King: Yanks Not Likely to Exercise Marte's Option

From George A. King III:

Add Damaso Marte to Jason Giambi and Carl Pavano as players the Yankees aren't likely to exercise options on - which will make them free agents.

Declining Marte's $6 million option isn't an indication the club doesn't want the lefty reliever back. It means the Yankees don't want to pick up the option ($250,000 buyout) that trailed Marte from Pittsburgh when he was acquired with Xavier Nady for Jose Tabata, Ross Ohlendorf, Jeff Karstens and Daniel McCutcheon on July 26.

I'm kind of surprised by this.

Even though King says this doesn't mean the club doesn't want him, I think there's a good chance it does. Teams overpay for relievers all the time, so for $6 million, you would think that the Yankees would have just picked up the option and hoped for the best.

Another reason I think this is an indication that the Yankees don't want to resign him is because I don't think the Yankees want to sign him to a long-term deal, and now that he's a free agent he will probably be looking for a 3-year deal.

Marte did not pitch well as a Yankee, but I still think it would have made sense to exercise the option. You can never have enough bullpen help.

One good thing is that Marte is a Class A free agent and the Yankees will receive two draft picks.