Who Should Be The Fifth Starter?

Pete Caldera from The Record has a new post up on his blog discussing whether the Yankees should have Phil Hughes or Andy Pettitte as their fifth starter in the upcoming season so I figured I'd do something similar. Hey, why not?

In recent days many articles have come out that make it seem that the Yankees are content with not bringing back Pettitte and going with Hughes or another one of their younger players.

I still believe Hughes will be a good starter eventually, and for the Yankees future it may be smart to get him in that role now as opposed to having him rot in the minors for another year. But I also feel that for 2009 the Yankees it may be better with a guy like Pettitte anchoring the rotation. Especially when you consider that Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes will both have strict innings limits.

And with those innings limits, as well as the potential for an injury or two to hit the staff, Hughes will likely get a chance to make some starts in '09 anyway. So based on all that I still think the Yanks should bring back Pettitte. He gives the Yankees another veteran, and more importantly, someone who can give them 200 innings.

But what do you think, should the Yankees go with Pettitte, Hughes, or another young starter? Vote in the poll on the left or leave a comment below. Thanks.

Since It's So Slow Today, How About Some More About Mark Teixeira?

From Murray "I hate blogs but it's OK that I have my own" Chass:

With the focus of every signing or trade being on the rivalry between the Yankees and the Red Sox, this needs to be said first about the Yankees’ signing of Mark Teixeira. The Yankees didn’t snatch him away from the Red Sox because they outbid or outsmarted the Red Sox. Teixeira didn’t sign with the Red Sox, a baseball official said, because he and his wife, especially his wife, didn’t want to live in Boston. If necessary, they were going to choose the big bad city of New York, and they did.

“He just didn’t want to go to Boston,” the official said. “He didn’t want to be a Red Sox so Boras called the Yankees and said he really wants to be a Yankee.”

Anyone who hates Boston is going to fit in just fine with the Yankees. Welcome aboard Tex.

Chass goes on to say this:

It’s humorous to view the signings of the three free agents in the context of Cashman’s stated position a year ago when he talked about spending less money on expensive free agents and focusing on building from within. One missed post-season, and he changed his philosophy instantly, sucked into the Steinbrenner way of doing business.

Sorry Murray, but that wasn't Cashman's "stated position" at all. After all, the Yankees did sign Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada and Alex Rodriguez to three very expensive contracts last year. Cashman's actual position was that he and the Yankees wanted to build a strong farm system, and they did not want to trade away young talent - like Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy - for players like Johan Santana.

Then there was this line at the end of Chass' post:

“They’re all outraged,” a member of the Yankees family said of other teams. “We know they’re outraged."

Hahahahaha, nice! I'm glad the Yankees themselves care as little about the rest of the league as us fans do.

Yanks Don't Need To Make a Trade

Since when is having too much talent a bad thing?

There have been reports over the past few days about how the Yankees are now looking to trade one of their many corner outfielders. Today, there is this from the Rocky Mountain News:

The Yankees are looking to move two from a group of outfielders of Xavier Nady, Swisher and Hideki Matsui. The Angels, Texas, Oakland and Atlanta are considered to have interest.

Why would they want to trade two of those three? I think the roster looks pretty damn good as it stands right now:

Starting Lineup
Damon LF
Jeter SS
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Posada C
Nady RF
Cano 2B
Gardner or Cabrera CF

Bench
Swisher
Ransom
Molina
Cabrera or Gardner

Not only does it look like a very solid roster, but it has something the Yanks haven't had in recent years; a very solid bench. Remember those championship teams of the late 90's? They had very good benches too.

The only potential problem I see on that roster is getting Nick Swisher enough at-bats. But that really shouldn't be an issue either. Joe Girardi has already shown us that he likes to give guys a day off here and there to keep them fresh as the season goes on. Add Swisher's versatility to that and it will make it even easier for Girardi.

Another reason to hold on to as much talent as you can is the potential for injuries. Remember 2008? It's always good to have solid replacements in case of injury, and with this bench that's exactly what this team has.

To answer my question above, the answer is no, having too much talent is never a bad thing. And unless the can bring in someone great, I don't think they need to make any trades.

