MLB hot stove/ Free agency

[EDGECRUSHER]

They've offered AJ Burnett a five year / 91 million dollar contract. 

Did they not learn ANYTHING from Carl Pavano?

They are also rumored to have offered Big Tex a ten year / 190 million dollar deal.

I would LOVE to see the Yankees get 'em both.  I really would at this point.  I've always wanted to see a 300 million dollar payroll!   

I don't think they offered Tex that. However, they probably did offer Burnett that and it makes me sad. The man pitched 32 starts in a year twice. Once in his walk year and the other.....in his walk year. On that of that, he wasn't very good last season when he wasn't facing the Yankees. 243 K's is a sexy number, but a 4.70 ERA against non-Yankee teams isn't.

It would be a terrible signing for the Yanks. I would much rather throw Hughes or Kennedy out there for a full season.

[EDGECRUSHER]

The New York Post reports that Yankees GM Brian Cashman flew off to see free agent Andy Pettitte upon leaving the winter meetings Thursday.
The Post believes that Cashman is giving Pettitte a heads up that it's now or never time. The Yankees could very well sign two more pitchers in the coming days, leaving Pettitte without a rotation spot. If Pettitte is willing to commit now, then the Yankees would probably sign just one pitcher in addition to CC Sabathia. It's looking like it will be A.J. Burnett.
Source: New York Post

It's obvious Cashman wants Pettitte back, but on his terms. I know Andy fell apart in the 2nd half, but a lot of that was defense failing him. I still see him as a 200 IP guy at a league average ERA, and to have to just commit to one year for this is an amazing offer almost never given in baseball. Plus, it would HOPEFULLY make the Yankees skip on Burnett. Come on Atlanta, raise the bid!

[EDGECRUSHER]

Just a few minor details left, like who the 2nd player the Yankees send over will be. Since it will be a second or 3rd tier prospect, no big deal.

I have no idea what happened to Melky after April last year. He slugged 8 HR that month and looked to be on his way. Then, he just died offensively. Defensively he is still a stud, but it didn't make up for his pitcher-like at bats.

Cameron is a solid stop gap for a year until Austin Jackson is ready. So, I like this deal, but this isn't a massive offensive improvement.

[EDGECRUSHER]

As long as he passes a physical, which is in no way guaranteed. 5 years/$82.5 Million or $16.5 Million annually. I am not offing myself for three reasons:

1) I have a life outside of cheering for the Yankees

2) His record against the AL East is actually pretty impressive.

3) His inevitable injuries open up starts for Hughes and Kennedy and Aceves.

I am still not happy about it, but he is not Pavano Part 2. AJ has talent, he is just an oft-injured douchebag. Pavano was just a douchebag who never pitched.

[bsfins]

I keep Reading the Cubs Number one Target for the Outfield is Milton Bradley...Milton Fucking Bradley? I guess we don't give a rat's ass about Team Chemistry do we?  I was a little sad to see the Philies Sign Raul Ibanez (sp?)
I wouldn't mind taking a Shot At Willie Tavearas,or Joey Gathright for a lead off hitter..Both Non Tender free agents...


Sunstroke...Do not Read beyond this point! For your own good...



This might interest Yankee and Sox fans...
“Jake has a strong preference to stay in the National League. If Jake's ever going to accept anything to the American League – and I don't want this to be taken wrong – I can safely say that it's going to be the Yankees or Red Sox or maybe the Angels. Those teams are going to be in contention and are going to spend money. If there were circumstances where he would be asked to go to the AL, kicking and screaming, those are the three places.”
Padres General Manager Kevin Towers said in November that he doubts Peavy would OK a trade to the Red Sox. After Cubs GM Jim Hendry told Towers on Thursday that trade talks on Peavy had collapsed, Towers was visited by Red Sox GM Theo Epstein. Towers said later his chat with Epstein was unrelated to Peavy.

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2008/dec/12/s13padres-peavy-frustrated-trade-talks-cubs/?padres

[Sunstroke]

Unfortunately, I had read that already, and could post a couple more links that point to the same situation.

dis--gusting...

