My Free Agent Pics

Here are my pics as to where I think this years top free agents will land:

SP C.C. Sabathia-New York Yankees

Despite the rumors going around about the Angels possibly leading the chase for the ace left-hander, I still think he'll be putting on the pinstripes come next Spring. This is because I think that the Yankees feel like they need him too badly. They know that they can't offer the West Coast, but can offer bigger $$$ and a brand-new stadium for him to throw the first pitch in. 

SP A.J. Burnett-New York Yankees

I think A.J.'s also gonna wind up in the Bronx. The Yanks are prepared to offer him the most money out of all the teams bidding for him. Also, all the rumors about it being all about the 5th year being key for him, I don't buy. I think that it's just a scam set up brilliantly by his agent to get teams to offer him more money. However, I still think he wants the 5th year, it's just doesn't all depend on that.

SP Derek Lowe-Boston Red Sox

Lowe's interesting. He's a Scott Boras client, but unlike most Boras clients, he knows where he wants to play and he's willing to take less to go there. That place: Boston. He loved his time there and wishes to return. The Red Sox have a spot open in their rotation and they would welcome him back with open arms. However, many of the big market teams (and some small ones two) would love to change that as he is desired by most of the non-Sabathia teams. And the Yankees (of course).

1B Mark Teixera-Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (worst name EVER)

We all know the Angel's preference for how to sign free agents: short and quick. We've seen it many times with the most recent one being Tori Hunter in 2007. However, if they want Teixera they're gonna have to change that. Tex is the ideal Scott Boras client and is going to wait and let the market develop. There has been much speculation that the Angels will go after C.C. instead, but, as I've said before, I don't buy it. I think it's just a trick to get Teixera to lower his demands.

Sabathia Shutting Down

Having not made a decision yet, C.C. Sabathia and his agent have decided to take the weekend off.

At this point, it's a mystery as to what's going on with C.C. Some reports have been saying the Angels are dead serious, others are not so sure. Many people in the Yankees organization believe that it's all an attempt to get Mark Teixera to lower his demands. Also, there have been many reporters saying that if the Angels make it close, they won't raise their demands. However, it now seems like they would be willing to go to about $150 milllion if the Angels go to $130 million.

Angels Going "coocoo" for C.C.?

C.C. Sabathia has said it, and almost every article written about him since then has said the same thing: he wants to play in California. Well, you can add this one to that list after that. 

The Yankees know that if all things were fair, C.C. Sabathia would be pitching on the West Coast come this April. However, they're trying to make things not-fair. By offering C.C. $140 million, they showed their great interest. And up to this point, no one has dared go near. In fact, the only other offer on the table at this point is that of the Brewers, however, it's $40 million less. But, that doesn't mean there isn't speculation.  It is now being reported that the Angels, unable to sign Mark Teixera in their quick-strike fasion, will now switch their focus to Sabathia. If they can get anywhere near the money the Yankees have on the table, Sabathia will be getting used to having a halo on his jersey. And, FOX Sport's Ken Rosenthal reported earlier that the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (worst name ever) are prepared to offer him Johan Santana money (that's $137.5 million). If they do that the Yankees have 2 options: 1) Raise their offer even further. Possibly even to $160 million for 7 years. or 2) Let him go to the Angels. Either way, Hank and Hal won't be happy.

The other interesting thing being said, is that if the Angels sign Sabathia, the Yankees will pursue Mark Teixera. Now to me, this move doesn't make a whole lot of sense. The Yankees already got Nick Swisher and unless they wanna put him in center and Teixera at first  (which isn't that bad), it doesn't seem likely. Also, Angels' owner Arte Moreno has never been one to dish out big contracts to pitchers. Plus, John Lackey's got an extension comming his way soon and having a $20 million pitcher on the roster wouldn't help that.

Another thing to look at is if this happened, neither of these clubs would be addressing their real needs by doing this. The Angels need offense and already have above average pitching. I think they need to step up and give Teixera a good offer, he'll come around. The Yankees BADLY need pitching. It's a top priority for them. Their offense will come back. Posada will be healthy (hopefully), Cano will probably bounce back and so will Swisher. Not to mention A-Rod being on cycle for recieving another MVP trophy this year (he's won it in '03, '05 and '07). Their offense will be fine. So unless there's some big Blockbuster deal in the works here, I don't see this happening. So cheer up Yankee fans! It's a long winter!

End of Moose Calls in The Bronx

Mike Mussina has officially retired. He told the associated press today that he is retiring from baseball. Turns out, this is what he was planning to do all along. He informed the media that before the season he knew it would be his last. But boy did he have a good season. Mussina racked up his first ever 20-win season of his career, notching his 20th win on the final day of the 2008 season, and in the final game of his great career. A career that might have a place in cooperstown someday. That is an argument that will go on for a while: is Mussina and his 270-career wins worthy of the plaque that all players desire? That is a question that the baseball writers will answer in 5 years. But for now, my hat is off to you Mike. You had a hell of good career.