Some Christmas Day Links

Like yesterday I'm going to be out of the house for the rest of the day, here are some links:

- Here's a great story on SI.com from Alex Bleth of Bronx Banter about Ray Negron and the final night at Yankee Stadium back in September.

- Derek Jeter made a sick teenager's dream come true yesterday when the captain met with the boy in New York yesterday.

- Mike Puma discusses how Mark Teixeira is the quintessential George Steinbrenner player.

Professional. Structured. Loyal. These are just some of the words friends and associates use to describe the Yankees' new eight-year, $180 million free-agent acquisition. Add the tinge of military that flows through Teixeira's veins, and the perfect Steinbrenner creation is about to arrive in New York.

"We all know with multiyear contracts the risk you take, but if you're going to take one on a position player, he's certainly one you strongly consider," said former Yankees manager Buck Showalter, who managed Teixeira with Texas. "He's going to stay healthy, he's not going to embarrass you on or off the field. He's a clean, solid citizen."

- Ben Shpigel of the New York Times has an article about Teixeira's professionalism.

- Kat O'Brien describes how the Mark Teixeira signing went down.

Even Tuesday, hours before Teixeira agreed to terms, the Yankees were pessimistic about getting the 28-year-old slugger, the source said. Boras told the Yankees they needed a 10-year deal, with the last two years as player options. That got an absolute no from the Yankees, who had offered eight years and $180 million ($22.5 million per year).

Around midday Tuesday, Boras said Teixeira would agree to an eight-year contract, but only if the average annual value was $24 million per year, making the total contract value $192 million. The Yankees conferred, then told Boras no, that they had made a fair yet firm offer and would hold pat, the source said. Boras responded by saying that Teixeira would likely be a Red Sox. The Yankees refused to budge from their offer, and 20 minutes later, Boras called back and said Teixeira would take their eight-year, $180 million contract offer.

- In an article by New York Times writer Michael S. Schmidt Yankees' president Randy Levine defends the Yankees spending:

“The philosophy of George Steinbrenner, which has been continued by Hal and Hank, is that the Yankees are a sacred trust to their fans and they believe in continually reinvesting in the team rather than reinvesting in themselves,” Levine said Wednesday in reference to the team’s principal owner and his two sons. “We follow all the rules of baseball, we pay millions of dollars to other teams and we are essential to the revenues generated by Major League Baseball and its networks and other entities.”

In signing C. C. Sabathia and A. J. Burnett to big free-agent contracts and reaching agreement with Mark Teixeira on an eight-year, $180 million deal, the Yankees have now spent far more money this off-season than the other 29 major league teams combined. For those keeping score, it is $423.5 million to $296.6 million. That kind of discrepancy is too much for some commentators and for the Milwaukee Brewers’ owner, Mark Attanasio, who on Tuesday resurrected the idea of a salary cap as a way of reining in the Yankees.

He said that the Yankees, by spending substantially on players, were making sure they remained a top asset in the sport. “We are usually in the top of road attendance and we get some of the highest television ratings, both when we play national games and when we visit other teams,” he said. He said if the Yankees’ new stadium, which will be ready for the 2009 season, allows the team’s revenue to increase, then “so will the revenues of the rest of the game.”

- Peter Abraham posted Twas The Night Before Yankee Christmas on his blog. Check it out.

- And last but not least, here's a video my buddy Nick wanted me to share with you guys. He calls it "Yankees Yule Log":

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everybody

Davidoff: I think Pettitte Will Still Come Back

There have been several reports over the past few days that because of the Teixeira signing the Yankees may not bring back Andy Pettitte. Kat O'Brien has this one, Peter Abraham has this one, and Mike Puma had another. But Ken Davidoff isn't so convinced. He mentions in this article that he still believes that the Yankees will bring back the 36-year-old lefty.

I hope Andy comes back. It would be great to have a reliable veteran at the back end of that rotation. But with or without him, this team is stacked.

Teixeira Gave Yanks A Discount

From Roch Kubatko:

Anyway, just one more note on Mark Teixeira: I've heard from a reliable source that the first baseman turned down about $5 million more from the Nationals to sign with the Yankees. And the Nats would have gone higher, but were never given the chance. Teixeira jumped at Brian Cashman's first offer.

