Return to Yankees “Doubtful” For Pettitte
FRIDAY: Kat O’Brien of Newsday: "The source said nothing had been finalized on Pettitte but that the Yankees were leaning toward no."
THURSDAY: After spending more than $400MM on C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and, of course, Mark Teixeira over the last few weeks, Andy Pettitte’s return to the Yankees is now "doubtful," a team official tells Mike Puma of the New York Post.
Pettitte has not yet responded to the Yankees’ original offer of a one-year, $10MM offer for 2009. The 36-year-old-lefty had a 4.54 ERA in 204 innings for the team in 2008.
Mets Target Lowe, Perez
Now that Mark Teixeira has found a home in New York, the Mets would like to talk with two other Scott Boras clients about following suit, Ben Shpigel of the New York Times reports. The Mets are interested in Derek Lowe and Oliver Perez, in that order, and believe that the market may be shaping up to allow them to obtain their first choice. Nothing is imminent for the Mets at this time.
With the Yankees (almost) definitely out of the picture, and the Red Sox seemingly focused more on hitting, the Mets are optimistic that they can get Lowe for considerably less than the five-year $90MM deal he was rumored to be looking for initially. If for some reason this doesn’t work out, the enigmatic Perez would be their next choice, Shpigel says.
Lowe, 35, had a 3.24 ERA in 211 innings for the Dodgers in 2008. Perez, 27, had a 4.22 ERA in 194 innings for the Mets.
Orioles Could Pursue Dunn
After losing out in the Mark Teixeira derby, the Orioles might consider pursuing free agent slugger Adam Dunn, according to Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun. While team president Andy MacPhail emphasized that the O’s are "focusing on [their] pitching and catching primarily at this point," Zrebiec notes that if Dunn’s price came down significantly, he could could be the middle-of-the-order hitter the Orioles were looking for in Teixeira.
Dunn, 29, has hit 40 or more home runs in each the last five years, and could find the Camden Yards right-field porch particularly inviting.
Teixeira Had Higher Offer From Nationals
Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com is reporting that the Washington Nationals offered about $5MM more to first baseman Mark Teixeira than the New York Yankees did, even though Teixeira struck a deal with the Yankees on Tuesday.
Kubatko adds that the Nationals would have gone even higher, but they were never given a chance to compete with the Yankees’ offer. He guesses that it wasn’t all about the money after all.
Kubatko also writes that the Baltimore Orioles are still looking to add another bat to the lineup, possibly a first baseman, outfielder or designated hitter.
Red Sox Next Moves
After missing out on Mark Teixeira, Boston Red Sox fans have been asking what the team will do to respond. Here are a few links about the current (and therefore future) state of the franchise.
-
Sean McAdam of the Boston Herald goes through the health of designated hitter David Ortiz and third baseman Mike Lowell, and he looks at pitching and the open slot behind the plate.
-
In this article, McAdam takes a look at the free agent market with the goal of determining who would work well with the Red Sox. Overall, McAdam writes that the homegrown talent has reduced the pressure the Red Sox have on the market. Because of this, McAdam believes the Red Sox view free agency as “unnecessarily expensive.”
-
Adam Kilgore of the Boston Globe expands on what we learned yesterday about first baseman Kevin Youkilis‘ contract: A one-year deal stands.
Yankees Done With Pettitte?
Kat O’Brien of New York Newsday has learned from a source that the Yankees are "pretty happy" with their current roster and may no longer care to bring back Andy Pettitte. The club could soon pull its one-year, $10MM offer. Pettitte, 36, went 14-14 in 2008 with a 4.54 ERA.
O’Brien also presents us a timeline of Tuesday’s deal for Mark Teixeira, from the Yankees’ perspective.
UPDATE: Ken Davidoff of Newsday thinks Andy Pettitte will wind up coming back. Most experts seem to agree.
Comparing Teixeira and Pujols
Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch took a minute to analyze the impact of the Mark Teixeira signing on the contract situation of another hard-hitting first baseman, Albert Pujols.
Pujols signed a seven-year, $100MM deal back in 2003. At this point, as Goold states, "he’s been a bargain." A very, very solid bargain. Pujols, 28, could potentially become a free agent in 2011, two years from now, and has accomplished a few feats that Teixeira, also 28, has not. El Hombre has two MVPs, won a World Series in 2006, and has a higher career batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage than Tex.
Goold describes Pujols’ free-agent value as simply "mind-boggling" and asks whether Albert will become baseball’s first "$30-million year man."
Manny Ramirez Rumors: Wednesday
4:31pm: Rob Neyer’s latest post on ESPN.com discusses what Ramirez’ chances are to claim himself a big contract. Neyer doesn’t like the odds. His guess is two years for $45MM. He lists the Dodgers as the likely match.
8:55am: Dan Graziano of the Newark Star-Ledger tells us to take the New York Mets off the Manny List. Graziano writes that GM Omar Minaya is having trouble selling Ramirez to ownership, despite how well he would fit in with the team. He adds that despite the Red Sox missing out on Mark Teixeira to the Yankees on Tuesday, Ramirez had a worse day. As Graziano puts it, “Because, honestly, where is he going to go now?”
