New York Yankees

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NEW YORK -- The Yankees' 2009 pitching plans are starting to take shape -- although more slowly and not exactly in the way that they had hoped.

A Yankees official, speaking on condition of anonymity because no announcement has yet been made, confirmed that veteran Mike Mussina has told the team he plans to retire and will announce the decision in the coming days. That doesn't come as a surprise to the Yankees, who would have liked to have Mussina back but expected him to retire after his stellar 20-win season. Yet it crosses one item off of their winter checklist.

Of greater concern moving forward are CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Derek Lowe, the troika of free-agent pitchers the Yankees hope to sign for 2009 and beyond. The Yankees hope to land Sabathia and at least one, if not both, of the other two. Right now the team is mulling offers for the latter two and waiting for Sabathia to respond to the six-year, $140 million offer it made to him on Friday.

Continue reading "Mussina to announce retirement as Yankees await answer from Sabathia" »

The Yankees are focused on their starting pitching right now, but they do plan to upgrade at center field before the off-season ends as well. To that end, they've had conversations with the Milwaukee Brewers about former Met Mike Cameron.

Continue reading "Yankees to pursue Mike Cameron for center field" »

Following up on this earlier post, it appears there's another National League California team planning to make a big offer to CC Sabathia. According to a person familiar with the talks, the San Francisco Giants have been in touch with Sabathia's agent and are planning an offer in excess of the six years, $100 million Milwaukee has offered, though not as high as the Yankees' stratospheric six-year, $140 million offer.

The Giants "want to show him they're going to be very aggressive," according to this person. They're hoping last week's signing of lefty setup reliever Jeremy Affeldt (two years, $8 million) shows Sabathia they're interested in building a winner, and they've told him they're planning to go hard after free-agent shortstop Rafael Furcal as part of their off-season plan as well. The Giants believe Sabathia would rather pitch in San Francisco than in New York, and they're hoping they can make an offer that's close enough to the Yankees' offer to convince him to go there.

Things don't move as quickly this time of year as we all hope they would or think they should. The Yankees offered CC Sabathia $140 million for six years last Friday, and the popular question now is: "What's taking him so long?" After all, if you or I were offered something like that, it's doubtful we'd need a week to think it over.

Continue reading "Yankees-Sabathia: What's the holdup?" »

Just because it's the offseason that doesn't mean the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees won't battle one another pitch for pitch, only this time it's with sales pitches. The latest rumor surrounding potential Yankees free agent targets A.J. Burnett and Derek Lowe is that Boston may compete with the Yanks for both of the aces. Continue reading "Red Sox may engage Yankees in bidding war for Lowe, Burnett" »

Nick Swisher is excited about the Yankees, especially since coming to New York likely means playing his favorite position and hitting in the part of the order he prefers.

Swisher, whom the Yankees acquired last week, batted just .219 last season for the Chicago White Sox. He started the season as the leadoff hitter, which was new to him, and he played a good deal in center field, although he prefers first base.

"I did a lot of things last year that I was not used to doing," Swisher said Tuesday on a conference call. "I led off for the first time in my career, which was a little bit of a change. But I'm not a guy to make excuses.

Continue reading "At new home with New York Yankees, Swisher in a familiar place" »

A baseball official close to the situation, who requested anonymity because the deal has not yet been announced, said the Cubs and Ryan Dempster have agreed on a four-year contract worth about $52 million. This is not entirely unexpected, though it does feature some portents for the rest of the free-agent starting pitching market as it pertains to the Yankees.

As they wait to hear back from CC Sabathia, the Yankees are now pursuing the next starting pitchers on their shopping list, and A.J. Burnett is said to be the guy they want. There's a belief in the industry that the Blue Jays have offered four years and $54 million to keep Burnett, and that that Yankees will top it, in dollars if not in years. If they do, it gives some insight into the Yankees' operating philosophy in the second year of the Steinbrenner sons' regime.

