C.C. Sabathia Rumors: Wednesday

Saw this happening. As much as I like CC, I don't like the Angels giving this much to any pitcher.

Most likely, I can see them go after Burrell and/or Adam Dunn if they don't get Tex. Not exactly the idea scenario, but you hvae to look at bargain shopping during the holidays.

Tim and staff: Have a great Thanksgiving Holiday. You guys do a fantastic job!

Agreed Purple. I know teams and FA's are posturing and reviewing deals, but signing for this off-season has been relatively quiet.

I even remember Torii Hunter signing the day after Thanksgiving. This was already after a flurry of activity this time last year. Man, watching this go down is like Christmas eve, but without knowing what the date is. Someone sign already!!! LOL

Also saw this happening. As a Yankee fan, i'd like to just forget about Sabathia and let him sign with the Angels, who don't even need him. The Yankees then go ahead and sign Tex right away if at all possible. If I were Cashman and I couldn't get Sabathia, i'd try talking to Towers and working out some kind of trade for Peavy. Aj Burnett is not an ace, he's a #2 starter. Lowe is not an ace either. Hopefully Cashman knows what he's doing. Hope this isn't going to be a dissappointing offseason for us Yankee fans.

Spieg7,
I agree with you. lets just sign Tex, then trade for Jake Peavy and then maybe sign Ben Sheets.

I dont see Tex lowering his demands, Why would He? he has many suitors willing to pay the big bucks like Boston. As for pretending to like C.C. in order to get Tex, thats the biggest load of crap ive ever heard. Teams dont offer 140 million to pitchers as a bluff

As a Sox fan I give thanks that my team is so well run that I can relax and enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas knowing that I will be watching my team play in October. I feel bad for Evil Empire fans as free agent desperation and anxiety set in. As if the economy wasn't bad enough in the Bronx!

Red Sux Dynasty?? LOL!!! Yeah, if call winning twice in 90 YEARS a dynasty...knock yourself out Sparky.

NEWSFLASH - The Sox are as much of a "dynasty" as the MARLINS!

yanks, I know where you're going with this. Would've could've should've with Wang.

I'd look at it this way....Red Sox has scoreboard for now, but Yankees have scoreboard throughout the game.

I just don't get the Yanks fans that would rather have JP than CC. Peavy dominated in the NL West at Petco - I still believe he'd be a good #1 starter anywhere, but not necessarily as dominant. CC, on the other hand, has done it both in the AL and NL. Furthermore, scouts say JP is a career-ending elbow surgery waiting to happen with his flawed and highly irregular mechanics/motion (I'm not saying his ability is flawed, just his mechanics are VERY injury prone), whereas there is no reason to suspect CC will break down other than "he's big" and "he's thrown a lot of innings in the last 2 seasons." I have yet to see statistical evidence that that matters. Plus, you'd have to give JP CCesque money to sign him in addition to three major league ready young players you'd give to SD.

I'm also not sure this offseason is slower than others - I can't remember exactly the timeline of last year, but I'm sure most of the big names hadn't moved by now. Even if this year is a bit slower, that's to be expected as it's full of all-star FA's looking to break the record books. Each one of them is biding their time to drive the market up. In that way I take neither CC nor Tex's non-actions so far as a signal as who'll wind up with them.

Long time reader, first time post. Thanks for everything Tim.

I would guess the sticking point for the Angels (and anyone else) with Tex is not the AAV, but the 10 years that Boras says he wants.

I like Dunn a lot, but I am not sure if he could fit for the Angels as an alternative. They have Vlad in RF and he is not too mobile as it is anymore. Can they DH Dunn? He really needs to go soemwhere he can DH and spend a little time in the OF....not many of those spots open on teams with cash to burn.

