As the Yankees and the Mets both deal with underperforming first basemen at the ends of lengthy and expensive contracts, Dan Graziano takes a look at the Mark Teixeira sweepstakes and concludes that the Yanks and Mets will emerge as the two most likely bidders for Teixeira’s service. Throughout the piece, Graziano bemoans the old sluggers on the New York teams and calls Teixeira — 29 at the start of next season — a “a breath of fresh air for either New York team.”

But the problem is that Teixeira will be a breath of fresh air only until he too starts getting old. I don’t think Teixeira will sign for anything less than seven years, and while I’m not opposed to the idea, his contract will eventually be as problematic as Jason Giambi’s and Carlos Delgado’s are right now. While “in with the young, out with the old” is a sound philosophy, the young grow old quickly.

Via Rich comes an interesting tidbit in this Ken Davidof blog post:

Well, I think it’s about time for me to give up on Kei Igawa. I didn’t see Friday’s game, but the brutal numbers speak for themselves. My faith was based on the faith of people whose opinions I respect. The Padres claimed Igawa on waivers last year, and San Diego GM Kevin Towers routinely makes great pitching acquisitions. And the Red Sox have been hoping that the Yankees give up on Igawa, so that Boston can make an end-around effort to get him (obviously, the Yankees wouldn’t give Igawa directly to the Red Sox).

While we know that the Padres were interested in 2007, Buster Olney feels that the Padres have long since passed the point of caring about Kei Igawa. But enter the Red Sox. Davidof suggests that the Red Sox are now interested in Igawa and I cannot, for the life of me, figure out why. A left-handed fly-ball pitcher throwing in Fenway would get utterly rocked by opposing teams. Plus, the Red Sox are not suffering from a lack of pitching depth.

So what’s the story here? Why would the Red Sox even be remotely interested in Igawa? Unless they wanted to stick to the Yanks by turning Igawa’s waist-high, 88-mph fastballs into something they aren’t and will never be, Igawa’s just not a name that makes sense in Boston.

Well, if the first baseman in the window happens to be one playing in Altanta and represented by Scott Boras, the asking price could be $20 million a year for 10 years, according to Jon Heyman. Heyman, relying on some unnamed sources, reports that Scott Boras will expect conversations for Mark Teixeira’s services to start at $200 million for ten years. Teixeira will turn 29 at the start of his big payday, and while Heyman says, on page two, that the Yanks are the clear front runners to land the first baseman, I’d feel much better with a five- or six-year deal with some options.

From the “It’s Never Too Early for the Hot Stove League” department comes this gem from Boston Herald columnist Tony Massarotti: The Yanks could push hard for Derek Lowe’s services when the durable righty becomes a free agent this season. The Yankee fan in me would rather stab myself in the face than watch Derek Lowe pitch every five days, and I’d much rather see Yanks push hard for C.C. Sabathia. However, outside of his last year in Boston, Lowe has put up pretty good career numbers and has a six-season streak of 32 starts or more. The Yanks could do far worse in the short term if C.C. stays in Cleveland, but with Joba, Wang, Pettitte, Hughes and Kennedy right now projecting to start in 2009, it seems that the Yankee rotation is full. (HT to MLBTR)

As part of a multi-billion-dollar deal to broadcast baseball, TBS gets the non-exclusive rights to Sunday baseball games. This weekend, while I watched the Sabathia-Wang pitcher’s duel on the YES Network, fans around the country could tune in on TBS.

While watching the game, Maury Brown, the man behind the Biz of Baseball site, transcribed some of the more interesting tidbits from the broadcast. The first topic I found interesting focused around CC Sabathia:

CC Sabathia on his impending free agency: “This is home, I mean I’ve been here since I was 17 years old, eleven years now. This is the only place I know and I feel comfortable here, coming in from the parking attendants to the General Manager I feel comfortable, so that’s been the biggest difference.”

Martinez on the CC Sabathia’s needs versus those of the MLB Players Association: “He is very genuine and sincere about his desire to stay here (in Cleveland). Get the deal done and don’t let the outside influences cloud your judgment. The Players Association want him to set the standard for free agent contracts in this off-season and at his age, 27, he’ll turn 28 in July, he is the premiere free agent pitcher on the market. (Johan) Santana’s contract of 137 million with the Mets, they want him to out do that contract, and I don’t know if that is going to make him happy.

While Buck Martinez and Chip Caray were discussing this, so were the Yanks’ announcers. It seems that Kevin Millwood, unhappy in Texas despite the big bucks, called his former teammate and warned him to pitch where he is happy even if that means giving up a few dollars. For the Yankees, this could be a sign that they shouldn’t be counting on overwhelming Sabathia with dollars. Perhaps Sabathia will elect to remain with Cleveland for fewer dollars if the team makes a ballpark offer.

On the other hand, it seems that Sabathia knows he could have a four-year, $80-million extension from the Indians and has elected to pitch out the season anyway. If he continues to throw like he has in his last two outings, he’ll easily clear that $80 million and stands to land a deal in between those signed by the Giants’ reliever Barry Zito and the Mets’ starter Johan Santana.