Continue reading "Dempster to re-sign with Cubs, set A.J. Burnett market?" »

With the New York Yankees' offer to CC Sabathia still fresh on the market, management doesn't seem prepared to risk missing a top notch pitcher, should the deal fall through. Rumors from today's New York Post suggest the Yankees have put together an offer for Toronto Blue Jays' pitcher A.J. Burnett. Continue reading "A.J. Burnett the latest Yankees target?" »

The Yankees today announced they will host the Chicago Cubs in a pair of exhibition games, April 3-4, to open the new Yankee Stadium. Ticket information will be released later.

The April 3 (Friday) game is scheduled for 7:05 p.m., with a 1:05 p.m. start the next day. The Yankees will then have April 5 off and open the regular season April 6 at Baltimore.

The home regular-season opener is scheduled for April 16, against the Cleveland Indians.

Continue reading "Cubs to play first two games at new Yankee Stadium" »

Mike Mussina plans to decide soon whether to retire.

"It might be this week," he said Monday by phone from his home in Montoursville, Pa. "It's got to be soon. I can't leave people hanging, wondering what I'm going to do.

"Pretty soon here we'll figure something out."

Although Mussina consistently indicated late in the season he was leaning toward retirement -- which would make him the first 20-game winner in 105 years to end his career healthy and voluntarily -- some scoff at the possibility he could walk away after such a good season and leaving an eight-figure salary on the table.

Continue reading "Mussina plans decision on future soon" »

Back in August or September, I was at a game at Yankee Stadium, talking with a Yankees official about CC Sabathia. This official agreed that the primary focus of the Yankees' off-season would and should be Sabathia, but had this take on their chances: "He won't come here."

The Yankees believe the hype about Sabathia preferring the West Coast, preferring the National League because it's easier and he can hit. They believe that, all else being equal, Sabathia would sign with the Angels or Dodgers or Giants or even back with the Brewers rather than come to New York with all of its pressure and intensity and pitch for the Yankees.

So they decided, when it came time to make offers, to make sure all else wasn't equal.

Continue reading "Yankees' first offer to Sabathia makes sense -- for them" »

The Yankees will sell the contract of right-hander Darrell Rasner to a Japanese team for $1 million.

A Yankees official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the deal with the Pacific League's Golden Eagles (who play in Sendai) is not final, confirmed the agreement, first reported by ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick.

Rasner last year was 5-10 with a 5.40 ERA, making 20 starts and four relief appearances. He was called up to replace an injured Phil Hughes early in the year and won his first three starts, but after that he was 2-10 with a 6.11 ERA.

CC Sabathia can become the richest pitcher in baseball history whenever he wants.

The Yankees Friday made Sabathia, a free-agent lefty, an offer as large as Sabathia himself, but they don't expect him to sign on the dotted line anytime soon.

According to a person with knowledge of the Yankees' plans, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the competitive free-agent market, the offer exceeds the record (for a pitcher) six-year, $137.5 million deal the Mets made with Johan Santana after acquiring him before the 2008 season.

Continue reading "New York Yankees make offer to Sabathia" »

Most Yankee fans seem to agree with Dan Graziano's statement when he said the Yankees' Nick Swisher trade isn't a pennant clinching move. Much like Graziano, fans are content with this posing as the opening to what they hope is a profitable offseason. Here is what New York Yankees fan bloggers are saying about the newest addition to the Yanks. Continue reading "Yankees bloggers weigh in on Nick Swisher deal" »

Jason Giambi and Bobby Abreu were tied for third in the major leagues in a stat called "pitches per plate appearance" (which is exactly what it sounds like) with an average of 4.3. The Yankees, who prize plate discipline and walks as the core of their offensive philosophy, will lose them both to free agency.

So yesterday, they traded for Nick Swisher, who ranked first in the majors in that category, at 4.5 P/PA. (Stats courtesy The Hardball Times)

It's not a pennant-clinching move by the Yankees by any means, but it's a nice one because of the way it positions them for their off-season. If the hot stove season is a chess game, Brian Cashman has made his opening, and he likes the way it sets up the board for him.

Continue reading "Swisher deal a good opening move for Yankees" »

Mark Teixeira may have just gotten a little poorer, since the Yankees can now throw their dollars elsewhere.

