jusnice wrote:Guess the Halladay question is off the board - various websites reporting that Halladay is going to the Phillies with Cliff Lee going to the Mariners...glad to see him out of the AL.

Agreed. I think the asking price was too high if it involved the four prospects that were previously mentioned. Halladay is amazing but he'll be 33 next season. Getting him shouldn't require more assets than getting Johan at age 29 would have taken.

jimimou wrote:MATSUI TO THE ANGELS ON A ONE YEAR DEAL WORTH 6.5M........

my concern is more that we're still short in the starting rotation... Wang's future here now uncertain & both Joba & Hughes not yet proven options as fulltime starters leaves us thin at the back end of our rotation... getting Halladay out of our division was huge, especially that BOS didn't get their filthy grubby paws on him... getting the Cuban kid would be great but he's not really a proven option yet either, so we need to sign a reliable & proven veteran arm to eat up some innings for us... i know Garland isn't a sexy name but he will give us quality innings & win us double digit games & will be a very cheap option... Wang would be a great option if not for his uncertain injury status for next season... i think the Yanks are still trying to engage him in a contract discussion.

maybe Cashman is trying to save every possible million on deals w/Wang & Damon so he can & garner some payroll flexibility to make 1 more big splash move this offseason (Rookie suggested Matt Holliday)? Cashman's been given a payroll budget to operate under by the ownership & they need to cut salary from last season to accomodate the pay raises for the existing contracts as well.

TMS wrote:

Rookie wrote:Just read a report we've contacted Bay's agent. BTW - The Yankees can easily beat the Card's 130M for Holliday if they want to that is.

i'd rather steal Bay away from Boston if they're gonna make a splash signing, but i think we should just re-sign Damon & go after some rotation & bullpen depth & sign that Cuban kid... even if he bombs out as a starter, we can still convert him into a powerful setup lefty which are real hard to come by these days.

Resign Damon for a year, maybe 2. Then next offseason, go for Crawford. Move Melky to right field. Make Swisher the DH if he can prove he's a 30 homerun hitter and close to 100 RBI this coming season. Unless if he's a free agent too?

Either way, an outfield of Crawford, Granderson and Melky is very very good.

Moving on, I guess I wouldn't mind a Jermaine Dye pick-up short-term on a reasonable deal. Good call T. Another guy I might look at is Jack Cust who was just non-tendered by the As last Saturday. A lot of Ks and a pretty low BA but the man can mash the ball -- he did hit 26, 33 & 25 HRs his last 3 seasons, some of that coming as a part-time player. Switch-hitter with a lot of pop who gets his share of walks too (last 3 seasons: 105, 111, 93 BBs). Like Hideki, here's another guy who could thrive in Yankee Stadium (most of his damage does come against right-handed pitching). Maybe he could be a short-term solution w/o breaking the bank...And they absolutely have to get this kid Aroldis Chapman in pinstripes. I don't care what they have to do and I don't even care if he's not major-league ready yet (if he has to start in AAA at first before making the jump, so be it). I want this guy. Come up with a better offer than the $15.5 million Theo Epstein just offered him..

I say go with Damon as your primary DH- he brings a good deal of versatility at the plate. Sees a lot of pitches, good at the top of the order, a little bit of pop and speed. The good thing is while his defense is horrid- the guy is at least ambulatory and can play about 30-40 games in left, allowing Jorge Posada to stay in the lineup more often (especially when Burnett pitches), and making us a better overall team.

I did hate to let Matsui go though. Mostly for sentimental reasons. Will never forget that WS performance. Great Yankee.