will help the Braves get younger and after next year Chipper will be gone too. Lowe is not far behind either by trade or FA. The Braves may be old but A) have a lot of younger productive pieces and B) have a very talented farm system.
Plus those 4 oldest teams also were pretty damn good this year too.
Oh for sure, just saying, Braves weren’t a young team but as you mentioned, Wagner possibly leaving and Chipper leaving will make them younger.
“Plus those 4 oldest teams also were pretty damn good this year too. ” And that proves my point even more of what I say all the time, older age is not as serious of an issue in baseball as people make it out to be.
The only reason that being old is a problem is because the older you are the longer it takes for the body to heal. Look at Pettite, there is no way when he was 25 he would have been out almost 3 months with that type of pulled muscle. Now in his 30’s and approaching 40, it took a lot longer. Just saying
Don’t forget the 40 year old Saito probably moving on as well.
Why must we get younger? We are no older than most teams and even if we were we’re winning who cares?!
Agree. I admire the Yankees for that reason. They know how to win. For many fans it is always “manana, manana…”
Many teams KNOW how to win, but they don’t all have the same resources the Yankees have. It’s much easier to win when you have a 200M dollar payroll.
Tell that to the Mets. The Yankees are incredibly good at what they do. I have said this before, look at the homegrown talent the NY has produced that play key roles. Jeter, Posada, Mariano, Gardner, Cano, Petitte, etc..the difference is the Yankees have the resources to keep all these players while other smaller market teams would have to pick and choose. But the Yankees are great at what they do.
And honestly, I wouldn’t want it any other way. It gives the sport a “villain” that other sports lack. When the Yankees lose it in the playoffs it makes it that much sweeter. When my Tigers beat them in the postseason a few years back it was a David v. Goliath moment. The game of baseball NEEDS the Yankees to be good, otherwise it just wouldn’t be the same.
Tell that to the Cubs and Tigers too. Although the Tigers did make the WS a few years ago but unfortunately for them they came out on the L side
I’m really not sold on the idea that many teams know how to win.
The Yankees have their way, and it works. But how many times, say, do we see fans of a contending team absolutely against “gutting the farm” in order to acquire the stud piece that can send their win-now team over the top? We see that same sense of caution in many GMs.
A ground ball pitcher with an infield featuring three of the current Gold Glove winners. Seems like a recipe for success, right?
-wtk
It seems so but we all know gold gloves mean nothing and the Yankees have actually one of the worse fielding infields. Plus one has to wonder how well his stuff translates to the AL East.
From the leftside of the infield is one of the worst if not the worst. However the right side, while I wouldn’t quite say is the best, is amongst the tops.
In terms of range the left side (3B and SS) is very limited in range.The right side is above average. Overall, they all field, throw and catch everything they get tow/ very few errors.
The left side yes. The right side I will have to disagree
I’d be curious to see how his numbers translate out of Coors Field…
I’d also be curious to see how his numbers translate to the AL.
what kind of contract is this guy looking at??
3/28 – 3/33 range?
The Yankees are linked to every major free agent. Most of these links are provided by the player’s agent.
De La Rosa is worse than another AJ Burnett – he’s another Oliver Perez. Hopefully for the Yankees’ sake they stay far, far away.
Yeah it works to both the Yankees’ benefit and the agent/player’s benefit.
Sure the Yankees having interest would allow the player to get more money. Also, the Yankees having alleged interest causes other teams to pay a higher amount, when it’s possible the Yankees had zero interest at all.
De La Rosa is one of the few starters on the market who actually has AL-caliber stuff, and the Yankees are going to have a rotation hole, Lee or no Lee, if Pettitte retires. The Yankees are going to get JDLR.
De La Rosa has AL caliber stuff? No he does not, the last time JDLR was in the AL he had an era over or close to 6, almost all pitchers who suck in the AL and move to the NL finally find thier stuff, see RA Dickey.
With the Royals? That team with such a good track record of developing pitchers and giving pitchers enough time to develop in the minor leagues before thrusting them into the big-leagues to get obliterated? Right.
