Cashman also had this to say:FREE agency began at midnight today. The raging speculation has been that the Yankees will sign CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira and another high-end free agent or two such as Manny Ramirez, Derek Lowe or A.J. Burnett. General manager Brian Cashman termed that conjecture "crazy talk."
In fact, in an exclusive interview with The Post, Cashman strongly indicated the Yankees will not even sign Sabathia and Teixeira in tandem.
"At the pricetags I have read, that is fantasy land, not reality land," Cashman said yesterday of bringing in Sabathia and Teixeira. A Yankees executive said the club has not even created scenarios for assembling a 2009 roster in which it signs the most attractive starter and position player in the free-agent market.
The plan is to concentrate on starting pitching, namely Sabathia, and - at best - Teixeira is a backburner issue in case all the rotation avenues prove fruitless.
"There has been speculation that we can pull down two or three of the top [free agents], and people are just getting carried away. That is not feasible. That is completely unrealistic."Sherman also compares this year's off-season plans to those of 2004-2005, when the Yankees decided not to sign Carlos Beltran and instead went for pitching, in that case it was Randy Johnson, Carl Pavano and Jaret Wright. The scary part (besides those three pitchers I just mentioned) is that that off-season is likely the main reason the Yankees have struggled as they have over the last four seasons. Every move they made turned out to be a mistake. The Yankees are still searching for a center fielder, and the Yankees never got what they were hoping from any of those pitchers.
It also appears that the Yankees aren't looking to spend all of that $88 million coming off the books, which bothers me a little bit, especially with that new stadium going up and all the money it will generate for this team. The idea that the Yankees have to cut payroll is ludicrous to me.
And are the Yankees really prepared to go into next season with a lineup like this?
Damon LF
Jeter SS
Matsui DH
A-Rod 3B
Posada C
Nady RF
Cano 2B
Swisher 1B
Gardner CFBy the way, does anyone think that with the Yankees out of the picture this may open the door for Boston to come in a scoop Teixeira up?
26 Comments:
And this is why I hate Brian Cashman.
that lineup is probably not good enough, we need another big stick, we have arod, we need tex/manny
He doesn't own the team, I'm sure its not a good idea to put out there your offseason plans and he didn't say that we couldn't end up with Manny (Hank likes him a lot) and to me he is more of a difference maker with the bat than Teixeira. That could give us a line up like this.
Damon LF
Jeter SS
A-Rod 3B
Manny DH/LF
Posada C
Nady RF
Cano 2B
Swisher/Miranda/ 1B
Gardner/Cabrera CF
And there's also the posibility of trading Cano or other prospects for another bat.
Exactly, Cash only a say in this, not the whole say. No one should forget ever how the Yankees are run when considering free agent moves and trades. I'm personally fine with not spending all the money. Where did our championships come from the last time? From within and with complimentary players surrounding them. Tino, Brosius, Girardi. Imagine signing or trading for guys like that now. Cashman would, and is, getting killed. How have the big name free agents worked out so far? We need a TEAM not a collection of overpriced free agents like we've had recently.
I totally agree with concentrating on pitching. As we've seen now matter HOW MANY big bats we have, if we can't pitch we're going to lose. Plain and simple.
Of course they need to go after pitching, that's the no. 1 priority, but I can't see that lineup winning many games. Mainly because of the injury concerns with Damon, Posada and Matsui. They've lost each of them for extended periods of time in each of the past three years.
And another thing; the Yankees have failed to win since 2003 because they didn't have the pitching, not because they weren't a "team".
The 2003 team had superstars on it, but they also had a pitching staff of Clemens, Pettitte, Wells, Mussina and Hernandez. As soon as they abandoned pitching (2004) things went south.
Like I said, pitching is the most important thing and I would never suggest that the Yankees go after hitting instead of pitching. But when you can get both, get both.
hard lessons learned since 2004 thats for sure, especially for a yank fan in new england
i watched some of the hot stove on yes, and they said something interseting about matsui, they said the yankees will not trade him because he left japan to come to us. they want him to end his career as a yankee, and then let him go back to japan. i guess trading him would be a slap in the face/disrespectful and cause an uproar in japan.
I'm fine with that offensive lineup. And bringing in some youngsters if one or two go down. If the Yanks pick up two strong starters, I think they would be fine.
Greg
I think we the only way to get both CC and Teixeira is by going only offering CC a contract and wait until he sign then going after Teix. If we start a bidding war with LAA over Teix they will do the same with CC, remember LAA owner has a lot of money and CC is an LA guy. By doing this we could possibly over pay for both players and even worst loose out on CC.
I agree with Cash on this one, go after CC and after he is signed if Teix still out there try to sign him also, I really doubt that he will still be available but you never know with Boras.
