Yankees position players are due in Tampa on Friday, and new designated hitter Raul Ibanez will be among them. The latest on the team:
- The Yankees are now in talks with third baseman Eric Chavez, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, who says it'd be a Major League deal. Speaking to MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez last night, Chavez pegged his chances of returning to the Yankees at 50-50. ESPNNewYork's Andrew Marchand is more confident, writing, "Considering that Chavez thought about retiring and has plenty of dough, they are expected to come to an agreement."
- Closer Mariano Rivera on whether he will retire after this year: "I know now, but I don't have to tell you." ESPN's Buster Olney had the quote, among others. According to Marc Carig of the Newark Star-Ledger, Rivera also said, "This one is different. This is it," comparing his decision to previous retirement talk.
- Catcher Russell Martin told Daniel Barbarisi of the Wall Street Journal he talked this winter about a three-year deal with the Yankees, but the discussion never progressed beyond the initial stages. Martin avoided arbitration with a $7.5MM contract for 2012.
- The Yankees have no interest in re-signing Damaso Marte and GM Brian Cashman could imagine Pedro Feliciano helping in September at best, writes Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Sherman looks at all the Yankees roster possibilities in this blog post.
- "The bullpen has become a cheap thing for me," Cashman explains in this article from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. On the other hand, Cashman spent plenty on his rotation this winter, whether through free agent dollars or the loss of Jesus Montero.
Robertson’s the only one I can see stepping in right now (heaven forbid) – maybe Joba, post-Tommy John, can get his act together and make a case?
Probably not a bad idea to try and get Martin locked in for 2, maybe 3 years and hope he hits like he id the 1st half of the 2011 season.
He’s not a bad catcher at all, plus for a team that can afford it, not to mention the scarcity of decent catchers.. Odds are good they would get their money’s worth if the AAV is no more than the 7.5m anyway.
With Molina, Napoli, and Montero all hitting free agency after this year. The Yankees should take a wait-and-see approach, IMO.
plus if sanchez one of their catching prospects shows he is as good of a defensive catcher as they say then they will be set with a catcher and prob wont need to sign russell martin. betances and banuellos are projected to be in the rotation next year maybe its time to let sanchez and romine try to be every day catchers.
Sanchez has power at the plate and he has a good arm behind the plate, thats why they had no problem in trading montero. Romine is a ? offensively.
Sanchez is probably 3 years away from being ready and has a lot to work on defensively. He can probably stay there but his defense in 2011 wasn’t as good as what was expected, especially when it came to catching breaking balls. Romine is better defensively and I think his bat is good enough to hold down a full time job. If anyone supplants Martin as the everyday C it will be Romine probably.
Think Ianetta is a FA also after the season and his price will come down from 6-8m or so think he is getting right now.
For the post below.. i understand about Sanchez.. Have to be careful regarding throwing the eggs in the basket of someone who has never played above A ball to jump to the big leagues so fast. 1 season would be almost unheard of for a catcher.
Or just offer varitek 3m to stick it to the red sox
“The bullpen has become a cheap thing for me,” Cashman explains, doing his best not to look his $15 million dollar closer in the eyes.
And while pointing a finger at levine,
Or his 12 million dollar set up man.
Cashman didn’t sign him.
I think if soriano can repeat his second half performance from last year, he could be a decent fill in at closer when Mo retires. but that remains to be seen.
There is reason why an extension for Martin never progressed. If the Yankees are intent on getting to the 2014 luxury tax threshold of $189MM, Martin is gone after this year when he hits FA. At the $9MM or so per year it would take to sign him long term he’s an option the Yankees can not afford.
Look for Romine to get called up sometime during the year and will in all likelihood be the starting catcher come the 2013 season.
I’m glad the bullpen is a “cheap thing” for Cashman. He is right, $35M on a guy who pitches the 7th inning, and another $8M for 2 years of a guy who “will be here in September AT BEST” is nothing…
Cashman didn’t sign Soriano and openly was against it.
i could care less about Martin, Marianos quotes are really telling, seems to me like hes gonna retire
I hope Mo dont retire next