The Yankees don't have to get in play on the big-time free-agent first baseman because Thursday they acquired Nick Swisher from the Chicago White Sox in a five-player deal.

The Yankees sent infielder Wilson Betemit and right-handed pitchers Jeff Marquez and Jhonny Nunez to the White Sox for Swisher and right-handed pitcher Kanekoa Texeira.

Although Swisher, a switch-hitter who turns 28 later this month and is signed through 2011, has played all three outfield positions -- and the Yankees are not settled on a center fielder -- general manager Brian Cashman is leaning toward Swisher at first.

Continue reading "Yankees acquire Swisher in five-player deal with White Sox" »

An official with a major-league team, who requested anonymity because no deal has yet been announced, said the Yankees were on the verge of a trade that would bring White Sox outfielder/first baseman Nick Swisher to the Bronx in exchange for minor-league pitcher Jeff Marquez.

Continue reading "Yankees close to acquiring Swisher from White Sox" »

The Yankees today confirmed that Mick Kelleher will join the staff as first-base coach. Rob Thomson will move from bench coach to third-base coach (replacing Bobby Meacham), and Tony Pena will move from first base to bench coach.

Hitting coach Kevin Long, pitching coach Dave Eiland and bullpen coach Mike Harkey return in the same roles.

During the week leading up to free agency, New York Yankees' pitcher Mike Mussina has yet to decide whether he'd like to return to the hill for the Yanks in '09.

Continue reading "Yankees' Mike Mussina still debating a return" »

Teams around the league can begin discussing financial plans with free agents as soon as tomorrow. It shouldn't be a surprise to hear the New York Yankees will have their checkbooks on hand and may be willing to toss record numbers at CC Sabathia. Continue reading "Yankees can begin free agent negotiations tomorrow" »

Babe Ruth monument is moved

In recent years, the Yankees gave long-term deals to setup men Steve Karsay, Tom Gordon and Kyle Farnsworth with less-than-ideal results.

Why stop now?

Damaso Marte, a lefty acquired in July from Pittsburgh, signed a three-year extension with the Yankees Wednesday after the team had declined a $6 million option for 2009.

Marte's new $12 million deal includes a $3.75 million salary in 2009, $4 million in 2010 and 2010 and a $4 million team option for 2012 ($250,000 buyout).

Continue reading "Yankees sign Marte through 2011" »

Advancing with the waves of modern technology, the newly constructed Yankee Stadium is set to have wireless technology that can process everything from a handheld video replay to a hot dog and beer order. Continue reading "New technology in motion at Yankee Stadium" »

NEW YORK -- Like those who pluck the ping-pong balls for the lottery, Yankees management will convene Thursday to decide on whom to lavish millions.

Teams can begin discussing financial terms with free agents on Friday, and the Yankees plan to spend plenty.

"We're going to be ready for Friday," co-chairperson Hal Steinbrenner said Tuesday. "Decisions haven't completely been made yet, but we're going to sit down as a group ... figure it out, have a good game plan. We're almost there."

Continue reading "As free agency approaches, New York Yankees ready their wallets" »

WFAN.com has a few pictures up of workers disassembling Yankee Stadium's Monument Park. The numbers and plaques once familiar to the outfield will begin their journey across the street to the new ballpark. Don't know about you, but after a glance at those pictures doesn't it seem a bit strange to see them taken out of their element?

Yankees management will confer Thursday, on the eve of the open free-agency period, to finalize their plans for offseason shopping.

"We're going to be ready for Friday (the first day teams can discuss financial terms with outside free agents)," co-chairperson Hal Steinbrenner said today.

Steinbrenner was attending a news conference to announce a deal with Cisco Systems to provide communications technology in the new Yankee Stadium, including 1,100 high-definition video monitors for concourses, suites and restrooms.

The Yankees want to return to the postseason in the first year of their new home after missing the playoffs in the final season at the old one. Their shopping list starts with lefty CC Sabathia and focuses on pitching.

"Decisions haven't completely been made yet," Steinbrenner said. "We're going to figure out everything by Friday. By Friday we're going to know the direction we're going. (In Thursday's meeting) we're going to decide who we're putting offers on first."

