Wang To Sign With Nats

After a week of swirling rumors that Chien-Ming Wang had signed, was about to sign, or had not at all signed with the Nationals, the deal was officially announced today. Wang gets $2M guaranteed with potential for an additional $3M in incentives. At one point this off-season the Yankees gave the impression they would match any offer. I don't know if they were given the opportunity in this case, but that's likely more money than the Yankees should rightly spend on Wang. Brian Cashman said he could only offer a minor league deal with heavy incentives.

As for the Nats, I like this signing. It should be a low risk, high potential reward deal for them. Wang is still relatively young and had been a very good pitcher up until a Fathers' Day 2008 injury sent his career on a downward spiral. If he can rebound - and that's no small task given his dreadful performance last season, three shoulder injuries, and two shoulder surgeries to his credit - Wang's sinker may work well in Nationals Park, which has been somewhat pitcher friendly in its brief history. Of course, as Jay's outstanding post last week pointed out, recapturing that sinker may not be a sure thing. If Wang can't remaster his top pitch, something he was having difficulty with even prior to his 2008 injury, this may be the end of the road for him.

Wang was the Yankees first homegrown starting pitcher of any substance since Andy Pettitte debuted some ten years before him. He provided the team with two excellent seasons in 2006 and 2007, and pretty effective partial seasons in 2005 and 2008. It was always enjoyable to watch hitters feebly roll over yet another of Wang's heavy sinkers. As we've detailed here many times before, it's a real shame that a fluke injury and some questionable decision making have left him at this stage.

We wish CMW all the best in DC, and remain hopeful he can recreate his past success. And who knows, after this turn back the clock off-season, maybe we'll see Wang in pinstripes again some day. I just hope he's careful on the basepaths in the NL. In the meantime, maybe the Yankees can sign some one else with a funny last name so we could all continue to make juvenile jokes.

Why We're Lucky To Have Brian Cashman

Our GM discussing the current free agent market for outfielders (via LoHud):

“How long it’s taking certain people to wake up and smell the coffee, that’s what surprises me,” Cashman said. “When you get on the phone with agents, they tell you one thing, and certain agents (cough)ScottBoras(cough) can’t honestly believe what they’re trying to convey. Do they think I’m stupid?”

Okay, I added the italics. But I love the fact that there is someone in charge of the Yankees who can correctly gauge the market and sees through the bullshit. He doesn't rush or panic and is impervious to the games that agents try to play.

So to answer your question, Steve, yes I think Cashman "would be an effective and successful G.M. of a major league baseball team if he had a team payroll budget to work with that was in the range of $100 to $120 million (and no more than that)".

Yanks And Damon Worlds Apart

Depending upon which you reports you believe, the Yankees may or may not have begun negotiating with Johnny Damon late last week. Various reports state that the two sides are worlds apart, with the Yankees offering 2 years and $18M and Damon requesting 4 years and $52M. Putting aside for a second the sheer lunacy of a 36 year old with questionable defensive skills and perhaps park-inflated value wanting a four year deal with an average annual value of $13M in a depressed market, I'm fairly confident the reported offers are accurate. Damon is a Scott Boras client, and since those figures came from notorious Boras mouthpiece Jon Heyman, I believe they are the actual figures being discussed.

We can infer a few things from this. Since it's all part of the negotiating process, I'd assume both sides would be happy offering/accepting more/less than what's currently on the table. If that's the case, we know the Yankees are willing to guarantee a second year and to do so at a market rate contract similar to what Bobby Abreu received from the Angels. We also know that Damon and Boras aren't ready to cave - at least not yet - in light of the Yankees recent outfield acquisitions of Curtis Granderson and Jaime Hoffmann. I'd imagine that they'll try to hold out until Matt Holliday and Jason Bay sign, further defining the outfield market. I just don't know if the Yankees will be willing to wait that long.

Meanwhile, according to a Ken Davidoff tweet on Thursday, there is increasing sentiment that the Yankees will wind up re-signing Hideki Matsui. While the Yankees still have room for both Damon and Matsui, it's more likely that only one or the other will be back next year. The Yankees likely prefer Damon since he can split time between DH and the outfield, but if he and Boras continue to drag their feet in negotiations, the club may turn back to Matsui, who hasn't been seriously rumored to be going anywhere else.

I'm sure this will be one of the predominant Yankee story lines as we move through the next few weeks of the off-season.

News And Notes From Day One

Good morning Fackers. My head is spinning already. If you didn't brave the murky rumor waters flowing from the Winter Meetings in Indianapolis yesterday, we've reduced the day's worth of rumors, lobbytalk, hearsay, near trades and actual transactions into bullet point form:

• Early yesterday afternoon, there was a rumor that the Yankees were close to acquiring both Edwin Jackson and Curtis Granderson from Detroit. Joe at RAB did a nice job of debunking that one based on the dubious source and ambiguous wording, but a similar one popped up late last night. Ken Rosenthal reported that the Yankees, Diamondbacks and Tigers were trying to orchestrate a three way deal that would have sent Granderson to the Yankees along with a couple of prospects from Arizona, Ian Kennedy and Jackson to the D-Backs and Max Scherzer, Phil Coke, Michael Dunn to Detroit. However, Joel Sherman later reported that the talks were all but dead as both the Yanks and Tigers thought their prospect cost was too high. Although apparently, as of this morning, it still might be a possibility.
  
  
• Mark Feinsand of The Daily News tweeted yesterday that the PTBNL in yesterday's Brian Bruney deal will be the Nats' top overall pick in Thursday's Rule 5 Draft. Unlike picks in the Amateur Draft, Rule 5 picks can be traded. That's how the Rangers landed Josh Hamilton two years ago. Still, as Greg Fertel at Pending Pinstripes noted yesterday, this is an uncommon move for the Yankees, as the nature of their roster doesn't easily allow them to carry a Rule 5 player all year. So perhaps they plan on flipping this pick elsewhere as part of another deal, or they may have someone specific in mind. Don't forget, the Yankees wanted to pick Joakim Soria three years ago but the Royals beat them to the punch. They'll have the pick of the litter this year.


• Also from Feinsand, apparently the Yankees did not extend the rumored $10M offer to Andy Pettitte, and "they don't intend to lowball him".
  
  
• The Yankees apparently got in contact with Kelvim Escobar's people who might pitch in Venezuela this Winter to show that he's healthy enough to pitch. Escobar has been very effective when healthy, notching a 3.60 ERA in his time in Anaheim over 658 innings but only threw 5 innings last year and didn't pitch at all in 2008 due to shoulder surgery. File him under the "high risk, high upside" group with Rich Harden, Eric Bedard, Ben Sheets and the like.


