Winter Wonderland

Well we've got about 8 straight days of snow in the forecast here in Syracuse, so I'm a little jealous of everyone in Orlando for the Winter Meetings, which start today.

• GM Brian Cashman is done playing Santa's elf, and now wants to bring Yankee fans a Christmas present in Cliff Lee.
• Lee's agent was surrounded by reporters today, but said there isn't anything to report or speculate on yet.
• Pat Gillick was elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veteran's Committee, but late Yankee owner George Steinbrenner did not receive the requisite number of votes.
• Another ridiculous contract out of the Washington, DC sports market (after the McNabb-Redskins deal) as Jayson Werth signed a 7 year, $126 million contract with the Nationals. I can't find a quote from Werth, but if it says anything other than "I signed here because the Nationals were the only ones stupid enough to give me this much money" he is flat out lying.
• And as Jayson Stark writes, the only person who likes the Werth deal more than Werth is Carl Crawford, who is going to be swimming in money after this offseason.

There will probably be a lot more news this week than there has been this offseason, which of course MLB coincides with finals week, but we'll do our best.

SEE YA!

Read more...

Winter Meetings Report Card

The Winter Meetings officially ended Thursday, so we're a little late, but we'll give you our analysis and grade of how the Yankees faired in this year's Winter Meetings.

First, the Curtis Granderson trade. This was the deal of the Meetings and probably the Yankees offseason. They had to trade away some good prospects (Austin Jackson)but they were still able to acquire a young, excellent player in Granderson. Granderson fills their need in acquiring an outfielder and will play centerfield as Melky will most likely move to left. Granderson can either fill the two-hole in the lineup, or if Damon returns, he can protect A-Rod in the five spot. Overall, great deal for the Yankees.

Second, the Andy Pettitte signing. This was important because Pettitte was such an important part of their World Series run last year and he showed he still has something left. By re-signing Pettitte it takes pressure off the Yanks to go out and look for another veteran arm.

Third, trading Brian Bruney to the Nationals. Bruney was injury-proned and never really lived up to expectations. His role can be filled within the organization and the trade led to the Yankees getting the first pick in the Rule 5 Draft which led to:

Finally, drafting Jamie Hoffman. Hoffman is a right-handed outfielder who made perfefct sense for the Yankees to choose. He can make the team in spring training and contribute immediately by giving them depth and a right-handed bat off the bench.

There were also reports Cashman began negotiating withScott Boras about Johnny Damon, but it doesn't look like much progress has been made.

Despite not much progress with Damon and giving up some good prospects, Cashman definitely exceeded my expectations during this week as it was a very successful week. He addressed the top priorities and did everything the Yankees needed him to do in a short amount of time. The Yankees left the Winter Meetings as one of the biggest winners.

Overall Grade: A+...there really wasn't anything more they could have done.

Read more...

Pettitte Rejects Offer But Will Play in 2010

So I've heard two things this morning on the first day of the Winter Meetings in Indianapolis. That Andy Pettitte will return in 2010 and that he rejected a 1-year $10MM offer from the Yankees. SI's Jon Heyman tweets negotiations have begun between Brian Cashman and Pettitte's agent Randy Hendricks. According to Buster Olney and Joel Sherman's reports, it's just a matter of working a deal out, so perhaps the $10 million deal isn't what Pettitte wants. I don't think the Yankees will go higher than $12MM. I can see maybe a 1-year $10MM deal with incentives. Either way, many expect this deal to be done so it looks like Andy Pettitte will be back in pinstripes next year, making it less stressful to find a pitcher to replace him this offseason.

Read more...