ESPN is reporting that reliever B.J. Ryan and the Toronto Blue Jays are closing in on a 5-year contract worth about $47 million. The deal will be the largest deal ever given to a reliever, surpassing Mariano Rivera's 4-year deal that ran from 2000-2001 (Rivera's deal was worth more per year). The Yankees have shown interest in Ryan, who has quietly become one of the game's most dominant relievers. Ryan went 1-4 last year with 36 saves and a 2.43 E.R.A.

Well, herein lies another part of the problem of attempting to convert a dominant closer into a setup man. $47 for 5-years is a huge deal. Most teams would not give that to a closer. In fact nobody has, so certainly he isn't going to get that much to be a setup guy, even if it's from the Yankees. Ryan said he wanted to be a closer this year, and there were too many teams that wanted him to close for them.

Well, there goes another reliever on the Yankees' offseason wish list. Perhaps we might have to reach out to Flash a little more and convince him to stay for another year or two.

Finally, we are able to get the Interviewing the Yankees Blogosphere series underway. Our first interviewee is Brian MacMillan of Off the Facade. Without further ado...

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Based on the current roster, the Yankee bullpen, as of November 23, consists of:
-A first ballot HoFer in Mariano Rivera (will be 36 in a week). Greatest. Closer. Ever. (and quite possibly the best righthanded pitcher in Yankee history).
-A pitcher with a career ERA of 5.18 in Tanyon Sturtze (just turned 35). To be fair, Tanyon did pitch well for a little bit between late-year 2004 and the first third of 2005 but for whatever reason, regression to his old self, injury, overuse, etc., went back to being the Tanyon Sturtze that Tampa Bay got rid of. Hopefully, he is able to rediscover the cutter that Mo taught him in 2004 and be effective again. Still, having to rely on Tanyon Sturtze to be a central part of your bullpen is definitely not the ideal scenario.

Then you have your tweeners. Are they starters or relievers?

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I was interviewed (along with Alex, Brian and YanksFan) over at WasWatching.com.

Thanks Steve for having me.

According to ESPN and Peter Gammons, this deal is all but done, with Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell being traded to Boston for highly touted shortstop Hanley Ramirez (who has yet to really produce all that much, in my opinion), right-handed prospect Anibal Sanchez and a minor-league pitcher. The Red Sox have agreed to take on all $18 million of the money owed to Lowell over the next two seasons. In my mind, this is a no brainer for the Red Sox as they have another SS prospect who could be just as good, if not better (he's already outproduced him by a good deal in the minors), than Ramirez in Dustin Pedroia. Anibal Sanchez is no slouch either. I have had the opportunity to see him pitch a few times for the Wilmington Blue Rocks and I have to confess, I think that he is the goods. However, giving that up for someone who has already proven himself in the majors and on the grand stage of the World Series doesn't really require that much reflection. Also, the Red Sox have more than enough revenue to offset Lowell's price tag and this deal should bolster support for the team after a disappointing 2005.

I'm sure there will be more on this the rest of the day and we'll keep you posted but for now, any first reactions to the trade?

Sources: Marlins close to fire sale:


Wonder if there is any truth to that. What would we do with Delgado? Have him split time with Giambi between 1B and DH? I wonder what we'd be trading for him. Would we be giving up some "bad" salary (but less than they are)?

Delgado is owed between $48 million and $60 million dollars for the final 4 years of his deal (final one is a mutual option for $16 million with a $4 million buyout). During those years he'll be 34, 35, 36 and 37 years of age. So, yeah, they need to pony up some dough or we need to be dumping someone. Giambi, Posada, Pavano, Wright are the guys that would come to mind. Of course, they'd have to be clearing money, so it's not gonna be Giambi. I'm not sure I'm interested in trading Posada or Pavano for him (of course, Pavano might want out), but I guess Wright would be alright. Still, it seems odd to me, so I'm not sure that it's true. If we sign Giles and trade for Delgado, what's that lineup look like?

(With 2005 numbers).

