It's been a busy day for the Yankees. They've announced their extension with GM Brian Cashman and declined their option on Andrew Brackman, making the right-hander a free agent. Reactions to C.C. Sabathia's extension have continued streaming in and we have some more notes to pass along from Cashman's conversation with reporters. Most of the quotes below come via Marc Carig of the Star-Ledger:
- By signing Sabathia, the Yankees added "the most important piece" of the offseason, Cashman said.
- "Offense is not a problem with this club," Cashman said. He's right – the Yankees scored more runs than any MLB team but the Red Sox and their starting lineup returns in 2012, so pursuing Prince Fielder or Albert Pujols doesn't seem likely.
- The focus of the winter is "pitching, pitching, pitching," Cashman said.
- Cashman said the organization is better-positioned to evaluate Japanese players than it was a few years ago. The Yankees could express interest in Yu Darvish, the Japanese right-hander who may be posted this offseason.
- Jesus Montero's role with the Yankees has yet to be determined: he could DH, catch on a semi-regular basis or be a bat off of the bench. Cashman expects Montero to contribute in the Major Leagues.
- Cashman said picking up Nick Swisher's $10.25MM option was an easy decision.
- Agent Peter Greenberg says there’s mutual interest between the Yankees and free agent Freddy Garcia in working out a new deal, according to Mark Hale, George A. King III and Joel Sherman of the New York Post. The Yankees would likely offer the Type B right-hander arbitration.
- I examined the Yankees' offseason last week.
cue the “can he pitch?” comment about every single player
I thought Boston would get those jokes this year.
Still searching for the catch-phrase of the off-season. The Red Sox seem like the easiest target. Just that “Does he like beer and chicken” doesn’t quite go as smooth as “can he pitch”. I’m sure they’ll come up with something though.
Does he come with a variety bucket?
I like it, getting closer……
Does he approve of the Colonel?
What’s his opinion on the gravy hot tub?
Is his BAC higher than his OBP?
I think Larry’s got it.
I’m standing by “Grady Sizemore would be a good fit for the local baseball club on an incentive laden deal.”
i can only imagine what cano’s deal is going to look like when he gets close to the open market. something like 10 yr/$200M?
Cashman should take a cue from how awesome Dice K worked out for the Sox. Stay away from the Japanese pitchers.
“Cashman said the organization is better-positioned to evaluate Japanese
players than it was a few years ago.”
or,
Sorry about Igawa
I think what he means by scouting is that the Yankees are fully prepared to battle the Red Sox’s fried chicken and beer parties with our own sushi and sake bomb rallies.
I think the Red Sox were just talking about the beer and chicken to try to lure CC into opting out…
The Yu Darvish sweepstakes will be a situation of who’s dumb enough to give a huge contract to another Asian pitcher.
Ignorance at its finest
For all the talk that Asian players are terrible, this is a list of players who have had held their own in the majors:
Ichiro Saito Takahashi Johjima
H.Matsui Tateyama Iguchi Iwamura
Uehara Fukudome Taguchi
Okajima Kuroda Otsuka
These are all players with decent success in the majors, yes there are a lot of failures but what do you expect when they not only have to adjust to their new leagues but also their lifestyles.
I think Matsuzaka has been at least “decent.”
I was debating on whether he should be on the list but didn’t want to deal with all the criticism.
Obviously he was/is not worth the money paid, but that has to be put aside when simply discussing somebody’s actual play.
forgot the original…hideo nomo!
Hey Ben you missed another point. Cashman expressed interest of bring back Russel Martin either to a one or multi-year deal! He called him “Thurman-esque” apparently as well…
If the Yankees are underwhelmed by the starting pitching market (I wouldn’t blame them) and can’t find anything reasonable via trade, why not improve the team by making a splash on offense, even though it isn’t a pressing need? Mask the starting staff’s overall ineptitude with an even more dominant offense.
CJ Wilson, according to a previous article here, seems likely to remain in Texas. If they lose the Darvish bidding or for whatever reason don’t find him very appealing, they should look into some starters via trade. What are some reasonable options?
“Mask the starting staff’s overall ineptitude with an even more dominant offense.”
The Red Sox spent a solid eight plus decades proving that this strategy is completely without merit.
Unless Montero is traded, it’s not a good idea. 1) There is such a thing as having enough offense, and the Yankees have enough offense. 2) It’s really not worth signing another 1B, since Teix can still play first base and Montero is either DH or nothing.
yanks go with darvish and dont go for wilson.