Yankees About to Make Offer To A.J.?

According to George King of the New York post, and comfirmed on various other sites, the Yankees are readying a deal for RHP A.J. Burnett. It was announced today that the Yankees are going to offer Burnett a deal for about $80 million for 5 years. On the other side of the offer, the Blue Jays current offer stands at about $54 million for 4 years. To give a comparrison, if he accepts the Yankees offer, Burnett would make $16 million a year, with the Jays, he would only make $13.5 million. However, I highly doubt this is it when it comes to offers. Burnett is thought to be the most saught pitcher on the market due to the fact that the Yankees are most likely going to get Sabathia with ease and Burnett (and Derek Lowe) is the next best thing.

Now one big thing to look at here is that elusive 5th year for Burnett. Due to his injury history, teams are hesitant to give him that many years. Buster Olney of ESPN has an article about why the 5th year could be very important in deciding where Burnett ends up.

Padres GM: No Peavy Trade Talks With Yankees; Not Yet

Last week there were numerous published reports that the Brian Cashman and Padres GM Kevin Towers had been having trade talks regarding the Padres ace pitcher, Jake Peavy, since the end of the GM meetings. Today, Towers downplayed those rumors saying that a Peavy deal was not imminent. He said that he has not talked to Cashman in anything that resmebles "trade talk." Towers went on to say that "there wasn't any deal close right now" and that he would like to trade Peavy "sooner rather than later."

Towers said that right now the Cubs are his primary interest. However, they don't seem like the likely destination for the 2007 NL Cy Young Award Winner because they already have a rotation stacked with Carlos Zambrano, Rich Harden, and probably Ryan Dempster. Not to mention Ted Lilly who is more than capable. Right now, it looks like Jake Peavy will be having a very nice offseason, in San Diego.

Where Does Nick Fit?

On Thursday, the Yankees acquired OF/1B Nick Swisher from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for Wilson Betamit, Jeffrey Marquez and Johnny Nunez. The Yankees also acquired minor league pitcher Kanekoa Texeira. The question has been asked: was this a good or bad move for the Yankees. Lets break it down:

The Yankees traded for Wilson Betamit on the day of the trading deadline in 2007. The acquired him from the Dodgers in exchange for reliever Scott Procter. At the time, and for pretty much the remainder of the '07 season and parts of '08, it seemed like a good deal. Procter was over-worked by Joe Torre (1 of very few mistakes he made) and never really found himself in L.A. Betamit on the other hand, really hit his stride the first couple days he came to the Big Apple. In his very first at-bat donning pinstripes, Betamit launched a homerun over the center field fence and really showed that he had great power. However, he wasn't much of a defender. He could really only play 3rd or 1st base, with a little short thrown in. But his major problem, was with his eye. Betamit demonstrated terrible plate discipline, frequently striking out and chasing bad pitches. Sure, he had his good moments. However, a lack of hitting from the right side and in general, cost him mightly as he was tagged a liability by the Yankees and on Thursday, traded.

Marquez is a different story. He was labeled one of the Yankees top prospects before 2008. Everyone was predicting him to be the next top Yankees prospect. However, these predictions were off. Marquez was injured for a good chunk of the season and in what time he was healthy, he was busy posting a 4.00+ ERA and thus he never made it out of Triple-A. Sure he might've been better in the furture, but he was clearly over-rated.

Finally we get to Swisher. I like comparing Nick to Jason Giambi. It's pretty easy to tell by the numbers that Swisher is an upgrade from Giambi. The former 1st round draft pick by the A's, Swisher holds an amazing eye and thus picked out by A's GM, Billy Beane (this story is illustrated in the great book "Moneyball"). Swisher quickly rose the ranks and played very well for the A's. Before the 2008 season, he was dealt to the White Sox. There, his numbers slipped a little. His batting AVG dropped mightly as his strikeouts rose, however, I still consider him to be a quality player. Lets compare him to Giambi now. Swisher and Giambi's stats are quite similar. They both have batting AVGs hovering around .250 (Swisher's is a bit lower than Giambi's but he had a down year). Giambi had more HRs than Swisher (Giambi had 32 whereas Swisher had 26), however he also had more ABs. They both hold great eyes at the plate, but both have quite a few K's racked up. And both are great influences in the clubhouse. Swisher is also quite a bit younger than Giambi. However, it's in the field that really sets them apart. We've all seen it and we all hate watching Jason Giambi lumber around 1B. He's no defender and is only there due to the Yankees having to many DH type players (something I would love to see them change). However, Swisher is another story. Nick Swisher can do it all; he can play all the outfield postitions and he can play a solid 1B. Win win for the Yankees.

