Yanks to go after Manny, Teixeira
December 14
New York Post


" According to several baseball officials, the Yankees remain in the Mark Teixeira hunt. But the same connected voices insist if the Yankees don't land the switch-hitting first baseman, they will turn their money toward controversial slugger Manny Ramirez.

"If they can't get Teixeira, they are right there on Manny," an official with knowledge of the Yankees' plan said yesterday.

The attention being paid to bolster the lineup that lost Bobby Abreu and Jason Giambi doesn't mean the Yankees are out of the pitching business. They remain engaged with Andy Pettitte, Derek Lowe and Ben Sheets. Eventually, the Yankees believe Pettitte will take their $10 million offer.

Only fools count out the Yankees when it comes to free agents. Nevertheless, Teixeira has eight-year offers for $160 million from the Angels and Nationals. The Red Sox are wary of eight years but aren't shy of six for $150. Having already spent $243.5 million for CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett, the Yankees may not want to go that high (or for that many years) for Teixeira.

If they pass on Teixeira, the Yankees will try and bolster a sagging lineup with Ramirez, one of the greatest run producers in baseball history. And to clear some money, they might entertain offers for outfielder Xavier Nady, who made $3.35 million last year, is arbitration eligible and a free agent after the 2009 season.

"Hank (Steinbrenner) wants him, but he isn't alone in the organization," a source said of Ramirez. "They need somebody to protect Alex (Rodriguez)."

The Yankees are likely to offer Ramirez, 37 in May, a three-year deal in the $20 million range, though agent Scott Boras reportedly is seeking a five-year deal for the future Hall of Fame lock.

Because the signings of Sabathia (seven years for $161 million) and A.J. Burnett (five years for $82.5 million) leave $48.5 million of the $88 million that came off the Yankees' payroll, there is plenty of glue left for more additions. "

Posted by TMS:

http://www.prosportsdaily.com/comments/yanks-to-go-after-manny-teixeira-183094.html

Yanks to go after Manny, Teixeira
December 14
New York Post


" According to several baseball officials, the Yankees remain in the Mark Teixeira hunt. But the same connected voices insist if the Yankees don't land the switch-hitting first baseman, they will turn their money toward controversial slugger Manny Ramirez.

"If they can't get Teixeira, they are right there on Manny," an official with knowledge of the Yankees' plan said yesterday.

The attention being paid to bolster the lineup that lost Bobby Abreu and Jason Giambi doesn't mean the Yankees are out of the pitching business. They remain engaged with Andy Pettitte, Derek Lowe and Ben Sheets. Eventually, the Yankees believe Pettitte will take their $10 million offer.

Only fools count out the Yankees when it comes to free agents. Nevertheless, Teixeira has eight-year offers for $160 million from the Angels and Nationals. The Red Sox are wary of eight years but aren't shy of six for $150. Having already spent $243.5 million for CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett, the Yankees may not want to go that high (or for that many years) for Teixeira.

If they pass on Teixeira, the Yankees will try and bolster a sagging lineup with Ramirez, one of the greatest run producers in baseball history. And to clear some money, they might entertain offers for outfielder Xavier Nady, who made $3.35 million last year, is arbitration eligible and a free agent after the 2009 season.

"Hank (Steinbrenner) wants him, but he isn't alone in the organization," a source said of Ramirez. "They need somebody to protect Alex (Rodriguez)."

The Yankees are likely to offer Ramirez, 37 in May, a three-year deal in the $20 million range, though agent Scott Boras reportedly is seeking a five-year deal for the future Hall of Fame lock.

Because the signings of Sabathia (seven years for $161 million) and A.J. Burnett (five years for $82.5 million) leave $48.5 million of the $88 million that came off the Yankees' payroll, there is plenty of glue left for more additions. "

Posted by djsunyc:

buster olney breaks it down (he's the only guy out there who's opinion i respect):

Yanks improve rotation, keep young talent

Sunday, December 14, 2008 | Feedback | Print Entry

Posted by Buster Olney

The winter obsession last year was Johan Santana -- and the Yankees or the Red Sox could have had him. They could have traded for the accomplished left-hander who was about to turn 29. But what folks in both front offices decided was that the double-barreled cost was prohibitive.

On the front end, both teams would have been required to surrender their top pitching prospects -- for the Red Sox, that was Jon Lester, and for the Yankees, that was Phil Hughes -- and then they would have to pay Santana like he was a free agent. It was such an extraordinary price that even some folks in the Mets' organization wondered, after getting Santana, whether it was the right thing to do.

The argument that several executives made with the Red Sox and Yankees was that if you were patient -- patient -- then you might have a shot at a pitcher much like Santana in CC Sabathia, and the cost would only have one layer. Sure, you'd have to give him a huge contract, but you wouldn't have to give up top prospects along the way.

So the Yankees, in the end, were patient and got Sabathia, and the pundits who are saying that the team has blown up its plan for player development are simply not paying attention. In fact, the signings of Sabathia and A.J. Burnett are absolutely in keeping with the refocus on the farm system.

Because the Yankees waited to pursue Sabathia, rather than deal for Santana, they still have Hughes and Ian Kennedy and Austin Jackson and all the players mentioned in the Santana talks, and as the pitching talent pool has increased at the major league level, there is now more time for those youngsters to develop. It actually has been more than a decade since the Yankees have had as much minor league talent stacked up as they do now.

Yes, they will sacrifice draft picks in landing Sabathia and Burnett. But keep in mind that the Yankees will have picks in the first and second round of the draft in 2009 because of players unsigned in 2008; it's not as if they are being shut down.