• Marc Carig of The Star Ledger tweeted that the Yankees spoke to Mark DeRosa's representatives. As Ben at RAB pointed out last week, DeRosa could be a useful supersub if the Yanks choose to use a DH by committee next year. But Mike at RAB pointed out several potential red flags with DeRosa yesterday.


• Cashman apparently also spoke to Jason Marquis' agents. Circling the Bases explains why this would be a bad idea.


• Jorge Arangure tweets that Aroldis Chapman now may sign for $20M or less. That's a price that I'm more comfortable with than what was initially rumored, but still more than I'd want to see the Yankees commit to him.

Those are some of the loose ends from yesterday. I'm sure today will bring a whole host of new "news".

Pondering Left Field And The DH

Good morning Fackers. Friday morning. Finally. Good Lord, a five day work week after a three day work week and four day weekend is a special kind of torture. I think I'd rather be water boarded. And still there's eight hours to go until that sweet, glorious weekend.

Speaking of interminable waits, today is the last weekday prior to the Winter Meetings. Maybe, just maybe, that'll get things moving and we'll get some actual player movement. Then again, the non-tender deadline for arbitration eligible players isn't until next Saturday, so the free agent market may not materialize until clubs know the full spectrum of who will be available.

Either way, the Yankees' biggest needs remain the ones we identified immediately after the World Series: filling the left field and designated hitter jobs for next year. As I stated then, I think the Yankees' best options for 2010 are to have both Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui return on one year deals. To that end, here are a couple things I came across yesterday that speak to that (again, more confirmation bias on my part).

First up, we have Jay Jaffe at Futility Infielder examining the Yankees' decision not to offer arbitration to Johnny Damon. Jaffe points out that based on Nate Silver's calculations from four years ago, the value of the potential compensation picks forgone by not offering arbitration to Damon is somewhere in the neighborhood of $12M.

I've already stated that I thought it was a worthwhile risk to offer arbitration to Damon, but this drives the point home even more. It was no sure bet that Damon, as a Boras client seeking a multiyear deal, even would accept arbitration. If he refused, the club picks up the equivalent of $12M as compensation. If he accepted, the club keeps him for a year, which is probably all they really want to commit to him, at a price tag of about $15M - about $5M more than market value and exactly what Fangraphs pegs his worth, on average, over the last two years.

Yes, we're only talking about draft picks here, which don't always pan out and may be overvalued, as questioned by the blog-formerly-known-as-The-Yankee-Universe yesterday. But as Fangraphs pointed out last week, there are several factors to consider when pondering an arbitration offer. And all things considered, it appears the Yankees were unwilling to risk a $5M investment for a potential $12M return. Then again, the Yankees had the free agent market figured perfectly last year, so what do I know?

Next up, we have The Bronx View pondering if the DH spot is undervalued. And they raise very valid questions. The popular narrative is that the Yankees need to "free up" the DH spot so that Jorge Posada, Alex Rodriguez, and Derek Jeter can get some time off there. There's two problems with that. First every time one of those three players is the DH an inferior offensive player takes their position in the field for the day. Second, The Bronx View estimates those three players might account for 79 games at the DH spot next year; who is the designated hitter for the remaining 83 games?

I'm all for resting the aging veterans from time to time, whether it be with a full day off or with a day at DH. But that's going to cover half the season's games at most. The Yankees cannot afford to turn the DH spot over to an offensively inferior player for the other half of the games, particularly if they don't replace Damon's offense in left field.

I'm sure the options are being discussed at the Yankees' organizational meetings in Tampa. Hopefully, with the Winter Meetings starting Monday, we're not too far off from getting answers to these questions.

Arbitration Round Up

Good morning Fackers. The Yankees announced a free agent signing this week, but it's not the big news anyone was waiting on. The club signed Taiwanese teenager Fu-Lin Kuo to a contract. RAB's Mike Axisa has the details.

Meanwhile, the details are in from yesterday's arbitration-palooza. MLBTR has the full rundown of who was offered and who wasn't. For the Yankees' purposes, the only players of concern are Type A free agents who were offered arbitration. Signing any of these players would result in the Yankees forfeiting their first round pick, thirty second overall. Signing more than one, as they did last year, would result in the forfeiture of additional picks.

Here's a list of Type A's who were offered:

• Marco Scutaro
• Chone Figgins
• Jason Bay
• Matt Holliday
• John Lackey
• Mike Gonzalez
• Rafael Soriano
• Jose Valverde
• Billy Wagner
• Rafael Betancourt

Billy Wagner has already reached a deal with the Braves for one year, $7M, with a $6.5M vesting option. This should help set the market for the other relievers on the list.

Per usual, the Yankees have been rumored to have an interest in most players on this list. We've already poked holes in the Chone Figgins rumor. Neither Bay nor Holliday seems to be worth the cost in left field, and few relievers are worth surrendering draft pick compensation. Brian Cashman's comments yesterday seem to indicate they won't be pursuing any such relievers.

Based on that list and those comments, it appears the Yankees might only be willing to sacrifice their first rounder for Lackey, or if they turn to Holliday, Bay, or less likely Figgins to fill their current left field vacancy.

You'll Get Nothing And Like It

With a hat tip to RAB, Joel Sherman tweets that the Yankees have declined to offer arbitration to any of their free agents. While this makes perfect sense for unclassified free agents such as Hideki Matsui, Eric Hinske, Jerry Hairston Jr, and Jose Molina, not offering arbitration to Johnny Damon, Andy Pettitte, and Xavier Nady means that the Yankees will not receive draft pick compensation if any of them sign elsewhere.

I can understand the Yankees' thought process here, though as I stated previously, I think it was worth the risk to offer arbitration to Damon. That said, the Yankees had the market figured perfectly last year in declining offers to Pettitte, Bobby Abreu, and Jason Giambi.

Nothing is settled as a result of this. Pettitte will almost assuredly be in the Bronx if he chooses to play next year, and I still think that Damon and the Yankees make the most sense for each other. Nady is likely gone, but not offering him arbitration doesn't preclude him from coming back if that's what both parties want.

Damon now becomes a more attractive candidate to other teams, as they are free to sign him without surrendering a draft pick. This likely won't impact the Yankees at all, as their refusal to offer him arbitration indicates that they have a dollar amount in mind for Damon and they're not going to exceed that be it in arbitration or on the open market. What it does signal though is that if the Yankees are truly interested in bringing Damon back, they are apparently willing to offer at least an option year if not a guaranteed second year. It's highly unlikely that Damon will be accept a one year contract on the open market, and arbitration was the club's best bet to ensure keeping him for one year and one year only.

