Yankees Rumors

Lowe Unimpressed By Mets’ Offer

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | January 1, 2009 at 2:33pm CDT

Derek Lowe was "hardly overwhelmed" by the Mets’ three year $36MM offer, Mike Puma of the New York Post heard from a baseball source. Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe heard from a source of his own that Lowe’s "likely to continue shopping for a more desirable offer."

It’s uncertain who would make such an offer, since Massarotti writes that the Yankees, Red Sox and Phillies are not currently interested in Lowe.

As a result, the Mets could end up in what Puma calls a "protracted stare down" with Scott Boras and his client.

Odds and Ends: Bonds, Boras, Snell

By Tim Dierkes | January 1, 2009 at 10:06am CDT

Links for Thursday…

MLBTR had over 3,500 posts in 2008. Thanks for reading! In ’08 we added a Facebook page, a mobile site, and weekly chats while also redesigning the main site. It was my first year working full-time on MLBTR.
Barry Bonds had hip surgery with the intent of playing in 2009, according to John Shea.
The Rays re-signed catcher Michel Hernandez to a minor league deal.
Darren Rovell interviewed Scott Boras.
Ian Snell agrees with Jack Wilson – the Pirates need more players.
A discussion of power/speed players over at RotoAuthority.
The River Avenue Blues writers break down the Johnny Damon contract in a post on Peter Abraham’s blog. They argue that he’s been worth 13MM per year so far.
Mike Berardino expects the Marlins to remain quiet for now, but predicts that they’ll find a bargain or two before Spring Training.
The Toronto Star looks ahead towards a potentially tough year for Toronto sports fans, no thanks to the Blue Jays.
The recent merger of Aaron Miles and the Cubs isn’t well-received at FanGraphs.

Latest On Andy Pettitte

By Tim Dierkes | December 31, 2008 at 10:37am CDT

According to John Harper of the New York Daily News:

A person in regular contact with Yankee brass said Tuesday he believes the club still wants Andy Pettitte back and believes a deal will get done, perhaps as early as next week. According to this person, someone in the Yankee organization was putting out that word as something of a scare tactic, knowing that Pettitte badly wants to pitch for the Yankees next season. "They just want him at their price, that’s still the bottom line," the person said.

Pettitte, 36, posted a 4.54 ERA in 33 starts this year. His 2.9 K/BB and strong groundball rate indicate he’s capable of bouncing back. He’s more than a fifth starter.

Odds and Ends: Mariners, Jeter, Penny

By Tim Dierkes | December 31, 2008 at 10:20am CDT

Links for Wednesday…

With the top three free agent closers off the market, the Brewers maintain interest in Trevor Hoffman.
The Orioles’ Mark Hendrickson signing is official – he gets $1.5MM plus incentives.
McCovey Chronicles evaluates some corner infield options for the Giants.
Geoff Baker asks whether Bill Bavasi will be vindicated at all if the Mariners contend in 2009.
Japanese pitcher Takateru Iyono is aiming to sign with an MLB club. Also, Taiwanese pitcher Fu-Te Ni has an offer from an East Coast team.
All of Jeff Passan’s Hot Stove Daily pieces are good reads. Here’s his Marlins one.
Murray Chass questions the oft-cited "$88.5MM coming off the books" figure for the Yankees.
Bob Klapisch asks: how does the Mark Teixeira signing affect Derek Jeter’s future with the Yankees?
Buster Olney says the D’Backs "took a serious run" at Brad Penny before he signed with Boston.

Odds and Ends: Nelson, Quentin, Penny

By Tim Dierkes | December 30, 2008 at 4:34pm CDT

Links for Tuesday…

Baseball America has the recent minor league transactions. A few I hadn’t seen before – Reggie Abercrombie back to the Astros, Jesse Foppert re-signed with the Giants, the Rangers signed Casey Daigle.
Nothing is imminent in the Rays’ discussions with free agent hitters, but they did finalize their deal with reliever Joe Nelson.
Carlos Quentin in the third round of a fantasy draft: good idea?
Fred Claire talks about the 2009-10 free agent class, and we got a mention.
Keith Law likes Boston’s Brad Penny signing, but wonders why they weren’t able to get a 2010 option.
Richard Justice discusses Drayton McLane’s salary cap recommendation.
Peter Abraham says the Yankees are still a bit short in the rotation.

