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C.C. Sabathia

Yankees Rumors: Abreu, Burnett, Teixeira

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George King of the New York Post and Kat O’Brien of Newsday have the latest on the Yankees, who are in hot pursuit of free agent starting pitching.

  • The Yankees will offer arbitration to Bobby Abreu, according to Jon Heyman.  No surprise there.
  • King says the Yankees are preparing an offer for A.J. Burnett, "perhaps a five-year deal worth about $80 million."  Burnett’s agent says they’re just discussing parameters.  It would be a strong offer, dwarfing the Blue Jays’ four years, $54MM.  ESPN’s Buster Olney believes a fifth guaranteed year will ultimately result in the winning bid for Burnett.
  • The Yankees may make an offer to Derek Lowe soon; they’ve reached out to Scott Boras regarding him.  Other Lowe suitors: the Dodgers, Red Sox, Mets, and Rangers.  O’Brien adds that the Yanks expressed interest in Mark Teixeira to Boras (despite the Nick Swisher acquisition).  The Orioles are also in on in Tex.
  • King talked to a "baseball exec" who sees the Cubs re-signing Ryan Dempster at four years, $52MM.
  • Andy Pettitte’s agent doesn’t want a pay cut from this year’s $16MM.
  • The expectation is still for Mike Mussina to retire; we may know this week.
  • The Yankees aren’t in on Jake Peavy, as evidenced by Kevin Towers’ comments last night.  Rick Sutcliffe and Mark Grace have been pitching the Cubs to Peavy, though the hangup seems more about which players the Chicago would send to San Diego.
  • The Yanks have an offer of about six years, $140MM on the table for C.C. Sabathia, and he’s mulling it over (somewhere).

Gammons Rumors: Sabathia, Manny, Furcal, Bradley

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Here’s how ESPN’s Peter Gammons sees some of the bigger free agent dominoes falling, assuming the Dodgers land Sabathia:

Interesting how many GMs think that if the Dodgers get C.C. Sabathia, the Giants will get big into Manny Ramirez, and Billy Beane and the A’s will continue to move fast on Rafael Furcal. Also, expect Toronto to make good on its promise to Milton Bradley that he is the Blue Jays’ priority.

Would Beane and Brian Sabean really be influenced by Sabathia landing in L.A.?  We may never know, as the Yankees have come out of the free agent gate with their guns blazing.  I can see Beane getting Furcal regardless, even with Bobby Crosby under contract for ’09.

I guessed Bradley would land in Toronto, but only because I like the fit.  This is the first I’ve heard of them making him a priority over Jason Giambi or Manny.

Union Pressuring Sabathia?

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Anthony McCarron of the New York Daily News reports that CC Sabathia may be getting pressured by the Players Association to accept the Yankees 6 year, $140MM offer. Sabathia inking this dea would result in lucrative contracts for other free agent starting pitchers. However, McCarron adds,

"One source familiar with the union’s thinking disagreed, insisting that "players are the ones who make the final decisions where they want to play, for how long and for how much. Free agents have played long enough to earn the right to make the ultimate decision.’ Two player agents contacted Saturday agreed that players have earned the right to have choices once they are free agents. Pressure from the union, they say, usually comes when a young, arbitration-eligible star signs a contract that trades years of free agency for a measure of security."

Giants Considering Top Players

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According to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle, the Giants have spoken with Scott Boras about Manny Ramirez and Mark Teixeira, but it’s unknown if they’ve made them any offers.

Giants director of player personnel Bobby Evans told Schulman “we’re willing to go after the best talent we can.”

The Giants haven’t offered Rafael Furcal a contract, but Paul Kinzer, Furcal’s agent, said that the Giants and Furcal have “serious interest” in each other. Schulman mentions Oakland as possible competition for the Giants, and the Royals could be among the many teams interested in the shortstop.

Schulman believes Furcal is looking for at least a four-year deal worth $10MM a year.

The Giants have also spoken with C.C. Sabathia’s representatives.

Mets Won’t Bid On Sabathia

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Marrty Noble of MLB.com talked to a source who says the Mets won’t offer C.C. Sabathia a contract.

David Lennon of Newsday agrees, writing that the Mets “will not be involved in the bidding war for Sabathia.”

Yesterday, it looked like the Mets might also bid on C.C..

The Yankees offered Sabathia a record-setting deal, but Brewers GM Doug Melvin thinks they’re overbidding.

