Christmas morning!
So - what did we (and the Yankees) get?

I’d rather they pursue ex-Red Sox star Johnny Damon.

i’d rather they bring back Felix Heredia, Eric Plunk, and Steve Kemp.

I’ve always enjoyed Manny and thought it would be fun to have him on the Yankees, though it’s tough to see how he fits on the current roster.  But it would be nice to have a right-handed bat of Manny’s caliber to mix into the lineup.

I think Yankees may be doing Boras a favor by showing interest in his client(s) to build up good will for something bigger down the road.

I read somewhere that Reed Johnson is the only other rh hitting outfielder available.  I don’t have his splits but he’s been pretty bad offensively for a while.  It’d be fun to see Manny beat sawx but not so much fun watching him misjudge a fly ball.

Didn’t CAIRO project Manny as one of the most valuable FA’s?

[6] Did Scott Haiston sign? Didn’t we decide the Yankees should get him as 4th OF?

If Posada wasn’t under contract, Manny might make a lot of sense.

I guess any at bats that Manny could get might as well go to Montero.

Yeah, it’s probably a much better idea to sign Hairston as the 4th OFer than signing Manny as the 4th DH.

Flexibility is good, but a bench that could hit might be refreshing, too.
Doesn’t mean I love Manny, but still…

[9] Wasn’t Posada like .5 WAR as a DH? Not that it would happen, but it seems like the easiest upgrade might be that route.

Depends on if you think Manny has also fallen off a cliff performance-wise. (Even if he hasn’t, what do they do with Posada? Just have him sitting there on the bench as an occasional PH and emergency C behind Jesus and Martin?) Not to mention, how much Girardi will be tempted to use Manny in LF the minute Gardner hits a rough patch or Granderson has a 3K day against a LHP.

[14] That’s why I said ‘not like it will happen.’  My point was simply that the easiest way to improve any team is to improve the worst part, and I thought I recalled Posada projected as .5 WAR. If they can’t find starting pitcher upgrades, DH may be the next upgrade spot on the list. Yea, Posada’s personality and his $13.1M are not a pill Cashman will be willing to swallow, so this is all just stat padding my post numbers.

What does Manny have left? What would he cost? Can Jorge catch 40 games and can we afford Manny in the of for 40 games and will we be unable to give Arod enough days off/dh?

New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman on Thursday downplayed reports that he was talking with Damon and his agent, Scott Boras, about a possible return to the Yankees after a one-year exile to Detroit.

“It was just part of our canvassing process,” Cashman said about whatever contact he had with Damon, who hit .271 with eight homers and 51 RBIs in 145 games for the Tigers, mostly at the designated hitter spot.

“It’s something we do with every free agent,” Cashman said. “I can’t tell you if anything’s going to happen there. There’s not a clear role for him here.’‘

[...]

The same goes for Marcus Thames, the Yankees’ right-handed hitting DH last year who is a free agent and has yet to sign with anyone.

“This year, I’ve got a switch-hitting DH, so it doesn’t seem to make sense going forward,’’ Cashman said.

The GM also shot down a report the Yankees were interested in free-agent right-hander Freddy Garcia or former NL Cy Young Award winner Brandon Webb, who is trying to return after nearly two years of inactivity following rotator-cuff surgery.

According to a scouting report, Webb’s fastball was clocked between 79 mph and 81 mph in instructional league play this September.

“I’m trying to get a utility infielder, I’m trying to get a right-handed hitting outfielder, I’m trying to get a starter and I’m trying to get a reliever,’’ Cashman said. “I’m working on things, but they have to make sense for us.’

ESPN NY

Brandon Webb would be a great soft toss partner for Mark Prior.

I’ve been unhappy with the Yanks’ off-season so far: paying Jeter too much for too many years, signing a LOOGY who can’t be used against a right-handed batter for too much money and too many years, not getting a SP. But, signing Manny would take the cake.

I work with a guy who is a former Mets fan who swore if we signed Manny or Bobby Valentine to manage he’d stop rooting for the Yankees.
Do we have any good options for any of our needs?

on a reptilian, cold-blood level, considering Manny makes sense. but the Yankees getting him would be soul-less.

this guy, on the field, is so disgusting. He’s shown a consistent refusal to run out ground balls.  He basically skipped a big Yankees-Red Sox game.  etc., etc., his litany of baseball sins is overwhelming.

the thought of Manny in pinstripes turns my stomach.

