Kuzul

Via Bill Madden of the NY Daily News:

“While it is doubtful the Mets would be interested in [Armando] Galarraga at that salary, a Yankee source said the Bombers would at least look into acquiring him. Detroit has 10 days to make a move with Galarraga. If he isn’t traded, he could be sent to the minors.”

First thing, what Madden means by that last part is that Armando Galarraga was designated for assignment. That means if nobody claims him, the Tigers can send him to the minors. If somebody claims him, they can either try to work out a trade with that team or simply let them take him for nothing.

Yesterday I took a look at whether or not Galarraga is better than Sergio Mitre (there isn’t much of a question that Ivan Nova at least has a higher ceiling than Galarraga). What I determined was that he really isn’t necessarily worth it. While his career numbers are better than Mitre’s, they don’t seem to be different enough to justify the upgrade, especially considering Mitre has gotten better while Galarraga has gotten worse.

However, the Yankees may want to add Galarraga because, unlike the other pitchers they are interested in, he’s only 29 (younger than 30) and is likely to actually stay healthy next year. He just signed a $2.3 million deal as well, so he’s cheap, and that’s not counting the chunk the Tigers are going to have to pay.

As an upgrade, he isn’t much more than Mitre, but he’s healthy. If the Yankees want insurance, at least he’s more likely to pitch than alternatives Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia and Justin Duchscherer.

What do you think? Should the Yankees try to make a move for Galarraga? Or should they look at somebody else instead?

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The Yankees had three players who were eligible for arbitration this winter and came to an agreement with all of them today—Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain and Boone Logan—thus avoiding arbitration, according to three tweets by Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated.

Hughes gets $2.7 million and Joba gets $1.4 million. Both players were arbitration eligible for the first time and have about three years of service time under their belts. Logan agreed to a deal worth $1.2 million.

Joba earned $487,975 in 2010 and Hughes earned $447,000, so Hughes got the bigger raise. That’s due to the fact that Hughes had the better year in 2010 and is a starting pitcher.

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Via Wallace Matthews of ESPN New York:

“The New York Yankees’ optimism about the return of Andy Pettitte has waned somewhat over the past week, a team source told ESPNNewYork.com on Monday.”

‘Last week I thought the chances were 60-40. Now I think they’re 50-50 at best,” said the source, a team executive who spoke on the condition of anonymity.’

“Asked why he was less hopeful of a return by the 38-year-old Pettitte, the source said, ‘Another week has gone by with no contact as far as I know.'”

Here’s the thing, they might be less optimistic now, but nothing has changed since they were more optimistic. They’re just getting worried, but he still hasn’t retired.

I’ve said it a few times now, so much has been said about Pettitte coming back this offseason. The only fact that is out there is that he hasn’t made a decision one way or another. So until we hear from him, speculating does us no good.

It’s true that it does seem unlikely that he’ll return at this point, but if he knew that he wasn’t returning he would say so. Just like if he knew he was coming back he would say so as well.

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January 15, 2011 – Rumors: Pettitte Has Begun Working Out

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Via Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports:

“Y! source: Andruw Jones nearing a one-year deal with Yankees. Not done yet, however.”

The Yankees have been looking for a right-handed-hitting outfielder to complement the lefties, Curtis Granderson and Brett Gardner, in their lineup.

Jones fits that description well, and the Yankees have been having discussions with him for some time now.

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reported this morning that the two sides are still apart on money but notes that it shouldn’t be too difficult to come to a compromise. He does note that they are still interested in Johnny Damon as a backup if they can’t reach an agreement with Jones.

Jones has earned just $500,000 over the past two years, but after somewhat turning his career around, he’s most definitely looking for a pay raise.

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• January 16, 2011 — Rumors: Yankees Step Up Pursuit of Andrew Jones
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Via Brian Costello of the NY Post:

[Yankees general manager Brian Cashman] did not want to sign [Rafael Soriano], but was overruled by the Steinbrenners. The team and the pitcher agreed to a three-year, $35 million deal Thursday, pending a physical.

