A few notes about the Bronx Bombers' own free agents and a potential offseason target…
- Andy Pettitte told Matt Musil of KHOU.com that at the moment, he's leaning towards retirement. "Right now, I can tell you my heart's right here in Deer Park," Pettitte said. "If something happens and I play one more year that would be it. It would be one more year and that would be it." The southpaw also confirmed that if he does return in 2011, he would only pitch for the Yankees.
- Mariano Rivera and his representatives haven't indicated if the closer is looking for a one- or two-year deal from the Yankees, tweets FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal.
- Baseball as a whole is better served by having Derek Jeter remain a one-team star for his career, argues MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez.
- Benjamin Kabak of the River Ave Blues blog doesn't think New York should acquire Carl Crawford "when they already have three of the top outfielders in the American League."
I hope Pettitte doesn’t retire. If he must, I hope he decides to early.
I think it’s really important for Baseball that Jeter not only remain a Yankee, but have smooth negotiations towards working towards a deal. It would be horrible to say in 10 years, “Yeah Jeter did remain a Yankee throughout his whole career but all of that contreversey for his final contract burdened him.”
I just hope it goes easy with Casey Close, Jeter, and the Yankees.
I think that between Cashman and Jeter there is enough class and public relations savy that things are going to go well. At least that’s how we’ll perceive it anyway even if things get contentious during negotiations. I’ve been a bit surprised that both sides have commented in the press already but remember, Steinbrener commented first, Jeter’s agent probably felt compelled to reply. It will go smoothly enough and Jeter will be not getting to balls most other shortstops get to next year as a Yankee.
“Benjamin Kabak of the River Ave Blues blog doesn’t think New York should acquire Carl Crawford “when they already have three of the top outfielders in the American League.””
Not to mention 4 of the 5 biggest contracts in baseball.
Which is relevant when their entire outfield costs like $13M/year.
Gardner doesn’t make more than $1 Million
Both Granderson and Swisher are around $10 Million Combine.
That’s one of the top outfields and it’s cheap. Boston’s rightfielder costs more than the Yankees entire outfield.
Yeah I didn’t see anything wrong with what Ben said, but I don’t think Gardner is much worse than Crawford…It would be kind of a waste of money if you ask me.
I think $200-$210 mil is the Yanks happy zone w/ an eye towards reducing that by integrating players from the farm when possible as long as it won’t compromise competitiveness. Catching, SS in the next couple of years (if they switch Jeter) and the starting rotation in 2012 and beyond are two places where that can happen,
He meant the top 4 in ALL of baseball meaning Arod, CC, Tex and Jeter’s last deal.
That’s pretty well understood, but what is the correlation of that with the quote he used before his statement? If he wants to complain about the Yankee contracts it’s one thing, but he uses a quote and lashes out on a separate topic.
My guess is he’s saying that the Yanks don’t need to add another OF when they have Swish, Grady and Gardner AND if they were to sign Crawford to a deal it would probably be one, that on average, would add another contract on that might be ranked among the top 5 or so. Either that or he could just be a douche?
Thanks for the vote of confidence.
If you really want to keep going on the played out “they spend too much” bit, you might want to use a quote that actually relates to your outcry (try some Cliff Lee quotes or something).
You don’t think Crawford’s contract would break into the top five?
Calling the Yankees’ outfield “three of the top outfielders in the AL” is a bit of a stretch… Hamilton, Crawford, Cruz, Bautista, Choo, Ichiro, Rios… there’s lots of competition. Not saying any of the Yankee trio is bad, by any means, I guess it just depends on if you’re referring to the Top 5 or Top 10-15.
Well if you consider that there are 52 OF’ers in the AL if you pick the top 3 from every AL team. I would feel comfortable saying that those 3 would be in the top 20 of those 52 in the AL.
42 actually, not 52, unless you’re counting bench players.
All three were in the top 11 in the AL OF in WAR in ’10, so that seems like it could qualify (not trying to be smug if it comes off that way).