I just like the approach the Yanks are taking here. A lot of people thought they were going to go desperate after this. I just wish they don’t sign AJ. The guy is not even a # 2, check his stats form previous season. Rather have Sheets on a 2yr contract and maybe trade for Peavey and bring Pettitte back. Like I said before, the Angels don’t need CC and if there were to sign him, they wouldn’t have much of an offence if Vlad gets hurt.

cdg - good points. As a Yankee fan I can say that I would prefer CC to JP based on abilities, ceiling and left-handedness. That said, if you had to rank the top pitchers available I would say CC, JP (not a FA, but available) and then you move to Sheets (injury-risk), Burnett (injury-risk/head case) and Lowe (age/5+ ERA last time in AL East). I have not heard any of the concern about JP's motion and think he is fairly durable; clearly not as good as CC, but better than all of the other options.

So if you need to come away with 2 pitchers you need to have all sorts of scenarios in case you don't get CC, or the Padres want too much for JP/won't wave NTC/wants too much additional $, Sheets wants to many years, Burnett won't take 4 years or Lowe wants too much $.

See that plan to make teix drop his offers would work... if teix didn't get offers from the sox yankees and other teams. But as it looks at least the Red Sox will throw in a bid for him and so will the Orioles and the Nationals. I dont think teix has enuf california love to lower his demands to stay with the angels. However, I don't see why the angels would waste that money on CC when Vlad's contract is almost up and they have alot of potential to resign teixiera. They already have a great rotation (when healthy) and with vlad teix figgins ect, the angels have a very potent offense mixed well with power, speed and just plain damn good hitting.

RSD: Is there some economic downfall going on in the Bronx that I don't know about? I don't think the Stenibrenner's are strapped for cash or anything sir. Why do you spend so much time on a Yankee post when you have nothing good to contribute?

GoTribe
I agree with you that the indians wont even attempt to sign him. However, as a baseball fan, I wish he'd accept the offer the yankees put up. Not only do I want him as a Yankee (because I don't think his body will hold up for 6-7 years of power pitching and he threw alot of innings the past few seasons), I want him to accept the offer to get the ball rolling on names like teixiera. It seems like there is a stalemate going on with people waiting for sabathia to make up his mind before they decide what to do about lowe, burnett and teix.

Also if the yanks sign cc there is no chance that they will go after teix as well which would be a huge sigh of relief. A-rod may not be a great big game player, but he and teix back to back scare the living hell outta me (that might be worse than manny/ortiz). Also, Burnett will get his 5 years (though its a dumb decision) somewhere, so I dont see the yanks as in the cards for him anymore as they have said no to 5 years already. Lowe, it would break my heart to see him a yankee, but if it must be it must be and it wouldn't be the end of the world.

And yes, the bronx is strapped for cash. Steinbrenner has spent over 1.6 billion just on players/staff without a world series ring and he just dropped quite a pretty penny on the new stadium (though the state of new york covered a nice chunk). Believe me, steinbrenner is not a happy camper right now. hes down over 2 billion dollars with no rings on his fingers.

I think the rays are going to be a dominant team for a few years, till they firesale. but yea next year they should still be very good especially considering that the owner has said he wants to spend some money this offseason from what i understand. I'm not expecting a teixiera type of player, but yea 1/2/3 in the AL east is hard to pick for next year (especially without knowing who the Yankees end up with and if the Red Sox go in on Teixiera).

If the Angels (or any other AL team) are looking at Burrell as a DH, I would absolutely look at Dunn first. He is younger, has more power, walks more and will cost less per year on a shorter contract. I would think Dunn for the next 3 years will be far more productive offensively than Pat The Bat and cost 25% less.

I think the whole clubhouse thing about Dunn is a bad rap and not true. Guys who have played with him have never said anything bad about him and if an unhappy Dunn can hit 40 hr's with a .380 obp, I wouldn't be knocking him in the papers.

yanks 09

option
1. J. Peavy
2. B. Sheets
3. M. Ramirez
4. M. Teixeira

without
1. C. Sabathia
2. A. Burnett
3. D. Lowe

2 pitchers/2 hitters

z

Its funny how many people expect the Rays to repeat what they did

Its funny how the Yankees fans just assume they'll make the playoffs because they'll throw hundreds of millions of dollars around.

"What are we, 12? Seriously, grow up guys.