[YoFuggedaboutit]

As long as he passes a physical, which is in no way guaranteed. 5 years/$82.5 Million or $16.5 Million annually. I am not offing myself for three reasons:

1) I have a life outside of cheering for the Yankees

2) His record against the AL East is actually pretty impressive.

3) His inevitable injuries open up starts for Hughes and Kennedy and Aceves.

I am still not happy about it, but he is not Pavano Part 2. AJ has talent, he is just an oft-injured douchebag. Pavano was just a douchebag who never pitched.

I can't fucking believe this.  They're gonna give $82 million to a guy who's never had an ERA below 3.44 or lasted a full season!!!!!

[MaineDolFan]

Terrible signing, but I don't think they had much of a choice.  They needed to do something to bolster the rotation and the farm system is not ready yet. 

What I don't get is the length of these deals.  7 years for a guy overweight and over worked, 5 years for an injury case...mind boggling.

One thing makes me happy as a Red Sox fan - the old Yankees are back.  Over spending and over paying and leaving little wiggle room to grow your own talent.  They are overreacting to the market and fears of putting asses in the new stadium.  I love it.  The only thing I'll love more is a 210 million / 10 year deal to Tex.

The Yankees cleared money off the books and filled it with two signings.  Beautiful.

[YoFuggedaboutit]

The Yankees cleared money off the books and filled it with two signings.  Beautiful.

That kind of thinking won them four World Series titles in five years.

[TonyB0D]

That kind of thinking won them four World Series titles in five years.

no, it did not.  they won with a good mix of veterans and up and comers from their farm system.  the big-spending really came in the post-title era (giambi, etc), which led to embarassing 1st round collapses.

[MaineDolFan]

That kind of thinking won them four World Series titles in five years.

Not even close to the truth.  The Yankees teams that won those titles were largely home grown with chemistry non-impact team-first free agents sprinkled in.  Ever since they started opening the wallet like this they haven't won jack.  See also Giambi, Jason, Damon, Johnny, Pavano, Carl and Johnson, Randy.

[EDGECRUSHER]

I agree with you Maine and I disagree with you. I agree they are tossing around money like they are allergic to it, but the old Yankee ways was throwing money AND young minor league talent at AGING superstars, well past their prime. Randy Johnson and Kevin Brown come to mind. This is just money, they actually kept all of their talent. Buster Olney's latest article kind of sums up my feelings:

The winter obsession last year was Johan Santana -- and the Yankees or the Red Sox could have had him. They could have traded for the accomplished left-hander who was about to turn 29. But what folks in both front offices decided was that the double-barreled cost was prohibitive.

On the front end, both teams would have been required to surrender their top pitching prospects -- for the Red Sox, that was Jon Lester, and for the Yankees, that was Phil Hughes -- and then they would have to pay Santana like he was a free agent. It was such an extraordinary price that even some folks in the Mets' organization wondered, after getting Santana, whether it was the right thing to do.

The argument that several executives made with the Red Sox and Yankees was that if you were patient -- patient -- then you might have a shot at a pitcher much like Santana in CC Sabathia, and the cost would only have one layer. Sure, you'd have to give him a huge contract, but you wouldn't have to give up top prospects along the way.

So the Yankees, in the end, were patient and got Sabathia, and the pundits who are saying that the team has blown up its plan for player development are simply not paying attention. In fact, the signings of Sabathia and A.J. Burnett are absolutely in keeping with the refocus on the farm system.

Because the Yankees waited to pursue Sabathia, rather than deal for Santana, they still have Hughes and Ian Kennedy and Austin Jackson and all the players mentioned in the Santana talks, and as the pitching talent pool has increased at the major league level, there is now more time for those youngsters to develop. It actually has been more than a decade since the Yankees have had as much minor league talent stacked up as they do now.

Yes, they will sacrifice draft picks in landing Sabathia and Burnett. But keep in mind that the Yankees will have picks in the first and second round of the draft in 2009 because of players unsigned in 2008; it's not as if they are being shut down.