To clarify, my point about upgrading at DH was not an endorsement of signing Ramirez, per se. Just that if, as george s said, Cashman was cold-blooded and soul-less, you could help the team by upgrading at DH. But yeah, it ain’t happenin’.

I don’t care about football, but games are being cancelled because of snow.

When I run the NFL, games won’t count if, by the end of the first quarter, the snow doesn’t completely obscure whatever the home team wasted its time trying to write on the grass of the end zone.
And mud - if, by half time, you can tell the teams apart, the game is called.
To be replayed when weather permits.

Let’em play the super bowl in Anchorage and I don’t care about football either but I’d enjoy that.

I wouldn’t object to Manny becoming a Yankee because (a) he can still put up an OBP of .400, (b) his baseball “sins” were all committed with other teams.  The Yankees would be under no special obligation to put up with any crap from him, so until he screws up and the Yankees fail to do anything about it, I don’t see what would be so shameful about having him on the team.

Is the NFL on the verge of collapse ?

The NFL is pathetic.  It would gain my respect if all games were played in snow, and domes were chilled to -10.

They really should play baseball year round.

[27] What makes the NFL pathetic is parity. Every team is more or less the same, runs the same plays, make the same decisions.

In a strange twist on life imitates art, they are all interchangeable with their video game surrogates.

[28] I would think there’d be more than passing interest in winter league games - at least as much interest as some of the crap they run on ESPN or your Comcast/Fox Sports Regional channels.

The Rangers have netted Webb.
Or something like that.
I was wondering whether there may be less and less talent in the FA pool in the future as teams lock up interesting players before they get there, but then I recall that, a few years back, the best FA starters available were Pavano and Matt Clement.

You mean Webb snared Rangers

Glad I don’t root for one of those teams that signs washed up pitchers that can’t hit 85 on the radar anymo…Wait, WHAT?!? Not THE Mark Prior? Serial?

Well, Jorge’s career trend as a DH is pretty bad, Jason Giambian bad, hopefully that’s not something that carry to next year

[33] I’m pretty sure those numbers are fairly meaningless.  After all, one of the reasons that Posada could have been DH’ing in the past is that he wasn’t healthy enough to catch.  That could certainly bring his offensive numbers down.  Also there will be a lot of SSS involved, as he likely only had a few dozen PA per season.

[32] Apparently, one of the reasons Yankees are trying him is b/c his fastball has regained some life:

The Yankees won’t be counting on Prior to actually provide anything, but his fastball velocity is reportedly up into the low-90s, so you never know. They’re taking a chance, and if Prior does make the team, he stands to make $0.75 million, with an additional $0.75 million in incentives.

If he pitches enough to earn $1.5M, I have a feeling everyone will be quite happy with the signing…

[34] Yeah, especially last year. He DH’d a lot when he was healthy enough to hit, but not healthy enough to catch, so, not 100% healthy. They needed even his 80% bat in the line up when they had all those injuries.

Isn’t the conventional wisdom that when Jebus isn’t catching he’ll see a fair amount of PA’s as DH ? Unless he is a bust ?

What’s the likelihood Montero starts the year in SWB instead of NY ? That would require Jorge to show some signs of life, Martin to be completely healthy, no ?

In which case Cervelli is even better trade bait so you’d still call him up.

Isn’t the conventional wisdom that when Jebus isn’t catching he’ll see a fair amount of PA’s as DH ? Unless he is a bust ?

I don’t know if that’s the CW, but it certainly is what I’d like to see. Martin gives them a bit of an insurance policy in case of an injury or if Montero is just not viable out of spring training, but assuming all pistons are firing, Posada and Montero in the line up at the same time is probably the best combination. Of course, a bounce back Martin may have something to say about that. Probably going to be a fluid situation the entire year. I think you make a good point about Cervelli - if Posada, Montero and Martin are all viable, Cervelli can be traded.

A little snow and they don’t deliver my paper; or play Sunday night football;what happened to the work ethic?

[38]  I thought it was reported that the Yankees regard Martin as the regular catcher as of now.  If so, he’s a lot more than “insurance” for Montero.  I think the Yankees’ plan for Montero is either to bring him along slowly (possible starting him in AAA) or to trade him for a SP.  I’m not saying this is my preference, but I do think that’s what the Yankees are thinking.

