The latest on the Yankees, who signed Bartolo Colon to a minor league deal yesterday…
- GM Brian Cashman told John Harper of the New York Daily News that he talked to Derek Jeter's agent, Casey Close, to clarify comments he made earlier in the week about a potential move to the outfield for the captain.
- As Joel Sherman of the New York Post points out, both the Yankees and the Rangers pursued Cliff Lee aggressively, then "gambled on a former Cy Young winner who has been devastated by shoulder injuries in recent years." But Colon is a back-of-the-rotation arm, not a true alternative to Lee. Brandon Webb, the Rangers' new addition, is no sure thing either.
- The Yankees are upbeat about the chances that Andy Pettitte returns for another season, according to Sherman. They're still considering free agents like Justin Duchscherer and Jeremy Bonderman, though.
- The Yankees believe history is a 'pull' for Pettitte, Sherman writes. He can progress through Yankees records and add to his Hall of Fame case if he plays more.
- Manager Joe Girardi showed the kind of sway he has with the Yankees when he voted in favor of adding Rafael Soriano, according to Sherman.
Why would Girardi vote against acquiring Soriano? Its just money after all!
I think the gamble of Duchscherer is worth it, he’d be the 5th starter and would keep Mitre or Nova out of a regular rotation spot. A rotation of CC, Pettite, Hughes, Burnett, and Duchscherer isn’t bad at all. It’s at least enough to get to the trade deadline and see what’s out there (possibly Carmona or Liriano?)
I guess Justin Duchscherer is the best of the rest but once has he only over 100 innings in a season or made more that 20 starts. His best seasons were coming out of the bullpen.
Bartolo Colon isn’t a true alternative to Cliff Lee. I’m so glad the reporter took the time to point that one out.
“add to his Hall of Fame case if he plays more”
That’s a good laugh.
Hall of Fame Case of Beer?
Getting Soriano was a no brainer which proves even more how bad Cashman has got to go. What happened in the 1996-2001 era when the Yankees turned every game into a 6 inning game? I believe they were in 5 World Series and won 4 of them and were a out away from becoming back to back to back to back World Champions.
people like you.
Well come talk to me when the Yankees win again based on this formula and now giving Crawford, Lee or any of the other high priced free agents the moon. It worked before and it can work again.
I’m not a yankee fan. but thanks. They still don’t have the bullpen to shorten the games to 6 innings, and Soriano wasn’t a great signing considering they gave up a 1st round draft pick..
luckily the yanks offense has the ability to over come its weaknesses.
They gave up a Thirty First pick, not a First pick. People overvalue late draft picks a bit too much. Are you saying an all star reliever for 3 years (if healthy that is) is not worth a thirty first overall pick, who probably won’t even make the majors in 3 years?
Sorry dude. Rafael Soriano > 1st rnd pick.
Question. If the Red Sox (who also tried to sign Soriano) needed a closer and the team that had him signed for the next 3 years @ 3/$30 asked for…Rizzo and Junichi Tazawa (before the surgery) would you not make that deal?
“Question. If the Red Sox (who also tried to sign Soriano) needed a closer and the team that had him signed for the next 3 years @ 3/$30 asked for…Rizzo and Junichi Tazawa (before the surgery) would you not make that deal? ”
Wait, I’m not sure I understand the question. The wording’s a bit…odd. Are you asking if one would forgo acquiring Rizzo and Tazawa in favor of signing Soriano?
If that’s the question, heck no I wouldn’t. Before his injury, Tazawa was tearing up the mid to high minors (98 IP, 2.57 ERA, 1.082 WHIP, 8.1 K/9, 3..38 K/BB) and his limited AAA innings were even better. If he comes back from TJ okay, Tazawa will likely be a solid back of the rotation starter or bullpen piece.
Rizzo is projected to be a solid bat and, more importantly from a Sox fan perspective, was a key piece in acquiring Adrian Gonzalez.
And Rizzo is the important part of the point here. Yes, we all understand that prospects don’t always pan out, but prospects that don’t pan out are constantly shifted around in trades for MLB impact players. That first round pick may never be an MLB starter, but he and two other prospects who may never be an MLB starter could net you an MLB starter.