The Yankees spun themselves into a hole in the past decade partly by acquiring and relying on aging pitchers (Kevin Brown, Randy Johnson) at premium prices. Now, when the free-agent machinations are over and the new Yankee Stadium opens, this is what the Yankees' rotation will look like:

1. Sabathia, 28 years old
2. Burnett, 32
3. Chien-Ming Wang, 29
4. Andy Pettitte, 36; or Ben Sheets, 30; or Derek Lowe, 35
5. Joba Chamberlain, 23

Compare that rotation with the Yankees' rotation in the year of their epic playoff collapse against the Red Sox:

1. Mike Mussina, 35
2. Javier Vazquez, 27
3. Jon Lieber, 34
4. Brown, 39
5. Jose Contreras, 32

The Yankees' rotation will be much younger next season, and it has a chance to be the strongest it has been since 1998, when Pettitte, David Cone, David Wells and Orlando Hernandez filled out the top four spots, in front of Hideki Irabu.

Marlins president David Samson ripped the Yankees this week for what he portrayed as wild spending, but apparently he doesn't realize that the team's payroll is going to go down by around 10 percent. The Yankees had about $85 million in expiring contracts, and for next season, so far they've spent $23 million on Sabathia and $15 million on Burnett, and they'll spend on another veteran pitcher and probably acquire Mike Cameron; it's possible the Yankees' payroll for next season will be about $180 million to $190 million.

So to review: The Yankees will be younger, cheaper and deeper, and maybe better.

Who knows if all of that will be good enough to win the AL East? Burnett is an enormous risk, nobody knows if Chamberlain can stay healthy, and the Yankees don't know whether Jorge Posada can be an everyday catcher, and they don't know if Alex Rodriguez will be the monster of 2007 or the guy who seems to disappear in big spots.

The Red Sox are years ahead of the Yankees in their player development and have their pipeline of talent already flowing into the big leagues, and by the end of this week, they may land the best position player, Mark Teixeira (some executives strongly believe the bidding will, in fact, end up around $200 million). The Rays have a chance to be as good or perhaps even better, because it appears they will wind up with a solid veteran hitter, and David Price will step into the rotation in 2009.

In the fall of 2005, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman mapped out a course for the organization to begin building a powerhouse that combines player development and the power of the dollar, a model that looks an awful lot like what we've been seeing from the Red Sox over the past three seasons. The Yankees continue to move closer to achieving that goal.

Nick Cafardo wonders if the Yankees are poised for a fall like the one the Tigers had last year. Mike Lupica has a much different opinion than my own on the Yankees' pursuit of Sabathia and Burnett.

Heard this: Sabathia will arrive in New York on Monday.

[Edited by - djsunyc on 12-14-2008 6:06 PM]

Posted by TMS:

Because the Yankees waited to pursue Sabathia, rather than deal for Santana

Marlins president David Samson ripped the Yankees this week for what he portrayed as wild spending, but apparently he doesn't realize that the team's payroll is going to go down by around 10 percent.

Posted by Bonn1997:

Marlins president David Samson ripped the Yankees this week for what he portrayed as wild spending, but apparently he doesn't realize that the team's payroll is going to go down by around 10 percent.

Another person who thinks he knows how much the Yankees will end up spending. This must be TMS and Isles' "source"

Report: Teixeira anticipates $22-28 million/year
Posted by Alex Speier

Karl Ravech of ESPN reported that he had checked in with someone close to the Teixeira negotiations. According to Ravech’s source, the first baseman, who is the prize of the free-agent market, is in negotiations with five teams: the Angels, Nationals, Orioles, Red Sox and Yankees. Using the standards set by Torii Hunter’s five-year, $90 million deal and Alex Rodriguez’ 10-year, $275 million deal–both of which were signed last offseason–Ravech reported that Teixeira is in line for an eight-year deal of $22 million to $28 million per season.

Here is a transcript of Ravech’s comments this morning on ESPN:

“The five teams that have always been pursuing him—the Angels, RS, Yankees, Nationals and Orioles—continue to be the five teams pursuing him. Someone very familiar with the negotiations said, it’s almost fascinating what’s happened. Every time one team steps up its offer, the other four teams do the same thing. It appears as if the idea that he wants to play for a competitor in the East, while that’s a priority, it’s almost neutralized by the fact that there’s an enormous attraction to the Orioles. He grew up in Maryland. His family is there. His wife has very, very close ties to that area. There’s something that kind of keeps bringing he and (agent) Scott Boras back to the Orioles as a hometown, ‘I’d love to play for the team I grew up watching,’ (destination).

“They look at the numbers being thrown out there. The Angels, who gave Torii Hunter $18 million a year, and of course Alex Rodriguez’ deal was almost $30 million a year, the numbers almost favor a comparison to A-Rod. So he’s looking at an eight-year deal that’s going to be worth between $22 and $28 million a year. A pretty good Christmas present. The sense I got from the people I spoke with was that the decision is getting closer and closer to being made. They’re almost looking as if one team would drop out of it to make the decision easier. They’re making it very hard on them. It’s a decision we’d all love to have to make.

“If you’re looking at eight years, $180 million, you’re north of $18 million a year, which is really sort of the starting point. This thing just continues to escalate. Even people like Scott and Mark, who have been involved in these things before—he’s been dealt a few times, he passed up a huge offer at one point from the Rangers, and this was a couple years ago. They identified the market, and the market seems to come back to them. Obviously, the Orioles and Nationals would love to use him. The Orioles look at Teixeira the same way they did at Ripken for so many years. They’d have this guy as the foundation, as the face of the organization.

“In so many ways, he’s the perfect representative of whatever franchise he goes to. He’s heavy into the workouts, he’s never had any injuries, he’s had no problems off the field to speak of. You understand why these teams would want to get a switch-hitting, great Gold Glove first baseman.”