Dec
08
Sabs, Yanks meet again
ByJust a quick follow-up on Joe’s latest: According to PeteAbe, the Yanks and CC Sabathia met again today. While Pete also has word of slight interest on the part of the Dodgers, this second meeting means one of two things: either Sabathia is going to say, “Thanks, but no” (unlikely) or he’s hammering out what it means to be a Yankee with the team. We’ll find out soon enough what’s going on.
109 Comments»
RAB Info
The Founders
Mike Axisa, Ben Kabak, Joe Pawlikowski
Editor-In-Chief
Mike Axisa Archives | Email
Managing Editors
Ben Kabak Archives | E-mail
Joe Pawlikowski Archives | E-mail
Contributing Editors
Larry Koestler (Archives)
Moshe Mandel (Archives)
Stephen Rhoads (Archives)
Weekend Writers
Hannah Ehrlich (Archives)
Matthew Warden (Archives)
Special Contributor
J.R. O'Grady (Archives)
Subscribe to RAB by RSS and Twitter
Follow @RiverAveBlues Search RAB
Spring Training Countdown
Just 5 days 'til pitchers and catchers report.Banner Design By
“Punto Visits With Phillies, Draws Yankee Interest
By Tim Dierkes [December 8 at 7:31pm CST]
7:31pm: The Yankees are looking for a utility infielder, and Brian Cashman said today Punto is on their radar.
6:51pm: John R. Finger of Comcast Sportsnet Philadelphia says Nick Punto visited with Phillies brass this afternoon. They’ll meet again later today. Punto may return to the Twins, and he’s also been linked to the D’Backs and Mets.
”
MLBTR
Nick Punto, anyone?
No thanks.
Seconded.
Third-ed
As a UIF, though? I would think he’s not much worse than Cody Ransom, no?
Depends on how much he’ll want. Although he can do a decent job as the utility man he’s nothing special to waste money on.
He made nearly $2.5 mil last season, he’ll definitely want more.
Oh, I didn’t realize he made that much. In that case, forget it, he’s not worth it.
He can’t be worse than Wilson Betemit.
Sure he can. A statement like that implies that Betemit was the worst player in the league, which is not true.
If you wanted to say that he couldn’t be worse than Jason Varitek, then you’d have something.
Cody Ransom is a career minor leaguer who will be 33 on opening day. If he was a young prospect it would be a different story, but he’s not. Punto would at least provide excellent defense at 3 infield spots, pretty decent speed to pinch run, and an occasional late inning defensive replacement for Cano. Ransom doesn’t belong on any major league roster, let alone the Yankees. Punto is a quintessential utility man and, although he is definitely nothing special offensively, when you consider the alternative I think he’s a pretty smart buy.
Punto gives a nice defensive whiz that can play all the inf positions (though I’ve never seen him at first).
Ransom gives a guy that can play in the inf positions, nothing special defensively and gives a righty bat with pop.
Neither of them would you really want to have to fill in for a 2 week stretch if someone went down, though Punto put up serviceable numbers in a full time role in ’06 & ’08
I don’t see any way that CC would already reject, albeit politely, our offer. That would completely kill his leverage. Unless he’s comfortable taking $30 million less from a team solely b/c it’s closer to his home, he’s gotta still be weighing our offer, at the very least. I’m firmly in the “finding out more details about NY” camp.
Fair point… I hope you’re right.
Just got to thinking again (albeit for 30 seconds) after I typed the last message…
It may very well be that he has something else all but locked up and is giving the Yanks the polite “no” just before he seals his deal. Or perhaps he’s even using this meeting as a means of getting more from another team…
I guess we’ll have to wait and see, so far we’re totally in the dark about what’s going on. It’s basically all conjecture… which is fun too.
Unless mystery team that you’re referring to is offering anything close to $140 million, I don’t see what good it does CC to not even keep our offer on the table.
My point is that I agree with you 100% that he has no use to officially reject us. However, I’m thinking of two alternative possibilities that aren’t in our favor.
