9:45pm: Wilson and Garber have asked to meet with the Yankees in New York prior to December's Winter Meetings, and the Yankees are considering it, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Newsday's Ken Davidoff agrees, saying that Garber actually suggested the New York visit rather than the team.
8:20pm: Brian Cashman met with Bob Garber, the agent for C.J. Wilson and Roy Oswalt, in Milwaukee today, the Yankees GM confirmed. Garber didn't divulge whether the two sides exchanged figures for either pitcher, but told Marc Carig of the Star-Ledger that the Yanks invited Wilson to New York to meet with the team's decision-makers, including Hal Steinbrenner and director of pro personnel Billy Eppler.
"I told him where we were at, they understood, and want us to come out," Garber said. "I think it's a good fit. We have a lot of teams we have to narrow down. I think the Yankees are a team that we've narrowed down as a team we want to spend a little time with."
For his part, Cashman said that it's still early and he's in no rush to make any formal offers yet, according to Wallace Matthews of ESPN New York. However, Garber praised Cashman's aggressiveness, and indicated that, while he's in talks with six or seven teams regarding Wilson, he feels good about his conversation with the Yankees GM:
"I think it was very productive and who wouldn't really want a pitcher who has been to the last two World Series? I think Brian is in a situation where he doesn't want what happened to Cliff Lee to happen again."
It’s a good thing the Yankees invited him, otherwise I can’t see how he would get there.
lol nice :)
Gotta love the agent comparing Wilson’s situation to Lee’s situation as if they are at all comparable.
Can we get some Yankee hate on here? Please?
Gota love the Yanks..But the fans??^
god damn evil empire! They gonna give him an A-Rod size contract? Happy?
5yr 82.5 mill is the highest they should go!
Agreed.
I’d go 4/70. That’s it. Hard to say Wilson is worth less than AJ Burnett. Give a few more dollars per, but 1 less season….
i think he has been invited to a party too before
If rather have Darvish but it’s whatever it takes to win 28
It sounds like the Yanks are serious about CJ. Seems like the same thing as last year with Soriano, if Hal is getting involved. If the Yanks want him, they will offer him the most money. I think CJ is a good fit for the Yanks.
If CJ slaps the Rangers in the face by going to the Yankees or Angels I can’t wait to see him again next year.
How’s it a slap in the face?
Signing with another team is a slap in the face? It’s not even like the Yankees and Rangers are rivals. 1 ALCS doesn’t all of a sudden make them rivals, even if the Yankees had won.
Nearly every other team’s fans hate the Yankees…i’d say they’re a rival to alot of teams. You could also take it back to the 90’s with the Rangers and Yankees in the playoffs.
We just don’t like the Yankees. Period.
You are confusing general “dislike” with being a rival. 2 playoff series’ since 1998 does not constitute a rivalry.
I’m not confusing anything. Rangers fans hate the Yankees. I hate everything that their about and that their fans are about. I know most Rangers fans, and many other fans feel the same way. I didn’t say the Yankees are a rival like the Angels obviously that’s within the division.
You not liking them, because you don’t like them doesn’t justify a rivalry.
you know the 40,000 plus that go to the ball park in arlington? Damn i wish i knew that much people
Get over it. Yankees fans are no different from any other fans. They love their team, they respect the game, and they want to win. The Yankees are a professional team that does everything it can to produce a winner every year. You’re entitled to your resentment, but don’t be so proud of it.
Everybody hates the Yankees. It’s nothing special…
But there’s respect towards the team.. The only reason people hate the Yanks is because they have evolved into such a great Franchise and the best Which is why they have 27.. Being a Laker fan i know how Yank fans feel.Kinda not completely..You get hate from every direction..Smack talk on every beast player you have.Every move your team makes its like okay?. Your team has how many?
What are YANKEE fans about?
I was wondering the same thing. I’m a Yankee fan, so I’m really curious to find out what insights this random person who has never met me has on the depths of my soul.