We'll be back in the morning with a run down of who amongst the Type A's was offered arbitration and how it might impact the Yankees free agent shopping.

The Cuban Pitcher Crisis

Prior to the start 1995 season, the Los Angeles Dodgers signed Hideo Nomo, who had "retired" from his Japanese club in order to become a free agent. Nomo became just the second Japanese native to play in the Major Leagues and the first in more than thirty years. Nomo had a wildly successful rookie campaign, serving as the ace of the Dodgers' NL West winning staff and taking Rookie of the Year honors while posting a 150 ERA+ and leading the NL in shutouts, strikeouts, and K/9.

But in more than just his success on the field, Hideo Nomo was a revelation to the Dodgers. In a year that saw MLB attendance nosedive by about 20% in the wake of the 1994 strike, Dodger attendance dropped by only 7%. The Japanese-born Nomo drove Nomomania just as the Mexican born Fernando Valenzuela had driven Fernandomania 14 years earlier. And the Dodger realized the benefits between the lines, at the box office, in merchandising, and in national and international exposure.

At the time of Nomo's arrival, Major League baseball was already a diverse organization. Clubs had found successful reservoirs of talent in the States, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic, and to a lesser extent Canada, Mexico, Panama, even Nicaragua and Australia. Yet Japan, despite being a baseball-crazed nation with a well developed professional league, was a totally untapped resource. Part of that was due to Japan's restrictive player movement system, but another major factor was the old-boy-network of Major League Baseball in which the Japanese Leagues were deemed inferior. Nomo's success was a counterexample to that way of thinking and opened the door for more than forty Japanese-born players to reach the Majors with varying degrees of success since Nomo's debut.

While Nomo's rookie year may have opened the door for Japanese born players, there was still another country that was quite literally shut off from the Major Leagues. Cuba, less than one hundred miles from Key West and as passionate a baseball nation as any that graces the earth, has been subject to a U.S. embargo since 1960. So after Cuban born players like Tony Oliva, Bert Campaneris, Luis Tiant, Tony Perez and the like debuted in the 1960s, no Cuban-born players of consequence made it to the MLB for decades, except for those who emigrated at a young age such as Jose Canseco and Rafael Palmeiro.

That began to change at the same time Nomo came to the States. Cuban born pitcher Ariel Prieto emigrated to Puerto Rico after graduating college in Cuba. Because he chose to establish residency in Puerto Rico, he was subject to the draft and was chosen, with much fanfare, by the A's with the fifth overall pick in the 1995 draft.

That July, Livan Hernandez and Osvaldo Fernandez fled the Cuban National Team as well. However, they had the good sense to seek asylum in the Domincan Republic, thereby skirting the draft and earning themselves lucrative free agent deals. From there the floodgates opened: Rey Ordonez, Rolando Arrojo, Orlando Hernandez, Danys Baez, Adrian Hernandez, Jose Contreras, Yuniesky Betancourt, etc.

All of these players hit the open market with some degree of buzz about them. Some lived up to the billing (El Duque), some have carved out lengthy if average careers for themselves (Livan Hernandez), many utterly failed to live up to hype (Prieto, Arrojo, Contreras, Adrian Hernandez, etc.).

That isn't a knock against Cuban players. Projecting Major League talent is an inexact science, whether it's in evaluating high school or college players, sixteen year olds in Latin America, or even Japanese players from well established professional leagues. Cuban players are particularly challenging to evaluate. Because of the embargo it's difficult to scout them outside of occasional international competition. Unlike the Japanese leagues, Cuban players don't routinely compete against former Major Leaguers who can give some insight to their talent level. There is very little data on which to evaluate Cuban talent, and what little exists is highly unreliable.

But I think that Japanese and Cuban players, because they're something of a novelty and because they've been exposed to higher quality competition than other talent available to Major League clubs, are afforded more hype, and as such get rather large contracts when they sign.

The Yankees should be no stranger to this. They were in on Prieto before MLB ruled he was subject to the draft. They were in on Livan Hernadez and Osvaldo Fernadez before they signed with the Marlins and Giants respectively. They've signed Orlando Hernandez, Adrian Hernandez, Andy Morales, Jose Contreras, and Juan Miranda - with varying degrees of success. El Duque was worth every penny; El Duquecito never panned out. Andy Morales was found to have lied about his age, spent one miserable season in AA, and was released. Jose Contreras may have been traded away for pennies on the dollar, but he also never sustained anything remotely justifying the hype that surrounded his arrival and was exceedingly frustrating to watch. Miranda has shown signs of promise, but is buried behind Mark Teixeira and likely won't get a shot with the Yankees.

All of which is well worth keeping in mind as the Aroldis Chapman talk heats up over the next several weeks. The Yankees are clearly in on Chapman. They're linked in virtually every rumor about him, and hosted him at Yankee Stadium during the clinching Game Six of the ALCS. He is easily the most heralded player to come out of Cuba since - well, take your pick - Prieto, Livan, Arrojo, El Duque, Baez, Contreras, whoever. Chapman could prove to be the best Cuban hurler since Luis Tiant or Mike Cuellar, or even Fidel Castro himself.

If he's half as good as he's been hyped to be, it shouldn't be difficult for him to surpass the Cuban pitchers of the last 15 years. But whoever signs Chapman is going to have to pay a hefty price to find out if he's as good as billed. Given the track record of recent Cuban exports, especially considering their performance relative to how good they've been purported to be, I'd be very hesitant to give Chapman the dollars he will command.

The Calm Before The Storm

Good morning Fackers. Today is the last morning of the first stage of the Hot Stove season. As of midnight tonight, teams lose their window of exclusivity to negotiate with their free agents. As we explored earlier this week, there likely won't be much free agent movement for another week and a half. The market will be set by the Type A free agents, and none of them are likely to sign prior to the December 1st arbitration deadline. We could see a few minor signings before then, and I certainly wouldn't mind if the Yankees were to swoop in and sign Type B free agent Mike Cameron as they decide how to proceed with left field, the designated hitter, and their collection of young center fielders.

Another important deadline looms tonight as 40 man rosters need to be finalized in preparation for next month's Rule 5 draft. The Yankees cleaned up some room on the 40 man last week, by outrighting Freddy Guzman and Josh Towers. By my count, the Yankees have six or seven open spots on their 40 man roster (depending upon if and when Andy Pettitte officially files for free agency), and could potentially create more by parting ways with Shelley Duncan, Edwar Ramirez, and/or Jonathan Albaladejo. Austin Jackson, Ivan Nova, and Kevin Russo will assuredly be added to the roster today. Last week Mike Axisa at RAB and Chad Jennings at LoHud profiled other fringe candidates. The Yankees will have to leave a few spots open as place holders for whatever free agents they sign next month.

