A Much Better Plan
The papers today contained all sorts of stories that warmed my heart. The best pieces of news? First, the Yankees are not going to give A.J. Burnett a five-year deal (let's hope they stick to that) and second, the Yankees might bid for Mark Teixeira.
I have said before that I think the pitching market adds up to CC and everyone else. If you get CC you add a great pitcher to your staff and it is stupid to overspend to add Burnett or Lowe at that point. Besides, how much more do they offer you than Andy Pettitte who you can bring back for less and on a one-year deal? If you don't get Sabathia, making a panic move and throwing boatloads of money at Burnett and Lowe just prevents you from moves down the road. The Yankees have to be very careful and I would prefer they just try and get CC and leave it at that. A rotation of Sabathia, Wang, Joba, Pettitte and Hughes isn't too shabby.
And that brings us to Mark Teixeira, who is the best bat on the market. The Yankees are losing two big pieces of their offense with Abreu and Giambi almost certainly gone. You can expect a better year from Cano and probably expect better production from the catcher spot. (Though you have to remember Posada is coming off of surgery and is a risk). Pretty much everyone else in the lineup is beyond their prime years except for A-Rod and that means they are more and more unlikely to repeat their 2008 #'s. The Yankees scored 789 runs last year and will struggle to do so again without some upgrades to the offense. Mark Teixeira is that upgrade and if they somehow walked away with him and Sabathia this offseason, they would have done an excellent job.
Comments
the undercurrents being reported on the boston globe site (www.boston.com) are that the Sox are targeting Texiera more than anything else.
if that is the case then the rest of the league can sit and watch the price go up for sure...
Posted by: blmeanie![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://yankeesredsox.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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November 22, 2008 11:39 AM
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The Yankees will have $26 million coming off the books at the end of 2009 when Damon and Matsui's contracts come off the books.
Rather than wait a year to use that money (assuming that one or both of them aren't dumped during this offseason), the Yankees need to invest that future savings in Texeira, irrespective of what CC ends up doing.
They cannot repeat the mistake they made following the 2004 season when they allowed the final year of Bernie's contract to prevent them from signing Beltran.
It would be foolish to give Lowe and/or Burnett four or five year contracts.
Posted by: Rich | November 22, 2008 12:06 PM |
I agree. Get me CC, Tex and a decent #4 and we're good to go. (We'll probably trade for a CF; DeJesus?). I wouldn't meet Pettite's $16mil asking price though. He was wayyy overpaid last year. $10mil for one year sounds about right. If not let him head back to Houston or Texas and we will find a suitable pitcher.
Posted by: YankeeBaseball | November 22, 2008 01:42 PM |