Actually I kind of wanted Pettitte (or especially Moose) back but that seems unlikely. Hughes has yet to prove anything yet and as much as I like Joba, he is not really proven yet either.
I seriously wonder if you are exaggerating the 25 teams part though on Hughes. The kid had some real problems last year with control and health. Hughes has to earn the job in Spring Training as it is.
Besides I wasn’t begging for help, I was just commenting on the two positions where the Yanks are not set. Every other spot is locked up baring injury. The pool of relievers is actually greater than the spots available.
storyteller0910, I agree on all of your points. I am hopeful the free agents start moving so the Yanks can move Swisher or some other excess talent. Not a huge things but it has actually been a slow hot stove season this year. The Yanks are more than fine but I enjoy the hot stove in general. Dunn would be a good fit but do you worry about his defense?
I’m fairly pleased with the Met moves thus far, minus signing Tim Redding. I liked there offer for Lowe, but would not have matched the Braves. You would have giver ace money to a guy who isn’t an ace, and hoping he was still as effective at 40. I do not get the fascination with Oliver Perez though. I’d much rather them go after Sheets or Pettitte.
Dunn wouldn’t be a bad fit. He can play left for a year and then move to first after Delgado’s contract expires. I’d prefer someone better defensively, but that person doesn’t appear to be out there right now.
If I were a Mets fan, I’d be excited about Perez. When he’s on, he’s brilliant. I think he’s turning a corner, and entering what will be an excellent stretch of his career.
Dunn has obviously been productive despite his low on-base percentage, but I’m not sure his psyche could handle the booing in N.Y. based on the number of times he’d strike out in key situations.
If you want a substandard left fielder with power, I hear there’s some guy named Ramirez who hasn’t yet been signed.
Well it appears Pettitte muffed this one royally. It is being reported that he is returning to the Yanks for $5.5 million instead of the $10m offered earlier and the $16m he wanted. He does stand to get an additional $6.5 million on performance bonuses and bonuses based on time on the active roster. This sounds like a very good deal for the Yanks and I guess the incentives let Andy save face.
I am liking the Yankee rotation very much now. CC, Wang, AJ, Joba & Pettitte with Hughes and company as understudies.
I like the idea of Broxton as a closer. Big fella like that throwing heat.
But we need pitching. Our offense is not up to the task of overcoming a lack of pitching. With Lowe and Penny gone, Saito and Beimel gone, who do we have? Schmidt and Mota didn’t pitch at all last year. Billingsly is our ace? I like Billingsly, but he’s not there yet.
So the Yankees have signed Pettite, which I think has an effect on everything in the league. From Cashman’s public comments, it looks like the Yankees are basically done for this offseason. They’re still the Yankees, and I’m sure if something brilliant falls into their lap they’ll take it, but I think this has got to be a signal to Scott Boras that no pinstriped savior is coming to offer Manny Ramirez an above-market deal.
So, in the wake of this signing, do we finally see the Manny-to-the-Dodgers thing happening for real? Once Ramirez is in place, will Dunn and Abreu finally get deals? Will Ben Sheets sign somewhere, now that the Bronx option is closed for him?
Will something happen to spice up this, the most laborious, drawn-out, and deliberate baseball offseason I can remember in my life?
I hope so. I think some of the pitchers may actually wait until they see how the different camps are playing out though. They’ve waited this long and they might figure and extra month won’t hurt their bank account at this point as they might find a team motivated by injury.
Manny needs a home and the Yanks and Red Sox are already out, so Boras has already lost a big chunk of his bargaining power. I could see Manny settling for a 1 year contract at over $20m just to buy time for the economy to improve. Who can afford that though? Mets, Dodgers, Angels and Giants I think. Anyone else?
The White Sox maybe? Anderson sure isn’t living up to expectations.
The Tigers, if Sheffield cracks in half again.
I don’t think the Blue Jays could afford him, but they could use him.
The Rangers certainly could use him, and they love throwing money away when they need pitching.
He’d be sick in Colorado - but I’m not sure what their money situation is.
This would be an absolute best-case scenario for the Dodgers, who I have to imagine are still the front-runners in this race. If they were able to sign Manny for just a single year, they get a Manny who is playing for his future, meaning we’re likely to see the same quality player that we had for the last couple of months of the 2008 season. And I am guessing that of the teams left, Manny would prefer to come back to LA, where he is already looked at as a hero.
Would Manny going to the Giants be enough to turn the NL West back into a three (or four) team race? The Giants seem to have a lot young potential and some quality starters. I’ve heard very little about Colorado this offseason, and I have no sense of where they stand going into 2009.
Other teams have money. Seattle, Baltimore, Washington to name a few. None of them are really in position that a major free agent would make much of a difference. Maybe Seattle who are in a division where 85 could take it, but they seem disinclined to play for the near future.
I don’t think the Tigers or Jays have any money currently to spend on Manny. The Rangers are possible. I don’t know about Colorado either.
I think if the Giants got Manny it would make them competitive at least and the Dodgers have no firm hold on first. Manny really made a big difference for them last year.
Colorado dumped Holliday in the off-season, so I’m guessing they aren’t looking for a big contract. Manny’s biggest problems are Adam Dunn and Bobby Abreu. They offer 80% of the production for much less $ and many fewer headaches.