-Lee didn't exactly take pennies to go back to Philly, a place where he greatly enjoyed playing. -Wood was a Cub for most of his life, and his contract supposedly includes a personal services deal that will keep him in the organization longterm. -Andy's pushing 40, had to deal with injuries last year, and has been contemplating retirement for years. -Who have the Yankees been treating like shit recently? They're overpaying the crap out of Jeter, they gave Rivera a blank check, they let Posada catch until he was physically unable to crouch anymore...I can't think of a loyal player that the Yankees have turned their back on since Bernie.
Ugh..I have it from a good source that Russell Martin has a partially torn meniscus. Doubt the Yanks are going to say anything about it..probably hoping it heals by season's start.
It's already been made public. He needs the same surgery that Sabathia had, they knew about it and signed him anyway. It's not considered "major", although it's disconcerting that we signed a catcher who needs knee surgery.
Of course, how could I forget? The Yankees overplayed their hand with Lee. Wood took a crapton less to go back to the Cubs. Andy can still pitch. We know it. The Yankees know it. Andy knows it. So why isn't he just taking the money? They didn't give Jeter the years he wanted, and they shit on him in the press, which he clearly stated he didn't like. They gave Rivera a blank check because the Red Sox were about to do the same thing. Posada definitely caught for too long, so I'll give you the point with him. Perhaps, maybe, just maybe, as I've been saying for many years, it's not always about the money. Ca$hman doesn't have all the answers. Mostly because the answer doesn't include a bunch of zeroes. Disconcerting is putting it lightly if the signing's purpose was to be able to trade Montero for pitching. I never understood this move anyway. I've never seen him play, but his numbers aren't that impressive that I would rather go with him over giving Montero the shot this year.
You say it isn't about the money, but then all of your points are about just that. The Yankees offered Lee more money, he wanted to go somewhere else, so be it. Ditto Pettitte, I don't think him deciding to retire has any bearing on the money. The whole Jeter thing should have never been public, but it happens and they both got a fair deal out of it. You can't say the Yankees should've gave Jeter the years he wanted but then be upset that Rivera got exactly that.
Because maybe he wants to retire? Or maybe because it just needs more time. He didn't resign for 2009 until late January. And maybe, just maybe, it's not always about the Yankees. That's a big if.
Honestly, it's a doom and fucking gloom here. I am actually thinking not acquiring Blue Chips will ultimately be a good thing. Girardi will have to earn his pay with the Yankees being "deficient" (according to most fans) compared to other teams.
Right. The real purpose was to insult Posada. Insulting players was clearly Cashman's goal all winter. I heard he even called up Bernie Williams and invited him to Spring Training on a minor-minor-league deal.
With no better options, I'm perfectly OK with signing a veteran innings eater, letting the young guys battle it out and see if any of them stick for the first month or two. Take the savings in payroll and when a team is out of it in July and looking to dump a contract be first in line.
I could definitely live with Kevin Millwood or Hirorki Kuroda in the back of the rotation for now, with an eye on Wandy Rodriguez or some similar salary dump at the trade deadline. Then again, I'm a bigger believer in Phil Hughes than most, so I don't think that our rotation is completely fucked (even without Pettitte.)
How exactly do you figure that? Lee and Wood took less to go elsewhere. That's clearly not about the money. Pettitte seems reluctant to allow money to convince him that it's not time. And where did you get any idea that I'm upset about what Mo got? I think maybe you misunderstood everything I wrote. Okay, and as I asked, what is so special about this guy that it makes sense to sign him rather than just give the job outright to Montero to sink or swim? I believe in Hughes too. I even still have some faith in AJ, and I'm the biggest fan of Nova on at least this site, if not the biggest not employed by the Yankees. I'm not gloom and doom at all. I think the Sox are better right now without a single ball pitched yet, but that doesn't mean anything. I thought we were by far the most talented overall team last year and we didn't even win our own division. All I'm saying is, this new Yankees attitude is just itching to backfire. It's all well and good to talk about running a business, but title runs are what packs those luxury seats and pay the bills. How soon everyone forgets just how empty the old house was when this team sucked 20 years ago. All those bandwagon fans that I've always loved to complain about are the ones who pay the bills. They're also the ones who show up to see Derek Jeter at shortstop, and expect guys like Lee to be automatic. If the Yankees are sitting behind Boston, Tampa Bay, Toronto and even heaven forbid Baltimore, and I'm not saying they will (this year) the organization will learn some hard lessons from this fanbase. EDIT: In new developments, it appears the Yankees are looking at bringing back Johnny Damon. Great move, and only one year too late! Fire Ca$hman.
Because they're trying to win a championship, and championship teams don't put all their faith into a 21 year old to be the every day catcher. Worst case scenario with Martin is a veteran Cervelli-level bat with better defense and arm. Best case scenario, regular rest rejuvinates him and he returns to All Star form. I've heard this argument about the Martin signing a lot. If Montero makes a smooth transition to the big leagues and becomes the player he's expected to be, why do people think he's going to be blocked? The only way Montero plays great and is blocked is if Martin and Posada both have incredible years, which isn't exactly a bad thing, and even then he'll still get plenty of time.
Nice to see the worst GM in baseball go down hill even farther. Imagine what TB or Florida or Atlanta or San Diego or any of a dozen other team's GMs would do with a 200 million dollar budget.
I very much would like to hear Don's 2010-2011 Yankees offseason gameplan. What would you have done differently? They went after Cliff Lee, he said no. They got Crawford pulled from under them, but they really weren't gonna give him $140 million anyway.
Crawford isn't worth $20 mil a year. I'm a Yankees fan but some of these spoiled fans are fuckin obnoxious. You can't always get what you want but I guarantee you we will make the best of this situation ..
I think most of Don's "gameplans" involve trolling, masturbating, and eating lots of delicious cotton candy...not necessarily in that order.
