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Can’t Stop Won’t Stop|Yanks Still Look for Pitching

As it stands now the Yankees have three starters ready to go opening day – CC Sabathia, Chien-Ming Wang and Joba Chamberlain and with two holes to fill they’re keeping busy.

They entered the winter meetings looking to sign at least two starters and with one on board who will the next one be?

Rumors were abound early this morning that the Yankees and Derek Lowe were close on a four-year $66 million deal. Those talks turned out to be overblown, but the Yankees are still trying to work out a deal with the 35-years-old.

Other teams are interested in Lowe. The Yankees and Phillies appear to be the front runners with the Red Sox and Mets as long shots. All deals on the table appear to be four-year contracts, the team that is willing to go to a fifth year will likely lock him up.

There is AJ Burnett as well. He reportedly has a $80 million five-year offer on the table right now. (Some doubt the validity of this report.) If true it’s hard to believe that he would walk away from that unless the Yankees do what some believe could happen and up the deal to around $90 million.

There was talk yesterday that the Yankees were getting ready to make an offer to Ben Sheets as well. Talks with Sabathia might have delayed this as this topic seems to have cooled a little bit today, but manager Joe Girardi likes Sheets so this could be something to keep an eye on.

Things have been quiet with Andy Pettitte lately, but word is they have been in contact with their free agent lefty. Although with the aggresiveness the Yanks are persueing other pitchers he may regret rejecting their $10 million offer.

Yankees Still Interested in Manny

With CC Sabathia set to recieve $161 million over the next 7 years the Yankees could be out of the Mark Teixeira running, but that doesn’t mean they won’t get Manny.

One big splash does not an off-season make for the Yanks. They intend on adding more pitching by adding one or more free agents like Derek Lowe, Ben Sheets or AJ Burnett. They are also are still interested in signing Manny Ramirez.

The interest seems to be coming more from Hank Steinbrenner as opposed to Brian Cashman. Which would buck the recent trend of Cash having full power, but it certainly would fit the Steinbrenner MO.

Lets see what happens before jumping to any conclusions, but this type of a deal will have a lot of variables. Especially how many years Manny is interested in. If he is willing to go three years or less this could be very realistic. Anything more than that and the Yankees will likely pass.

One thing that is certain is a lineup with Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez in the middle couldn’t be topped.

The $161 Mil Man

Brewers Hurt if Yanks Sign Sheets

This doesn’t effect the Yankees so much as it does the Milwaukee Brewers, but if the Bombers were to sign Ben Sheets in addition to CC Sabathia the Beer Makers would miss out on an additional 1st-round draft pick.

By signing Sabathia the Yankees forfeited one of their two 1st-round picks, but the other is compensation for not signing Gerritt Cole and is thus protected. So if they signed Sheets there would be no 1st-rounder for the Brewers to receive. Instead they would get the 2nd-round pick of the Yankees.

The reason this doesn’t really effect the Yankees is because they’re going to lose their 2nd pick no matter which other type-A free agents they sign. So it wouldn’t benefit them to sign AJ Burnett over Ben Sheets in that regard.

Sabathia Can Opt-Out After 2011

It took 26 days for the Yankees to sign free agent starter CC Sabathia after initially offering him a contract and an opt-out clause may have been the deal breaker.

Sabathia’s contract is actually $161 million over seven years which will pay him an average of $23 million per year with no money being deferred. However he does have the right to walk away from the contract after the 2011 season. If he did that he would take away just $69 million over three years from the Yankees.

The clause is in there supposedly for Sabathia and his family. Should they not like living in New York this gives them the ability to leave after a short stay.

The stipulation does however benefit the Yankees in a couple of ways. First, it got him to sign and second it means that they might not be on the hook for the full seven years.

Seven years is forever in the life of a pitcher. The Yankees might like him now or in three years, but think about the sixth and seventh years of this deal. A pitcher who his girth will be prone to breaking down so if the Yankees can avoid paying him $23 million at the age of 35 then that is great.