Odds and Ends: Teixeira, Pujols, McLane

By Tim Dierkes | December 29, 2008 at 10:51am CDT

Links for Monday…

Daniel Cabrera passed his physical for the Nationals.
Tony Massarotti writes that the Red Sox had a shot at Mark Teixeira. The Scott Boras camp was proposing $176MM guaranteed for eight years with vesting options that could’ve brought the total to $220MM over ten years. Ultimately the Yankees beat Boston’s offer by $10MM, with no options and a full no-trade clause.
Viva El Birdos looks at what the Teixeira contract means for Albert Pujols. Will Albert seek the largest contract in baseball history? The Cardinals have him through the 2011 season.
RotoAuthority looks at the power/speed shortstop options for fantasy baseball leagues.
Astros owner Drayton McLane is the second owner to publicly admit he wants a salary cap (Brewers owner Mark Attanasio said it right after the Teixeira signing). Interesting take on the salary cap by Dan Symborski at Baseball Think Factory.
The best of Big League Stew’s Answer Man series.

Giants Will Listen To Proposals Involving Sanchez

By Ben Jones | December 27, 2008 at 6:58pm CDT

Now that the San Francisco Giants have lefty veteran Randy Johnson locked up, they are willing to listen to offers involving Jonathan Sanchez. Chris Haft of MLB.com asked Giants general manager Brian Sabean about the possibility after signing Johnson.

From Haft:

“We’re going to have to be open-minded,” Sabean said, although he repeated that he wouldn’t obtain a player who’s eligible for free agency after 2009.

The Giants have been listed as one of the teams who might be a good trade partner with the New York Yankees for a corner outfielder, in particular Xavier Nady, but he doesn’t meet Sabean’s requirement regarding free agency. Nady’s contract ends after the ’09 season.

Pettitte Still Has Offer From Yanks

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | December 27, 2008 at 9:30am CDT

There have been lots of rumblings about the Yankees’ fading interest in Andy Pettitte, but he still has a $10MM offer from the club for 2009 according to Anthony McCarron of the New York Daily News.

A baseball official confirmed to McCarron that the Yankees are ready to go in "another direction" since Phil Hughes seems ready for a rotation spot. The official said the chances of Pettitte’s return are "55-45 against."

We’re not likely to hear of any decisions until next week, when Yankees offices reopen.

Odds and Ends: Teixeira, Dickey, Takahashi

By Tim Dierkes | December 26, 2008 at 7:06pm CDT

Links for Friday…

In the aftermath of the Yankees’ spending, Joe Posnanski reminds us that two thirds of MLB teams have won the World Series in the last 30 years.
UmpBump doesn’t like the idea of a salary cap.
FanGraphs now shows a hitter’s wins over replacement level, as well as the player’s dollar value. You don’t need to be a stathead to enjoy this. For example, here’s the Carlos Pena page. Scroll to the bottom. Value Wins shows he was worth 6.0 wins over replacement level in 2007. That made him worth $24.6MM, but he earned just $800K.
If you are a stathead, you’ll like this 1981 SI article on Bill James.
A look at the only five players who should be considered within the first five picks of a fantasy baseball draft next year.
Mark Teixeira leftovers…Murray Chass says Tex and his wife didn’t want to live in Boston, while Kat O’Brien details the hard stance the Yankees took with Scott Boras. The Nationals did everything they could to sign Teixeira, but he wanted to win now.
ESPN’s Keith Law explains why the draft pick compensation system is broken. Brewers GM Doug Melvin had interesting comments on this in a recent Buster Olney blog.
The New York Times Company is trying to sell its stake in the Red Sox.
La Velle E. Neal III tries to figure out the Twins’ signing of knuckleballer R.A. Dickey.
Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker takes a closer look at lefty reliever Ken Takahashi.

Yankees Outfield Surplus

By Tim Dierkes | December 26, 2008 at 9:08am CDT

According to Tracy Ringolsby of the Rocky Mountain News:

The Yankees are looking to move two from a group of outfielders of Xavier Nady, Nick Swisher and Hideki Matsui. The Angels, Texas, Oakland and Atlanta are considered to have interest.

Joel Sherman has noted that the Braves attempted to acquire Swisher from the White Sox before the Yankees did. The Angels seem content with their outfield. Sherman and Ringolsby both seem to think the Yanks prefer to retain Johnny Damon.

Sherman cautioned that the "glut of hitters" remaining on the free agent market will make it more difficult for the Yankees to move one of their corner guys. From the emails I receive, Yankees fans would most like to see Matsui dealt. Perhaps he will be, but I believe his current trade value is negative. 34 years old, full no-trade clause, $13MM salary in ’09, September knee surgery and a questionable ability to play the outfield.

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