This year is a prime example of WHY the Yankees need to continue to maintain a good farm system, as they’ll likely need to spin prospects at the deadline for pitching if Pettitte doesn’t return or is ineffective if he does. If you go sacrificing high picks in an effort to sign a setup man, you are hurting your farm system, one way or the other.
Think of it this way. The Yankees had the number nine system according to Keith Law, primarily based off of Montero and their pitching prospects. If the Yankees trade Montero and one of those pitching prospects for an impact player at the deadline, suddenly they’re likely out of the top ten. Meanwhile, the Red Sox are right behind them at number eleven.
The difference going forward? 2011 is said to be the deepest draft in over a decade and the Sox have, at minimum, FIVE picks before the Yankees will get their first (Six if Lopez signs an MLB deal). Fast forward to 2012, Felix Hernandez is available. Those five or six extra high round picks the Red Sox made could be all the difference if the Sox and Yankees both go after him.
Even IF Soriano pitches to last year’s standards for the life of his deal and doesn’t get injured or opt out, I STILL wouldn’t have given up a first rounder for him. Accounting for the fact he has the capability of opting out after this year and he has a lengthy injury history, the deal is extremely questionable when you look at the depth of this year’s draft and account for the fact that a team like the Yankees is more likely to use prospects as trade chips than filling holes with them at the MLB level than your average team.
Colon, Duchscherer, Bonderman….those are some names that should make Yankee fans excited
How do you omit the story about Cashman acknowledging the Red Sox have a much better roster than the Yankees?
cashman’s been running his mouth a lot lately, its hard to keep up
I think he was just being honest. The Sox made some high vale additions this winter.
He also commented that the Yankees have a very good team that went to game six of the ALCS and have a good chance of returning.
to me it just sounds like Cashman is tired of having 49% control of the club and wants to move on.. How else can anyone explain that interview last week, in which he told the world that Joba can no longer be a starter, Jeter will be eventually moved to the OF, and that the Sox are a better 2011 club
Now nothing he said was outrageous, coming from a fan or the media, it would create no stir.. but GM’s are usually not supposed to sit and gossip and unintentionally put down his only players, especially singling them out.. . As I watched I was waiting for him to tell everyone that Adam Dunn doesn’t like baseball and has no passion to play the game
You have to wonder which other ML team would give Cashman a GM position if he leaves the Yankees? He has operated with a huge financial advantage over any other franchise and even then has had some major busts (Pavano, Jared Wright, Kei Igawa, Javy Vasquez…..).
I realize I’m not a ML team, but I would give him a go as a Cubs fan — and not just to replace Jim Hendry. If the GM job opened up and Cashman were one of a dozen options, there’s a strong chance I would go with him.
Did he have major busts? Yeah. Every GM does. Pavano was primarily a bust because of injuries, which you can’t lay entirely at the GM’s feet, and Igawa is something I would lay more at the feet of the international scouts who obviously recommended him highly. The only one of those four that I think was a big deal was Vasquez, from a combination of “he has sucked in New York before” and giving up good talent to acquire him.
Anyway, why would I give him a chance (even though I’m not a huge fan of him personally)? Because he seems to want to do things right. He wants to build from within. He wants to rely on his own, relatively cheap players. If you pair that drive with some good talent acquisitions and a decent-sized payroll, you have a recipe for long-term success. Imagine if you let the Rays spend $100MM a year. With their talent evaluation, their minor-league development, their focus on the draft — with all the great things they have going for them right this second, but also with the payroll means to keep the players they develop long-term if they’re interested in doing so, and to supplement their roster by making good free-agent signings to fill organizational holes.
From a Cubs fan perspective, that would be a nice change. I never got the impression that Hendry has cared about the farm system except as it lets him occasionally pull the trigger on some trades. Having huge financial resources isn’t a strike against somebody so long as they understand that winning doesn’t necessarily always involve tapping them out. It lets you avoid or at least shorten some of those rebuilding periods and, as I said, to fill some holes with quality players, but it should be a fallback and not an expectation.