The Yankees have been holding their organizational meetings this week, so they're probably hammering out the final details of all of this as you read. There are just forty spots; they'll have to leave what they can't carry. I hope that they're ready.

Arbitration For Damon?

Good morning Fackers. We're more than halfway through November. The free agency signing period opens in full this Friday. However, since the deadline for teams to offer their own free agents arbitration isn't until December 1st, it's unlikely that we'll see any signings before then. Teams that lose free agents prior to the arbitration deadline are automatically entitled to the appropriate draft pick compensation.

We may see a few unclassified free agents sign since they carry no compensation, or a few Type B free agents sign since the signing team does not surrender a draft pick of their own. Generally speaking though, it's the Type A free agents that set the market, and since draft pick compensation for a Type A free agent requires the signing team to surrender their first round draft pick (or second round pick for the teams with the top fifteen picks), it's unlikely that we'll see any Type A's sign - and therefore unlikely that we'll see the market set - until after December 1st.

In baseball's changing economic landscape, extending an arbitration offer isn't the no-brainer it once was. As the U.S. economy nosedived last fall, so too did the market for free agents. The Yankees rightly decided not extend arbitration offers to the likes of Jason Giambi, Bobby Abreu, and even Andy Pettitte, as they stood to earn more in arbitration than they would on the open market. In a similar vein, this fall, baseball insiders - notably Buster Olney - are predicting widespread non-tendering of arbitration eligible players whose likely arbitration raises exceed their value to their club. Such situations have already precipitated the trades of J.J. Hardy by the Brewers and Jeremy Hermida by the Marlins this off-season.

As far as the Yankees are concerned, they have three arbitration decisions to make on their own free agents this year: Type B free agents Xavier Nady and Andy Pettitte, and Type A free agent Johnny Damon.

While Andy Pettitte is almost assured to return and Xavier Nady offers a high risk, high reward proposition at a reasonable price tag, Johnny Damon presents the most interesting case of the three. While Damon has stated his desire to return to the Yankees since early in the season, there have also been rumblings of his wanting a multiyear contract and not affording the Yankees a "hometown discount". How much of that is posturing by Damon and agent Scott Boras remains to be seen.

Ideally, the Yankees would want to sign Damon for a single year, maybe two, at a salary comparable to the two year, $19M extension Bobby Abreu signed with the Angels earlier this month. However, Damon is coming off a outstanding season. There are teams out there with need (Giants) a player like Damon and GM's without the acumen (Brian Sabean) who might offer Damon what he wants both in terms of years and dollars.

By no means should the Yankees cave to such demands on the part of Damon. However, without resigning Damon on their terms, the Yankees are left with a series of less favorable options: play some combination of Cabrera/Gardner/Jackson in LF/CF, make a potentially costly trade for Curtis Granderson or another outfielder, or pursue a big ticket free agent such as Jason Bay or Matt Holiday, both of whom would require a major commitment in terms of both dollars and years.

Thus, it might be a calculated risk for the Yankees to indeed offer arbitration to Damon. While this would be a departure from the tact they took with Abreu last off-season, the Yankees have a need for Damon, whereas last year Abreu would have been a superfluous and expensive part in addition to Damon, Nady, Swisher, and Matsui. Worst case scenario, Damon would accept. This would ensure him a raise on the $13M he made last year, likely leaving him in the neighborhood of $15M-$16M on a one year deal.

This would certainly be more than Damon could get on the open market and likely more than he is worth - but not by much. Fangraphs.com places Damon's value at $13.6M this past season and $16.4M in 2008. Offering him arbitration might force them to pay a small premium for his services, but it's a premium the Yankees could likely afford to absorb. Further, it would assure that they keep Damon's services for a time frame of their choosing, and would give them the added safety net of an additional first round and supplemental round pick should Damon find his multiyear deal elsewhere.

So what do you think? Should the Yankees offer arbitration to Johnny Damon?

Debunking Another Hot Stove Rumor

Good morning Fackers. As we've discussed, this is a slow time of year for baseball news. There was a time when the major free agent signings happened around Thanksgiving time, but since the advent of the new CBA in 2002 and now the conclusion of the World Series occurring in November this year, the Hot Stove League kicks off a bit later than it used to. The big signings may occur even later this year if the predictions of widespread non-tenders prove to be true, potentially flooding and devaluing the free agent market.

All of that, combined with a relatively uneventful General Managers' Meetings means that we have a perfect storm for irresponsible rumor mongering. Sportswriters have column inches to fill and we dorky bloggers have to have something write about as well. Joe at River Ave. Blues tried to prep all of us for this on Wednesday, and just yesterday Jay had to illustrate why Joel Sherman's various Curtis Granderson trade scenarios are asinine.

There's another "rumor" that hasn't gained a lot of steam just yet, but I've heard it mentioned a few times - most recently by champion baseless rumor creator Ken Rosenthal - and it's just stupid enough to make me want to nip this one in the bud before it gets off the ground. In the event that Johnny Damon walks, Chone Figgins has been mentioned as a potential replacement.

Chone Figgins is a good baseball player, don't get me wrong. He hits for good average, walks a bunch, has good speed, steals a lot of bases at a decent success rate, and is versatile. That's not what I'm taking issue with here - except for maybe the last point. Figgins is versatile; he has at least 25 appearances at every defensive postion except pitcher, catcher, and first base.

But, if Figgins were to replace Damon, that means Figgins becomes the Yankee left fielder because there's no way he's replacing Alex Rodriguez at third base. The problem with that is that Chone Figgins has exactly 36 career appearances in left field with 242.2 defensive innings logged - or the equivalent of about 27 games. Of those 36 appearances, exactly one of them has come over the past three seasons, and it lasted all of two plate appearances and zero outs.

So to recap, in the event the Yankees let Damon walk - over money, over years, over age, over some combination of the three - we are to believe that they will pursue the soon-to-be 32 year old Figgins, who is by no means a left fielder, to play left field despite the fact that it would require a commitment of three or four years at about $10M to $12M per. Sorry, I'm not buying that one for a second, not even in light of the equally ridiculous Robinson Cano trade suggestions that could potentially open second base for Figgins.

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In unrelated news, yesterday morning I mentioned how the outrighting of Freddy Guzman and Josh Towers was largely preparation for the Rule 5 draft. Later in the day, Mike at River Ave Blues and Chad Jennings at LoHud both took far more in depth looks at the situation. Be sure to give them a read if you haven't already.

