1. How will the world champion Yankees rework their roster?Personally I don't want anything to do with Jason Bay or Matt Holliday. Holliday will cost too much money and will add another long-term deal to a team that already has enough of those. Jason Bay's year and a half with Boston has made him slightly overrated, and again, he's going to demand a long-term deal and I'm not sure the Yankees want to do that.
They have three primary free agents, left fielder Johnny Damon, designated hitter Hideki Matsui and starting pitcher Andy Pettitte.
Last winter, the Yankees didn't even make an offer to Bobby Abreu or Jason Giambi, allowing each to leave via free agency even though each had recorded pretty good numbers in 2008. Look for the same thing to happen with Damon and Matsui even though Matsui won the World Series MVP on the strength of his record-tying six RBIs in the clinching Game 6. The Yankees seem to be slowly moving away from having too many DH types, and going with more athletic players. Plus, one of their top prospects is outfielder Austin Jackson, who is very athletic, but it's unclear when he will be ready to play in the big leagues.
To replace Damon and Matsui, the Yankees will check the free-agent market, and certainly will consider free agents Jason Bay and Matt Holliday.
As for Pettitte, look for the Yankees to re-sign him for at least one year. The Yankees also have to determine what they're going to do with Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes. They might put Hughes in the rotation and put Joba in the bullpen as the eventual replacement for closer Mariano Rivera.
I've also read several articles stating that not only do the Yankees want to bring back Damon for a two-year deal worth around $16-20 million, but that they're also warming up to the idea of bringing Matsui back for a one-year deal as well. At this point I'd have no problem with that. Defensively Damon is probably close to done, but he may have another year left in those legs, then he can move into the DH spot in 2011 when Matsui is gone.
One of those articles was this from Bill Madden. Here's some of what he had to say about the Yankees outfield options:
As for the outfielders, it was originally thought by the Yankee brass they could part ways with Damon and Matsui, both of whom earned $13 million this season, and replace them with a younger free agent outfielder along the lines of a Chone Figgins for $9-10 million per. That still might happen, but Damon's and Matsui's productive postseasons have caused for a re-assessment on the Yankees' part.
Do not be surprised if they offer both one-year deals in Damon's case with a vesting option and then wait and see how much they want to remain Yankees. Matsui could probably get a king's ransom to return to Japan while Damon would do well to check out last winter's market for over-35 outfielders before he buys too much into the inflated numbers his rep, Scott (Avenging Agent) Boras is claiming he has to get.
Chone Figgins is an interesting option. He has a ton of speed and led the league in walks this year. If they don't sign Damon I think he'd be a great replacement at the top of the order, although they would be losing a significant amount of power.
But if you ask me, this team can win again next year with basically the same offense and bullpen and the addition of one or two starting pitchers depending on what they do with Chien-Ming Wang, Joba Chamberlain, and Phil Hughes. Wang may not be back until mid-season, if at all, and I suspect at least one of the other two will remain in the pen. Madden also mentions John Lackey as an option if he lowers his demands from $15 million per year to $10-12 million.