1) He has a deal locked up and is basically telling Cashman “thanks, but no thanks”.
2) He’s meeting with us (not rejecting us) to leverage his other deal… implying that he’s still seriously considering signing with us and would need more money to sign with the other team.
Like I said, it’s just conjecture. Hopefully I’m wrong and he’s about to sign with us.
I think the second option you present is definitely possible. I just don’t see the first option as being realistic, though, b/c I find it hard to believe that any other team is approaching a $140 million offer, under the table no less.
While the first option probably holds more water, it still may be possible that he met to say no. If it isn’t all about the money (yeah right) then he’ll obviously be settling for less than our offer. I highly doubt that another team is matching our offer in terms of $$$.
i also find it generally unlikely that he has another deal in place with NOBODY knowing about it. youd figure somebody would atleast be talking about sabathia negotiating with others
Hmmm keeping our fingers crossed.
Enjoy your relaxation time in Vegas now, because the second something goes down with CC the entire “Cold Stove” deck of cards will collapse.
This is for all those people who think CC isn’t coming to the Yanks because he hasn’t signewd yet:
http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/.....#more-1921
wow. nice
“I think he adds a ton, even more than what he does every fifth day,” Girardi said.
Poking fun at his weight issue won’t increase our chances of signing him…
This made me laugh.
Makes sense to me
i was just to post that as well… i was hoping i wasnt the only one immature enough to laugh at that
Nah, I’ve always taken note of public statements that can be misconstrued. Love ‘em too!
Wouldn’t it be a kick in the pants if after all this buildup, and all this media coverage, that absolutely NOTHING happens in these meetings?
Wait, you mean kind of like the whole Santana thing last year?
Genske is trying his darndest to keep the Yanks bid on the table. Cash should seriously consider taking the bid off the table by the end of the winter meetings.
I’ve got no interviews lined up for this week. I need some real news to break ALREADY!!!
I need some real news to break ALREADY!!!
Did you hear that Hugh Jackman was named Sexiest Man Alive?
http://www.people.com/people/p.....13,00.html
That’s something, eh?
Dodgers close to signing Blake. 3 years/17 mil.
That can put a rest to the Cano to LA thing
Colletti shot that down already earlier today. Said he hasn’t spoken to Cashman in 6 months or something.
Said he hasn’t spoken to Cashman in 6 months or something.
I told Cashman that that restraining order would be a good idea.
Coletti says CC told him he wants to be a Dodger. I see no reason to NOT believe Coletti on this. Therefore, if CC is willing to be so brazen at the Winter Meetings so as to admit quasi-publicly he wants to be a Dodger, I say we withdraw the offer and let him go west. People who want to act like chumps deserve to look like chumps.
Therefore, if CC is willing to be so brazen at the Winter Meetings so as to admit quasi-publicly he wants to be a Dodger, I say we withdraw the offer and let him go west.
That would be foolish and shortsighted. It would be a chump move. Only a chump would act like that. You don’t want to look like a chump, do you?
People who want to act like chumps deserve to look like chumps.
Oh. Nevermind…
Brewers Closing In On Deal For Lamb
By Tim Dierkes [December 8 at 8:07pm CST]
8:07pm: Rosenthal and Ed Price say the Lamb signing could prompt the Brewers to trade Bill Hall. Hall interests the Yankees, but he has almost $16MM left on his deal. Rosenthal notes that Yankees targets Hall and Mike Cameron are friends of C.C. Sabathia.
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/.....osing.html
Bill Hall is another utility guy
http://www.baseball-reference.com/h/hallbi03.shtml
Looks like Cash wants some bench help.
For the money owed to him, we wouldn’t have to give up much of anything. And if it helps get CC, I’m all for it.
That reminds me of an old line about the subways “Bill Hall, plus 140 million bucks will get CC to sign with the Yanks. “
I don’t understand how we’d be interested in Bill Hall unless they send us a prospect and/or Mike Cameron for almost nothing
Maybe CC put a bug in Cash’s ear about how much he likes Hall. Kinda like how Manny wouldn’t sign with Boston unless they hired his favorite clubhouse guy.