And Now For Some Real News

Good morning Fackers. Freddy Guzman and Josh Towers were both outrighted yesterday, refused minor league assignment, and elected free agency. Guzman pinch ran twice in the postseason, had one plate appearance (immediately after A-Rod's game-tying HR in the 11th inning of Game 2 of the ALCS), and did not steal a base or score a run. Towers appeared in two regular season games and pitched 5 1/3 innings. allowing three runs. Hey, I didn't say it was big news, just that it was news.

This should come as no surprise. Not only did neither figure into next year's plan, but the Yankees need to begin clearing 40 man roster spots in preparation for the Rule 5 draft. The 40 man roster needs to be finalized by November 20th and the draft will take place at the Winter Meetings in early December. Austin Jackson, Kevin Russo, Zach Kroenke, and Ivan Nova are amongst those that need to be added to the 40 man to prevent exposure during the Rule 5 Draft.

The Yankees ended the regular season with a full 40 man roster, plus Chien-Ming Wang and Xavier Nady on the 60 day DL. By my count, the loss of Guzman and Towers combined with free agency filings by Nady, Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, Jose Molina, Jerry Hairston Jr, Eric Hinske, and eventually Andy Pettitte leave them with 33 spots spoken for.

Shelley Duncan, Edwar Ramirez, and potentially Jonathan Albaladejo are also candidates to be outrighted, though Ramirez and Albaladejo have options left. The Yankees hold a $1.25M option on Sergio Mitre that Joel Sherman has said they will exercise, though I can't imagine why.

Brian Bruney and Chien-Ming Wang are candidates to be non-tendered, but the non-tender deadline isn't until December 12th, so I can't imagine their fate will be decided before the November 20th 40 man roster deadline. For now, Sherman thinks that they will offer a contract to Bruney because he price is somewhat reasonable (~$1.5M) but not to Wang despite a favorable prognosis from Dr. James Andrews.

However many spots the Yankees open up, don't expect them to fill them all by the 20th. They'll still need some open spots available to add free agents as they're signed, so there's little sense protecting a fringe guy in November if he's only going to be cut in December.

Quotes From Damon And Pettitte

Last night, Johnny Damon and Andy Pettitte both appeared on the XM Radio show "October Nights" with Reggie Jackson and Bill Pidto. It was the last installment of a six part series airing on Mad Dog Radio and the hosts had some questions for both of the guys in regards to their plans for next season and beyond:

Jackson: “You’re a free agent. One of the things people don’t know much about is you’re close to 3000 hits. You’re about three years away…”

Damon: “Yeah, I believe I’m at 2425 now so it’s going to have to be three very good years or four pretty decent years so I have to try to keep going strong.”

Jackson: “Are you telling us that you’d like to play another three or four years?”

Damon: “Yeah, absolutely. I feel like with my body type, the fact that I’ve been able to play in at least 140 games over the past 14 seasons, I feel like I can keep it going. I’ll find a way to try to win at all costs. So, that being said, I’m going to take a little break now because the offseason just got here but I’m going to start working out sooner this offseason. It seems like when you start to mature in age a bit your workouts tend to start happening a lot sooner after the season. So I’m going to give myself ‘til probably December 1 and then I’m going to get going very hard. And hopefully by then I’ll know what lies in store for me and hopefully it’s back in pinstripes.”

Host, Bill Pidto: “So all things being equal, Johnny, you’d like to come back to the Yanks?”

Damon: “Why not? I mean, we just won a championship. That new stadium is incredible. The Steinbrenners have been the best owners in the game as long as I can remember. They want to win and they proved it last offseason. The Yankees, it’s amazing when you have the pinstripes on and you walk through the clubhouse and you see guys like Reggie Jackson walking around, you see Tino Martinez, you see Yogi Berra. These guys are life-long Yankees and they’ve been accepted into the family because of what they did and how they played the game. And they won in New York City. So, that being said, I’ve loved playing for New York these past four years. You know, if it works out that I do come back then that’d be great and if not, we’ll see where I restart my future at.”

=====

Pidto: “In recent years you’ve thought about retiring, taken a long time to make up your mind. I know it is really early, the season not even over a week, but what are you thinking about for 2010?”

Pettitte: “You know, really I just need to kinda just get down here and get away. If you immediately start thinking about it right now and you start counting the numbers and you’re looking at the calendar you’re saying, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s only 90 days to spring training. Are you kidding me?’ [...] I’m not trying to hold anybody up. I don’t want to hold anybody up. People can do what they want to do, you know? But I just want to make the right decisions for my family. I don’t want to leave my kids hanging and regret not seeing my kids do their stuff. They’re not able to be in New York with me no more, you know? I went the last month and a half, two months of the season not seeing my family at all except for the couple of times they flew up during the playoffs.”

Nothing earth-shattering, but the quotes are coming from the horses mouths as opposed to third parties trying to read the tea leaves. Pettitte's answers come as no surprise but Damon talking about playing for three or four more years might be an indication of the kind of contract he's looking for. Not a 4 year deal, realistically, but that would seem to take a single season contract out of the equation.

Will the Yankees guarantee him two years? Would any other team? He's been exceptionally durable and even if his defense slipped this year, his ability to his for power and run the bases remain intact. However, his home run power is largely a function of Yankee Stadium and his limited defense makes him best suited for the AL. It's clear that the Yanks and Damon are the best match for each other, it just remains to be seen if another team will make a serious play for him. So far, nobody has been seen kicking the tires.

Thanks as always to Andrew from XM for sending the transcriptions over.

Revisiting Mike Cameron & CF

Good morning Fackers. As I mentioned yesterday morning, even though we continue to bask in the glow of the Yankees' World Series victory, the Hot Stove League is underway in earnest. The Elias Rankings for free agents were released yesterday. Brian Cashman arrived at the General Managers' Meetings in Chicago yesterday and explained that the Yankees will be taking the cautious approach with their off-season moves.

Be that as it may, other teams are already acting. One of the first deals this off-season occurred Friday, when the Brewers flipped shortstop JJ Hardy to the Twins for center fielder Carlos Gomez. On the surface this deal has minimal impact on the Yankees, but I think there could be a ripple effect to this.

It was a virtual lock that the Brewers were going to move Hardy, given that top prospect Alcides Escobar is primed to take over at short. The prevailing theory was that Milwaukee would use Hardy to bring in some much needed pitching help, and they still will, but in a roundabout way. Gomez will be an approximate $4.5M cost savings over Hardy next year, and Gomez' presence has allowed the Brew Crew to let incumbent center fielder Mike Cameron and his $10M salary walk as a Type B free agent.