For now, it looks like Nick Swisher will be the Yankees everyday first basemen, but you never no. 1 of a couple things could happen: The Yankees are expected to offer Mark Teixera about $20 million a year for around 5-6 years instead of the 10 he's asking for. If he accepts, he'll obviously play first base. The other scenerio (one I'm actually quite hopeful for) is that Juan Miranda's name will come into play. He's been tearing it up in the Arizona Fall League and is a great defensive first basemen with a great OBP and average power. He too could play 1B for the Yankees in 2008. If either of the situations happen, it will probably put Nick Swisher in CF replacing Brett Gardner (I personally would love to see the Yankees keep him there but that's a story for a different day). Gardner would probably be used as a pinch-runner or defensive replacement late in games. Here's a look at what the Yankees lineup could look like if either of those situations pan out.

1. Johnny Damon LF/Johnny Damon LF
2. Derek Jeter SS/Derek Jeter SS
3. Mark Texiera 1B/Xavier Nady RF
4. Alex Rodriguez 3B/Alex Rodriguez 3B
5. Hideki Matsui DH/Hideki Matsui DH
6. Xavier Nady RF/Jorge Posada C
7. Nick Swisher CF/Nick Swisher CG
8. Jorge Posada C/Robinson Cano 2B
9. Robinson Cano 2B/Juan Miranda 1B

Sabathia Thinking; Yankees Pursuing Burnett and Lowe

C.C. Sabathia has gotten a record-setting offer. He's heard all the hype. And he's heard each writer give his or her own opinion on where he will wind up (most go with the Yanks). But now it's decision time. He's going to take this weekend to think over the Yankees six-year, $140 million contract. When he's done, we may have a #52 Yankees jersey being made.

In other news the Yankees are now aggressivly pursuing A.J. Burnett and Derek Lowe. They're expected to make big offers to both, but only sign one. Lowe has publicly said that he wishes to return to the Red Sox and would be willing to take less money to go there. However, the question remains if they would like him back and how much is "less" because after all, he is a Scott Boras client. If you look at the Red Sox rotation if they signed Lowe, it's a rotation that would strike fear into opposing teams. You got Beckett and Dice-K leading off, then you can throw in Lowe, put the young-gun Lester in after him, and then you have the reliable Tim Wakefield closing things in. In other words, sucks to be someone on the other team.

With Burnett the Yankees see themselves having a better chance. He's expressed interest in both playing in the American League and the East Coast, win-win. He's also said he's interested in playing for the Yankees. If you look at his track record, he doesn't look like the best guy to throw money at. He's well-known for being injured, in fact last year was one of just a few full seasons that he's had. But what a year it was. He had his career season going 18-10 4.07 ERA (passable) and a WHOPPING 231 K's! That's something the Yankees have been missing for the past decade or so. Also he's been very tough against the Yankees in particular in 2008 and his whole career. He's a guy they should try to lock up for 4-5 years.

There's also been some speculation that the Padres might have found a trading partner in the Yankees for Jake Peavy. The Braves and Cubs we're initially (and up until a couple days ago) thought to be the front-runners for the 2007 NL Cy Young winner. But they both dropped out recently. The Braves because the Pad's just didn't like what they were offering them. And the Cubs because they relized that with Ryan Dempster comming back, they don't really have a need for Peavy and don't want to give up all the young talent to get him.

However, just because the Yankees are still there doesn't mean they're going to get him. The Padres are looking for young pitching as well as a major league-ready center fielder. The Yankees probably could get Peavy with a package consisting of Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy, and Austin Jackson, Brett Gardner, or Melky Cabrera. The irony in this is, that this was pretty much the exact same offer that the Twins were looking for last year when they were shopping Johan Santana. However, I don't see the Yankees giving up that much quality talent for a seemingly non-necessary piece to their organization.

Darrell Dealt

Darrell Rasner asked the Yankees for a trade. His agent told them that he wanted to play in Japan. So, they listened to him. They sold his contract to the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, a club in central Japan. His agent informed the Yankees of his decision on Saturday and he is expected to sign a two-year deal with the Golden Eagles.

Rasner made 20 starts for the Bronx Bombers last year going 5-10 with a 5.40 ERA. He joined them after being virtually unhittable in Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barry. He started off going 3-0 with the Yankees but then his stats dropped off the rest of the year when he went 2-10, eventually being demoted at the end of the year. He probably did not factor into the Yankees 2009 rotation but could've served a role as a long reliever or a fill-in starter ready to go in Triple-A.

Yankees Start Off Sabathia Sweep-Stakes

Friday was the first official day where other teams could make offers to free agents. As many people around baseball had predicted, the Yankees made the first move. According to numerous reports, the Yankees have offered free agent pitcher C.C. Sabathia a deal believed to be for about 6 years and north of the record-setting contract the Mets gave Johan Santana last winter. That deal was for about $137.5 million dollars, the Yankees pitch to Sabathia is believed to be around $140 million.
If Sabathia signs this deal, or a deal worth more than that, it will set the record for the highest ever contract given to a pitcher. A record that I'm sure Sabathia would love to own. His agent has yet to inform the Yankees of Sabathia's decision regarding the offer, but it will probably be declined as C.C. and the Yankees organization move into discussions.
Sabathia will probably sign with a team within the next 2-3 weeks.