SS - Derek Jeter (.309 AVG, 122 R, 19 HR, 70 RBI, .389 OBA, .450 SLG)
LF/CF - Brian Giles (.301 AVG, 92 R, 15 HR, 83 RBI, .423 OBA, .483 SLG)
3B - Alex Rodriguez (.321 AVG, 124 R, 48 HR, 130 RBI, .421 OBA, .610 SLG)
1B/DH - Jason Giambi (.271 AVG, 74 R, 32 HR, 87 RBI, .440 OBA, .535 SLG)
RF - Gary Sheffield (.291 AVG, 104 R, 34 HR, 123 RBI, .379 OBA, .512 SLG)
DH/1B - Carlos Delgado (.301 AVG, 81 R, 33 HR, 115 RBI, .399 OBA, .582 SLG)
CF/LF - Hideki Matsui (.305 AVG, 108 R, 23 HR, 116 RBI, .367 OBA, .496 SLG)
C - Jorge Posada (.262 AVG, 67 R, 19 HR, 71 RBI, .352 OBA, .430 SLG)
2B - Robinson Cano (.297 AVG, 78 R, 14 HR, 62 RBI, .320 OBA, .458 SLG)

Um.

Via Brian MacMillan.

According to the Star-Ledger, Carl Pavano wants out of New York in a hurry.


The article goes further to say that the Yankees are looking to trade Pavano as they feel they have a good staff of starters ready to go regardless if they have Pavano or not.

Carl's season was unstable at best with an ERA of 4.77 and a 4-6 record in 17 starts. He was shelved just after the All-Star break on July 7th and never returned.

Is this a case of a pitcher who just can't handle New York? Did he put too much pressure on himself, and/or his body to meet expectations of rabid Yankee fans? By doing so, did this cause his season ending injury?

Making a trade with Pavano might be tough as he is owed just over $30 million over three years. But I strongly feel they should make a trade if any Yankee wants out as bad as Carl Pavano does.

For those wondering why I think that resigning Flash Gordon would be a bad idea, Ben Kabek over at Off The Facade has a pretty thorough analysis on the situation.

Also, I was going to post this myself but SG over at RLYW beat me to it. Scout.com posted their top 10 list of AFL prospects and Baby Bomber Eric Duncan made it to number 10. Take a look through my write-up of what Duncan did in Trenton this year, check out the Scout.com article for what he did in the AFL and check out some of SG's work over at the RLYW. He's been cranking out some very thoughtful analysis this offseason. He is quickly climbing up the ranks to join Cliff Corcoran from Bronx Banter as my favorite Yankee analyst with a sabermetric slant.

The Yankees off-season shopping list grows a little shorter as Scott Eyre signs on with the Cubbies. There was a good amount of talk that the Yanks would go after Eyre pretty hard to be the lefty out of the pen for next year but the Cubs beat them to it, signing Eyre to a two-year contract with a player option for a third year.

I was disappointed when I heard that he had signed with someone else because I had been looking at his stats and his rates recently. Batting average allowed, on-base % allowed and WHIP declining each year for the past 3 years. Positive trends with Ks too and it looks like he has his wildness coming under control. Combine that with his age (33) and left-handedness... and he looked like a great addition to the pen (certainly when you consider that he would be replacing Wayne Franklin, Alan Embree, et. al).

HOWEVER, I searched a little more on the 'net to find some more particulars on the contract. I found it: 2 years, 11 million dollars! That's closer money. It's also pretty much double what Tom Gordon was making with the Yanks and double what another lefty reliever got in the open market last year (Steve Kline - 2 years, $6 million). (Edit: Brad Williams was able to correct me in the comments below - the contract is actually only worth $11 million if he exercises the option. It's 2 years, $7 million if he doesn't. Even if he does, $3M + $4M + $4M isn't crazy money for a guy as good and as sought-after as Eyre.) Well, it's too bad - Eyre would have been a good pickup for the bullpen.

Notes: Bernie not the center of attention:


I understand how we may have handled things before, but this is a little different. Can't we multitask a bit? If Bernie wants to come back and wants to be a bench player (and be paid as a "well paid" bench player would be), let's get something done, I say.