This is where I think things can get interesting. The Yankees kicked the tires on Cameron when he was a free agent following the 2007 season and last off-season were involved in ongoing discussions with the Brewers about a potential Melky Cabrera for Cameron swap.

In Cabrera (.274/.336/.414, 99 OPS+, .331 wOBA, 2.3 UZR/150) and Brett Gardner (.270/.345/.379, 93 OPS+, .337 wOBA, 15.4 UZR/150) the Yankees have two good, young players at a premium defensive position, both of whom outperformed the average AL center fielder in 2009 (.265/.329/.403). As we detailed yesterday, in Austin Jackson the Yankees have a highly rated center field prospect who is probably half a year to a year away from being ready to take over. He is almost universally projected to be a better player than both Cabrera and Gardner, perhaps as soon as this coming season. All of which is a long-winded way of saying that the Yankees have a glut of young talent at a premium defensive position.

This is a good position in which to find themselves, as the Yankees have some trade chips to carry into a post-season with a relatively weak free agent market. Knowing that Jackson is likely a year away at most and knowing that Cameron, in whom they've expressed interest in both of the last two off-seasons, is available without having surrender a draft pick, might the Yankees consider trading one of their two current center field options now, and sign Cameron as a one year place holder for AJax?

I wouldn't rule it out. I don't envision the Yankees committing the years or dollars to Jason Bay or Matt Holliday. I don't think any of the other corner outfield free agent options are particularly palatable. If Damon and/or Matsui departs, the Yankees will be in the market for a corner outfielder/DH type. I don't particularly relish the idea of either Cabrera or Gardner playing a corner since they lose much of their value there, and I would imagine the Yankees feel the same way. If the Yankees are relatively certain that Austin Jackson will be prepared to be the center fielder in 2011, thereby relegating both Cabrera and Gardner to fourth/fifth outfielder status, then the time is now to cash in on either Gardner or Melky.

If it were up to me, Cabrera would be the one getting shopped. It's no secret here that we've been big advocates of Brett Gardner being the regular center fielder on the strength of his on base percentage, his speed on the bases, and his extraordinary range in the field. Cabrera had a very nice bounce back season in 2009, posting his best numbers since his rookie campaign in 2006. He's still just 25, has a good arm, is a decent enough defender, and is a switch hitter who has shown the ability to hit Major League pitching at a young age. But I'm still not sold on him, and I'm admittedly enthralled with Garnder's plate discipline, speed, and range. If someone else is going to take over in center, I'd rather have Gardner available off the bench than Melky.

As for Cameron, he's not without his warts. He'll be 37 come Opening Day, which is absolutely ancient by center field standards. He doesn't hit for a high average and strikes out a ton. But, he's still a valuable player. He walks at a good clip, posts a decent OBP, is a 20+ HR guy, and outside of a one year blip playing in the spacious confines of Petco Park's outfield, he's been an outstanding defender over the course of his career. He'd probably come cheaper than the $10M he made last year - perhaps $8M, and is unlikely to get a multiyear offer elsewhere. Dave Cameron at Fangraphs even makes the argument that Cameron is more valuable than Jason Bay. Far less importantly, he's considered yet another "good character" guy and is reportedly close with former teammates Alex Rodriguez and CC Sabathia.

Cameron could be a very nice one year place holder for AJax while allowing the Yankees to capitalize on the current value of Cabrera or Gardner to fill other needs. What do you think Fackers?

(Gardner/Cabrera Photo, Cameron Photo)

Replacing A World Series MVP

For third time in their last five championship off seasons, the Yankees will have a World Series MVP entering free agency.

In 1996, closer John Wetteland took home the hardware, appearing in 5 games, saving all four Yankee wins, and striking out 6 while posting a 2.08 ERA in 4.1 innings of work. Just 30 years old, Wetteland's contract expired following the season. The Yankees had absolutely stolen him from the Expos prior to the '95 season and he spent two memorable years as the Yankee closer. He recorded 74 saves in those two seasons, and his other stats were even more impressive: 167 ERA+, 1.03 WHIP, 9.7 K/9, 3.86 K:BB.

Yet, Wetteland didn't inspire a sense of confidence. Despite his impressive numbers, he always seemed to be walking a tightrope in the ninth inning, blowing 10 saves over the two years. He absolutely melted down in the 1995 Division Series, to the point that Buck Showalter wouldn't even use him in the deciding Game Five, instead allowing an exhausted David Cone to be relieved by an exhausted Jack McDowell, and by Wetteland's eventual replacement.

With Mariano Rivera turning in an astounding 1996 as Wetteland's set up man, the Yankees allowed their closer to walk, bequeathing the role of closer to Mo. The rest is history. Wetteland signed a four year, $23M contract with the Rangers, where he continued to excel as one of the league's best closers until back injuries forced him to retire following the 2000 season.

Two years later the Yankees found themselves in a similar predicament. Scott Brosius won the 1998 World Series MVP on the strength of his .471 showing with two huge home runs in Game Three, including a three run shot off Trevor Hoffman in the eighth inning, erasing the final lead the Padres held in that Series.

Unlike Wetteland, Brosius came to the Yankees almost as an afterthought. After two miserable seasons in New York, the Yankees were able to unload Kenny Rogers on Oakland following the '97 season for a player to be named later. Eleven days after the initial deal, the clubs agreed on Brosius, who was coming off a dismal .203/.259/.317 (53 OPS+) season. Perhaps the Yankees thought he could recreate the success he enjoyed in '95-'96 (.284/.369/.486 121 OPS+), but if nothing else the Yankees were rid of Rogers and had picked up a player who could be in the mix to replace the Wade Boggs/Charlie Hayes tandem at third base and was versatile enough to see time at shortstop and all three outfield positions.

Brosius went on to have a career year in the magical 1998 season, hitting .300/.371/.472 (121 OPS+) and driving in 98 runs while batting primarily eighth or ninth. He strong performance coupled with his historic showing in the World Series prompted the Yankees to re-sign Brosius to a three year $15.75M contract, despite the fact that he was 32 years old and the Yankees had Mike Lowell ready to take over. Lowell would be 25 come next Opening Day and had hit .304/.355/.535 with 26 HR and 99 RBI at AAA, a year after hitting .315/.401/.562 with 30 HR and 92 RBI.