Yanks Make Offer To Sabathia

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5:13pm: Anthony McCarron of the New York Daily News says the offer is for six years and $140MM.

4:37pm: Ed Price of the Newark Star-Ledger says the Yankees made their initial offer to Sabathia, but they expect his agents to look around a bit.

1:14pm: SI.com’s Jon Heyman says the Yankees will also make offers to A.J. Burnett and Derek Lowe within the next day or two.

FRIDAY, 10:27am: ESPN’s Buster Olney says this initial Yankees offer will be in the $140-142MM range.  By the way, the Giants have already touched base with Sabathia’s agents.

THURSDAY: According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Yankees will "aggressively extend a proposal" to C.C. Sabathia tomorrow.  He believes the Yankees will go to "a financial region that no other franchise would even consider" to lure the ace.  Sherman’s guess is an initial bid in the six-year, $150MM range (and that may not be the final offer).

If the Yankees are successful in signing Sabathia, they hope to add A.J. Burnett or Derek Lowe next.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Sabathia, Yankees, Pirates, Rays

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Let’s take a look at what is being written in the Blogosphere…

  • MetsBlog feels the reported interest in C.C. Sabathia is overblown. Rather, they see the Mets waiting for Sabathia to sign before making a move of their own for starting pitching.
  • River Ave. Blues still sees the Yankees pursuing Mark Teixeira or Adam Dunn, even with the acquisition of Nick Swisher.
  • Where have you gone, Andy Van Slyke speculates on what the Pirates will do this winter while finding humor in this recent quote from the Buccos’ GM: "we’d love to upgrade the offense, upgrade our pitching, and rebuild the bench."
  • MVN Outsider takes the role of Andrew Friedman in their "Being the GM" series and proposes three moves for the Rays including trading Andy Sonnanstine and Chad Bradford for Andre Ethier.
  • With the Rays likely to trade pitching this winter, Rays Prospects takes a closer look at how the starting pitchers throughout the organization performed in 2008. Sonnanstine was clearly a better pitcher than Edwin Jackson.
  • Pinstripes Published has started a series looking at some of the cheaper alternatives that can be found in the free agent market. First up, starting pitchers.
  • Ump Bump is taking a look at what each team needs this offseason. They have already gone through eight teams including the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs and Phillies.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.

Mets Join Yanks In Sabathia Chase?

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Bill Madden, Anthony McCarron, and Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News say the Mets will be in the mix for C.C. Sabathia:

Omar Minaya was dicussing a trade for a pitcher with a GM but said he would first have to see how Sabathia’s free agency was progressing, a baseball executive said. A Mets official subsequently wouldn’t deny interest in Sabathia.

Of course, the Yankees hope to sign Sabathia quickly. Joel Sherman believes the Mets are only trying to drive up the price for the Yankees, since both teams will be in on the same second-tier starters.  Matthew Cerrone doesn’t even see the Daily News article as an indicator of Met interest in C.C.

Nick Swisher Trade Reactions

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The Yankees acquired Nick Swisher yesterday for Wilson Betemit, Jhonny Nunez, and Jeff Marquez.  The reactions are clearly in favor of the Yanks; let’s take a look.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Hardy, Flowers, Wolf

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Another day, another column from Ken Rosenthal.

  • With multiple vacancies in the rotation and bullpen, the Brewers may need to see what kind of pitching Mike Cameron and/or J.J. Hardy can bring in return.  GM Doug Melvin is not ready to shop Hardy.  He’s received interest, but most teams have not given names (one team suggested swapping him for a pitcher Melvin termed, "a fifth starter.")
  • The Padres have asked the Braves to substitute catcher Tyler Flowers for center fielder Gorkys Hernandez in their Jake Peavy offer.  Dave O’Brien sees this as unlikely.
  • If they can’t sign Mark Teixeira, the Angels are ready to shift gears to C.C. Sabathia, Francisco Rodriguez, or other players.  The idea of a Manny Ramirez pursuit was "tabled rather quickly."
  • The Cardinals plan to add one or two lefthanded relievers, probably free agents.
  • In his quest for righthanded power, Reds GM Walt Jocketty inquired on Matt Holliday and Josh Willingham before they were traded.  Purely speculative – Jermaine Dye could be a nice fit.
  • At least half a dozen teams have expressed interest in free agent starter Randy Wolf.
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