Or that whole weird thing with Pedro and the midget.
RIP Nelson De La Rosa
hall has experience in cf, as well as the infield. if he were any good, id consider it.
He has experience in CF, if he were actually good out there, he’d still be in CF
Move on from CC.
I just want to watch Arod, Tex, and Dunn hit dingers.
I’d rather them go back to the days when nobody on the team hit 30 hr’s and they happened to win a bunch of World Series. But that’s just me.
Yep. Back then we could pitch.
Yeah, which is why I’m not a fan of “moving on from CC”
I guess some people haven’t learned anything from the past few years here.
Give me great starting pitching.
You know when the last time the Yanks were in the top 4 in team ERA?
Take a wild guess.
You know the last time the Yankees were second in the A.L. in FIP? No guess needed, it was this season…
If anyone’s wondering, the answer to my question was 2003.
Jamal, we all know the Yankee fielding was horrible in some spots, but no reasonable person could argue that Pettitte-Mussina-Ponson-Rasner-Pavano was a championship caliber rotation that was simply sabotaged by bad defense.
Anyone ever consider that his agent is in over his head? Sounds like CC’s his only client, and maybe that’s what is slowing things down.
Eh. Plenty of teams have won with 4 solid 200 inning pitchers and a big offense. Cardinals in 2006, and White Sox in 2005 come to mind.
I mean I understand the importance of an ace and all that, but after the Yanks spend 140 mill on CC there are still two more spots to fill.
That gives them CC and Wang as the only two starters to pitch 200 innings.
The 2006 Cardinals did not have a big offense, and were one of the worst championship teams ever. They were just over .500 in the NL. I want more than just CC on the pitching front, but he’s certainly the best one out there, and him and Lowe are the only sure thing 200 innings guys. Unless you want Jon Garland. No thanks.
and the white sox pitchers were absolutely flat out dominant in the 2005 postseason. pitching won, not their hitting.
I wish we could move forward to the days where people stop treating Home Runs as a damn negative. I wish we could move forward to the days when people realize that the 1996-2000 Yankees won because their offense had some really, good OBP guys, like Mark Teixeira and Adam Dunn.
I wish Jamal could get help in dealing with his pet peeves.
I wish people were more patient about the burritos cooking in their microwaves…
no shit!!
I love home runs. I was more responding to the “move on from CC” comment. Believe me, I would love to see Dunn brought in. I’d rather see CC and Dunn than Tex and Dunn though.
There’s a massive difference between saying “We don’t want Tex or Dunn” and “Move on from CC and sign Tex and Dunn instead”
Yeah, it’s my bad, I just misread the comment.
“I wish we could move forward to the days where people stop treating Home Runs as a damn negative. I wish we could move forward to the days when people realize that the 1996-2000 Yankees won because their offense had some really, good OBP guys, like Mark Teixeira and Adam Dunn.”
Amen, brother.
We need bench help but not Punto or Hall.
OK, suggest an alternative.
Mark Loretta? I know we were interested in him last time he was a FA.
http://www.baseball-reference......ma01.shtml
Notice how many teams he’s been on in the past 6 years? 5 of them. For a 2B/utility guy with a good bat.
That tells me he’s worse than Wilson Betemit was in the field. You can’t find .297/.361/.399 second basemen every day of the week, at least not ones that can play adequate 2B. So teams must be signing him for his bat, and dumping him for his glove. Just guessing, but I think its a safe bet.
He was pretty good at 2b with the Sox, but they had Pedroia, so they let him go. And he’s been on 3 teams in 6 years, one of whom the aforementioned Sox, and I listed the reason they let him go.
Were both wrong, its 4 teams.
2003-San Diego
2004-San Diego
2005-San Diego
2006-Boston
2007-Houston
2008-Houston
6 seasons, 3 teams.
Ronny Cedeno
Brandon Phillips
Albert Pujols. Platoon him with Swisher
Sure. Maybe we can get him for Melky.
