Damon Talks About Future, Varitek
MONDAY: WEEI's Alex Speier talked to Damon. Damon's stance on the term of his next contract:
"I would like to at least get two years, but we’ll see what happens. If I need to take a one with an option or a vesting option, then so be it."
Damon also stirred the pot a bit in reference to Jason Varitek:
"I couldn’t believe that they were letting him walk and try to find a team. That’s the difference between New York and Boston…If you’re a part of New York, they’re going to keep you there: Posada, Jeter, Mariano, it’s the first time in history guys have been on the same team for 15 years. It goes to show you something about how the Yankees think, and how many Yankees players have been exclusive with one team. They keep them forever. (The Red Sox) were ready to let (Varitek) go. He’s their starting catcher. That’s how the two teams work. You know his days are going to be numbered here. But hopefully not — he deserves to be here until his career is over."
FRIDAY: ESPN's Andrew Marchand has a story up about a Johnny Damon radio appearance on 1050 AM in New York. Damon, a free agent after the season, hopes to re-sign with the Yankees. However, he feels the chances are slim based on the team's young outfielders. Damon specifically mentioned Austin Jackson.
Damon, 35, is hitting .295/.385/.500 in 91 plate appearances on the young season. Realistically, the Yankees may well look to sign an outfielder this winter. It just might not be Damon.
Odds and Ends: Smoltz, Crede, Burnett
A few links for Sunday evening…
- Chicago Tribune reporters Todd Lighty and Oscar Avila have more info on the David Wilder bonus-skimming scandal.
- Terence Moore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution talked to John Smoltz recently about players leaving or choosing not to sign with the Braves.
- SI.com’s Pablo S. Torre digs into Ken Griffey Jr.‘s decision.
- Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel learned that Marlins third baseman Dallas McPherson (42 home runs at Triple A last year) would like 500 at-bats, but a bench role is more likely. McPherson is out of options.
- Joe Crede talked about the White Sox going young, but Ozzie Guillen did not agree.
- Newsday’s Kat O’Brien talked to A.J. Burnett, who was leaning toward the Yankees well before he signed. He chatted often with Alex Rodriguez and Johnny Damon this winter.
- Speaking of Damon, River Ave. Blues points out a passage in Joe Torre’s book about how the Yankees chose Rondell White over him back in ’02.
- Nationals special assistant Jose Rijo is taking a leave of absence, partially because of the Esmailyn Gonzalez scandal. ESPN’s Jorge Arangure Jr. has much more on the situation, after talking to Gonzalez/Lugo’s trainer.
- South Side Sox takes a stab at fixing free agent compensation.
- Orlando Hudson could’ve had $24MM for 2009-11 if he’d taken an offer the D’Backs made before the ’08 season. Nick Piecoro says Hudson’s counteroffer was "so unrealistic that it actually upset people with the Diamondbacks."
Odds and Ends: Lester, Arbitration, Beimel
Links for Friday…
- RotoAuthority hosts a roundtable discussion of the worst fantasy picks of the first three rounds.
- Nationals president Stan Kasten expects "heavy trade talk," given the team’s surplus of first basemen/outfielders. Nick Johnson is the most likely candidate.
- Mark Sweeney may be forced into retirement, according to Tony Jackson of the L.A. Daily News.
- Joe McDonald of the Providence Journal wonders if Jon Lester could be the next Red Sox player to get a long-term extension.
- Maury Brown of The Biz of Baseball analyzes the salary arbitration class of 2009.
- Brian McTaggart of the Houston Chronicle has Astros GM Ed Wade explain split contracts.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports writes the Yankees outfielders and Scott Boras clients Xavier Nady and Johnny Damon have been affected by the Stanford financial scandal.
- MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan says Joe Beimel turned down a minor league offer from the Rangers about a month ago. Tough time to be a lefty reliever.
Yankees Still Fielding Calls on Swisher, Nady
According to Tyler Kepner of the New York Times, Brian Cashman’s spending lots of time talking with other clubs about Nick Swisher and Xavier Nady. Cashman’s open to moving either player, but he says he won’t make a deal for the sake of making one: "we’re not going to do anything unless there’s a reason to do it."
