Yankees Rumors

New York Notes: Posada, Cano, Mets

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | March 23, 2011 at 5:32pm CDT

The Yankees claimed a minor league pitcher today. Here's the rest of what you need to know about New York's two teams…

Jorge Posada told Kevin Kernan of the New York Post that he hopes to re-sign with the Yankees after the season, when he hits free agency. If the Yankees don’t want him back, he would consider playing elsewhere, even though he doesn’t want to sign with another team. "I would [leave], if it's the right situation," he said. "It's got to be the right situation."
As Daniel Barbarisi of the Wall Street Journal explains, Robinson Cano is helping young Yankees learn how to deal with the media, even though media relations haven't always been his forte.
Yahoo's Jeff Passan says that while Luis Castillo and Oliver Perez are gone, the Mets' problems are only beginning. "When the best thing about a team is the hamburger available at its stadium," Passan writes, "it’s bad."
Be sure to read Tim Dierkes' take on the Mets' offseason.

AL East Links: All Five Teams

By Tim Dierkes | March 23, 2011 at 7:46am CDT

Plenty of storylines in the AL East this year; here are a few…

Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos talked to Jeff Blair on the Fan 590 yesterday, and Andrew Stoeten of Drunk Jays Fans has highlights. Anthopoulos talked about Aroldis Chapman, Frank Francisco, Brett Lawrie, and Juan Rivera among other things.
Much has been written lately about Rays' manager Joe Maddon's attempt to handle Manny Ramirez. Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald has quotes from the manager today. ESPN's Jayson Stark tackled the Manny-Rays topic in depth yesterday, with one veteran big league coach and manager asserting, "I know one thing. It will end horribly."
Despite being knocked around yesterday, Yankees pitcher Sergio Mitre told Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News, "That's one thing that never even crossed my mind – whether I'm making the team or not." Mitre seems to be battling Freddy Garcia for a long relief job.
Yankees GM Brian Cashman talked about how Jesus Montero's defense seems to be slipping in tandem with his batting slump, in this article from Feinsand's colleague John Harper. Montero might be best served at Triple-A for development and trade value purposes.
Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe has extensive quotes from Adrian Gonzalez's agent John Boggs, as the good vibes about an April extension continue. WEEI's Alex Speier explains that trading for Gonzalez rather than signing him as a free agent gives Boston a more desirable slice of the first baseman's career and also saves them perhaps $25MM or more. I think the value of the careers of the prospects given up easily surpasses that amount of savings, but that's slightly negated by the Sox not having to give up a draft pick to get Adrian.
Orioles president Andy MacPhail admitted to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun that service time is a factor in their decision whether to have top prospect Zach Britton break camp with the team. At least he's being upfront about it. Britton has allowed one run in 14 innings this spring.
Here's how the AL East stacks up in Baseball America's organizational talent rankings: the Rays are #2, the Blue Jays are #4, the Yankees are #5, the Red Sox are #17, and the Orioles are #21.

Heyman On Bautista, Wakefield, Dominguez, Perez

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | March 22, 2011 at 5:17pm CDT

Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos told Jon Heyman of SI.com that he thought carefully before locking up Jose Bautista to a $65MM extension. "When you spend that kind of money, I don't think you can ever be completely comfortable," Anthopoulos said. "And I am one to agonize over everything, anyway,'' Both Anthopoulos and Bautista acknowledged that a second 54-homer season is unlikely, but that doesn't mean the former utility player can't produce. Here are the rest of Heyman's rumors…

Boston's front office has not seriously considered cutting Tim Wakefield.
Dennys Reyes, who can opt out of his contract Friday, will likely make the team as well, according to Heyman.
Two scouts say Marlins third baseman Matt Dominguez isn't ready to hit in the major leagues. However, he's an above-average defender.
Though manager Joe Girardi won't say as much, Ivan Nova has locked up the Yankees' No. 4 starter job, according to Heyman.
It appears that Oliver Perez will find a job. The Yankees and Brewers aren't interested.
Scouts tell Heyman that Twins pitching prospect Kyle Gibson isn't far from the majors.

Yankees Have No Interest In Oliver Perez

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | March 22, 2011 at 3:35pm CDT

Turns out the rumor was too good to be true. Yankees GM Brian Cashman says he has no interest in left-hander Oliver Perez, according to MLB.com's Bryan Hoch (on Twitter). The Yankees considered the former Met, according to SI.com, before concluding that they would be better off without him. "It's not something that makes sense for us," Cashman said.

The Mets released Perez yesterday, making him a free agent. If an MLB team signs Perez, they'll contribute about $400K of his salary, with the Mets responsible for the remaining $11.6MM.

Pedro Feliciano and Boone Logan give the Yankees two serviceable left-handers out of the bullpen, so they never seemed like a likely destination for the 29-year-old. The Brewers aren't interested in Perez, either.

Latest On Rotation Battles

By Tim Dierkes | March 22, 2011 at 11:11am CDT

Rotation battles are being decided left and right. Here's the latest.

Scott Baker will serve as the Twins' fifth starter and Kevin Slowey will work out of the bullpen, tweets Kelsie Smith of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Slowey was highlighted by MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith as a potentially available starter, and the Twins appear willing to listen. With Kyle Gibson on the horizon, can the Twins spare the depth?
Barry Enright made the Diamondbacks' rotation, reports MLB.com's Steve Gilbert. Assuming Joe Saunders makes the cut, that leaves Armando Galarraga and Aaron Heilman duking it out for the right to fill in for Zach Duke. If Heilman sneaks into the rotation, the D'Backs have to decide by March 28th whether they want to pay Galarraga $2.3MM as their long man. If they cut him by then they'd only owe him about $569K.
Bartolo Colon went six strong innings for the Yankees last night, and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports figures this means he'll make the team somehow. Colon and Freddy Garcia have opt-out dates of March 31st and March 29th, respectively. Ivan Nova probably has the fourth starter job, leaving Colon, Garcia, and Sergio Mitre for two spots.
The Cubs are meeting today and could decide on their fifth starter, reports Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. If Andrew Cashner gets the nod, I can see the Cubs trying to dump Carlos Silva.