Steinbrenner said he, his brother Hank and his father George will take part in the meeting, likely by phone.

NOTEBOOK

CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte have reached out, and now they are waiting on contract offers from the Yankees.

Derek Jeter Friday revealed he had spoken to Sabathia -- the Yankees' top target in free agency -- in recent weeks about playing in pinstripes. And Pettitte said he has told the Yankees he wants to play and is willing to take a one-year deal but that he hasn't heard a response from the team.

Pettitte and Jeter were attending the Joe Torre Safe at Home Foundation's sixth annual gala, which this year honored the 1998 Yankees as it raised money to combat domestic violence.

Continue reading "Sabathia, Pettitte waiting to hear from New York Yankees" »

When NJ.com posted news of Jake Peavy adding the New York Yankees to his trade list, fans and commentors called it a long shot. Today's New York Post suggests Peavy won't see pinstripes in 2009. Continue reading "New York Yankees can rule out Jake Peavy , columnist says" »

The Yankees today announced they would not pick up the $6 million option for 2009 on lefty reliever Damaso Marte, making him a free agent, since he had filed provisionally on Wednesday. The Yankees have some interest in re-signing Marte, but if they offer him arbitration and he signs elsewhere, they will gain two draft picks.

Acquired from Pittsburgh along with outfielder Xavier Nady in late July, Marte, 33, made 25 appearances with the Yankees, going 1-3 with a 5.40 ERA.

Earlier this week, The Star-Ledger's Ed Price wrote that the Yankees were waiting to hear back from both Andy Pettitte and Mike Mussina as to whether or not they want a part with the team in 2009. Well, Andy has since expressed a desire to play, but site suggests a Yankees decision on Pettitte rests on Mussina's shoulders. Continue reading "Andy Pettitte's future with Yankees may hinge on Mike Mussina's decision" »

Earlier this week it was revealed in a that San Diego Padres pitcher Jake Peavy added the New York Yankees to his trade list. While many other teams were in higher consideration than the Yankees, today's Daily News reports that the odds of the Yankees landing Jake Peavy may have improved. Continue reading "Yankees' odds may improve slightly for landing Jake Peavy" »

Perhaps the better route to take with the New York Yankees this offseason is to make a list of pitchers the team isn't going after. From the CC Sabathia rumors that added more fuel to the fire, Jake Peavy adding the Yanks to his trade list and the lingering thought of Carl Pavano both rumored and shot down in the same day, you can now add A.J. Burnett into the mix of pitching hopefuls for the Bombers. Continue reading "A.J. Burnett: The latest Yankees target" »

NOTEBOOK

The Yankees declined the options Tuesday on first baseman Jason Giambi ($22 million) and right-hander Carl Pavano ($13 million). Giambi gets a $5 million buyout, and Pavano a $1.95 million buyout.

There is a chance Giambi will return on a lesser, short-term contract. Giambi this year hit .247 with 19 doubles, 32 home runs and 96 RBI, making 112 starts at first base and 26 starts at designated hitter.

For $39.95 million over four years, Pavano made just 26 starts because of injuries. He went 9-8 with a 5.00 ERA, earning $274,256.29 per inning.

Continue reading "New York Yankees decline options on Giambi, Pavano" »

The Yankees are leaning toward promoting Mick Kelleher to fill the open spot on their coaching staff.

According to a member of the organization who requested anonymity because nothing is finalized, Kelleher is the leading candidate to replace third-base coach Bobby Meacham. But the Yankees have not decided exactly who would fill what role; Kelleher, the team's minor-league defensive coordinator since 2006, could coach first base with Tony Pena moving to third or be the bench coach, with Rob Thomson taking over at third.

Kelleher, 61, played 622 games as a major-league infielder (1972-82) and was a big-league first-base coach for the 1986 Pirates and 2003-05 Tigers.

It's no secret that CC Sabathia is one of the most highly touted free agents this offseason. The constant rumors of a pending home with the New York Yankees continue to hit the papers and Internet. Continue reading "Yankees target CC Sabathia as alleged offers start to roll" »