With Brosius in tow for another three years, the Yankees flipped Lowell to the Marlins for three minor league pitchers, one of whom never appeared in the Bigs, one of whom never made it to the Bronx, and who pitched a combined 44 innings in the Majors. Brosius wouldn't come close to replicating his 1998 numbers for the remainder of his career. As likable as Brosius was, as good as his 1998 season was, as big as his HRs were in the '98 and '01 Series, electing to keep him over Lowell was a mistake.

Eleven years later, the Yankees face a somewhat similar situation with Hideki Matsui. Unlike Wetteland and Brosius, Matsui is not a new comer, being the most tenured Yankee outside of the "core four". He's 35, considerably older than both Wetteland and Brosius at the time of their WS MVPs. Unlike with Wetteland and Brosius, the Yankees don't have a young replacement waiting in the wings. Jesus Montero is still seen as a catcher and is still likely a year away; Juan Miranda has posted good numbers at AAA but doesn't project to carry his weight as a Major League DH.

Given that Matsui is strictly a designated hitter at this point, the Yankees do have some additional flexibility in that they don't have to have a direct replacement for him, but his offense (.274/.367/.509, 128 OPS+) will be difficult to replace no matter what they do.

Retrospective hindsight says the Yankees went 1 for 2 the last times they faced such a decision. Time will tell how they fare this time around.

Off Season Preview: Outfield & DH

Good morning Fackers. So it's been just about four and a half days since the Yanks wrapped up the 2009 World Series, and about three days since the parade finished. Ready to stop celebrating and start thinking about next year yet? Me neither, but the reality of things is that the Hot Stove League is already underway. We've already seen a handful of trades, options exercised, buyouts paid, extensions agreed to, and free agency filings. The General Managers Meetings start today. It may be a bit of a buzz kill, but it's time to start thinking about the 2010 Yankees and who will make up that roster.

The biggest Yankee storyline this off season will be the situations involving Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui. We'll assuredly take a look at both of them soon, but as we start our off-season coverage I'd like to take a broader view.

The Damon/Matsui situation(s) is/are really part of a larger issue for the Yankees: who will fill the outfield and DH spots next year? Nick Swisher is a lock. Barring a trade, Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner will still be around. Austin Jackson waits in the wings. Damon, Matsui, and to a lesser extent Xavier Nady are candidates to be resigned. Matt Holliday and Jason Bay are big ticket names in the free agency pool, Chone Figgins is being mentioned as a potential left fielder, and second tier free agents like Vladimir Guerrero, Jermaine Dye, Mike Cameron, and Coco Crisp may also find their names cycling through the Yankee rumor mill.

In my opinion it boils down to this: amongst their own free agents, other team's free agents, or trades, the Yankees need to secure two players to fill a corner outfield spot and the DH spot.

We'll certainly run through all the options over the next couple of weeks (unless the Yankees do something quickly), but let me just state my own personal opinion right off: I want the Yankees to retain both Damon and Matsui. Part of that may be sentimental, in wanting to retain two of the more tenured members of the club. But it's also functional. Both are still useful players, despite some visible warts. But sometimes it's better the devil you know is better than the devil you don't.

The argument against this is multifaceted: both are old, both have varying degrees of physical malady and carry injury risk, both are defensively limited, both will be somewhat costly, and both will likely ask for more years and dollars than the Yankees should rightly commit. Critics of this idea will further note that the Yankees "need to get younger, more athletic, etc" and that the team needs to "open the DH spot" to periodically rest aging veterans Jorge Posada, Derek Jeter, and Alex Rodriguez.

Those are valid arguments. But I think they are risks the Yankees can afford to take. Next year's bench should feature the likes of Francisco Cervelli, Ramiro Pena, and either Gardner or Cabrera. All are young, all are athletic, and all give the Yankees some measure of versatility. Meanwhile, I agree with the concept of resting the older position players through the DH spot.

But what happens if Posada, Jeter, and Rodriguez all get a day a week at DH? Each would be replaced in the field by an offensively inferior player (Cervelli, Pena). And who then would DH the remaining three or four games each week? If Damon is the answer to that question, does that mean some combination of Gardner, Cabrera, and Jackson take two of three outfield spots in those games? How much offense would they be giving up by doing all of that?

The next six weeks or so should answer these questions. There are better (and more expensive) options out there, but I'm going on record now as saying that I think the best option for the 2010 Yankees is to bring back both Damon and Matsui.

Damon Stayin'?

To be honest, I hated the fact that the Yankees signed Johnny Damon when it first happened. It didn't have much to do with the fact that he was 32 years old and was already declining pretty steeply as a defensive center fielder. It wasn't just that the Yanks passed on Carlos Beltran the year before, who, with respect to the five tools, was better than Damon in every way. I couldn't wrap my head around being forced to root for a play that I had spent so much time deeply despising.

There was his impossibly weak throwing arm that make me wonder if he was actually right handed but never figured it out. It was so easy to hate his faux-Jesusy look, the "Idiots" and "Cowboy Up" bullshit and the goofy speech impediment he used to talk about it all. Above all, the grand slam he hit off Javier Vasquez in the 2004 ALCS was far too painful for me to acknowledge the possibility of ever actively rooting for him at the time.

I certainly never thought I would be in favor of the Yankees offering him another contract at the end of this year. However, nearly four years later, Damon has been one of the most durable players on the Yankees and has continued to pull his weight offensively, even after being shifted to left field.

Tyler Kepner talked to Damon yesterday and Johnny had this to say about his impending free agency:

I don’t know where else I would want to go to. Obviously, that’s not the right thing to say when you’re about ready to approach free agency, but I’m very happy with playing in New York, and my family’s happy I play for New York. There’s no bigger place to go. If you play well here, you’re going to get paid. New York has the resources.

It's important to note that Scott Boras is still his agent and if Damon is anything like the other capitalist robots manufactured by the Boras Corporation, you can take that quote with a grain of salt. In fact, if Damon is anything like the 2005 version of himself, we probably shouldn't put too much stock in his stated intentions, either (h/t NoMaas):

There's no way I can go play for the Yankees, but I know they are going to come after me hard. It's definitely not the most important thing to go out there for the top dollar, which the Yankees are going to offer me. It's not what I need.

As with any contractual negotiation, I'd be in favor of bringing back Damon at the right price. UZR doesn't think too highly of his defense this year, but I'm not ready to relegate Damon solely to DH status. Just last year his UZR/150 was 11.6 and this year it's -9.6. Has he really fallen of that sharply? Even with his below average defensive, Johnny has been so good with the bat that he projects to be worth $14.8M over the course of the season, comfortably more than the $13M he's making.

Damon's already knocked 22 homers this year, just two off his career high. True, 15 of those have come at home and every one has been to right field, but that's not an inherently bad thing. If the Yanks sign him again next year he'll be playing half of his games in the same park.