They tried to fill their pitching needs in 2005 but they got the wrong guys. They signed Pavano, and he was a huge bust. Then Jaret Wright failed a physical, but the Yankees signed him anyway. This time if we can get Sabathia, we MUST get him. We have a good enough lineup, now we need the pitching.
If you want to destroy the Yank's draft, and hence farm system, for the next half decade or so, go ahead and break the bank now. But if you want to get better AND remain competitive over the next decade, and not descend into the pathetic spectacle that was the Yanks between '88 and '93, you exercise prudence. Seems to me Cash is doing the right thing.
Consider me disgusted.
Eric F. Langborgh... there is something to remember. The Yankees have draft picks coming in from Abreu and Pudge leaving + their protected 1st and 2nd rounders. They could still have plenty of draft picks in next year's draft while signing C.C. and Teixeira.
I can't believe their going cost efficient on us now
i WANT MANNY !!
One thing to consider Greg, on your point about the injuries to Posada, Matsui and Damon, is 2 were high priced free agents and the other was overpayed to remain a Yankee. Essentially the Yankees have three overpriced DH's. I agree with those looking for prudence. Keep contract years low. Furthermore if they are going to deal Cano, they better bring back someone young, not a "veteran" with two useful years left in his bat. This team has been spending recklessly, without considering character since 2001. Swicher was a character move. Cashman is obviously making that a consideration. I think both CC and Ted would be great character guys, but the years they want may not be worth the risk. There is something to be said about bringing players up through your own system and getting them to play your brand of ball. Speaking of which has everyone given up on Phil Hughes already?
Teixeira is worth the risk to me. C.C. is worth the risk to me. Remember they are both only 28, so C.C. for 6 years mean he'll be gone by 35. Teixeira on... 8 years? means he'll be gone at 37. Those are managebable
In the past, the Yankees threw money at mid-to-late 30s pitchers like Kevin Brown and Randy Johnson. Completely different this year
btw, I think the people who are giving on Hughes are not thinking right. He's only 22. Give him time, he has the ability and stuff to become an ace-caliber starter in this league. Let him people
Right about Hughes, even Al Leiter said ya gotta be patient with the young pitchers, Kennedy too, its a maturity thing. also, I wonder what A-Rod we will get next year, the 2006 version or the 2007 one? Imagine Manny hitting behind him, in front of him whatever.
They did also bring in guys like Javier Vazquez, Carl Pavano, Jeff Weaver, Jose Contreras... all young guys with potentially big upsides.
Look I would love to see Sabathia in pinstripes next year. A hard throwing lefty in Yankee Stadium is a beautiful thing. But 6 years? Why not 4 with a club option for a fifth? Rememeber he was pitching every third day for the better part of a month last season. 28 is about when the injury bugs start to set in. Just don't want to see the Yanks get burned on this one.
8 years is way to long to sign Texiera for. 5-6 years tops. The Yanks have been buried under long term deals for this entire decade, don't need that elephant anymore.
I agree about Hughes though. I still remember how he looked that day against Texas when he left with the no-no in the 7th. Don't think he's ever fully recovered since then.
If the Yanks are going to get a bat to hit behind/in front of A-Rod, they need a lefty/switch hitter with some pop. An aging Manny will be good for 1 1/2 years but you'll have to pay him $100 mil for 4. No thanks.
That line-up sucks.
Anonymous, that's why I think they should get Teixeira. 28 year old switch-hitting gold glove first baseman. But apparently that's not something Cashman wants. What can ya do?
Hey, I like this quick pitching approach. If the Yankees can sign C.C. and Burnett within the next week or so (very realistic considering the $$$ they're being offered), then they can go full-steam ahead for Teixeira. I was pretty pissed yesterday, but I'm a little more at ease after thinking that trade over.
Lets remember Teixeira isn't signing until late December/January. There isn't that big a need to pursue Teixeira yet, so I can understand why they aren't big on him... yet. I'm pretty sure they will be big on him very, very soon
Anon (FA pitchers comment)
C.C. wasn't signing for 4 years + club option. Yes, that would be very ideal, but he would know he could do better
Anon (Hughes)
I'm not so high on Kennedy. He doesn't have the stuff to dominate. He needs his command. If that's off, he sucks
Hughes, on the other hand, has filthy stuff. A fastball that's starting to come back to him, a curveball that drops off the table, and he's incorporating a changeup and cutter to his arsenal. I think he's going to come around very soon. In the rotation in 2010 for sure
This is my lineup.
Damon 1B
Jeter SS
Matsui DH
A-Rod 3B
Manny LF
Nady RF
Posada C
Swisher CF
Hudson 2B.
Liam
Oh no! You killed Cano, you bas***d!
Why would you trade one of the better young 2B in the game arguably the one with the most upside for a P (I guess the trade was for one) when they're plenty to choose from in FA and then sign an not so special and older 2B that's missed a lot of games in his career. If you're going to do that might as well keep Cano and sign one of the dependable and durable pitchers available.
You are right.
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