And the Yanks officials are "scoffed" at the Angels for being interested in the best available starting pitcher on the market? How dare those Angels try to get better! How dare they show interest in the same player the mighty Yankees want! Give me a break".

This coming from the Snapperhead that calls himself "Papleboner".

In your clueless rant, you neglected to realize one thing....the Angels already have the best rotation in MLB and have 5 starters under contract. They have ZERO use for spending 140 mill on another pitcher. THAT is why the Yankees scoffed. It would be like if the Yankees said they were making a play in a 3B that the Sox were interested in. Wouldn't make sense.

"what makes Yankees fans think that Peavy will come there"?

Because he already SAID he would. He's friends with Jeets and Nady...and although he strongly prefers the NL, if it had to be the AL, the Yankees would be on a short list.

Do anyone of you actually watch baseball or do you just troll on here to sling insults? Do us Yankees fans a favor and go back to the Harry Potter board where you obviously belong.

Clueless wonder that is philsWSchamps....read above you for your answer.

Furthermore....if you're a Phillies fans...why are you on the Yankees thread every day slinging insults and making an azz of yourself, when you clearly know ZERO about the team, it's farm system or it's fans? Go to a Phills thread and celebrate with your OWN fellow fans!!! Your city just won it's first title since 83'!

As I already mentioned, it's obvious you clearly know ZIP about the Yankees farm system...so why would I even bother to toss out hypothetical deals? I don't waste my time entertaining TROLLS. Let's just say this...Cash and Towers are good friends...the Yankees have PLENTY of arms to offer in the farm...and the Pads also are said to have lots of interest in Swisher. They HAVE the chips to get a deal for Peavy done if they wished to...and in case you missed it, the Braves are sick of dealing with the Pads and the Cubs have no more use for Peavy.

philsWSchamps-

Joba has a higher upside than anyone the Braves offered. Why should the Yankees have to offer him? They have the pieces to get it done without him. And without Phil for that matter. But I would rather keep the prospects then trade for Peavy.

JP is not going to bring as much back as people think. Haren is not a comparable deal because he was cheaper. JP's below-market deal only works if he doesn't force his option to be picked-up.

Therefore, Towers should get the best offers from the NL and the Cubs are out now and the Braves have moved on. Unless the Braves come back, Towers may be forced to look to an AL team and the Yankees are on JP's list. The Yankees can say, since we have to pick-up the option year we won't give you back as much. If they are the only option (JP MUST be moved with all the drama that has played out and sooner than later so the Padres can make plans for their '09 roster) they now have more leverage than the Braves had. keep in mind, the Braves could be doing this for more leverage, but historically when they have said they are moving on they have moved on.

Towers has handled the JP situation very badly. Padres fans must lower their expectations of what they are going to get back or they are going to be very unhappy when JP is traded. Whoever gets JP is going to get a deal on him at this point.

BTW, if Swisher is moved it won't be to the Padres becasue they want to clear payroll. Swisher would be moved in a separate deal to bring back a prospect to be used in a hypothetical JP deal.

Joba has a higher upside than anyone the Braves offered. Why should the Yankees have to offer him? They have the pieces to get it done without him. And without Phil for that matter. But I would rather keep the prospects then trade for Peavy.

Agreed about Joba's upside compared to either other offer but if the Padres said no to Wren and Hendry what makes any Yankee fan think that the buddies of "Towers and Cash" will strike a deal with an assumed lesser offer of unproven Yankee farm players. For 2007's NL Cy Young winner they can't take less than major league ready talent and then some. And as i said if i were the Yanks i don't make that deal. But again that leaves the yanks with the 3rd best SP in the division.

The Padres told the Yankees a Jake Peavy deal could happen and they would not have to include Phil Hughes.

"As a Sox fan I give thanks that my team is so well run that I can relax and enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas knowing that I will be watching my team play in October. I feel bad for Evil Empire fans as free agent desperation and anxiety set in. As if the economy wasn't bad enough in the Bronx!"

