The Yankees are trying to schedule a meeting with Robinson Cano, but the two sides are still about $150MM apart, and the Yankees are looking at other targets in the meantime, CBS Sports' Jon Heyman writes. Those include Carlos Beltran, Jacoby Ellsbury, Shin-Soo Choo, Stephen Drew and Hiroki Kuroda. Other possibilities for the Yankees include Joe Nathan and Masahiro Tanaka. The Yanks don't want to give Beltran more than two years, although it's possible that the Mariners or Royals could give him three. Ubaldo Jimenez and Matt Garza aren't currently on the Yankees' radar, Heyman notes. Here are more notes from New York.
- With Jhonny Peralta headed to St. Louis, there's little left in the shortstop free agent market for the Mets, ESPN New York's Adam Rubin writes. The Mets don't want to spend the money it would take to get Stephen Drew, and after that, there isn't much available. The Mets therefore might pursue a trade for a shortstop, or just go with Ruben Tejada there.
- If the Mets aren't going to act like a big-market team, they need to behave like a small-market team and build from the bottom up, argues Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Smaller-budget teams like the Rays and Athletics have been successful in part because they have depth and don't waste roster spots, and Sherman says it's time the Mets did the same instead of giving away playing time to players who don't warrant it, particularly late in the season. That the Mets may be planning to have Chris Young play regularly at a corner outfield position does not bode well, Sherman suggests.
