Posted by: Patrick
From Bryan Hoch:
Meanwhile, Cliff over at Bronx Banter has a great, in depth analysis of the CC Sabathia deal.
Upon arriving at Sabathia's palatial estate in Vallejo, Calif., Cashman said he was struck by the familiarity of the residence. In a random coincidence, the GM had been channel-surfing at home in Connecticut and happened across the episode of "MTV Cribs" that featured Sabathia's home.
Meanwhile, Cliff over at Bronx Banter has a great, in depth analysis of the CC Sabathia deal.
Posted by: Patrick
Tim Brown and Gordon Edes of Yahoo! Sports report:
They are reporting the deal as 7 years, $161 million.
The deal, according to a source close to negotiations, gives Sabathia the right to opt out of the contract after the first three years, by which time he will have been paid $69 million. Sabathia appreciated the clause because it satisfied concerns he had about living in New York and the impact it might have on his wife and three children.
They are reporting the deal as 7 years, $161 million.
Posted by: Patrick
Reports this morning from Jayson Stark, Jon Heyman, Joel Sherman, Ken Rosenthal and Buster Olney have the Yankees getting what they came for, so to speak, and bringing CC Sabathia to New York.
The majority of them indicate that the Yankees have raised their offer, from 6 years and $140 million to 7 years and $160 million. This drops the average annual salary from $23.3 million a year to $22.8. So, an odd $500,000 a year less, with a higher total value. Sabathia hasn't yet put his name on the dotted line, but the various sources say that he's selected the Yankees as his destination and now they are just working out the final, minor details and having the big lefty take a physical. A source told Stark that there are "zero major road blocks" that could prevent this from happening. The holidays may have come early for Yankees fans. Here's Olney discussing the deal:
Via Ben and Frank.
The majority of them indicate that the Yankees have raised their offer, from 6 years and $140 million to 7 years and $160 million. This drops the average annual salary from $23.3 million a year to $22.8. So, an odd $500,000 a year less, with a higher total value. Sabathia hasn't yet put his name on the dotted line, but the various sources say that he's selected the Yankees as his destination and now they are just working out the final, minor details and having the big lefty take a physical. A source told Stark that there are "zero major road blocks" that could prevent this from happening. The holidays may have come early for Yankees fans. Here's Olney discussing the deal:
Via Ben and Frank.
Posted by: Patrick
Peter Abraham and Ken Davidoff are both reporting the Yankees interest in free agent infielder Nick Punto. Davidoff says the team is in talks to sign him.
Posted by: Patrick
From MLB.com's Bryan Hoch and Barry M. Bloom:
Since the day he walked out of the broadcast booth in 1994, Tony Kubek has mostly steered clear of Major League Baseball, not even tuning in to a single game on television over all the years that have passed.
So it will be a surreal event when the former New York Yankees shortstop is reintroduced to the game on its most celebrated stage next summer.
A standout analyst in his post-playing career on the NBC "Game of the Week" telecasts, Kubek is the winner of the 2009 Ford C. Frick Award, an honor bestowed on broadcasters by the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
So it will be a surreal event when the former New York Yankees shortstop is reintroduced to the game on its most celebrated stage next summer.
A standout analyst in his post-playing career on the NBC "Game of the Week" telecasts, Kubek is the winner of the 2009 Ford C. Frick Award, an honor bestowed on broadcasters by the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Posted by: Seamus
As fans and radio talk show hosts everywhere were bashing CC Sabathia all day for his seeming unwillingness to play in New York, it turns out Brian Cashman was in San Francisco meeting with Sabathia for the third time in as many days. This has led to increased optimism that the Yankees will be able to land the coveted free agent, or at least optimism that CC is actually seriously considering the Yankees' offer.
SI's John Heyman also reports in the article that the Yankees are going hard at A.J. Burnett and Derek Lowe, and may attempt to sign all three pitchers (including Sabathia). The article states that the Yankees have made an offer to Lowe that was "thought to be at least $64 million over four years."
This is pretty encouraging news regarding CC, but I'll have to admit I was becoming a fan of the idea of two years for Ben Sheets. I'd actually be pretty disappointed if the Yankees signed both Burnett and Lowe to go along with Sabathia, although I don't believe the Yankees actually believe that will happen. The Yankees do need pitching, but they don't need $300 million worth of it. I would much prefer cheaper deals for Andy Pettitte and Ben Sheets to long-term commitments to an aging Lowe and an erratic Burnett.
It's all speculation, though, so we'll see what happens.
SI's John Heyman also reports in the article that the Yankees are going hard at A.J. Burnett and Derek Lowe, and may attempt to sign all three pitchers (including Sabathia). The article states that the Yankees have made an offer to Lowe that was "thought to be at least $64 million over four years."