Can’t speak for all Yankees fans obviously, but this one likes how they are always trying to win. I like how the owners (Steinbrenners) respond to all the pressure put on them by the fans to win. I like how our (the fans) investments in the team like tickets and merchandise gets funneled back into the team. Sometimes its frustrating being a fan seeing all the knee jerk reactions ownership makes, but I’m glad to have an ownership that cares about more than just the bottom line.
I really hope you aren’t a Dallas Cowboys fan, because what you said about the Yankees can easily be said about the Cowboys and their fans.
(Can’t leave out the LA Lakers fans, actually technically you can leave them out because the NBA is out as we speak)
That’s not a rival that’s called jealousy
such an intelligent New Yorker, guess the sterotype is true. KyleB said nothing about it being a rivalry. Rangers fans HATE the Yankees. HATE THEM!!!! It goes back to the 90’s when we went to the playoffs and got beat three times. It would be a slap in the face but you don’t have the left side of the infield to handle all the ground balls anymore. Mad respect for Jeter and his career but he is not who he used to be. Wilson is a groundball pitcher and Beltre and Andrus made him look really good several times. Probably saved him a run a game. He wouldn’t have it there and has a bad track record of coming off at the wheels when things start going bad. But good luck if you get him. His number are comparable to Burnett’s before he signed his deal.
Such an intelligent Texan:
“i’d say they’re a rival to alot of teams.” – KyleB
Oh wait…there isn’t such a thing as an intelligent Texan.
There are three things that are true about Texas Rangers fans.
1) They sure hate the Yankees.
2) If their name is KyleB, they assume that makes it a “rivalry”.
3) Umm… uhh… oops.
Ha I couldn’t waste my time to read anything you wrote after the first line. Scroll back up and read what Kyle B and holla at me
How is it not? The Angels are our division rival and NY is NY.
Its not a Rivalry period.. Just Tex fans hate NYY.. And you fans Assume its a Rivalry.. Get lost Texans..
the Rangers don’t have a rival because they’ve always sucked (until recently) and no one cares about them outside of Arlington. Oakland and Anaheim are more of a rivalry.
Fasho.. I was thinking of saying that but idk thought These crazy Texans would jump on me.. But i absoloutly 100% agree with you.. Angels and A’s..Can’t get any better for Halos
“I think the yankees are a team that we’ve narrowed down that we want to spend a little time with?” C’mon really? It has nothing to do with how deep the yankees pockets are? Anyways, Wilson is garbage and is no better than a #3 starter on ANY ball club. At MOST he’s worth 5 years 60 Mill. He knows it, his agent knows it, and half of the MLB knows it. This is a prime example of when there are a group of unattractive girls and theres an “OK” one, but she looks hot because the others are so ugly. Wilson looks better because there ain’t S*** for starter pitching on the free agent market.
Agreed but yanks will pay $15M lol, idiots. This will haunt them like the ever fabulous signing of aj! That’s worked out well.
If the Yankees want C.J. they will pay 7 years at 23M per season, just like they do with every other player they want, where there might be a chance that another team will sign him to 5 – 15M. It doesn’t matter if he can pitch, as seen in the Burnett, Sabathia, Colon, Garcia, age, but he is the big name that the fans go nuts about. The offense will put up double digits in runs, Sabathia will win his normal 14 games that way, they will then score the same, giving Wilson 14 wins automatically, and fans will say, wow, we have the best two pitchers in baseball. What everyone will then ignore is how both pitchers choke under pressure. It happens every season, but no one cares, because the Yankees make the playoffs and that is what is important. Who cares if they go out in the first round, because most fans are gone by the seventh inning with them losing anyways. Some things are always predictable. Yankees sign players for twice their value, they make the playoffs, and they are chilling on the golf course at the start of the 2nd round of playoffs. As regular as clockwork. lol.