Deffinately not hall.
Maybe they`re thinking about packaging Cameron and Hall. We take on the bad salary of Hall and get Cameron for little prospects.
where has all the tejeda rumors suddenly come from?
I’m getting tired from just READING all of Tim Dierkes updates. Can’t imagine reading, summarizing and posting all the stuff he does.
The dude is a machine, he has a new one up about every 5 minutes.
Well you got to remember this is his busy time of the year. This week and the trade deadline week.
Wow, just wow.
I hope that site pays his bills or something.
I think it’s his full time job now…
Tim also runs a daily fantasy baseball website at RotoAuthority.com.
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/.....die-1.html
Wow.
I dont think i have read this much about baseball in a while
lkajf
agreed
From Dan Graziano:
We just met with Brian Cashman in his suite, and he told us he met with CC Sabathia again today at noon at Sabathia’s room at the Wynn. Cashman said last night’s meeting and today’s were both at Sabathias request, and that Sabathia was asking him a lot of questions about New York and playing for the Yankees. Sabathia has since left town, having also met with other teams, and gave Cashman no timetable for his decision.
So it doesn’t sound like CC is merely saying goodbye to the Yanks. I highly doubt he’d be calling two meetings in a row unless he’s serious about signing here, or using us as leverage.
This is Tim’s full time job I think. THat guy is just amazing.
Not too bad considering you don’t really have to do the leg-work and can work from wherever you want. He’ll probably get a full-time job with somebody eventually
jake peavy is an idiot
and why is this
Clearly its because someone who really likes Phil Hughes thinks he is. Try to keep up, the rumors are flying fast and furious tonight!
my bad im dislexic
becuase he is scared of the al he would rather be in sd that wear pinstripes
i agree pinstripes isnt something you should run away form if your lucky enough to get the chance but was hughes much better? dont get me wrong i like him and all but at this moment in time peavy has the edge
i dont understand what the philies or orioles are doing in the peavy trade
i can see why the Orioles are involved as the Padres wanted Garret Olsen and offered the O’s Khalil Greene for him.
then you have MacPhail, who probably still has a mancrush on Pie.
the Phillies i don’t get.
apparently they want DeRosa… though who knows why… to try and flip him to the Twins for Delmon Young?
Pick up & match-up pieces… someone wants JA Happ.. and I don’t blame them, Os want Pie, Padres want Olsen, so its a chance for people to match up
i wouldnt trade hughes for peavy though i think the yanks have enough arms to keep hughes and acquire peavy
I think Towers is going to settle for a second-rate package. Vitters and Garrett Olsen are likely the best players he’s getting in return. He should have not haggled over a superior Braves offer.
Eerily reminiscent to the Johan sweepstakes of last year.
Yeah.
But at least the Twins picked up Carlos Gomez, who i think will be very good very soon, and a couple AAA arms that could help the squad out in ’09. What the Pads will land is probably inferior to what the Mets gave up.
Yeah, but Santana is a significantly better pitcher, the package should be less to start.
There are knocks on peavy that are arguably legit, but he’s so young still and since he’s not leaving the NL, you gotta think he’ll be a CY contender for years to come. He’ll be contending next season for the Cy along with Timmy and Johan.
This situation should’ve worked out better for Towers, and for a while it looked like he might make out with a high-ceiling ML. He’s not getting that anymore.
I wonder if part of the reason why all of the top free agents want nothing to do with the Yankees, has something to do with the fact that us “fans” boo the hardest working and best player in the game on a daily basis?
Yep, that would be A-Rod. Don’t think other players haven’t noticed him getting boo’d for not hitting a 12 run homer every at bat.
Who the hell would want to play for fans like that?!
Just a few years ago, all you heard was that “everyone” wants to be a Yankee. Now, NO ONE wants anything to do with the team. Very sad.
I know there are plenty of knowledgeable fans, many on this site, but too many of the idiots at Yankee stadium ruin it for everyone else.
Of course there is more too it than just booing, but I can’t help but think that is a small part of it.