Yankees Have Some Interest In Oliver Perez

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | March 21, 2011 at 5:27pm CDT

Here's one for the back pages and talk show hosts. The Yankees have discussed Oliver Perez as a potential cheap addition, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter). However, GM Brian Cashman doesn't seem enthused about the 29-year-old left-hander.

The Mets released Perez earlier today, eating his $12MM contract and ending his inconsistent five-year stint in New York. If the Yankees sign Perez, they would be responsible for paying him the MLB minimum salary and their crosstown rivals would be responsible for about $11.6MM.

Longtime Met Pedro Feliciano (upper arm) and Boone Logan (back) have dealt with soreness this spring, but both lefties made progress in recent days. It seems likely that Cashman was simply being diligent when he considered Perez.

Non-Roster Notes: Chavez, Stairs, Atkins

By Steve Adams | March 20, 2011 at 2:09pm CDT

As we cruise through Spring Training and gear up for Opening Day, let's take a look at some news on some notable non-roster invitees around the league…

Whether or not Yankees manager Joe Girardi wants to acknowledge it, there's "no way" Eric Chavez doesn't make the team out of camp, tweets ESPN's Wallace Matthews.
Nationals manager Jim Riggleman told MLB.com's Bill Ladson there's a "good chance" that Matt Stairs breaks camp with the team.
MLB.com's Jennifer Langosch writes that Garrett Atkins is hoping to re-kindle his career with the Pirates, but to this point has done nothing to distinguish himself from his competition (Steve Pearce, Andy Marte, and Josh Fields). Atkins was just 4-30 this spring entering play today.

Jose Molina Says Bengie Still Wants To Play

By Mike Axisa | March 19, 2011 at 12:41pm CDT

Bengie Molina said he is retired "for now" earlier this week, but his brother Jose told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that Bengie still wants to play. He made it clear that his older brother would only sign a contract that showed him "sufficient respect," likely ruling out a minor league pact.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi asked Jose, his former player, if Bengie planned on playing this season during a Spring Training game this week, but Rosenthal says that was likely out of his own curiosity. GM Brian Cashman has said flatly the team is not looking for help at catcher despite Francisco Cervelli's fractured foot. Prospects Jesus Montero and Austin Romine are currently competing for the backup job behind Russell Martin in Cervelli's stead.

The Padres expressed interest in Bengie earlier this month, and the Astros figure to be looking for some catching help as well.

Piecoro’s Latest On Paniagua

By Dan Mennella | March 18, 2011 at 6:24pm CDT

It seemed like a simple enough story when the Yankees agreed to terms on a $1.1MM deal with Dominican right-hander Juan Paniagua, who had served a one-year suspension for identity fraud, on March 10 (as first reported by Ben Badler of Baseball America). Earlier this week, though, Badler wrote about the unintended consequences of a since-changed rule, as well as the Diamondbacks' reaction to losing out on the now highly touted prospect.

Today, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic has more on Paniagua's original, voided deal, and the righty's future prospects.

Ultimately, it was the Diamondbacks' decision to void Paniagua's $17K deal, because neither they nor Major League Baseball could verify the player's identity. This after Paniagua — then going by the name Juan Collado — had played for Arizona's Dominican Summer League team in parts of two seasons under an old rule. It allowed international free agents to play for their would-be teams while their contracts awaited approval from the commissioner's office.

Now, Paniagua's new deal with the Yankees is still awaiting approval, and under the new rules, he may not play for the Yankees organization until a decision is rendered. It bears watching whether the new deal will be approved, because, according to Piecoro, that is not a given:

There still is a lot of skepticism about whether he’ll actually get off the island and into the U.S. The fact that he changed his name, but not his birthday, is a red flag.

We’ll see if he actually gets to the states to play in the minors and if he actually gets the $1.1 million.

Paniagua has apparently maintained all along that his birthday is April 4, 1990, even when he was going by the Collado surname.

Nevertheless, Piecoro writes that a situation like Paniagua's — in which the player benefits financially — is extremely rare; the great majority of international free agents whose contracts are voided for fraud end up losing money in the long run. So, although Arizona lost out on what looks like a promising player, this doesn't seem to be a very common happening.

Quick Hits: Shields, Cardinals, Lawrie, Montero

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | March 18, 2011 at 4:02pm CDT

Links for Friday, as Ichiro donates over $1.2MM to victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan…

Scot Shields, who announced his retirement today, said on a conference call that he drew interest this offseason before calling it a career. "There were some teams interested, but nothing seemed like the right fit," Shields said.
A longtime GM tells ESPN.com's Buster Olney that he has heard "less trade talk this spring than in any other year [he has] been on the job" (Twitter link).
Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports reports that the Cardinals are excited about their rotation despite Adam Wainwright's elbow injury. The Cards will go with Chris Carpenter Jaime Garcia, Jake Westbrook, Kyle Lohse and Kyle McClellan.
Blue Jays prospect Brett Lawrie joined CAA, according to the agency (on Twitter). As MLBTR's newly launched Agency Database shows, CAA also represents Blue Jays J.P. Arencibia and Travis Snider.
Scouts tell Joel Sherman of the New York Post that they aren't enthusiastic about Jesus Montero's ability to catch in the major leagues.

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