*edit Cruz was behind Gardner but ahead of the other two, but missed the original grouping based on appearances, so 3 of the top 12*
This is what I would do if I was Brian Cashman:
Offer Jeter 3/$45 contract
Offer Mo a 2/$15 since Mo isn’t as greedy
Try and sign Cliff Lee for 5/$125M with a $19M option and $5 Million signing bonus
Sign Ramon Hernandez for 1/$6M with an option
Jettison Cervelli to the minor leagues to work with Gary Sanchez and Austin Romine
Look for other options to improve pitching
On a side note, possibly two of the core five would be left if Pettitte retires. Wonder whose gonna get their next “Core”. The Phillies had something going with Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Cole Hamels, and Carlos Ruiz. Too bad that they’re all over 30 except for Hamels.
$6M for Hernandez?? Yikes, you could get him at half that price probably, or at least $4M. Then again I guess an extra million or two is pretty inconsequential given the overall sum of that scenario…
Yanks have shown they are more likely to look inhouse when it comes to backup players. I think Cervelli would have to turn into baseball’s “Venus de Milo” in order to loose the job as the backup. Yanks need to save money where they can and Cervelli over Hernandez does that. Plus, I think Cervelli will rebound back to his 2009 form.
I agree with everything except for 2 things. I think Mo is going to cost more…And I think Jesus Montero is ready to be the Opening Day Catcher.
For Mo did you mean 2 years @ $15 per? I hope so.
Why would you send Cervelli to the minors to coach his competition? Romine will be in AAA and Sanchez probably low A.
I have a problem with the way we are so quick to dispose of a player simply because they had an off year. I agree that defensively, Cervelli regressed, but I also think he was overused and had a lot to deal with being AJ’s personal catcher. He certainly show have to compete for a backup job next year but I would be perfectly fine with him being my back up next year and would feel fine w/ him C 80 games if it came to that.
Offer Mo a 2/$15 since Mo isn’t as greedy
LOL, I stopped reading after I saw this, I hope I didn’t miss out on anything as funny.
cervelli will be out of a ml role next year, since it will be jorge and jesus montero
It’s already been said publicly that Jorge will be the everday DH and Jesus, Cervelli and Romine will battle to be the everday C. Jorge will probably catch some games throughout the season but either way, on days he’s DH then Jesus, Cervelli or Romine will be the C and someone else will have to be the backup catcher. So that means it will be some combination of Jorge, the starting C and the backup C.
Rivera said last year that he wanted to pitch at least four more years. Even though he’s three years older since his last contract, he’s pitched even better since then. Sorry, but he’s getting more of around 4 years/$56 million.
Mo may have said that back in 2009 but I can’t see him asking or getting more than 2. He is absolutely still one of the best but unlike Arod and Jeter he’s already 41 and no one can expect him to be at the top of his game at age 45. I also think he’s level headed and won’t demand more than 2 years. He knows, as well as the Yanks, that as long as he has a good year then the Yanks will reward him the following. I don’t think Mo seeks security of a deal more than 2 years. If Mo falters and has a bad year then I think he calls it quits rather than hanging around.
Yeah, no.
Jeter is going to get around 70/4 with an option for a 5th year for 19MM with a 10MM buyout or something like that….
Mo will take around 12/1 or 24/2 depending on how many years he wants
Lee will sign around 115/5 with an option and a high buyout perhaps
Ramon Hernandez for 6MM eesh! I think you could get buck for that kind of cash, but he won’t want a back-up role. I think you go with Montero as the starting C and Cervelli as the back-up with Posada the 3rd catcher and primary DH. MAYBE you sign a Chad Moeller type back-up if not Moeller himself instead of Cervelli.
The Yankees next Core is going to consist of: Cano, Hughes, Montero, Gardner and perhaps one or some of the killer B’s. Obviously, due to their contracts, Teix, CC and Lee will be a contributing force for the team, but not exactly homegrown products. Perhaps Joba if Pettitte retires and he ends up somehow winning the 5th starter and progresses to the point of being the starter we know he can be (he just hasn’t exactly shown it yet) but that’s probably not going to happen.
Petitte will be back for another year.
MO will sign a 2 yr deal.
Jeter of course will resign.
The Angels will get Crawford.
Problems solved.
Did you actually read the khou.com article? Obviously not. At no point does Pettitte say he is leaning toward retirement. In fact, he makes it clear he hasn’t made up his mind. I know all these things are posted fast and furious, but try to be accurate.
“I’m just going to wait and see what my heart wants me to do. Right now, I can tell you my heart’s right here in Deer Park.