According to the source, ownership was worried about the bullpen’s depth should Mariano Rivera suffer an injury. Cashman felt Joba Chamberlain or David Robertson could fill the closer’s role if needed. But the Steinbrenners, along with team president Randy Levine, wanted Soriano.

“He stated his case,” the source said of Cashman. “But he understood. It’s not like he threw a body block to stop it.”

This is an isolated case, the source said, and in no way reflects a lack of confidence in Cashman or his plans for the 2011 team…

…The Yankees executive said nothing has changed, but the Steinbrenners ultimately sign off on all decisions. In this regard, the Yankees are like every other team and every other business. There are levels of management, but the owners make the final call.

It may be true, maybe nothing is wrong here and that it is business as usual for the Yankees. After all, Cashman saying the Yankees are not willing to give up their pick may have just been posturing to get Soriano to backoff previous demands on a four-year, $56 million deal.

Or maybe there is something wrong here. Maybe Cashman did throw his body in front of this deal and this is the Yankees trying to spin it so that he, or the organization, don’t look bad.

Either way, the best way we are going to be able to tell is if this kind of thing continues to occur in the future. And, if Cashman, who is a free agent at the end of this year, re-signs with them. At this point it is hard to tell because neither scenario is really shocking. We’ll just have to wait and see.

When the Yankees hold a press conference to officially announce the Soriano signing there may be more light shed on to this.

One other interesting thing about this article I’d like to point out. It seems that Cashman has full faith in Joba Chamberlain, but ownership doesn’t. Cash’s stance was that if Rivera got hurt then Joba or Robertson could step in, but ownerships insistence in signing Soriano seems to suggest that they don’t feel the same way.

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Via Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated:

“Yankees step up pursuit of Andruw Jones. Rays, several others in mix. [Johnny Damon] could be possibility or either team also.”

The Yankees seem to be okay standing pat with their current rotation, as they were never really in the mix for Jeff Francis, who recently signed with the Royals. So this move makes sense, as it is addressing their next biggest need.

Heyman tweeted earlier in the week that the Yankees and Jones were far apart on money, but hopefully they come together quickly here. Their need is for a right handed hitting outfielder to compliment Brett Gardner and Curtis Granderson.

Jones fits that description and Damon does not. Since they don’t seem interested in Scott Hairston, hopefully they will do what they have to to avoid adding the wrong piece.

Jones, still just 33, can play adequately at all three outfield positions. He also mashes lefties, putting up a .931 OPS against them in 86 at-bats last season. In contrast, Damon is 37, primarily a DH at this point in his career and had a .740 OPS against lefties in 2010. Even in 2009, his OPS against lefties was only .776.

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Via Jack Curry of the YES Network:

The Yankees are still monitoring the very thin starting pitcher market, but don’t expect them to sign Jeremy Bonderman.

This seems like it is for the best. There are a lot of injury-risk starters on the market this winter, Bonderman being one of them, but at least most of the others have decent upside if they’re healthy.

Bonderman doesn’t seem to have that upside.

He had a 5.53 ERA last year and has a career ERA+ of just 90. On top of that, in eight MLB seasons, Bonderman has managed to throw 200 innings or more just once.

This guy is the definition of unfulfilled potential.

To me, if the Yankees wanted to sign this guy, I’d much rather see them sign Kevin Millwood.

Millwood and Bonderman probably have a similar upside, with Millwood being much more likely to turn in a 200-inning season.

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If there is a starter on the free agent market with a questionable injury history the Yankees are apparently in on him.

Well they are supposedly “stepping up their pursuit” of one questionable starter, former A’s starter Justin Duchscherer according to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.

Duchscherer, 33, has suffered a myriad of injuries and even clinical depression that has derailed a once promising career.

From 2004 though 2006 he was a successful reliever for the Oakland Athletics. Across those three seasons he put up a 2.80 ERA, a 1.11 WHIP, a 7.4 K/9, and 2.3 BB/9 over 237.2 innings.

Still a reliever in 2007 he was limited to just 17 games thanks to a biceps strain and a right hip strain. His season came to an end when he was forced to have Labrum surgery.

