the money it will cost to sign Tex & CC will be offset by all the money coming off the payroll at the end of this season... Giambi & Abreu's salaries alone are enough to pay for both CC & Tex's projected salaries in '09.

Johan's a 2nd half pitcher, he'll be fine... it's the later years of his contract where you should start to worry a little, but he's young enough to still be productive at the tail end of his deal... it was the combined price of the desired prospects & the contract that turned the Yankees off... u guys got him at a much lower cost in terms of talent IMO... whether we coulda got him w/o giving up Hughes is a moot point right now... i never heard any reports to the contrary that the Twins would settle for any package w/o Hughes' name mentioned in the deal.

as for Burnett, i know he's an injury risk but he's still got a few prime years left in him at 31 & he's pitched well against the Red Sox in the past & has experience facing AL East batters... anyway i wouldn't be looking at him as our ace option, more of a middle of the rotation guy... Ben Sheets or Jon Garland are other possible options to fill Andy's slot in the rotation or even your guy Olly Perez wouldn't be bad either... i don't see any other good options in the free agent market next season in terms of starters... we would already have Wang & i think Joba although unproven as a starter will do well however he's used... Hughes is the guy i'm more concerned about because he hasn't been able to stay healthy & his stuff has been highly inconsistent to boot... we could also pursue some options via trade if Hughes & Kennedy are still struggling by next season.

Posted by TMS:

the money it will cost to sign Tex & CC will be offset by all the money coming off the payroll at the end of this season... Giambi & Abreu's salaries alone are enough to pay for both CC & Tex's projected salaries in '09.

Johan's a 2nd half pitcher, he'll be fine... it's the later years of his contract where you should start to worry a little, but he's young enough to still be productive at the tail end of his deal... it was the combined price of the desired prospects & the contract that turned the Yankees off... u guys got him at a much lower cost in terms of talent IMO... whether we coulda got him w/o giving up Hughes is a moot point right now... i never heard any reports to the contrary that the Twins would settle for any package w/o Hughes' name mentioned in the deal.

as for Burnett, i know he's an injury risk but he's still got a few prime years left in him at 31 & he's pitched well against the Red Sox in the past & has experience facing AL East batters... anyway i wouldn't be looking at him as our ace option, more of a middle of the rotation guy... Ben Sheets or Jon Garland are other possible options to fill Andy's slot in the rotation or even your guy Olly Perez wouldn't be bad either... i don't see any other good options in the free agent market next season in terms of starters... we would already have Wang & i think Joba although unproven as a starter will do well however he's used... Hughes is the guy i'm more concerned about because he hasn't been able to stay healthy & his stuff has been highly inconsistent to boot... we could also pursue some options via trade if Hughes & Kennedy are still struggling by next season.

Oh yeah I know you guys are losing a ton of salary after this season and if you should not make the playoffs, you know Hank is going to want to make a huge splash heading into the new stadium. Actually the new stadium is reason enough to spend big regardless whether or not you make the playoffs.

As for our team, we are at a major crossroads now. The only players I definitely would keep after this season are Wright, Reyes, Church, Schneider, Johan, Maine, Pelfrey and Wagner. And maybe a couple other bullpen guys. So thats like 8-10 guys I like and everyone else could hit the road. And Omar might have to hit the road too. This latin influence is killing us. I also want Bobby V back. I was pissed when we fired him. LOVE Bobby V.

And you can have Beltran for nothing in return, just get him the hell off my team!!!!!!!

Posted by TMS:

i always thought Bobby V was 1 of the best pure baseball strategists in the game... best i've seen since Billy Martin in fact... i dunno why he was fired by the Mets either... in fact when the Yankees were discussing replacements for Joe Torre i was in favor of bringing him to the Bronx.

I think he was fired because he didn't exactly have the best relationship with the media which always painted him in a bad light, also he was kind of a victim of his own success. Meaning he took a very average team and led them into the World Series against the Yanks. Then he was kind of measured by that success. Also Steve Phillips played a huge part as he was still the boy wonder with the Wilpons at the time and in order to justify his own bad moves, he laid the blame on Bobby V. Typical move of bad gm's.

Anyway, lets a get a Beltran deal done ASAP...

Posted by TMS:

Damon for Beltran & you got yourself a deal.

Oh come on get serious. I would never in a million years sign or trade for an outfielder with a noodle arm.

If we trade Beltran, I want back pitching. Preferably someone in the minors with really good stuff that we could stick in our bullpen. I would even consider Kennedy and either keep him and see what he's got in the NL, or ship him off for relief pitching.

Too bad the Dodgers are stuck with Andruw Jones next season or I'd offer Beltran up for one of their great relief pitchers. I have no idea how the Dodgers year after year produce these really good bullpen guys.

But I doubt we trade Beltran because CF is a tough position to fill unless he demands a trade.

And the only way Beltran would work on the Yankees is if you stick him in the 3 spot between Jeter and ARod. Otherwise he probably would wilt under the pressure in Yankee Stadium. He is definitely not a NY type of player. Soooo soft.

Posted by TMS:

Hank was recently quoted in the papers saying as much Bonn... don't worry, there will be major changes on the horizon if the Yankees fail to make the playoffs this year... they ain't going into the Innaugural season at the new ballpark w/a team that's not built to win, i think it's fair to assume that much.

anyway just wanted to add a few points to the discussion here... i remember we let go of the "can't miss blue chip prospect" Brandon Claussen for Aaron Boone & some Yankee fans were up in arms over it... i wonder what ol' Brandon's up to these days?

if there were a couple moves i really wish Cashman had never made & i think most Yankee fans would agree that there were many questions surrounding the decision to make them at the time they were made, they were the following:

trading Ted Lilly for Jeff Weaver
signing Jaret Wright
signing Mike Mussina to his 2 year extension
signing LaTroy Hawkins

other moves that haven't worked out like signing Giambi, Pavano, Contreras, Karsay, Farnsworth, Damon & Rocket last year & trading Jeff Weaver for Kevin Brown were widely hailed as good moves to make when he made them by the majority of Yankee fans & critics alike... i have a hard time putting all the blame on his shoulders when those moves went awry... no one can really predict how a trade or FA signing will work out, u just have to base them on how much sense it makes for your ballclub at the time you make it & hope for the best.

he's also responsible for the acquisition of guys who have helped this team win lots of ballgames like Matsui, Moose (1st contract), ARod, Randy Johnson, Robin Ventura, Tanyon Sturtze, Paul Quantrill, Tom Gordon & Abreu, & while none of those moves have netted us any championships they were all good moves to make at the time they were made... i've been a Moose critic for a while but even i can't say it was a dumb decision to sign the guy when they did the first time around.

hey, i almost forgot the season saviors in '05, Aaron Small & Shawn Chacon... we miss out on the playoffs altogether that year if Cashman doesn't make the trades for those guys... & who can forget good ol' Big Rube in '04 who got off a huge HR for us in the postseason vs. the Twins that year in ALDS game 4.

RUUUUUUUBE!!!

Rube is a legend. Shame he retired. He would probably be doing better at the plate than Gian****no.

Posted by GKFv2:

Rube is a legend. Shame he retired. He would probably be doing better at the plate than Gian****no.

Giambi's not having that bad a year to tell the truth... his BA needs to go up obviously but his OBP & power #'s are pretty solid... & i thought Abreu had lost a bit but looks like he's having a solid 1st half as well.