Should I quote the ENTIRE article in response to that? Or do we just take words out of context that support our premise? OK – “Pettitte has no timetable about when he’ll MAKE HIS DECISION.” “He says, right now, he just wants to relax and enjoy the family and then HE’LL FIGURE OUT HIS SITUATION FOR NEXT YEAR.”
“I’m just going to WAIT AND SEE what my heart wants me to do.”
It sounds to me like he hasn’t made a decision yet but right now he’s leaning towards retirement, in and out of context.
Haha. Riakae, I think that’s exactly what he meant and I’m not sure why “spencer” is getting in a flux. Clearly, he is saying “I haven’t made up my mind yet, but if I were asked how I feel right now, I’m leaning towards retirement”.
No where did I say he made up his mind and is retiring. Get over the mancrush and comprehend the “spirit” of what Pettitte said.
Thanks. I needed that.
OK. Mancrush over.
Now, I guess Andy saying his heart is in Deer Park could mean that he is
leaning toward retirement. OR it could mean his heart in Deer Park RIGHT NOW
because so are his lungs, his liver, his kidneys. He lives there with his
family. He is there RIGHT NOW. So, perhaps if the reporter asked him,”Where
is your heart right now?”it could have meant, “My heart is here right now,
with my family.” As in, home is where the heart is.
And furthermore, if you read the whole thing, he also indicates several
times he hasn’t been thinking of retirement just yet. He is just enjoying
his time with his family.
In other words, he indicates nothing about what he is going to do next
season.
But if that is too tough for you to process, then just keep it simple.
So when he said his “heart is in Deer Park” you thought he was providing the physical location”?
Sounds like you pretty much agree w/ what I said but you just want to be difficult so I’ll just let things end here.
Exactly. I said all that because I agree with you.
How magnanimous if you to let things end once you have the last word.
No problem. 🙂
No problem. 🙂
Pettite is pulling a Favre once again. Just give him his one year $ 15 million deal and be done with it.
This is nothing like Favre. Pettitte has never officially retired only to un-retire. And $15m is too much.
Exactly what I had said in the other post earlier today.
15M with incentives sounds right, Start at around 12M guaranteed and add 2M for 150IP and another 1M for 190/200 IP
“Benjamin Kabak of the River Ave Blues blog doesn’t think New York should acquire Carl Crawford ‘when they already have three of the top outfielders in the American League’.”
Does Mr. Kabak work for The Onion?
Brett Gardner, Nick Swisher and Curtis Granderson were 5th, 7th, and 11th, respectively, in terms of Fangraphs WAR among AL outfielders. But by all means, don’t let facts get in the way of your argument.
Perhaps he’s referring to the idea that somehow the yanks wouldn’t go after a top free agent.
By all means, the yanks could go after the outfielder that tied for 2nd in the AL in WAR with a 6.9. Perhaps the yanks would find it more appealing to have an outfield that ranked 2nd, 5th, 7th in WAR rather than 5th, 7th, 11th.
Of course, the biggest fact to uncover will be the paycheck. Cashman signed Mark Teixiera in 2008 even when they had just acquired a suitable 1B in Nick Swisher because Tex was a top tier free agent, and he would have been foolish not to sign a talent like Tex. The yanks replaced Swisher in the past with a top tier free agent, and they very well could do it again.
The problem is that Mr. Kabak doesn’t suggest that the Yankees won’t go after Carl Crawford, he suggests that they SHOULD not because of the immense value they are getting from their outfield.
Also, the Tex/Swish situation was different. Had the Yankees put Swish at 1B they would have had a hole in the outfield. Had the Yankees put Swish in RF they would have had a hole at 1B. So signing Tex filled the 1B hole, rather than replacing Swisher. In signing Crawford the Yankees would actually be replacing one of their outfielders.
Actually, if my memory serves correct, this situation is very much like the Teix/Swisher one, since Swisher was set to start at 1B with Nady in RF, Melky/Gardner in CF, and Damon in LF. Then Cashman signed Teix and Swisher became the 4th OF until Nady got hurt again. It ended up working out quite well, but the situations are pretty similar in my opinion.
“Benjamin Kabak of the River Ave Blues blog doesn’t think New York should acquire Carl Crawford ‘when they already have three of the top outfielders in the American League’.”great statement.
Based on what? Elaborate.