This is pretty encouraging news regarding CC, but I'll have to admit I was becoming a fan of the idea of two years for Ben Sheets. I'd actually be pretty disappointed if the Yankees signed both Burnett and Lowe to go along with Sabathia, although I don't believe the Yankees actually believe that will happen. The Yankees do need pitching, but they don't need $300 million worth of it. I would much prefer cheaper deals for Andy Pettitte and Ben Sheets to long-term commitments to an aging Lowe and an erratic Burnett.
It's all speculation, though, so we'll see what happens.
Posted by: Patrick
The Post's Joel Sherman is reporting that the Yankees, among with at least four others, have expressed interest in outfielder Rick Ankiel. He lists the Cardinals' needs as closer and starting pitcher and says that that the team has interest in Ian Kennedy.
Via Andrew.
Via Andrew.
Posted by: Patrick
Mark Feinsand of the Daily News reports that, according to a source, the Yankees are preparing a contract offer for Ben Sheets that will likely be for 2 years and somewhere around $26 million. Conflicting with that, Joel Sherman of the Post says that the Yankees have not made a decision on whether or not to extend an offer to the pitcher.
Via Andrew and Andrew.
Via Andrew and Andrew.
Posted by: Patrick
Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal reports that the Brewers may be looking to deal Bill Hall, if they can get the Mike Lamb deal finalized. He lists the Yankees as a team that has expressed interested in the utility player.
Hall has spent substantial amounts of time at shortstop, third base, center field and second base. His offense numbers are atrocious. He's a lifetime .258 AVG/.316 OBA/.455 SLG hitter and his line last year was .225/.293/.396. Somehow, he hit 30 home runs in 2006, which led to him getting a raise that now sticks out pretty badly. He's set to make $6.8 million in 2009 and $8.4 million in 2010. He also has an option for 2011 with a $500,000 buyout. Ouch. He'll be 29 this month.
Rosenthal says that Hall is close friends with free agent starter CC Sabathia, as Mike Cameron is. CC was on the team for a few months - he must make friends really easy. He can make some new ones! We don't need to import friends to sign the lefty.
That's not all from Rosenthal. Though it's most likely that John Smoltz will go back to the Braves, if he is healthy enough, Rosenthal says that the Braves are waiting to make an offer until they are sure he'll be ready to pitch. This is creating an opportunity where other teams could, at least, make a pitch to the 41 year old Smoltz. But, again, after 20 years in Atlanta, it's hard for me to see him moving on to another team.
Via Yahoo! Sports and Yahoo! Sports.
Hall has spent substantial amounts of time at shortstop, third base, center field and second base. His offense numbers are atrocious. He's a lifetime .258 AVG/.316 OBA/.455 SLG hitter and his line last year was .225/.293/.396. Somehow, he hit 30 home runs in 2006, which led to him getting a raise that now sticks out pretty badly. He's set to make $6.8 million in 2009 and $8.4 million in 2010. He also has an option for 2011 with a $500,000 buyout. Ouch. He'll be 29 this month.
Rosenthal says that Hall is close friends with free agent starter CC Sabathia, as Mike Cameron is. CC was on the team for a few months - he must make friends really easy. He can make some new ones! We don't need to import friends to sign the lefty.
That's not all from Rosenthal. Though it's most likely that John Smoltz will go back to the Braves, if he is healthy enough, Rosenthal says that the Braves are waiting to make an offer until they are sure he'll be ready to pitch. This is creating an opportunity where other teams could, at least, make a pitch to the 41 year old Smoltz. But, again, after 20 years in Atlanta, it's hard for me to see him moving on to another team.
Via Yahoo! Sports and Yahoo! Sports.
Posted by: Patrick
Brian Cashman told MLB.com's Bryan Hoch that the Yankees have not made any sort of offer to free agent first baseman Mark Teixeira, but refused to dismiss the possibility of signing both Teixiera and pitcher CC Sabathia.
On a related note, a "team official" told Newsday's Kat O'Brien that if the Yankees decided to go after both Teixiera and Sabathia, as well as another starting pitcher, they could afford to do so.
This doesn't really mean much as, even if we have little interest in Teixiera or only have interest if we miss out on Sabathia, what could be gained by saying that we aren't interested in him? Nothing, really. We'll just have to wait and see how it plays out.
On a related note, a "team official" told Newsday's Kat O'Brien that if the Yankees decided to go after both Teixiera and Sabathia, as well as another starting pitcher, they could afford to do so.
This doesn't really mean much as, even if we have little interest in Teixiera or only have interest if we miss out on Sabathia, what could be gained by saying that we aren't interested in him? Nothing, really. We'll just have to wait and see how it plays out.
