Okay, we’ve tried this a couple of times before, to no avail. This time, though, we’re super cereal. Mike and I team up this week to talk about the upcoming days, when free agents will be eligible to sign with everyone.
We go over the basics. Pitching, as in CC Sabathia and the rumored 6 year, $150 million offer the Yanks will make. That could have been a concoction of Joel Sherman’s imagination, but the figure makes sense. We talk about CC’s uniqueness, and about the prospect of adding a seventh guaranteed year to the deal. Then it’s about the also-rans: Derek Lowe, A.J. Burnett, Ben Sheets. We discuss the pros and cons of this, plus talk about the conditions under which we would consider Oliver Perez. As a final note on the pitching front, we talk about the popular trade ideas, including why I’m uncomfortable with giving up Phil Hughes for Jake Peavy, and an available starter I wouldn’t mind getting, but will probably get me pelted with rotten veggies.
Then it’s onto position players. We talk about the Jermaine Dye idea Jamal wrote about last night, and how it’s like the Mike Cameron deal. Hey, we’re not saying we should go out and get all these one-year, aging players. We’re just saying that the fit into the strategy. You can’t get younger overnight, so you might as well bring in vets with short commitments.
Of course, we debate the merits of Mark Teixeira, including the prospect of him getting an eight-year deal from some team. Would you go that long for a guy who will be 29 in 2009? Then it’s onto the trade guys, where we bring Nick Swisher back into the conversation. Would they swap him for Damon and a lower level pitcher? Would we throw in IPK? Would the White Sox even be interested in that?
Just so it’s not neglected, we hit on the bench to close things out. No one has yet been able to answer Mike’s challenge: name three utility infielders better than Betemit. He’s a homer threat every time he steps up, which is a positive for a bench guy. We also talk about how the rest of the bench could round out, including the Yanks attempting a little experiment with Justin Christian.
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[audio:http://riveraveblues.com/podcasts/RABPodcast111308.mp3]We appreciate any feedback. You can leave it in the comments or email either of us.
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