Not really. They rank nicely in AL OF WAR; Gardner 5.4 (5th), Swisher 4.1 (8th) and Granderson 3.6 (12).
Oh no, facts!!!!
That’s like Raid to roaches.
I really want the Yanks to keep Kerry Wood how much do you think he will command? and if he wants more then 1year with a mutual option never mind.
I think a 1/$6 mil with a $5 mil team option is fair.
Well, make up your mind. Do you want him to stay or not?
Well, make up your mind. Do you want him to stay or not?
I think he’ll get a 2 year deal to close for someone, but IF we manage to get him back on a one year deal I’m guessing around 7M perhaps start at 5 and include a 2M incentive based on appearances, or if not perhaps offer him a 1 year deal with a vesting option worth around 12/6 with some incentives.
Honestly, who would sign Jeter, who has lost a couple of steps defensively, and whose offensive skills are diminishing? I watched game four against the Rangers and both he and ARod didn’t even move on those grounders into the hole.
The Yankees are aging, and the Core Four (well, exclude Mo) are getting in the way of rebuilding, which is coming. Signing free agents can only mean signing players in their 30s, and the Yanks need YOUNG, athletic talent.
Who on the Cour Four are getting in the way of rebuilding except for Jeter?
Rivera is still a top tier closer and there’s no one better to replace him.
Pettitte was arguably their best starter last year until he got injured and if he’s still got it in him, having him in the rotation gives the Yankees the best chance to win.
Posada is gracefully stepping aside to become a DH in order to let Montero fulfill the long-term answer to the catcher position.
With regards to Pettitte, the Yanks have plently of options. If he comes back in 2011, then great. If not then Nova, Noesi, Phelps and possibly DJ Mitchell should step in and compete for the #5 spot. If he waits until after 2011 to retire then that list expands to those mentioned and possibly Brackman, Betances, Banuelos and Warren. Graham Stoneburner might even be in the mix if he keeps moving so fast. Yanks can, and should, take their time w/ the pitching. They are so deep with 6 or 7 guys at AA or AAA next year.
Steinbrenner is Stoneburner in german…hehe
With regards to Pettitte, the Yanks have plently of options. If he comes back in 2011, then great. If not then Nova, Noesi, Phelps and possibly DJ Mitchell should step in and compete for the #5 spot. If he waits until after 2011 to retire then that list expands to those mentioned and possibly Brackman, Betances, Banuelos and Warren. Graham Stoneburner might even be in the mix if he keeps moving so fast. Yanks can, and should, take their time w/ the pitching. They are so deep with 6 or 7 guys at AA or AAA next year.
Who on the Cour Four are getting in the way of rebuilding except for Jeter?
Rivera is still a top tier closer and there’s no one better to replace him.
Pettitte was arguably their best starter last year until he got injured and if he’s still got it in him, having him in the rotation gives the Yankees the best chance to win.
Posada is gracefully stepping aside to become a DH in order to let Montero fulfill the long-term answer to the catcher position.
I hear what you’re saying but I don’t think it’s as much of an obstacle. Yanks don’t have a better 3B in the system right now (maybe Brandon Laird will be decent but not better). Montero will hopefully hold the C position down in replace of Posada. Posada will probably (hopefully) retire after 2011. If Montero is capable of C full time and Posada retires next year then the DH is open. Arod can become the DH and that opens up a spot for Laird at 3B or Jeter can slide to 3B and be replaced by Nunez. I think the Yanks CLEARLY regret commiting to Arod until age 42 (wasn’t done by Cashman) but I think the Yanks can be creative in efforts to get younger. Yanks don’t have a lot of IF prospects outside of Laird (1B, 3B and corner OF), Nunez (SS, 3B), Dave Adams (2B) and CoJo (2B, 3B). Adams is probably the best of the bunch but there are no Monteros (seemingly) in the bunch.
Agreed about the prospects. They are stocked pretty good with pitchers and catchers but they should really start to look for ss and 3b prospects or infield prospects at least.
Well, we have Nunez, who’s supposed to be around league average, and we have Cito Culver who we drafted w/ our first pick this year.
Agreed about the prospects. They are stocked pretty good with pitchers and catchers but they should really start to look for ss and 3b prospects or infield prospects at least.
