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Mike Mussina

Looking At The Yankees’ Impending Free Agents

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The Yankees have several big-name free agents looming this off-season, including Bobby Abreu, Andy Pettite, Ivan Rodriguez, Mike Mussina, and Jason Giambi ($5MM buyout for his $22MM option). Deciding who to bring back, who to let walk and who to offer arbitration could be the key decisions that have a ripple effect throughout the rest of baseball.

Tyler Kepner says the Yankees have already decided to not bring back Abreu and Giambi at their current salaries, $16MM and $21MM respectively. However Kepler says the Yankees may be open to bringing Abreu back at a reduced rate, especially without any obvious replacements in the farm system.

Peter Abraham thinks Pudge and Giambi would accept arbitration if it is offered by the Yankees. Now that Pudge is only a type-B free agent the Yankees may not think the one compensation pick is worth the risk.

So let’s hear it in the comments…Who should the Yankees bring back this off-season and do they risk offering arbitration to Pudge and Giambi?

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

Odds and Ends: Broussard, Ledezma, Cooper

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More random linkage.

Phillies Have Mild Interest In Mussina

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The Yankees’ rotation currently consists of Chien-Ming Wang, Andy Pettitte, Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, and Ian Kennedy.  That leaves both Mike Mussina (owed $11MM in ’08, no-trade protection) and Kei Igawa (owed $16MM over 2008-11) without starting jobs.  It wouldn’t be a bad move to just keep the depth, if you consider it depth.  After all, the three kids aren’t going to combine for 600 innings.  But Mussina and Igawa might be available.

Bob Matthews of the Times-Union Democrat and Chronicle (yes we’re really digging for rumors) notes today that the Phillies have "mild interest" in Mussina.  The 39 year-old Pennsylvania native may not want to leave New York, but it might not be a bad career move.  He’s got 250 wins; 300 would be a grind.  280 seems within reach though.  What could the Phils offer the Yanks for Mussina?  $11MM off their books and some kind of low-level prospect, I’d imagine.

Mussina Back With Yankees

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Looks like Mike Mussina has agreed to a 2-year, $22.5 million contract with the Yankees.  No big surprise here: there was never much talk that he could’ve been going elsewhere.  That gives the Yankees a projected rotation of Chien-Ming Wang, Randy Johnson, Mussina, and some combination of free agents (Gil Meche? a White Sox starter via trade?) and Carl Pavano, Humberto Sanchez, Darrell Rasner, and Jeff Karstens.  And, of course, the possibility of Philip Hughes.

By Jeff Sackmann

Miscellaneous Rumors

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There are a few trade-related nuggets in the newspapers today, but I don’t expect anything major to go down until June.

The Reds are trying to find a taker for Tony Womack, who has thankfully been pushed out of their infield and demoted.  That is what we call a million dollar mistake.  I guess Brandon Phillips makes up for it, at least until his bat runs cold.

Jay Payton and his agent are being vocal about finding him his 500 ABs with another team if necessary.  The best fit I can find is the Cardinals.

The Yanks plan on declining Mike Mussina’s option and re-signing him to a more reasonable deal.  The decline is a no-brainer at $17MM, but I’m just remembering what happened with Jon Lieber.  New York had some goodwill there after paying Lieber to rehab, but he still jumped ship after seeing the market.  This is a different situation given Mussina’s tenure, and he has said he wants to stay put.  I’m just saying, it’s not a 100% lock.

Howie Kendrick got the call, but it took an injury, and not a trade, of Maicer Izturis.  My guess is that Izturis will spend at least a month on the shelf and that Kendrick will stick for the rest of the season.  If Kendrick can hit as expected between pinch-hitting, DHing, and spot starting at 2B/3B, there will be plenty of interest for Adam Kennedy in the coming months.  Kennedy is a 3-4 win guy who could really help the Mets or Cardinals for half a season. 

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