I wouldn't say Pettitte was awful "last season." I would say Pettitte was awful "late" last season. I think he's worth 10M, but surely not a penny more than 12, and even that I doubt I'd give him unless Lowe and Burnett were both off the market. Yeah, that's all fair. I still think it's hard to replace that spot in the lineup. Right now, here's how I'd think we shake out: Damon LF Jeter SS ARod 3B Posada C Matsui DH Cano 2B Swisher 1B Nady RF Cameron CF That's a nice lineup, but not more than "nice." It's definitely not a "Yankee" lineup, and surely much weaker than a Boston one that includes Teixeira. And if people expect ARod to put up ARod numbers, he's going to need more than Posada batting behind him. Gotcha. I figured that was the case with Fielder. I'm not worrying about Sabathia. Sure, I'd love for him to lose a few inches around the waistline, but whatever. I'm willing to wait and see.
If his price comes down to 9-10M for 2-3 years, I'd expect to see him in Tampa in March. The problem is, he's probably going to continue to demand, and eventually receive, more than that.
I read today that there is almost no market for outfielders. Partly because of the economy and partly because there are so many available. I can't find the link but that 9-10 million for Abreu was specifically mentioned in the article. The most interest in him right now if from the Dodgers and they won't do anything until after they see what happens with Ramirez. The Yankess exercised his 16 million option last year without a blink of the eye and he put up basically the same numbers. That's why I wonder what's going on now. It might be the length as you say. I would offer him a 2 year deal and see what happens. Damon and Matsui are both gone after this year anyway. Then what do they do? They better hope Jackson is ready and Nady didn't just have his career year last year.
I just looked that up and what I read was wrong. It was the last 7 years those three had at least 100 RBIs. Arod - 11 Pujols - 8 Abreu - 7
Yes. He's been a decent hitter who's stayed relatively healthy on decent offensive teams. Really, though, RBIs are a function of the runners on base in front you. A .280 hitter who has guys on base in front of him for the bulk of the season is going to drive in 100 runs without too much effort. A .400 hitter who comes up with the bases empty all the time will struggle for 100 RBI. He's getting older, has shown a steep decline in his OBP and his pitches seen per plate appearance (which are two of his biggest assets) over the past two seasons. He's also seen a steep decline in his fielding, which was already shoddy to begin with. I'd put even money on Nady outperforming Abreu next year at the plate. There's no doubt we'll see a huge upgrade in the field, just by Nady being average. If Matsui is healthy, I don't see why he wouldn't put up the 120-ish OPS+ we've seen from him so far in his Yankee career. That's solid protection for A-Rod (and I think "protection" is overrated, anyway... you just want it to be tough for teams to pitch around him. I doubt anyone is going to unintentionally intentionally walk him to get to Posada or Mastui). And Matsui's bat hasn't shown any decline in the past two years, when healthy. He's just had knee issues.
Yankees sign Burnett - 5 years 82.5 million... http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3765754 I guess woot!! A little nervous but i'll take it. That's Sabathia, Burnett, Wang and who? I still think Joba goes back to the pen.
5 years for a 31 year old with a history of injury... Agents must get hard-ons when they know Cashman is interested in their players. They'll know that the player will get more money for more years then any other team in the league will pay out.
Sabathia > Burnett > Wang > Joba > Pettitte Joba is a starter. Cashman and the rest of the FO have been adamant about this, and Joba has made it clear that he would very much prefer to start. They need him to get his innings cap up this year. That won't happen in the pen.
hasnt it already been made clear that Joba is in the Rotation? Holy shit.... Look at this. CC Sabathia Chien Ming Wang AJ Burnett Joba Chamberlain Phil Hughes?
The problem is he will be on an inning count of about 110-120. That's a given after only going 100 last year. How do they reconcile that?
Why pay Pettitte when you have Hughes? BTW, anybody know any decent ticket brokers who are selling Yankee opening day tix? My fiance is a huge fan and I want to get her tickets for X-mas. ebay and stubhub seemed overpriced.
Won't be Hughes. Period. They will go after Lowe or Sheets before Hughes makes it. Girardi said on Yes two days ago that Hughes is not in their plans for 2009. That is about as bad a statement as you could ever want to hear.
And why is that? They already spent enough on pitching especially to abandon Hughes as a starting pitcher. Hes too young to give up on when he was pitching with an injury last year. That's crazy...
Maybe because he stunk. Maybe because they hope to trade him. I don't know why. His only chance is if (when) somebody gets hurt.
that is not what he said, he said Hughes hasn't been given a spot and he'll have to earn it. Leave it up to Don to skew words to try and prove a point...
Rosenthal's take: "The signing of Burnett means that the Yankees will drop their pursuit of right-hander Derek Lowe, who could end up with Boston. Meanwhile, the Yankees have given lefty Andy Pettitte a take-it-or leave-it one-year, $10 million offer to remain with the club, according to the New York Post. If Pettitte declines, the Yankees likely will pursue a pitcher at a comparable price on the open market. They have had discussions with righty Ben Sheets." http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/8932446/Sources:-Yanks,-Burnett-reach-5-year,-$82.5M-deal
That isn't what he said. He said he is not part of their plans but he could earn his way back in. There, that is EXACTLY what he said. And he only said that after Francesa almost forced him to. He never volunteered that. So if you are going to try to correct me get it right.
This is not true. How did you come up with this figure? The rule of thumb -- and, granted, it's a somewhat blurry rule -- is that you increase the innings by around 30 or so each year (over the maximum a pitcher has pitched in his career to date). In 2007, Joba's cap was around 110 IP. He didn't hit his cap of 140 or so in 2008, but that 110 is still the benchmark they use for determining maximum. You'll see Joba around 140 next year, too.
That doesn't mean what you seem to think it means. Cashman has said on numerous occasions that their opinion of Hughes' potential has not changed.