Duchscherer started the 2008 season as part of the A’s rotation, but was limited to only 22 starts in part because of an inflamed biceps in April of that year. He got over it though and have an impressive year. In 141.2 innings he had a 2.54 ERA with a 0.995 WHIP, a 6.0 K/9 and a 2.2 BB/9. He also earned a spot on the All-Star team.

Dealing with depression and bone spurs in his elbow, Duchscherer missed the entire 2009 season.

He returned in 2010, but only started five games before he was forced to miss the remainder of the season with another hip surgery (this time on his left side).

He is a soft tosser with a fastball that comes in at about 85 mph on average. He also throws a slider, cutter, and curveball, relying mostly on his fastball and cutters to get batters out.

So while Duchscherer has had success during his career, he is now past his prime and hasn’t put together a full season since 2006 when he was still a reliever. He prefers to start, but the Yankees may see him as a possible bullpen piece.

He earned $1.75 million last season and probably won’t make more than that this year.

Due to the slim chance he has of actually being a big contributor hopefully the Yankees can get him on a minor league contract with an invite to spring training.

What do you think? With all of the questionable names out there this offseason is Duchscherer’s one that makes sense? Or is the reality that he has only made 27 starts since 2008 too much to ignore?

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Via Andrew Marchand of ESPN New York:

It doesn’t appear that there has been any movement in Johnny Damon returning to the Yankees, but his agent, Scott Boras, said that Damon is still interested in coming back.

“As Johnny has said, he is more than willing to return to New York,” Boras said.

It sounds like Johnny Damon wants to come back to the Bronx, or he at least wants their money, but the Yankees aren’t interested in him. Or at least they’re not interested in him yet.

What that means is that there doesn’t seem to be a lot of interest in Damon. He’s more or less a DH who can play outfield, but the problem is that there are a lot of available DHs on the market. So he’s trying to drum up interest in himself.

The thing is that the Yankees don’t need a left-handed hitting DH who can occasionally play outfield. They need an Andrew Jones  or Scott Hairston type—a right-handed hitting outfielder who can spell Brett Gardner or Curtis Granderson against tough lefties.

So Damon is desperate for a job, but he’s not what the Yankees are looking for. Realistically, the way this reunion is likely to happen is if the Yankees miss out on free agents like Jones and Hairston and have to turn to Damon as a last resort.

Or maybe if Damon wants to be a Yankee so badly that he reaches out to them with a very cheap option. We are talking $1 million or less here for them to really consider it, and looking back at the money grab Damon made last year, this isn’t likely.

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• Jan. 3, 2011—Heyman: Yankees Might Consider Andruw Jones or Johnny Damon
• Dec. 23, 2010—Cashman: There’s No Clear Role for Damon with the Yankees
• Dec. 22, 2010—Rumors: Yankees and Johnny Damon Talking Comeback
• Oct. 26, 2010—Quote: Cashman Admits to Bad Offseason

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Via Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated:

Yankees are in contact with Rafael Soriano, who had 45 saves for the Rays but would set up for Mariano Rivera in NY.

Also, Andrew Marchand of ESPN NY passed this along:

Free-agent closer Rafael Soriano led the majors in saves last year, but he would consider being a setup man for one team in baseball—The New York Yankees.

“That door is open for a number of different reasons,” Soriano’s agent, Scott Boras, told ESPNNewYork.com.

“I don’t think there is a team in baseball where he could be asked to be a setup guy other than the Yankees,” Boras said.

This might becoming a more realistic option because the Yankees have plenty of money to spend and there doesn’t seem to be a lot of interest in Soriano this offseason. The White Sox are supposedly interested, but don’t appear to have the money to pay him.

So it’s possible that Boras himself approached the Yankees with the idea.

Earlier today, I wrote about the idea of signing Soriano to a one-year contract, which would minimize the impact of losing a draft pick when signing him. In that scenario the Yankees could ideally get their own draft pick if they choose not to re-sign him a year from now.

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• January 6, 2011 — Heyman Continues His Drumbeat on Soriano to the Yankees
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