Cashman also said most reports about trade discussions have been accurate. The Braves, Nationals and Reds are among the teams who have reportedly had interest in Swisher and Nady.
The Yankees like Johnny Damon‘s production and they’re not shopping him or Hideki Matsui.
Kepner suggests the Yankees should "hold on to Swisher and dangle Nady" for a number of reasons. Swisher’s two years younger and he’s under contract for $21MM over the next three years. Nady, a Scott Boras client, will be a free agent after the 2009 season.
Heyman’s Latest: Yankees
Jon Heyman chimes in with a few notes on the Yankees…
- Heyman confirms that the Yankees are accepting trade offers for Xavier Nady and Nick Swisher.
- The Yankees have "no way to trade" Hideki Matsui, noting that he is coming off a knee surgery and has a full no-trade clause.
- Heyman also says the Yankees will not trade Johnny Damon saying the team needs him to leadoff and play center field.
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.
Odds and Ends: Bonds, Boras, Snell
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.
Yankees Outfield Surplus
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.
Trading Partners For The Yankees
Reports are all over the place about the Yankees being too stocked with corner outfielders. The four names that continue to surface are Xavier Nady, Hideki Matsui, Nick Swisher and Johnny Damon. Here’s a list of stories about potential trading partners:
-
Joel Sherman of the N.Y. Post thinks the Angels, Rays, Rangers and A’s could be possibilities, but he reminds us that there still are a number of similar-style hitters on the free agent market.
-
MLB.com writer Chris Haft thinks the San Francisco Giants could be a good suitor for Xavier Nady, who grew up in the Bay area.
Yankees Sign Mark Teixeira
3:58pm: Joel Sherman says the Red Sox were at eight years, $168MM, so the Yankees outbid them by $12MM.
3:38pm: The contract does not include an opt-out clause, according to Danny Knobler. Knobler agrees with Olney that the Red Sox fell about $10MM short. He says the Sox are not inclined to react by "stepping up their pursuit of Derek Lowe or any other top starting pitcher."
2:55pm: Olney now agrees it’s an eight-year, $180MM deal ($22.5MM per year). Bill Madden says Teixeira told the Yankees he preferred them all along, after the Angels and Red Sox backed off. Ha. Joel Sherman says the Yankees made this decision with the 2010 season in mind, given the weak free agent market. He says they’ll now attempt to trade one of Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, Xavier Nady, and Nick Swisher.
2:26pm: Buster Olney says the Yankees have reached an agreement with Teixeira on an eight-year deal worth more than $170MM.
Aside from the Red Sox, the Brewers and Blue Jays also lose here. Each team’s draft pick from the Yanks is pushed back one round – the Brewers get a second-rounder from them for C.C. Sabathia, the Jays get their third-round pick for A.J. Burnett.
2:17pm: According to Jon Heyman, the Yankees are on the verge of signing Mark Teixeira to an eight-year, $180MM deal with a full no-trade clause.
Will Yanks Make Any Trades?
Joel Sherman of the New York Post discusses the Yankees’ trade prospects in a blog post today. The Yankees have a 3-5% chance of making the playoffs this year, according to Baseball Prospectus.
Sherman suggests Johnny Damon, Bobby Abreu, Andy Pettitte, Mike Mussina, and Carl Pavano as players with a slight chance of being dealt. No-trade clauses would present an obstacle for most of these players, however.
As Sherman notes, Abreu is locked in as a Type A free agent. For the Yankees to receive draft picks for him this winter, they’d have to offer him arbitration and have him decline and sign elsewhere. Many Yankees fans made a strong case to me yesterday that the team will offer arbitration, because another year of Abreu at $16MM+ would be an acceptable risk. It’s a good point, since Abreu is having a better season than he did in ’07.
A pitching-starved team could take on Pavano if he approves it, but he is still owed over $4MM. The Yanks would have to assume pretty much all of that.