The Yankees spun themselves into a hole in the past decade partly by acquiring and relying on aging pitchers (Kevin Brown, Randy Johnson) at premium prices. Now, when the free-agent machinations are over and the new Yankee Stadium opens, this is what the Yankees' rotation will look like:

   1. Sabathia, 28 years old
   2. Burnett, 32
   3. Chien-Ming Wang, 29
   4. Andy Pettitte, 36; or Ben Sheets, 30; or Derek Lowe, 35
   5. Joba Chamberlain, 23

Compare that rotation with the Yankees' rotation in the year of their epic playoff collapse against the Red Sox:

   1. Mike Mussina, 35
   2. Javier Vazquez, 27
   3. Jon Lieber, 34
   4. Brown, 39
   5. Jose Contreras, 32

The Yankees' rotation will be much younger next season, and it has a chance to be the strongest it has been since 1998, when Pettitte, David Cone, David Wells and Orlando Hernandez filled out the top four spots, in front of Hideki Irabu.

Marlins president David Samson ripped the Yankees this week for what he portrayed as wild spending, but apparently he doesn't realize that the team's payroll is going to go down by around 10 percent. The Yankees had about $85 million in expiring contracts, and for next season, so far they've spent $23 million on Sabathia and $15 million on Burnett, and they'll spend on another veteran pitcher and probably acquire Mike Cameron; it's possible the Yankees' payroll for next season will be about $180 million to $190 million.

So to review: The Yankees will be younger, cheaper and deeper, and maybe better.

Who knows if all of that will be good enough to win the AL East? Burnett is an enormous risk, nobody knows if Chamberlain can stay healthy, and the Yankees don't know whether Jorge Posada can be an everyday catcher, and they don't know if Alex Rodriguez will be the monster of 2007 or the guy who seems to disappear in big spots.

The Red Sox are years ahead of the Yankees in their player development and have their pipeline of talent already flowing into the big leagues, and by the end of this week, they may land the best position player, Mark Teixeira (some executives strongly believe the bidding will, in fact, end up around $200 million). The Rays have a chance to be as good or perhaps even better, because it appears they will wind up with a solid veteran hitter, and David Price will step into the rotation in 2009.

In the fall of 2005, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman mapped out a course for the organization to begin building a powerhouse that combines player development and the power of the dollar, a model that looks an awful lot like what we've been seeing from the Red Sox over the past three seasons. The Yankees continue to move closer to achieving that goal.

Nick Cafardo wonders if the Yankees are poised for a fall like the one the Tigers had last year. Mike Lupica has a much different opinion than my own on the Yankees' pursuit of Sabathia and Burnett.

Heard this: Sabathia will arrive in New York on Monday.

I don't like the attitude of A-Rod, nor do I like Jeter's attitude recently either, so I point to those things when the Yankees make the playoffs and then just lay down. However, I really think this improves the team and won't really affect them mentally. Now, signing Manny will absolutely do that.

The Yankees still have too many offensive question marks though. Their rotation may look really good right now, but I have no faith in this offense to average even 4 runs a game.

[MaineDolFan]

Edge - please keep in mind that I LOVE pitching and don't think you can ever have enough of it.  So there is a lot of jealousy in my tone as well!  I do think 7 years and 5 years are mistakes, long term, for CC and AJ, but for right now?  This season?  Very good signings.

When Maine talks Yankees and money a ton of that can be marked down as "sour grapes!"

[MaineDolFan]

A pretty reliable outlet is saying Boston has offered Mark Teixeira an eight year, 175 million dollar offer.  This exceeds the next highest offer made by Anaheim (8 years / 160 million).  If the same information is true there is a mutual club and player option for a 9th and 10th year that could bring the total value of the contract to 210 million.

If this is true I would expect Boston to lock him up soon.

[Sunstroke]

I think Teixeira is great, but...damn!!

I found a video re-creation of the negotiations between Teixeira and the Red Sox, with Stewie Griffin playing Teixeira and their dog Brian playing the Red Sox.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuAVgWJ28Hw