Heyman: Hamilton to Yankees Not Happening

Yankees Check in on Josh Hamilton

Not Cashman? Are the Yankees brass pulling another Rafael Soriano type move here?

There was also an article by Joel Sherman in today's New York Post where he says that George Steinbrenner and the old Yankees brass would never pass up on the chance of getting Josh Hamilton in Pinstripes, which is very true. At the end of the day, this could just be another baseless Winter Meeting rumor, but it will still be interesting to see how this whole thing plays out.

Yankees Open To Trading Granderson & Hughes

Well, there's always this option to replace Granderson:

ESPN's and XM's Jim Bowden really feels like the Yankees may still sign Josh Hamilton. Brian Cashman is once again doing his laying in the weeds thing, before he possibly strikes, Bowden believes.

During Day 1 on Monday, I went on Bowden and Casey Stern's XM MLB Network radio show and, in the midst of our conversation, we came up with something that made some sense. At least, to me.

If the Yankees were to trade Curtis Granderson for a package of young players, they could turn around and use the money they might have spent on free-agent-to-be Granderson on ... Hamilton. Essentially, they would be making a deal of Granderson for Hamilton and the package of young players. Seems to make some sense.

The Yankees do have some doubts about how Hamilton could handle New York. So perhaps Hamilton isn't the guy in the ultimate scenario, but it seems obvious that this is one day the Yankees could make a big splash.

Cashman later appeared on Bowden and Stern's XM show, Bowden asked Cashman, "Is it financially possible to stay within $189M and sign Josh Hamilton?" Bowden even added, "Without trading Curtis Granderson?"

"We have a dynamic, creative front office and ownership," Cashman said. "We are always try to do everything that makes sense in our world."

Obviously there are many legitimate concerns tied to Hamilton, and that's before you consider the huge contract he wants. But when he's hitting the guy is an absolute beast so it's at least something interesting to consider.