So the Yankees haven’t offically introduced Mark Teixeira as a Yankee yet but it doesn’t matter to me, he’s a Yankee right now. I have to say I haven’t been this giddy over a Yankee team since we added Alex Rodriguez in 2004 and that was for good reason. We were three outs away from the World Series that season and we all know what happen at the end. So now we got another top player, a guy about to reach his prime in Tex. I can’t wait for him to bat before A-Rod. These two guys can hit 40 homers apiece and drive in about 120 runs. The possibilities are endless with these two guys in the lineup.

What about the starting rotation? I see it as follows:

Now does this bring the championship back to the Bronx? We’ll find out.

The Yankees have now signed 3 of the 4 top free agents on the market this offseason, CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, and now Teixeira. Manny Ramirez is the other top free agent left and his still has a shot at playing in pinstripes. This has been an unbelievable winter for the Yankees and their fans. GM Brian Cashman has put together a solid team from top to bottom, one that complements one another quite nicely. The agreement that the Yankees reached with Mark is for eight years and $180 million. That makes $423.5 million dollars that has been invested in 3 players this winter but how could you argue with the moves? The Yankees desperatly needed pitching, the Yankees went and got it, they needed another bat to replace the departing Jason Giambi and Bobby Abreu, so they got Teixeira. It’s not like the Yankees spent for the hell of it, they spent wisely and they spent on needs, like I alluded to earlier this offseason. They now have the perfect guy to complement Alex Rodriguez in the lineup and makes the defense a whole lot better. He’s a 28 year old switch-hitting first baseman about to reach the prime of his career, good move by the Yanks and thank goodness we didn’t get Manny.

With the addition of Teixeira, this unquestionably puts the Yankees as the team to beat in the American League. The Boston Red Sox were on the verge of signing Teixeira until they withdrew their seven-year $170 million offer last Friday. The other possible suitors for Mark were the Washington Nationals, Baltimore Orioles and Los Angeles (Anahiem) Angels but they all didn’t meet Teixeira’s wants. The latter of the group, the Angles withdrew their offer on Monday to Mark and Tuesday afternoon he became a Yankee. It’s really Christmas in the Bronx. I can’t believe it, I feel like a little kid in the candy store with full access to everything. This is exciting and I can’t wait for the season to begin. Don’t tell me the Yankees buy their championships, because they gave the players what they asked for and simply had the money to do it. If other teams had it, they’d do it too.

As for now, welcome to New York Mark!

Ramirez is looking for a four-year $100 million deal, but realistically who is going to give him that deal. The way he dogged himself out of Boston, most teams don’t want to take the chance on Ramirez doing that to them. So Manny shot himself in the foot with that move. Good advice from Scott Boras, his agent. Boras probably planned that out thinking Manny would cash in this offseason. I think Manny will eventually find a home before the season starts but he’s going to have to “settle” for a two-year $50 million deal.

Listen I would love to see Manny bat in front of A-Rod, that would be even scarier than the days of Manny and David Ortiz but the way Manny conducted himself in his final weeks in Boston is the reason you don’t want this guy on the team. The Yankees are rounding out a nice little team for next season and Manny would just complicate things. Besides Mark Teixiera, another Boras client makes more sense for the Yankees for roughly the same amount of money. If the Yanks do sign Ramirez then I hope we get the guy who played hard and hustled in L.A. but what happens when Joe Girardi tells Manny to shave and cut his hair? Yea I don’t see that going over well and thus we have our first Manny drama. But I have been wrong in the past so we’ll have to just wait and see what happens.

Brian Cashman deserves a lot of credit for the work he’s done. A few notes about the process that Cashman used in getting Sabathia are quite interesting. These notes I found while reading Peter Abraham’s Yankees Blog . If you’ve never visited the site you should, it’ll fulfill your every Yankee need and desire.

Cashman had a plan in mind and knew exactly what he was doing all along. In acquiring Santana the Yankees would’ve had to surrender Phil Hughes and throw an insane amount of money at Johan. Remember when Cashman was hesitant to make the move, everyone thought he was crazy. With Sabathia, he only had to throw the insane amount of money. Turned out to be the right move, as the Yankees kept their most prized pitcher. Here are some other notes in the CC Sabathia Recruiting Process:

• The Damons spent their first two years with the Yanks living in Manhattan, but then moved to the New Jersey suburbs, and Michelle Damon sold Amber Sabathia on the suburban life. “She said you’re going to love it,” Amber said. “The schools are good, the pediatricians are good, the supermarkets are good – it’s like a nice little place to live.”
• At the final meeting Cashman and Sabathia had at Sabathia’s California home, Cashman laid out exactly how long Sabathia had been on the Yankees’ radar. He told Sabathia and his agents how the Yankees had been targeting him for over a year and explained the entire process behind their decision, in hopes it would show how committed the Yankees were to Sabathia. “Ten minutes after he left, I called him to tell him I’m in,” Sabathia said. “That really meant a lot to me.”

In recruiting Burnett, Johnny Damon also played a part in the process by calling the big righty. Derek Jeter also called AJ. I think once Sabathia agreed to come to the Bronx that it would get another big free agent pitcher to come here too. The group of Burnett, Derek Lowe, and Ben Sheets you knew one of them was going to follow CC to the Bronx. There was even a point where some thought, myself included that the Yankees could very well sign all of them (that is still a possibility albeit an unlikely one). The Yankees in my opinion got the two best options and that’s quite alright with me.