8:01am: Common sense tells T.J. Simers of the Los Angeles Times that Manny’s best — and possibly only — option is a contract with the Dodgers. He wonders if the Dodgers and owner Frank McCourt really even want Ramirez to return. Regardless, Simers doesn’t see the slugger ending up with a small- or mid-market franchise.
Jesse Spector of the N.Y. Daily News writes the New York Yankees could still sign Manny, even after taking on more than $400MM in payroll in the past week, and have a 2009 payroll less than the 2008 version. His hypothesis hinges on not bringing back left-hander Andy Pettitte and trading Hideki Matsui in particular.
More Mark Teixeira Signing Reactions
4:01pm: Peter Gammons of ESPN writes the Yankees are just being American.
1:26pm: FOXSports.com’s Dayn Perry believes the Yankees are taking a risk with the Teixeira deal. Perry points out that the Yankees’ spending will add even more pressure onto the franchise to win. He also thinks the Yankees needed to make this deal.
-
Former pitcher Jim Kaat is in line with Perry. Kaat believes there will be an adjustment period for all three of the Yankees’ big signings. He writes that players sometimes try too hard to live up to their big contracts in the first season, and that could take place here.
-
Murray Chass says Mark Teixeira banned himself from Boston.
11:33am: Add Rays skipper Joe Maddon to the list of baseball people who aren’t scared by the Yankees’ recent moves. This, via Mike DiGiovanna and the LA Times.
10:01am: Since this is the major topic today — unless anything breaks — I’ll update this periodically.
- Buster Olney of ESPN weighs in on the winners and losers of the Teixeira deal.
- Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post writes that the Washington Nationals’ attempt to sign Teixeira was admirable. He says the Nationals showed they are willing to spend money, although a need to gain credibility as a franchise stood in the way of them and Teixeira.
- Check out this post from Tuesday for more notes regarding the deal.
8:49am:
- Sports Illustrated and Tom Verducci have a Q&A posted about the Yankees’ deal with Mark Teixeira. In short, Verducci likes the move for the Yankees.
- “WE’RE BACK!” At least Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan says about the Yankees and the Steinbrenner family’s spending.
- Boston fans lost a big present from under the Christmas tree, Adam Kilgore of the Globe writes.
- Phil Sheridan of the Philadelphia Inquirer opines that the Yankees are bad for sports. He cites the national economic struggles as a top reason the Teixeira/Yankees deal makes no sense.
- On the opposite end of the spectrum, Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle writes that the Yankees’ signing is good for baseball.
- Orioles fans are upset that the hometown boy will only be returning to town wearing Yankees gray, Baltimore Sun’s Childs Walker writes.
- Mike Lupica of the N.Y. Daily News wonders if the Yankees have spent enough this offseason to “buy back a World Series.”
- Besides an apology to his wife for reporting from his vacation, New York Post writer Joel Sherman notes how Teixeira turns 29 in April. The new Yankees have become younger, he adds. He slips in that Manny Ramirez never made sense for the Yankees.
- Bill Burt of the North Andover (Mass.) Eagle-Tribune writes the Red Sox didn’t want Teixeira enough to pull the trigger on the deal. He adds that the Sox will do nothing — and that they don’t need to.
Mark Teixeira Signing Reactions
Here’s a quick look at some of the reactions to the Mark Teixeira signing. If you guys find any you find particularly remarkable, hit me up (josephp, Shift+2, riveraveblues dot com) and I’ll add it if it adds something. But for now:
- RotoAuthority has the fantasy analysis.
- Interesting angle from Joel Sherman – he says the team’s poor choice of passing on Carlos Beltran taught them to sign Teixeira now. He says they’d prefer to trade Hideki Matsui, among their outfield surplus. The Braves like Xavier Nady and Nick Swisher.
- Brewers owner Mark Attanasio suggests a salary cap for the sport.
- Gordon Edes calls this a "staggering blow" to the Red Sox and Angels. I’m not sure I would go that far, at least in the case of the Angels. That could be my bias speaking, though.
- Jesse Spector of the New York Daily News notes the long-term implications of the deal. He wonders if Teixeira is really a $20 million player (or, rather, a $22.5 million player) and calls into question committing eight years to a position that serves as a transition for older players.
- Roch Kubatko got some quotes from Andy MacPhail. "We can’t devote that many resources to one player, no matter where he’s from," was the telling line. Roch wonders if the Orioles were even given a chance to counter the Yankees offer.
- Jeff Zrebiec backs up Roch. Boras didn’t give the Orioles a chance to counter. He instead informed MacPhail that Teixeira was going in another direction.
- Peter Abraham has learned a lesson from this. "This will also teach me not to believe anything Cashman says about living under a budget."
- Tony Massarotti isn’t pleased with how this turned out. "Instead, the Sox lost Teixeira for what amounted to about $10-$15 million over eight years, which is chump change for a franchise with an estimated value (including NESN and Fenway Park) or somewhere in the range of $1 billion." He notes also that the Sox had plenty of contracts coming off the books, much like the Yankees.
- Over on my home turf, Ben notes the obvious: "What this Teixeira signing indicates though is that a new generation of Steinbrenners is willing to spend what it takes to win just like George."
- Keith Law on the signing: "Signing three of the top four free agents on the market is a sign that they have excellent taste, even if they don’t seem to have a credit limit."