Yankees Rumors: Burnett, Sabathia, Pettitte

Pettitte's pretty ballsy if he's asking $16 million after a 4.5+ ERA year.

A 5th year vesting option? What did the printing press in the Bronx shut down or something?

I'll laugh if Burnett goes to Atlanta and Lowe to Boston.

I bet CC's offer gets mighty big then. 6 years 160 million?

can they still get Rasner back from Japan? Drag Ponson out of the bar he's in???

So no pay cut uuh? How about a refund? Last year he wasn't worth 16 million either.

"You could start Baldelli 100-120 games.” Do you know another Baldelli? Like one that doesn't get injured that much b/c of a health problem he has.

To elaborate a little on the mitochondrial disorder:

From everything I've heard, it sounds like a very severe mono. I've had mono and I will tell you that it sucks out loud. You'll be lucky to get 100 at bats out of Baldelli, much less 100 innings.

Judging from last offseason Pettitte will probably sit there and succesfully dupe the yankees for the money he wants.

Pettite deserves the extra 6 Million dollars, the guy only has been there to take you to plenty of World Series championships, and saved seasons for you. He was expected last season, when all was failing to win every 5 days, while Mussina Hughes and Kennedy were expected to be a bust.

Just pay up, it is not like you haven't received horrible contracts before, OR overpaid for someone who wasn't pivotal.

BigScooter you make sound so easy, when in far from it. Baldelli can't play 100 games period. a Bench player at most.

Also just b/c they have the money doesn't mean they should just spend it Unwisely, after all baseball is a business, we just don't think of it that way.

Why not spend on a guy like Brad Wilkerson who can play 1b I think and is less likely to get injured, and if he need to play regular b/c of an injury, you can count on a guy who can play every day.

Andy can ask for $16M if he wants. He might not get it. But if he doesn't get it, and feels insulted by a $10M offer, he can just go home and leave the Yanks with another hole in their rotation. The Yanks aren't exactly in the best bargaining position here.

I thought about the Pettitte situation the other day and wanted to share my thoughts and maybe get some feedback if you guys agree or disagree.

At first I was really pissed the Yanks didn't offer arbitration more becuase I wanted the picks in case Pettitte signed elsewhere. It was more reactionary on my part.

Pettitte has said numerous times publicly that in 09 the Yanks were the only team he wanted to play for, that money would never be an issue and it was a "return to the Yanks or retire" situation for him. Granted it could've just been lip service.

If your Cashman and you're negotiating a deal for pitchers like Sheets, Burnett and Lowe does it help you at all to sign Pettitte for 16 mil or offer him arbitration BEFORE you offer a deal to the others? If an arbitration deal goes to the table then the least Pettitte will probably make is 16 mil considering how very few cases result in players taking a pay cut.

If you're an agent for one of the big 3 and you know that the Yanks just offered or will end up paying Pettitte 16 mil wouldn't you use that against the Yanks to get one of your clients a better deal considering they all had better years than Pettitte?

If Cash truly beleived, and it may be naive on his part, that Pettite was sincere that he didn't want to pitch for any other team and that money wasn't an issue then what are the benefits of offering him arbitration? If he doesn't sign w/ the Yanks and retires then obviously there are no picks. If it goes to the table then you are forced to pay 16 mil for a player who struggled the 2nd half of the season and admitted to having shoulder problems.

If you finish 14-14 w/ a 4.50 era and you make a statement that money doesn't matter than what are you saying? I don't think he meant "money doesn't matter(so I won't ask for more money)" because how could he? So I would take it to mean that "money doesn't matter (I'll take a pay cut) because I just want to play 1 more year in the new stadium and try one more time for a chance at the playoffs.

Granted a 1 yr deal for 16 mil is a low risk situation , so if Pettite were to be ineffective or injured it's not going to kill us (aside from anti-yankee posts). However, why be so quick to set that precedent for pitching contracts? Every quality pitcher would set their price somewhere between Pettite and CC's 6/140 offer.

by the way spending money unwisely is the yankees motto....Facts are Giambi, Pavano,Wright, Contreras, Igawa I can sit here all day if you like
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So the Yanks should just continue to repeat the same mistakes? isn't that a damned if you do and damned if you don't scenario?