However you want to look at it, the Yankees did what they set ouot to do this winter, get starting pitching. Whether these guys work out in the end or not, Cashman did his job and filled the biggest needs of the team. If he doesn’t get CC or AJ then everyone is calling for his head just like last winter. Good work Brian, I commend the work you’ve done this offseason. I’ve said it many times, he’s the best GM in the game and that’s not because he has an open checkbook to work with, it’s because he lays out a plan before it’s a thought in most people’s minds. He’s the right man for the job and he got the right men to fix the Yankees. Now all we need is for Andy Pettitte to re-sign and we’re ready to go.

Who is going to offer Andy $12 million a year at the age of 36 when he’s coming off one of his worst seasons. Not to mention he’s battling an injured shoulder and elbow. This is obviously a ploy by Andy and his agents to get the Yankees to pony up some more money and I have to say I’m a little disturbed by this. Pettitte has said numerous times how he wants to pitch for the Yankees and only the Yankees, or else retire. He said it’s not about the money, well now he’s made it about the money. What’s wrong with the $10 million offer that he has on the table from the Yanks? It’s not like it’s chump change. The longer Andy holds out, the more he makes himself look bad, because before you know it, the Yankees will tell him forget it, we don’t want you.

I understand the emotional ties Andy has to the Yankees and it’s fans but at this point, I think he’s insulting the organization by holding out for more money. The Yankees showed so much support last December when Pettitte for named in the Mitchell Report along with his buddy Roger Clemens. They gave Andy all the space he needed to clear his head and backed up his poor performances in the spring. We all love Andy Pettitte but it may be time to go seperate ways if Andy is going to hold out a la Manny Ramirez. Pettitte would be a great no. 5 starter and for $10 million, that’s a steal for him. But truthfully, Andy is on the downside of his career. He won’t be any better than he was years ago for those Joe Torre Dynastic Yankees. He has a history of arm problems and didn’t fare well in the second half this past season. But the Yankees are willing to give him a chance to pitch in the new Yankee Stadium in a new and improved rotation, one where he doesn’t have to be the man, or even the 2nd ace. The Yanks took care of that problem last week by signing CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett. It’s time Andy to stop being selfish a la your pal Clemens and agree to pitch for the New York Yankees like YOU said you wanted to.

There is no 3 year $36 million offer. If it’s not coming from Houston or Los Angeles, then where is it coming from? Those would be the only 2 logical choices, but you already told Torre you wanted to play for the Yankees or retire. The Astros? Their ownership must really not know baseball if they gave you that kind of offer. Maybe it was the Red Sox would gave you that offer, just so they can stick to the Yanks, but that’s just specualtion on my part. Regardless of what I think, Andy you need to be a man of your word like you’ve always been, re-sign with the Yankees and complete what should be one of the most dominating rotations in recent memory. Did we forget that we’re playing to win a championship? I hope not, that’s not the Andy I know. Let’s hope the Andy we all know and love decides to come back one more time, it’s in his blood. He bleeds pinstripe blue, not George Washington green, because that’s not the Andy I know.
]]> http://chasing800.wordpress.com/2008/12/16/andys-bluff-may-cost-him-yankee-pinstripes/feed/ 1 coolguy924 http://chasing800.wordpress.com/2008/12/16/yankees-set-to-introduce-new-arms/ http://chasing800.wordpress.com/2008/12/16/yankees-set-to-introduce-new-arms/#comments Wed, 17 Dec 2008 02:52:00 +0000 coolguy924 http://chasing800.wordpress.com/2008/12/16/yankees-set-to-introduce-new-arms/ ]]> A.J. Burnett took his physical yesterday, and CC Sabathia’s physical was scheduled for today.

As a result, the Yankees have scheduled a 1 p.m. news conference on Thursday. There is a chance both could be introduced at the same time, but that has not yet been confirmed. The Thursday press conference will take place in the old Yankee Stadium. It will a happy day in the Bronx when Sabathia and/if Burnett get introduced. There could be more press conferences this winter if the Yankees do decide to sign either Manny Ramirez or Mark Teixiera. Manny seems more of the logical signing in terms of finances and years they would get him for (2) but we’ll see how that story develops. For now, CC your time in the Bronx is here.

The Yankees have made it very clear that they want starting pitching and will do what it takes to get it. It’s easy to say the Yanks are being irresponsible with their money and throwing their weight around but honestly, if they have the money to spend, why not do it? I have $1,000 to spend as my budget for christmas shopping, am I going to spend $150 or am I going to try and spend close to, if not all of that $1,000 I’m allowed to? Exactly, if the money’s there, spend it. Plus what most people don’t realize that if the Yanks’ recent slurge brings home a world championship, then that will bring in money that will cover the expenses. So please stop drinking the hatorade.
Brian Cashman is the best GM in the business. It’s easy to say “well if other GMs had his resources then they would make it look easy too.” Well I got news for you, the other GM’s have money to spend but A LOT but they tend to throw the extra cash they get in their back pocket. Oh, no one says anything about that. Please stop hating on the Yankees, you just make yourself look ridiclious. The Yankees make the money to spend and that’s the bottom line. If you don’t like it, then find something else to do.

So now that Sabathia and Burnett are on their way to the Bronx, who’s next? Did Andy Pettitte’s meeting with Cashman in Houston the other day go well or have we seen the last of Andy in pinstripes. If that’s the case then Ben Sheets come on down! You’re the next free agent heading to the Bronx.