Now that, ladies and gentlemen, is some of the finest trolling I have seen in quite some time.
Haha, “Whowonthe2009WorldSeries like this”. Oh man. That’s gold.
Nice. CJ is a good #2. He held his own in Texas for the season. I can’t explain what happened to him in the playoffs, but during the regular season he did extremely well in our ballpark. He isn’t a #3 starter “at-best” as you suggest.
i know what happened to him in the playoffs:
he sucked
“I think the yankees are a team that we’ve narrowed down that we want
to spend a little time with?” C’mon really? It has nothing to do with
how deep the yankees pockets are? Anyways, Wilson is garbage and is no
better than a #3 starter on ANY ball club. At MOST he’s worth 5 years 60
Mill. He knows it, his agent knows it, and half of the MLB knows it.
This is a prime example of when there are a group of unattractive girls
and theres an “OK” one, but she looks hot because the others are so
ugly. Wilson looks better because there ain’t S*** for starter pitching
on the free agent market.
LOL
Really that makes no sence you should learn how to blog
So is this a Cashman or a Levine thing?
Anything more than a four year deal wouldn’t be prudent. That being said, he’s going to get a five year deal or a five year deal with an option for a sixth from some team, I just hope it’s not the Yankees. He’s good but the team that signs him for that long will regret it later.
I think it means they are in the finally stages of signing him one the stenbreiners get in you no they want them bad a I would not be surprised if he gets cc numbers.but I would worry about the hep of new york
Lol………..he isnt getting CC money
Do. Not. Want.
Somebody spit on his wife.
LOL nice way to put it.
Disagree with his sentiment, but yeah, great way to put it.
LOL I agree man, someone please, spit on CJ’s wife. I don’t want him in pinstripes.
Makes *three* of us Yankee fans, right here in this little piece of this thread….
He doesn’t have one.
someone spit on his mother
I see all this smack being talked about CJ and I truly believe it is undeserved. This guy has proven the last two years that he’s a damn good pitcher that would certainly help any team. How are you guys going to tell me this guy isn’t worth it??? When a team needs pitching and there is a guy who can be a vital part of a team you go out there and get him.
Is that you, AJ Burnett?
Dude read my post
In a team where there aren’t too many “pretty starters” one OK one would sure make the group look a whole lot better.
What an honor again!
dont be a sell out but a ‘u’ in honour!
Waiting for JD to snatch all the free agents from the Yankees again. There’s nothing the Yankees can have that the Rangers can take away. Next, we’ll smash the Yankees’ sandcastles on the beach.
Or… they can just leave CJ alone. Because he’s staying in Texas.
Why all the C.J. hate? His strand rate is 72%, has a K/9 of 8 B/9 of 3 Induces ground balls at a rate of 50% His LD rate is 18% and his FIP is 3.24 and xFIP is a 3.41. That all sounds like a pretty good #2. He also pitched well in one of the less forgiving ballparks in baseball. Plus his left handedness will counteract lefties from pulling it down the right field line in yankee stadium. You guys have to stop judging him on what he did in the playoffs. Now as for the contract I’ll would give him any more than 4 years 60 million. If he wants years then do five for 75 million, but do not go over 15 million a year.
the hate is coming from him only having 2 yrs as a starter being 30+ and demanding 5/$100m when he is really only worth 4/$70m….it’s not on his skills
Well what I’ve been seeing is a mix of cost and people think he’s the worst thing ever. The problem is most people think an ERA of 3.3 is not #2 material. If you think about it how many pitchers have ERA’s in the mid 2’s? Not a whole lot. If you get an ERA of 3.1-3.5 from him I say its pretty good. As for the 5/100 million thing that’s call high balling, its a simple negotiating technique. C.J and his agent KNOW they won’t get that much but it reality that’s the upper range of what they are expecting. When they negotiate with teams that price will come down which will probably be in the 15-17 million range, which is what he actually wants, but to the compromising team it looks like a deal.