RSD, I have to say that as a Cub fan I used to root for the Red Sox, they were like the Cubs of the AL to me. Now that they've won it's A-Holes like you that have turned me off of the Sox. You're way too arrogant, smug, demeaning. You'd think your team has won 26 championships or something. You think you're guaranteed to be playing in October next year? Remember that you guys didn't even beat out the Rays this year, and the Yankees are getting ready to lay down some heavy cash to improve a team that won 89 games in '08. Go ahead and gloat if you want, but remember that while you rest on your laurels everyone else is getting better, and with a few well placed injuries next year and the Red Sox could be battling the Orioles for last place in '09. You're not immune. Basically, quit being a smug a-hole and try offering something constructive to the forum.

RSD - Seriously, guy, try to grow up...even just a little bit would go a long way.

ESPN reported yesterday that Sweet Lou said the Cubs are no longer interested in Peavy. If that is true, then the Padres options are really starting to get limited.

You know what would be awesome? If a bunch of people sat around making fun of someones username as opposed to the completely accurate and valid point he made.

The MFY desperately need to go out and drop major cash on free agent acquisitions to try and compete again, the Red Sox do not. For us it is a luxury not a necessity.

"ESPN reported yesterday that Sweet Lou said the Cubs are no longer interested in Peavy. If that is true, then the Padres options are really starting to get limited. "

Is the Padres payroll so limited that they just can't hang onto him until they get a good offer? It's not like he's a FA following '09.

(perhaps it is that limited though)

CubbyFan

I would think of course, that keeping him is one of their options, but from everything I have read Towers really wants to move the salary.

no matter what happens, Peavy can't be moved traded without at least close to equivalent value to wherever he goes. I think he stays. Heck get rid of Giles first. Don't trade away the only one (other than A Gonzalez) who puts fannies in the seats.

ArodSucksAtLife-

While it is true that the Red Sox can sit still and the Yankees seemingly need to spend, you have to look at the context of it. How many players are the Red Sox losing compared to the Yankees? The Yankees have positions that need to be filled and have plenty of money to do it.

The Rays will compete next year in the AL east b/c they have the best rotation.

Kazmir
Shields
Garza
Price
Sonnstine
That is a better rotation than any combination that the Red Sox and yankees could come up with. The Rays also have a lineup with Upton, Longoria, Pena, and Crawford and play the best all around defense in baseball.

Well. I ignored the name game, and argued with facts, instead of just random tangents. But since RED SOX DYNASTY! wants to talk about then let us do so.

First. RED SOX DYNASTY! Your name is factually inaccurate.

Second. ArodSucksAtLife. I like how is fashionable to hate A-Rod. Why, yes sir, A-Rod most definitely suck at life. He will only likely go down as the Home Run King, and one of the greatest baseball players ever. Not to mention the all the millions of dollars he has. Yep. A-Rod's life equals EPIC FAIL. Also, way to make yourself look ridiculous by agreeing with anything RED SOX DYNASTY! has to say. He is a troll that knows little to nothing about the game we all know and love. IMO RED SOX DYNASTY! sucks at life.

the red sox have a dynasty? lol. far from it...

and you making your handle arodsucksatlife, makes you that much better at life, hahah nice.

With the state of the nl west what it is the giants could sign cc and manny and probably make a run to the playoffs with cc lincecum and cain at the top of the rotation.

The Yankees NEED Teixeira more than the Angels do. The Yankees defense is horrid. Horrid defense makes pitchers look worse than they really are, conversely, good defense makes even mediocre pitchers look more effective. The Yankees are better off going after Teixeira and getting one of Lowe/Burnett than they are going after CC.

Ortiz is already on record as saying the Red Sox need another 30 hr hitter. If that doesn't scream Tiexiera I don't know what does. Personally, I think Theo is already en route to Tex's house for Thanksgiving.

"And the Yanks officials are "scoffed" at the Angels for being interested in the best available starting pitcher on the market? How dare those Angels try to get better! How dare they show interest in the same player the mighty Yankees want! Give me a break."

Well, the Angels absolutely dominate the Yankees, so I can understand why the Yankees would whine.