OK, so I guess getting a discount from a player whose better option was from the Washington Nationals isn't a big deal. Who the hell wants to play on the Nationals anyway? But it's still good to hear.

The Yankees made a big mistake a few years ago when Carlos Beltran came to then and would have signed for about $20 million less than the Mets were offering him and they decided not to sign him. Luckily for the Yanks they didn't make the same mistake twice.

Some Christmas Eve Links

I'm not gonna be around for most of the day so here's a bunch of stuff to keep you busy...

- Jane Heller of Confessions of a She-Fan wrote a great article for NY Times Bats Blog about being a Yankees fan. Especially in a time when everyone wants to bitch and moan about the Yankees "crazy" spending (which actually isn't that crazy at all).

- Torii Hunter had these comments about the Teixeira signing:

"Man, that's crazy," Angels center fielder Torii Hunter said. "Those damn Yankees! They don't play around. When they're trying to win, they're trying to win. It's crazy. They just paid $27 million in luxury tax. That's like 27 dollars to them. They don't even care."

"They're scary. Their rotation is one of the best, if not the best, in the game, and now look at their lineup. They have A-Rod, Jeter, Teixeira, Hideki Matsui, Xavier Nady, Robinson Cano, Jorge Posada is coming back [from injury], Nick Swisher . . . golly, that's a nice lineup."

"That's going to be a dogfight, a pit-bull fight," Hunter said. "It's going to be pretty rough in that division. Tampa Bay has the confidence. Boston has won two championships. Toronto and Baltimore play you hard too. Good luck in that division."

"They've had the best lineup I've seen for seven years in a row and they haven't won it all," Hunter said. "They can still be beat. It will take dedication, hard work, and you've got to have heart. When you have that, you have a chance."

"They're the Beasts of the East," Hunter said. "The Evil Empire."

- Tony Massorotti thinks the Red Sox come away as the big losers with Teixeira going to the Yanks.

Please, no whining, crying, kvetching or moaning. The Red Sox had their chance. They have the money. They ultimately lost Mark Teixeira to the Yankees for maybe $1 million-$2 million a year, roughly 1 percent of their 2008 payroll.

Unhappy holidays.

What a kick in the pants.

- Red Sox owner John Henry needs a tissue:

"From the moment we arrived in Boston in late 2001, we saw it as a monumental challenge," Sox owner John Henry said in an e-mail to the Associated Press, in reference to competing with the Yankees.

"We sought to reduce the financial gap and succeeded to a degree. Now with a new stadium filled with revenue opportunities, they have leaped away from us again. So we have to be even more careful in deploying our resources."

Spare me. You could have signed the guy for an extra $1-$2 million a year, but you decided to play chicken with Scott Boras and you lost.

- Milwaukee Brewers owner Mark Attanasio may also need a tissue. He thinks that baseball might need a salary cap to stop the evil Yankees.

"At the rate the Yankees are going, I'm not sure anyone can compete with them," Attanasio said in an e-mail. "Frankly, the sport might need a salary cap."

Two things: 1) The Yankees payroll next year should actually be lower than it was last year, so stop your whining. 2) And good luck getting the players' association to accept a salary cap.

- Orioles fans are also crying.

- Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle thinks the Teixeira signing is good for baseball. He also says Attanasio's salary cap comments are "silly talk."

- Steven A. Smith still thinks the Yankees should sign Manny. Chill Steven A. Personally, I think the Yanks are pretty much done, re-sign Pettitte and call it an off-season.

- Arne Christensen over at Dugout Central takes a look back at Billy Martin.

- The Yankees will be rolling back prices for the two exhibition games against the Cubs to 1923 prices. Bleacher seats will be a quarter a piece, and grandstand seats will be $1.10.

- Tom Kaminski of WCBS 880 took some more great overhead shots of the old and new stadiums. Notice the Christmas tree on the old Yankee Stadium mound? Nice touch Yankees grounds crew. (hat tip to River Ave. Blues)