There are only a few GMs in baseball that seem to truly understand that. Who can develop, can have a strong focus on their own systems and yet throw their payroll around to their advantage if the right situation develops. Epstein in Boston. Seemingly AA up in Toronto (though we’ve yet to see the “throw the budget around” portion). The Rays, but unfortunately only for a year or two at a time budget-wise. Atlanta. Is there anybody else, honestly? There are other teams out there with nice farm systems, but more out of necessity than out of an organizational philosophy.
The fact that Cashman has been in New York, where he obviously HAS the budget but actually seems to NOT want to use it is not a negative for me, it’s a huge positive.
I don’t imagine you live in NY but if there is anyway you could see last Sunday’s Daily News on p.68. The picture of Cashman was certainly a sight to see.
I do not, what pic was it?
I can’t believe it! He did it again. He’s on the back page of the Daily News today, and looks the same way he did when he was hanging off the side of the building. I really don’t want to write what I thinking but he has to stop this. It’s like when Obama was wearing flip-flops, it’s unacceptable. Enough with the spiked hair and highlights. George is probably rolling in his grave.
I wish people would stop citing the game six thing. The Red Sox took the 2008 ALCS to game seven and were leading said game for a good chunk of it. They went in to 2009 with the lineup from that season largely intact and managed to get swept out of the playoffs. The big difference between the 2008 and 2009 Red Sox? Lack of pitching depth and a subpar performance in the first half by a single key offensive contributor (Ortiz). Additionally, I would like to point out that we had one of the best bullpens in the MLB for the first half of ’09.
A year and some starting pitching question marks can make a much bigger difference than people seem to realize.
“A year and some starting pitching question marks can make a much bigger difference”
This is an opportunity for a good GM earns his money.
Now, by GM, are you referring to Cashman, Hal Steinbrenner or Randy Levine? Kind of hard to be sure these days.
That gives the fans more to talk about, it keeps them in the news. It’s good marketing for the Yanks.
Maybe if this was the WWE. A gigantic rift forming in your team’s front office looks bad for the team and while it’ll generate hits on blogs and ESPN, it’s unlikely to increase ticket and jersey sales.
“Manager Joe Girardi showed the kind of sway he has with the Yankees when he voted in favor of adding Rafael Soriano”
If the choice was Soriano or not Soriano, that’s kind of a no-brainer and hardly worth reporting. If the choice was between Soriano or we’ll spend the money on a decent starter, that’s interesting.
I think the Cash man knows he’s working on borrowed time here…..seems like he’s tired of this situation he’s in. Of course this is all speculation on my part but the writings on the wall, he won’t be back
If and when Cashman leaves, I hope the Yankees don’t do a Al Davis/Jerry Jones type deal, where the owners think they know everything about their sport and figure they don’t need a GM they can handle it themselves.
No I don’t think that will happen. The Yankee senior adviser is still very much looking out. And I want to go on record saying do I really want him to walk, no I don’t. I just think he needs to re-appreciate the fact that the good lord made him a Yankee. I think he needs to come back to earth a little. The only stars on the Yankees are the ones on the field. If he wants to walk, do it. And don’t let the door hit you on the you know what, the way he did the same to many others who were certainly more of a Yankee than he is.
“then gambled on a former Cy Young winner who has been devastated by shoulder injuries in recent years.”
A Cy Young winner whose year that year wasn’t even that fantastic. I know he won the damn award but why even attach that label to him?
Pettite come back and the Yanks and Sox are even. Fangraphs stats 2007-2010 show that the Yanks are better at C, SS, 3B, CF, and even at 1b, 2b, RF. The Sox are better at LF. The Sox starting pitching is better with the same pitchers as last year, while the Yanks with Nova project to have a 1.7 pitcher in the 5th spot, better than what they’ve had there for the last 6 years. The Sox line-up is younger which will help them, but the Yanks have 4 top players coming off down years. The Sox also have too key players coming off injuries. Both have great pens with the Yanks having a slight edge.