I hear you and I'm not disagreeing neccesarily but at the same time a) Doesn't make since to sign him quickly for the 16 mil you want, especially if you're trying to negotiate with Burnett, Lowe and Sheets. b) the yanks might be playing "soft" ball with Pett the same way Boston is with Tek. I think the shoulder problems he had at the end of the season might be an issue to consider.

All in all I think the 2 will come to an agreement eventually.

I think Baldelli would be a good fit for a bench player/part-time CF/RF. He could start 40-50 games and pinch hit. What he would ask for of course would be an issue and if the role were that small he might be better off staying with the Rays. I like him because he wouldn't command a lot of playing time but can be good when rested. Start him on Monday and rest him for a few days and play him again on Friday. Obviously no one would pay a signifigant amount of money for that.

oh yeah.....no bias there. haha

$16 Million for Pettite is insane, even $10MIL is a little high.

Question? If the Yanks signed Sheets and CC isn't offered anything within 20 mil of the Yanks offer does that help CC come to the bronx?

This coming from a Phillies fan and possibly the biggest nit wit on this board. Your team just won it's 2nd title in 126 YEARS...you are still the most futile franchise in sports history...but you come on here day after day and attempt to agitate Yankees fans by making an azz of yourself. What's the purpose?

well jjyankeesfan2,

do you find it necessary to come on here and insult every poster who disagrees with you? read into a little bit of what I'm saying. The Yankees are clearly the one franchise that can blow everyone away $$$ wise. Its pretty well known that Burnett is in it for the money (he did opt out of Toronto). If the Yankees simply guarantee the 5th year that he may possibly warrant anyway then he's likely theirs. They are a multiple BILLION dollar company, new stadium etc. Why are they being so cheap about the 5th year? Its not like they haven't extended people on contracts in the past that didn't warrant it, gave extra years etc. Are they really that scared of another Pavano? IF they don't sign Burnett because of this they'll have to likely guarantee CC the same amount by increasing their offer to him (assuming that a west coast team gets in on the bidding).

And exactly what does my team affilliation have to do with anything? Yes we are the losingest franchise in sports history, its well documented. You forgot to mention the 10,000+ losses. I was born and raised outside of Philly. Should I have instead of having local allegiance just been a bandwagon fan and rooted for whoever was winning? Maybe I could be a Lakers or Celtics fan, Yankees fan (actually now I'd be changing to the Red Sox since they've been much better lately). Try adding something of value instead of just berating everyone on here.

And you obviously know nothing about negotiations. The Yankees are NOT in a position of strength right now. They have Joba, Wang (coming off an injury, albiet with no signs of issue), Hughes (coming off an injury too and who??? Mussina's retired. Pettitte realizes that if the Yanks don't sign CC for whatever reason and/or Lowe or Burnett then they'd be desperate for anyone. He knows they cannot open Yankee stadium with a rotation like they had last year. I agree that he's had his injury issues lately but he's going to likely wait until it plays out. He's a free agent and he's earned that right.

Papelboner,

I can understand that. I'd be interested to know exactly what they're offering per year. Yes if they offered say 18 per year vs the braves 16 per year (again assumptions made as to the amounts) then yes I agree they don't need to go to the 5th year guaranteed, but I think what will happen is the Braves will eventually cave because they need pitching so badly which will force the Yankees to cave. And whoever ends up with him will likely regret eventually the 5th year just like the Mets regret the extra years to Pedro and Wagner's contracts as an example and the Phils regret EVERY SINGLE MINUTE of Adam Eaton's boneheaded contract, but sometimes that's what you need to do when you're in a position of weakness/lack of depth.

The fifth year should be an option for Burnett. If any team even makes that year a players opinion, he would probably accept. But, if you do the option on appearances, then he might accept too.

"The Bravos never learn do they just got rid of Hampton here come Burnett oft injured SP"

Don't talk, because BoSox have injuried prone players.
Mr. Lowell, Mr. Varitek, and Mr. Ortiz. I think I should add Mr. Drew to that list as well. Another person, Mr. Lugo.

tomahawk368,

nope, doesn't scare me one bit. Oh and i'd put your odds at getting Burnett at about 40/60.

Did you see Myers coming down the stretch last year. He was a 1A from July thru Sept. And we've got a kid, Carrasco, about to turn 22 i believe that ripped up AAA and is currently dominating in the Venezuelan Winter League. He should be our #5 in 2009 and has the stuff to eventually be a solid #2 right behind Hamels.

We'll be just fine, don't worry about us.