With Hideki Matsui likely moving on after this season, the Yanks won't have someone plugging up the DH slot who can't play another position. The Yanks have stated that they want to keep that position open to be able to rest other position players, which keeps the line up flexible, but Damon is still a somewhat competent left fielder, even if he doesn't rebound next year. His bat more than makes up for his defensive short-comings.

From his comments in Kepner's story, it's safe to say that Damon will be looking for at least 2 years. Should the Yanks bring him back for 2 years/$20M? Would that be enough? Who is going to give him more than that? Given the way the New Stadium plays, it seems that he would be worth more to the Yanks than anyone else. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Cash & Co. cut ties with Damon, but if they keep him around, I wouldn't be surprised to see him lift another twenty-something homers over the short porch in right field next year, either.

Jays Jettison Rios

Since the Jays are in town and this move effects both the White Sox' playoff chances this year and the direction of the Blue Jays going forward, I figured I would take some time to examine the decision to acquire Yankee Killer Alex Rios off the waiver wire by the White Sox.

Coupled with the Jake Peavy trade, ChiSox GM Kenny Williams has taken on roughly $115M in future salary over the past two weeks. The Sox are one game over .500, so they don't figure to factor into the Wild Card mix, but are still just 3 games in back of the Tigers in the AL Central. Peavy is still on the disabled list and won't make his first minor league start until later this week at the earliest so he probably won't make more than 4 or 5 starts for the Big League club before the end of the regular season.

Rios', on the other hand, will make an immediate impact if used optimally. In his career with the Jays, Rios has primarily held down RF while Vernon Wells played CF. Jermaine Dye and Carlos Quentin are holding down the starting corner outfield jobs for the Sox, which would be a problem were it not for the fact that Rios is a more than capable CF as well. He's much better than Wells, actually. In 106 games in CF, Rios has a UZR/150 of 12.8 whereas Wells' is -6.8. The Sox started Ken Griffey, Jr. in CF for 32 games last year, so they obviously aren't too concerned with shifting someone from a corner spot to center.

Considering the meager production the Sox are getting out of their current center fielders (.224/.281/.313), Rios' line of .264/.338/.383 is a significant upgrade, even before you consider the boost he'll be getting from playing at US Cellular Field. He's also a base stealing threat with 32 last year and 19 already this season.

Despite being in his physical prime at 28 years old, Rios is having a down year, which is the major reason the Blue Jays decided to let the White Sox walk away with him for nothing more than the required $20,000 transfer fee. The two teams engaged in negotiations before the trade deadline, meaning the Sox would have actually had to give up something at that point, but they waited it out, were the only team to make a waiver claim and got him for essentially nothing.

From the Blue Jays' perspective, they shed a major chunk of salary (not the one they really wanted to, though), but also parted with Rios at his lowest value thus far in his career. Even still, he will come close to equaling his contract value this year and has far exceeded even the $12.5M he is due in 2014 in both 2007 and 2008 according to FanGraphs. And those numbers calculate his value mostly as a RF, not a CF.

Does this move foreshadow a Roy Halladay trade this offseason? Dumping a productive player with a long term deal like Rios for salary reasons and getting nothing in return doesn't exactly signal the desire to compete now. This is a step beyond the Scott Rolen move. By dealing Halladay, they could save themselves a significant amount of money and net some good prospects in return, if they are indeed moving towards rebuilding. I'd be willing to be that the Jays would have tried harder to find a place for Halladay if they knew they could dump Rios after the deadline.

It's possible that Rios' offensive production will continue to decline and the Jays are thrilled with their decision in a few years, but I think it's more likely that they watch him become a solid contributor for the White Sox and regret the fact that it made financial sense at the time to get rid of him. If Rios were to hit the free agent market this offseason, he almost surely wouldn't get the kind of contract he is signed to, but the way that the baseball economy moves from here through 2014 could make the deal look very shrewd or very foolish on either side.

Cause For Concern?

Tim Dierkes of MLBTR came out with a list of free agents who are off to a poor start this year. Don't worry, the Yankees only have $435.5M worth of commitments to guys on the list:

• Mark Teixeira, Yankees: .206/.363/.381 in 80 plate appearances.  This contract runs through 2016, so it's barely begun.
• C.C. Sabathia, Yankees: 4.73 ERA in 32.3 innings.  So far we haven't seen the expected walk and strikeout rates.  This one runs through 2015.
• A.J. Burnett, Yankees: 5.47 ERA in 24.6 innings.  Home runs and walks have been the problem so far.  He's signed through 2013.
• Damaso Marte, Yankees: 15.19 ERA in 5.3 innings.  Signed through 2011.
  

I'd agree that they all belong on this list, but allow me to offer up some homeristic justifications/excuses for their poor starts.

• We were all told that Teixeira is a slow starter because he's a switch hitter and needs time to get both of his swings in order. His defense has been great. I'll start taking calls in a couple weeks. 
  
  
• Sabathia's ERA is only slightly higher than his career average in April (4.73 to 4.54). While not being terribly effective he has averaged over 6 1/3 IP per start. His K/BB ratio is somewhat alarming, but that has traditionally improved for him as the season progressed as well. 
  
  
• Burnett's ERA before Saturday's game against the Sox? 3.20. Early in the season, 8ER in one start is going to skew an ERA pretty wildy. 
   
• Damaso Marte... Um, he like, used to be good and stuff. 5 1/3 innings is a very small sample size, and he has looked good at times. The Yankees have options in their bullpen, and even if Damaso Marte turns out to be a horrible signing, it's not the worst thing in the world. It's $4M a year. 

Are any of these guys really worrying you at this point? Feel free to vent in the comments. Except for you, Anon. 

Right On Time

Via MLBTR, The Post has quotes from Omar Minaya and Jeff Wilpon indicating that the Mets could expand their payroll:

GM Omar Minaya confirmed to The Post yesterday that he has permission from ownership to increase the payroll.

"We've been told that whatever we need to do to get to help us win, we're going to try to do it," Minaya said. "[The payroll is] not unlimited. But there is the ability to increase if we need areas that need to be addressed."

COO Jeff Wilpon also said yesterday, "Omar has the flexibility to do what he has to do to give us a winning team."

Now they are willing to take on salary? Where was all this cash when Derek Lowe and Adam Dunn were still available? Instead of signing players in the best free agent market in recent history, they are going to shed prospects to take on guys with overvalued contracts?

Orlando Hudson for $4M and give nothing up? Hell no! Part with minor league talent for the right to take on another team's terrible contract? Absolutely! Have fun with that.