While I can’t speak for others, I’m not using what he did in the playoffs as whether to sign him or not(numbers being that ugly certainly doesn’t help).
While his numbers certainly improved in 2011, his BB/9 in 2010, which wasn’t too long ago, was 4.10. And he doesn’t exactly have a long track record as a SP to demonstrate whether that was a fluke or not. Using the info available, his numbers still don’t look pretty as a reliever.
Being a lefty helps in NYS, but not having to face the A’s, M’s and Angels(pretty crappy offense in 2011) for most of the year certainly wont. I’d pass at his price.
I agree Wilson is a very good pitcher but A.J. Burnett and John Lackey already set the market at $80 mil for 5 years for a #2 type starter. I don’t there is any way he would take less.
I hope the Yanks take a look at Buehrle who should cost less. Darvish, Danks and Gio Gonzalez may also be available to fill that void.
I think Danks may be the way to go, I really don’t like Gio. Plus Danks has a lot more upside and will probably cost less in terms of prospects due to some so-so years. However, I wouldn’t trade Montero for him. But I would be willing to part with Betances.
4 year 75 mill with a 5th year 18 mill mutual option?
My offer as a Yankees fan is 0 years at $0 for CJ Wilson. He is a mirage, there is no reason to trust a pitcher like him. From the 2004 until the 2009 season this guy was a relief pitcher! Pitching 40-70 mediocre innings per year. This could significantly increase his risk of injury. The higher walk rate concerns me, though it dropped in 2011 that was different than his career averages. This means there is always room for un-improvment. His fastball velocity is average at best, and he is already 30. His numbers are also eerily similar to those of AJ Burnett the year before he signed with the Yanks, though some of his peripherals are different (ERA). For the most part the Yankees have had disastrous luck signing free agent pitchers to hefty deals. Signing When are they gonna realize that it doesn’t always work.
He may not have as long a track record as other SPs… but starters with his performance over three or four years would be getting Lee/Sabathia money, so $90MM (or more) is fairly reasonable to me.
I can totally understand being leery of his two-year track record, but the truth is that that track record is good enough to warrant a big contract. Over the last two years, he’s been, what, a top 10 starter in the AL? Who’s been better over that time period? Sabathia, Verlander, Weaver, Haren, Felix… Pretty sure that’s it.
I think there’s an underrating of his performance going on here, but also a lack of understanding of the market. Who was the last good starter who got less than $80MM as a free agent? I think to say that he’s not worth $90MM, you’d have to find a comparable pitcher who signed for less recently. A lot of people are just saying they’d “only give him $70MM,” without acknowledging that that’s simply unrealistic for a good starting pitcher. It’s akin to saying, “I wouldn’t sign any good starting pitchers, ever.” Which isn’t a TERRIBLE idea if your farm system is good and/or you want to stick with the Freddy Garcias of the world, but people seem to think that you can get good pitchers for $70MM, and that’s simply not true.
I wouldn’t mind the Yankees landing Wilson under two conditions. One being he is their #3 starter, and they don’t sign him expecting him to be a #2. He would be a great #3, not a reliable 2. Also, I don’t want it more than 4 years at say like $16 million tops. Obviously, he can get more years and the same if not more per year, so its unlikely it would happen at this cost. I just see Lackey and Burnett written all over this.
If the yankees are stupid enough to throw $17+/yr at this guy than go for it. Throw him in the AL East fire, and he’s as good as Burnett. ‘Nuff said.
Wow so many Yankee haters in here. I do not think there is as much interest from the Yankees front office for Wilson as there is vice versa. Wilson is ready to command a lot of money but is seriously interested in joining forces as a #2 starter behind CC in a left-handed pitcher’s park.
Yeah and not one person has yelled at the Marlins when they have talked to the 3 best FA available this offseason.
Reads like it’s more Wilson and his agent trying to interest the Yankees than the other way around right now.