I hear what you’re saying but I don’t think it’s as much of an obstacle. Yanks don’t have a better 3B in the system right now (maybe Brandon Laird will be decent but not better). Montero will hopefully hold the C position down in replace of Posada. Posada will probably (hopefully) retire after 2011. If Montero is capable of C full time and Posada retires next year then the DH is open. Arod can become the DH and that opens up a spot for Laird at 3B or Jeter can slide to 3B and be replaced by Nunez. I think the Yanks CLEARLY regret commiting to Arod until age 42 (wasn’t done by Cashman) but I think the Yanks can be creative in efforts to get younger. Yanks don’t have a lot of IF prospects outside of Laird (1B, 3B and corner OF), Nunez (SS, 3B), Dave Adams (2B) and CoJo (2B, 3B). Adams is probably the best of the bunch but there are no Monteros (seemingly) in the bunch.
the biggest lost in the future is rivera i know he has around 2yrs left but there will never be another like him the amount of respect i have for him as much as i hate the yanks.somewhere i read it and i agree jeter needs the nyy and nyy needs him they dont have a replacement kinda doubt they would trade for a premium shortstop.pettite i think should retire the guy doesnt need to accomplish anything people have mixed reactions with steroids with him why not enjoy time with your family why risk hurting your body anymore than it has.as for crawford i think he is likely going to the angels to be with his friend hunter it makes to much sense.kinda sucks tampa wont get a 1st round pick though.crawford makes no sense at all when you have a younger guy like gardner.
please learn to use periods and breaks in your sentences for the community.
If you’re going to tell everyone else to use more proper sentence structure, you should probably put spaces after your own periods to give yourself more credibility.
I’m a Yankee fan but I don’t think Gardner, grandy and Swish are the top oufielders in baseball but they are very good and cheap. There’s a word I’d never thought I’d use when it came to Yankee players lol. I do like all 3 of them as well they’re not stuck up money hungry players. They all play the game hard are very classy and respect the game.
Note, he never said THE TOP, he said SOME of the top, and they certainly are in the top 25 OFers in the AL. Who’s better? Crawford, Choo, Hamilton, Cruz, Ichiro and maybe a couple of others. The point is, Gardner should be worth around 3-4 WAR and he’ll earn around 500K, Swish is worth around 3-4 WAR at around 9M and Granderson is also worth 3-4 WAR at around 8M. Crawford will be worth 5-6 WAR but will cost at LEAST 18M so the issue is that those 2-3 extra wins are not worth the 18M he’d cost.
I’m a Yankee fan but I don’t think Gardner, grandy and Swish are the top oufielders in baseball but they are very good and cheap. There’s a word I’d never thought I’d use when it came to Yankee players lol. I do like all 3 of them as well they’re not stuck up money hungry players. They all play the game hard are very classy and respect the game.
Hmm.. I still think.. If cliff lee is gone to the rangers, OUR alternative should be to sign Crawford, move Gardner to CF, and ship granderson + packages for a Josh Johnson type of player.. Or any other marquee pitcher..
But what do I know? I’m just a fan..
3 of the top outfielders in the AL? Talk about putting on a cheerleaders outfit.
If you look at the stats it is one of the top offensive and defensive OF’s… Swisher had a strong year w/.288 BA 29 HR 89 RBI .360 OBP .910 OPS and had a solid year defensivelyGardner came out of nowhere and posted a.277 BA .382 OBP 46 SB 5.4 WAR, and a 21.5 UZR in the OF. He also won the fielding bible and should have won the GG over Crawford statisticly speaking. Granderson had a monster second half and posted 24 HR. His other stats may have not been as good but, that was because of his injure/struggles, and with his new mechanics, he’s set to have a monster year next year. His defense has also been top notch for years.
If you look at the stats it is one of the top offensive and defensive OF’s… Swisher had a strong year w/.288 BA 29 HR 89 RBI .360 OBP .910 OPS and had a solid year defensivelyGardner came out of nowhere and posted a.277 BA .382 OBP 46 SB 5.4 WAR, and a 21.5 UZR in the OF. He also won the fielding bible and should have won the GG over Crawford statisticly speaking. Granderson had a monster second half and posted 24 HR. His other stats may have not been as good but, that was because of his injure/struggles, and with his new mechanics, he’s set to have a monster year next year. His defense has also been top notch for years.
NY should leave the OF alone and worry about pitching imo.