"1. He will be no doubt the face of the franchise for the next 5-7 years"

Actually, that is the big problem Tex has. As good as he is, and he is that, he has not shown a proclivity toward being particularly marketable. He is sort of like a Rafael Palmeiro in this way. Tons of talent, tons of on-field value, not so much value off.

"2. Vladdy is not getting any younger and regression may be setting in."

Ugh. People need to get over this. Players who are "regressing" don't have second halves like Vlad did. Further, I don't think most people realize he is as young as he is. Vlad will only be 33 next season. There is no reason to believe that he wont produce until he is at least 36, if not older.

"3. Since Vladdy is a FA in 2010, will the Angels be able to afford him, along with Lackey?"

Of course they will. It is unlikely that Vlad will want more than $20 million a year, and will probably settle for just a touch more than Hunter is paid (Hunter is currently the highest paid OFer in baseball). I can see the Angels doing a Peavy-esque deal for Lackey, which would fit really nicely into the budget and allow for at least one more big ticket guy in the lineup.

melonrix wrote:

The Yankees NEED Teixeira more than the Angels do. The Yankees defense is horrid. Horrid defense makes pitchers look worse than they really are, conversely, good defense makes even mediocre pitchers look more effective. The Yankees are better off going after Teixeira and getting one of Lowe/Burnett than they are going after CC.

___________________________

I agree that the Yanks need to add another bat to replace the offense lost from Abreu and Giambi but let's not mistake that Tex is and should be the Angels biggest need. They have pitching but if you look at their numbers Vlad led in rbis with 91. In adddition to losing Tex's production they may also lose Anderson's and Rivera's rbi production as well (150 rbis combinaed). And with Vlad going into his option year next year (15 mil) they may or may not decide to pick him up for another year and would be in an even worse situation next offseason.

philschamps wrote:

what makes you think Peavy wants to play for the Yankees. And what makes you think the Yankees can get a deal there. What are the yankees giving up for Peavy and don't start with Kennedy and Cabrera because they're filler to the Padres. What about NO TRADE CLAUSE do you not understand???

____________________________
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/2008/11/03/2008-11-03_jake_peavy_puts_yanks_on_trade_list_as_p.html

The Padres ace, who is expected to be one of the biggest names on the trade market this winter - and could be moved during this week's general managers meetings - has added the Yankees to the list of teams that he would accept a trade to, Padres general manager Kevin Towers told reporters Monday.

Peavy has identified at least five National League teams - the Braves, Astros, Dodgers, Cardinals and Cubs, and while Atlanta is believed to be his top choice, all of them appear to be higher on Peavy's list than the Yankees.

______________________

phils:

stop being so arrogant and quick to think that you know it all. Towers mentioned that Peavy was open to going to the Yanks 3 weeks ago.

that should have read that Cano IS NOT on the Padres list..

A player with a $20 mil salary that is....

YFS78- I'm not saying Teixeira shouldn't be the Angels' first priority. The Angels need him. However, if the Yankees were to go all-out in the Teixeira bidding, as they should, and have CC secondary, I could easily see the Yanks winning that one. Teixeira will improve the Yankees more than CC will due to his defensive prowess.

So many pitchers look better than they actually are b/c of infield defense. Brad Ziegler would be an example (hell, almost all of the A's pitching staff would work), as would Edwin Jackson and Dan Wheeler, as would Kyle Kendrick (although he really crashed late season), etc.

Keeping Lackey is HUGE for the Angels, and I think the Angels will hold on to Vlad after 2009.

melonix:

I disagree. Look at last years world series. The Phils won basically wone off the strength of one dominant pitcher in Hamels (4-0 post-season). Look at the Sucks in 07 (Beckett 4-0 post-season). The Cardinals in 06 (Carpenter 3-1), White Sox (Garcia 3-0 and Schilling 3-1). Every team needs a stud pitcher in a short series. CC has had a bad post season run but I'd take my chance with him because I think he's got the best stuff out and can dominate. The Yanks have a very good pitcher in Wang but he's not that dominant power ace that can go head to head with Beckett or Kazmir.