JDLR has plus fastball velocity, a plus change-up, and an above-average slider. That is sufficient stuff for the American League. Certainly better than the Yankees signing Carl Pavano (for obvious reasons) or Jake Westbrook.
My point is if you bring over JDLR to the AL east he will melt down faster than a popsicle on a hot summer day.
I understood your point. My point is that he has the profile (arsenal of pitches) to survive in the AL East, is still young and could refine his control, and that you’re wrong.
JDLR is a decent pitcher in that his stuff is nasty (mid 90’s FB,Sl, CUR and CH). However, no matter how good your stuff is it doesn’t matter if you walk 4/9 IP or can’t stay healthy.
To his credit, since being a starter, he’s H/9, BB/9, whip and KO/BB ratio. His trends look good.
What scares me is that his ERA/WHIP and HR/9 are WORSE away from Coors Field:
Home: 4.10/1.23 w/ 6 hrs and a 3.00 KO/BB walk rate in 68 IP
Away: 4.36/1.41 w/ 9 hrs and a 1.41 KO/BB walk rate in 53 IP
Only I can see the Yanks going after JDLR is if they don’t sign Lee and Pettitte retires. If the Yanks sign Lee and Pettitte retires then I think they’ll give one of the kids a shot (Nova, Noesi or Phelps). If they don’t sign Lee but Pettitte returns then the Yanks willlook to strengthen the back of the rotation as there simply aren’t any ACES available on the trade market since Greinke isn’t an option. If they look for a #3 or #4 guy then I think they’ll explore options like Kuroda or Webb before they go after JDLR unless he’s willing to sign short term with a 2 year deal. With the Yanks likely to go with young C next year (Montero, Cervelli and maybe Romine) I just can’t see the Yanks adding another AJ to the rotation.
Stop bringing marginal NL pitchers to the AL East and expecting them to be good please!!!!
Have you seen this guy pitch? Don’t base your opinion just because he’s a NL pitcher. The problem with this guy is control, otherwise he has nasty stuff.
That’s what we mean, he has bad control and your brining him to the AL east?
AJ Burnett has nasty stuff but also little control, we are not saying he doesen’t have good stuff, but bring a NL pitcher with weak control and it’s going to get weaker in the AL.
Gee, just his control? That’s it? LOL!! Have you ever seen an AL East game?? Every team has hitters than will take pitches till the pitchers all falls off in 5th inning. If you can’t throw strikes against a team like the Sox, you’ll be out in the 4th with 110 pitches. Furthermore, a 4.22 ERA in the NL West doesn’t impress anyone.
The old saying, “but he has great stuff”….is good when a guy is 21, not 29. Then he just becomes AJ Burnett and Javy Vasquez. They have “great stuff” too.
It wouldnt surprise me if they signed both Lee and De La Rosa..
The reason being their pitching was exposed badly against Texas – Andy did pitch well against Texas, but the 2 runs he gave up was the difference…even CC was getting hit hard during the post season
Wouldn’t surprise me either, especially if Pettitte doesn’t come back. Burnett can’t be counted on as well. CC’s already declining, they basically need to sign both
CC is declining? If Felix didn’t have the season he had CC might have gotten the Cy Young. During the playoffs he blew out his knee which is why he wasn’t that great. He had minor surgery and he should be ready to go for spring training
Don’t get me wrong, CC is still one of the best AL pitchers there is. But his numbers have been trending in the wrong direction for two consecutive years now. Take a look at his K/9, BB/9, FIP, xFIP you name it. If it weren’t for an increase in GB% and the good Yankees’ offense his ERA and Win/Loss record might’ve looked quite differently.
CC is 30 so I don’t think his stuff is diminishing. I take it as a product of the AL East really. It can diminish any pitchers numbers, despite how great they are.
Offense has nothing to do with ERA. ERA is solely the on the pitcher (and the defense too). W-L, different story. Probably the most overrated stat there is.