I thought it was reported that the Yankees regard Martin as the regular catcher as of now.  If so, he’s a lot more than “insurance” for Montero.

My application of the word insurance re: Montero/Martin is a little atypical. Yes, it sounds like we can expect the opening day line up to be Martin C/Posada DH unless something drastic changes. But I still think that Montero (unless they trade him for a SP, which I think is unlikely) is their plan at C, so Montero is the short term insurance/stop gap option.  I mean, just because Martin looks to be the opening day starting C, it doesn’t mean that if Montero won’t bump him if he’s hitting .300/.400/.500.

$3M for Brandon Webb? Wow.

My take on C/DH for Yankees right now…Posada is the regular DH, emergency/3rd catcher.  That’s about as set in stone as you can get.  Martin is the favorite to start, and Cervelli the favorite to be the backup C, come opening day.  Montero could be traded for a pitcher - and there are 2 or 3 I’d be OK with that for, depending on the other pieces - but likely will open the year in AAA.

Remember, Montero isn’t on the 40-man roster yet.  Letting Romine/Montero split time between C and DH in AAA for April and possibly May as well really won’t set either back.  Montero getting to play in NY is based on his play, the play of others, and of course health.  There is the possibility Cervelli will be traded and Montero becomes the backup, but I doubt it.  At least not until the spring, after they’ve had a chance to see how Martin responds to catching 4-5 times a week, etc.

Remember, Montero isn’t on the 40-man roster yet

I agree with what you think will happen, but Montero not being on the 40 man is not really a big deal. By my count, there’s only 37 on the 40 man now anyway.

[44] Right.  My point wasn’t that it would be a problem to add him.  Just that they have the ability to *not* add him to the 40-man roster.  So him going to SWB Yankees at the beginning of the year doesn’t burn an option, etc.  It’s a very small piece in the decision, but I think it’s a piece.

Montero has to have the kind of ST that it would make their decision-making process look troglodytic if they sent him down.

[41] “I still think that Montero (unless they trade him for a SP, which I think is unlikely) . . . .”

Why do you think it’s unlikely?  Are you saying it’s unlikely that they would let him go, or just unlikely they would find a SP on the trade market of sufficient return value? 

Seems to me Montero is a fairly good to excellent bet to be traded because (a) they decided to trade him once already, (b) they have a relative glut of good to very good pitching prospects behind him, (c) they just signed an ostensible everyday catcher to a 2-year deal, (d) there are still significant doubts about Montero’s ability to be a fulltime catcher in the bigs—and the NYY have no other position to play him; and (e) they have at least one and possibly two gaping holes in the rotation.  I realize nobody here really WANTS to see him traded, but it seems anything but unlikely he won’t be traded.

Given the very real possibility that A-Rod, Jeter, and Posada are in decline, and that even if two bounce back in 2011, the likelihood that the improvement will be enduing is slight, I think trading Monero for almost any pitcher not named Felix would be short-sighted, especailly since Romine is unlikely to ever provide significant offense, and Sanchez is still several years away.

Why do you think it’s unlikely?  Are you saying it’s unlikely that they would let him go, or just unlikely they would find a SP on the trade market of sufficient return value?

I looked for, but can’t find, Cashman’s quote about not seeing a trade for Montero because it’d be tough to match up for an offer. The guys he’d be willing to trade for aren’t available, and the guys who are available, he’d be unwilling to include Montero.

I think trading Monero for almost any pitcher not named Felix would be short-sighted

Yeah Felix, Josh Johnson, and…well, not much else.  David Price the pitcher yes, trading Montero to Tampa no.  Maybe Kershaw.

especailly since Romine is unlikely to ever provide significant offense

Significant compared to what?  Tampa and Trenton are two VERY difficult places to hit, and he put up an OPS above .700 in each, which for a catcher is still great.  I mean, Montero’s bat will (likely) be above average at ANY position.  Romine’s would maybe be only above-average at C, maybe average at 3rd (if he could hack it defensively), but not handle corner OF or 1B.

Minus a trade for Felix or Johnson, Montero isn’t going anywhere except for NYC or SWB, until at least June.  At that point, they’ll evaluate Montero, Martin (returning to 2007 Martin or more like the past couple of years), and Romine, plus the trade market and go from there.