Of course this doesn’t protect the Yankees should Sabathia pull a Pavano and spend the rest of his career on the DL. If Sabathia feels like he would not be able to approach the $23 million figure the Yanks would pay him each season from 2012 till 2015 he would simply tough it out in New York.

Yanks Get Sabathia for $160 Mil

On day 27 he finally rested.

After 27 days of The CC Sabathia Watch and three consecutive days of face-to-face meetings the burly southpaw finally decided to he wanted to be as rich as he possibly could be.

After having a $140 million six year offer on the table for nearly a month the two sides agreed on an even bigger $160 million deal over seven years. That will keep the hefty lefty in the Bronx through 2015.

After a few meetings this week with Brian Cashman and Reggie Jackson, Sabathia flew back to San Fransisco and it appeared he would wait until this weekend before making any decisions. Then last night Brian Cashman blew off a meeting with reporters apparently to begin to wrap up his month long chase for the free agent.

This is the biggest pitching contract in the history of the game. Is he worth it? Only time will tell, but as I discussed previously, if anyone is worth it a pitch who fits Sabathia’s profile might be worth a shot.

Yankees to Offer Lowe 4 Years $65 Mil

The Yankees appear determined to upgrade their rotation this off-season with or without CC Sabathia.

They are rumored to be willing to top the Braves offer on AJ Burnett and now reports say they are negotiating with Scott Boras on a four-year $65 million deal for Dodgers starter Derek Lowe.

Four years seems to be a lot for a 35 year-old starter, but the Yankees appear pretty desperate at this point. They might feel that it is inevitable that the former Red Sox returns to Boston and they are trying to drive up his value.

Lowe would prefer a five-year $80 million deal, but that is unlikely and has already scared the Red Sox and the Mets from making an offer. Although it is entirely possible both teams make a lesser offer.

Aside from the Yankees, the Phillies are aggresively pursuing Lowe.

Yankees & Cardinals Discuss Ankiel

In an effort to improve their rotation and bullpen the St. Louis Cardinals are shopping  center fielder Rick Ankiel and the  Yankees are said to be among the buyers.

With a limited budget the Cardinals need a starter and a closer, but only have the money for one big name free agent. They are interested in AJ Burnett and Oliver Perez among others, but fear that the market may be too high for them.

So it may be cheaper for them to go after a closer in what is a deep market. If they do that they’re going to try to acquire a young starter and it appears they might be interested in Ian Kennedy.

Ankiel will make about $3 million next season and will be a free agent next off-season. As a Scott Boras client he will likely test the market so he would pretty much be a one year rental for any team acquiring him.

Kennedy’s stock is at it’s highest since about this time last year. After a disappointing season he performed phenominally during the winter league in Puerto Rico.

In 34.2 innings this off-season he had a 2-2 record with a 1.56 ERA, a .164 batting average against, and 31 strike outs.

Ankiel has made quick strides as a hitter, but that is only relative because he came up as a pitcher. Last season he only hit .264 with a measley .337 OBP. His .506 slugging percentage is pretty good and his .843 OPS is promising for a hitter in the league for just two years.

Yankees Prep Sheets Offer

It’s day 26 of The CC Sabathia Watch and we’re getting mixed signals, meetings are going great and Reggie Jackson is now attempting to woo the lefty who might have told the Dodgers to make him an offer.

While that is all being sorted out the Yankees are still keeping their head in the game by preparing to offer Ben Sheets a deal in the $30 million range.

According to the Daily News a source said that their initial offer would be at two years and $26 million. That would be a raise on the $11 million Sheets earned last season.

It would be interesting to see how Sabathia would respond if the Yankees lock Sheets up. Obviously the two were teammates so there might be a relationship there which would make New York more attractive to Sabathia.

It might not matter because it’s possible that Sabathia’s situation could materialize quickly since he’s already had a pair of offers on the table for nearly a month.