Moving from pitching against the White Sox and Royals 4 or 5 times to going against the Red Sox, Rays and Blue Jays will effect your ERA. The slight decline in KO/9 and the increase in GB is a product of CC changing his pitching philosophy which HE himself stated. Instead of running up the pitch count trying to strike out everyone he is trying to induce more GB and keep the pitch count down. His FB velocity has been consistant over the last 5 years (93.7, 92.9, 93.7, 94.2 to 93.5 in 2010). It’s all about morphing into a pitcher as opposed to a thrower. You mentioned his increased GB rate of 50% (career high) as if it were luck or a bad thing.
ITS ASHAME THAT YANKEES HAVE TO GO TO FREE AGENTS EVERY YEAR BECAUSE THEY HAVE NOTHING AND WILL HAVE NOTHING IN THERE FARM SYSTEMS.. YANKEES ARE SOMETHING ELSE I TELL YA.. HAHA
your caps make you more correct.
Maybe if you guys had a major league team you also could sign some free agents.
Yankees have someone called Jesus Montero in their farm system, one of the best prospects in baseball, they also have some good pitching prospects.
For a team like the pirates who loses so much they should have a better farm.
“THERE FARM SYSTEMS”
I hate correcting people but you can’t use ‘there” in that sentence, you should be using “their”
but the funny thing is you no what im talking about..?? jesus montero wow one player?? nice farm system you have.. lol YANKEES ruin baseball they need a salary cap like any other sport no fun in baseball when yankees are around.. but they lost to rangers which is funny.. you dont need money to win u need talent but yankees dont have talent they just have money!!
No, we don’t “no” what you’re talking about. The Yankees actually have one of the better farm systems in the league. Not only do they have Jesus Montero, but another highly touted catching prospect named Austin Romine. Also, they have a plethora of high-ceiling pitching prospects from Banuelos, Betances and Brackman, just to name a few. However, they tend to go for players that have already proven they can dominate at the big league level before they give those from their own farm system a chance. Some still come up and make a huge impact on the Yankees, a perennial a 1st place team and World Series contender.
if they have these so called prospects were are they?? taking a long time.. so they go into free agents as always plus those guys u name will be gone like austin jackson #1 prospect were he go detroit for curtis granderson and more.. were jose tabata go oo yes us thank you for him ha. even when u do there gone for experience players like u say.
If you’re looking for players from the Yankees farm system that have come up and helped them win in recent years I would direct your attention to players such as Phil Hughes, Robinson Cano, and Brett Gardner. As for where are the prospects, as we all know, it isn’t a good idea to rush prospects. If they come up and struggle, often sending them back down can be very detrimental to their career. Also, the Yankees haven’t needed to call up many of their prospects because they have been winning constantly. They have all-stars and often those players don’t get replaced by unproven talent unless there is an injury or someone retires. However, watch Spring Training this year as Jesus Montero competes for the starting catcher position, something myself, as well as many other Yankees fans are excited to see. As for trading prospects to get proven talent, that’s just baseball. We traded Austin Jackson for Granderson, this much is true. But they were able to do this because Granderson was coming off a bad year. It’s much like stocks, you want to buy low and sell high, to maximize your profits. As for Tabata, he had apparent discipline and attitude issues that the Yankees brass did not like, so they traded him. Will they regret it? Perhaps, though nothing he has done in the bigs shows me that he is going to hit his ceiling. And as for where their prospects are, they’re in the minor leagues, hence the “prospect” moniker.
Jose Tabata is only 22 years old you act like he been around for a long time.. he has alot of potential and you know that.. but i can see you understand me so im not going to argue anymore..
Jose Tabata is only 22 years old you act like he been around for a long time.. he has alot of potential and you know that.. but i can see you understand me so im not going to argue anymore..
What are you? 4 years old? I like the city of Pittsburgh but you need to relax. The Pirates don’t suck because the Yanks spend $200 mil or because there isn’t a salary cap. They suck because your team, up until the past 2 or 3 years, has done a historicaly bad job of drafting players, and according to those leaked reports have been more concerned w/ pocketing profits and revenue share money than they have been in retaining the very few mlb youngsters they have drafted or traded for.
So before you strain your neck to worry about your neighbors yard why don’t you spray some “weed be gone” and tend to that raggedy lawn of your own?
It’s sad….sad…..SAD that from the 2000-2006 drafts the ONLY mlb players produced thus far from the first 5 frounds for the Pirates are Sean Burnett, Jeremy Guthrie (did not sign), Jeff Keppinger (debuted w/ Mets), Pat Maholm, Tom Gorzelanny, Neil Walker and Andrew McCutchen. And that’s w/ them having early draft slots in each round.
u think ur very funny huh? if i was 4 years old im pretty sure i wouldnt be talking to you.. wow im pretty sure ur a yankees fan cause ur backing them up pretty nicely ur telling me u dont ruin baseball? every year every offseason every trade deadline in july its always the yankees whats the yankees going to do!! Its ashame u go buy ur players cause thats all u ever have done you dnt even know how stock ur minor league system.. lol and thats 2000 -06 was all littlefield not hunington and this team will compete very shortly in the near future and have a repeat of the 1960 world series u go MAZ haha i would love to see pirates play yankees in world series.. we be the underdog every team is the underdog when playin the yankees u get the pattern here? yankees ruin baseball period!!
There is no way the Yankees sign De La Rosa. This is merely a distraction (albeit a bad one) until they nab Lee.
I know I am in the minority, but I really think Cliff Lee is not worth it.
In Tex his ERA was near 4 runs per game, and had almost double the amount of HRs and walks from earlier in the year.
I think he has gotten over-used the last few seasons b/c his teams see him as a hired gun. Way too many innings on him, plus he is 32 already…by the time a 5-7 year deal is over you are going to be regretting this move. Even if you are the Yankees and have all the money to do it.
De La Rosa is 3 years younger, costs a boat load less and pitched the last 3 years in Colorado with an ERA around 4. Decent K to walk ratio and HR’s per year are not terrible (not great either). I am really not sure either will DESERVE the amazing contract they will recieve. I’d invest 1/2 the amount of $ and go with De La Rosa and cross my fingers. I really would see Dunn or Crawford + De La Rosa as a better option for a team rather then just Cliff Lee.
They Yankees won’t mind if Cliff Lee suck in his final years of the contract, they want to win now, and having CC and Lee in the post season would be worth the money in their opinion.
With Cliff Lee control he has at least 3-4 good years left if he goes injury free.
There are plenty of pitchers who can last into their upper 30s and even 40s, especially a pitcher like Lee. He doesn’t have dominating stuff, he has control and that doesn’t just go away. He’s very similar to Andy Pettitte and he’s still going strong at 38 so i think the Yankees can afford to give Lee a 5 year contract.
De La Rosa is another NL pitcher and if the Yankees get him he’ll probably end up as the next Javier Vasquez. Only this time it will be more expected. If Pettitte retires the kids need to get a shot.
The Yankees are not actually even looking at Dunn, Crawford and probably not De La Rosa even. This is probably just random crap
I’d rather have a Jon Garland type pitcher. Let’s say his numbers were not a product of Petco… Have him pitch so the hitters ground out to the right side of the Yanks INF, or just flyout to the OF or right side of the INF. Maybe we won’t have to hear “base hit past a diving Jeter” anymore.
Last year it was more like “a slow roller past a diving Jeter”. But to his credit…he did position himself well to catch and tage the runner out when he ran off the base.
I love how the pirates fan is hating on the Yankees ….. when’s the last time your team made the playoffs? The only relevancy the Pirates can cling to is the fact that their regularly referred to as one of the bottom dwellers in MLB. Also ironic that you criticize the Yankees for spending, yet this spending actually generates additional income for the Pirates through revenue sharing/luxury tax but it simply goes into your owner’s pocket. You’d be better off directing your criticism at him.
The Yankees shouldn’t sign de la Rosa. At best he’d be a mediocre pitcher in the AL East, probably the #5 starter in our rotation and I’d rather save the $ and use that slot to give one of the younger guns experience and a chance to prove his worth.
Also, in regards to Lee, he’s not a power pitcher rather his style is perhaps better compared to that of Pettite, and he’s still pitching very well even at his age so there’s no reason to declaratively say that Lee will automatically fall off the map in 3-4 years.