The other topic was, of course, Joba Chamberlain. Take it away, Buck Martinez:

“I know there has been a lot of controversy surrounding Joba Chamberlain about whether he should start or be used as an eighth inning set-up guy and as a former manager this is where he was meant to be in my mind…I believe he can turn into Mariano Rivera in a couple of years when Rivera steps aside.”

In less than a couple of years, he could be an ace starter giving the Yankees way more than one inning every two or three games. With Rivera under contract for three more years after this one, why waste Chamberlain in the eighth inning for years on end? But then again, we’re just beating a dead horse with this one.

MLB Trade Rumors notes today that the Giants have expressed some interest in Nick Johnson. The Nats’ first baseman, working his way back from a year lost to injury, is hitting .368/.455/.688 in the early going, and Washington could look to offload his salary. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: The Yankees should be right there on the Nick Johnson talks if Washington is serious about trading the first baseman. He would the perfect fit.

I gotta say, I was a bit surprised to see this one pop up on MLB Trade Rumors. But apparently, at least according to one source, the Yanks have some interest in Oakland righty Rich Harden.

On the surface, it’s hard not to salivate at this one. Harden is a nasty, nasty pitcher when healthy. Unfortunately, health has not been his forte. His career high in innings pitched came during his second major league season, at age 22 in 2004. He tossed 189.7 innings that year, to a 3.99 ERA. He was good, but not great that year, striking out 167 and walking 81.

The next year, however, was when he shined (shone?). His 2.53 ERA told part of the story, but his 121 strikeouts to 43 walks told another: That of an improving pitcher. However, he missed significant time during the season with an oblique injury, which sidelined him from May 14th through June 20th, and then another torso injury which had him pitching zero games between August 20th and September 24th. Even after that, he finished the season in the bullpen, and wound up with 128 innings pitched.

The next two seasons were far uglier, as he posted a combined 72.1 innings, including just 25.2 last year. His talent is still undeniable — that splitter is among the best, if not the best itself, among active players. However, the injury concerns are just too great for the Yanks to take on this season.

The San Francisco Chronicle article I linked earlier notes that Billy Beane would likely be looking for Ian Kennedy for starters, and likely Alan Horne and Jeff Marquez on top of that. In other words, there will be a discount, but it won’t be much. Those three for a healthy and productive Harden would be a good deal. Those three, or even just IPK and Horne, for a questionable Harden is an undue risk.

Remember, we’re still trying to figure out how to fill innings. In that regard, Kennedy has superb value for the Yankees. He has an innings cap for sure, but it will be well above that of Joba and Phil. I don’t see how anyone can expect more than 100 innings from Harden. And if he hurts himself again, the entire trade is a bust. The Yanks will have given up hundreds of innings of at least replacement level pitching (presumably) for an oft-injured starter who, even if healthy, won’t give them the innings they need.

It’s a great idea in theory. But communism works, in theory. If Harden gets through the year healthy, he should be eligible for free agency after the 2009 season. Maybe, then, we can start talking about trading for Harden this winter. But until he gets through 100, 120 innings without hitting the DL, I’d keep my hands off, despite the glorious upside he presents.

Because it’s never too early to start speculating on next winter, Jon Heyman at SI.com checks in with C.C. Sabathia. It is seemingly a foregone conclusion that the Indians and Sabathia will part ways in November. The Indians have acknowledged it; C.C. has acknowledged it.

And when one of the game’s top lefty starters hits the open market, we all know what that means: a good, old fashioned free agent bidding war. Sabathia figures to command a contract in excess of $100-$120 million, and of course, our favorites are right at the top of Heyman’s list of likely suitors:

1. Yankees. Long seen as the most logical destination for Sabathia, the big reason they balked at Santana was their reluctance to part with top pitching prospects Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy. Since it’ll only cost them money (and draft choices), and Mike Mussina, Carl Pavano, Jason Giambi and Andy Pettitte could be coming off the books, they remain the favorite. A perfect replacement in case this is Pettitte’s last year, a real possibility.

Of course, Sabathia makes sense for the Yanks whether or not Pettitte continues his “one more year” shtick or not. The Yanks have money coming off the books, and one can never have too much starting pitching, let alone lefties in the Bronx.

The Yankees will go hard after Sabathia, and they need only give up money this time. It’s a match made in baseball heaven. All Carsten Charles needs to do is turn in another top season and avoid injury. The gold is waiting for him at the end of the rainbow.

Word out of Mets camp is that Carlos Delgado will attempt to play through a hip injury. Delgado, 35, is coming off his worse season in the Bigs and isn’t getting younger or much healthier. How does this impact the Yanks? Because the Mets will surely look at the Nationals’ Nick Johnson as a potential first base option, and Nats’ GM Jim Bowden knows this. It simply complicates the Nick Johnson sweepstakes that are raging in my head.

Yes, there’s a chance that baseball’s biggest head will get a shot with the Bombers. The Yanks have expressed interest in the 30-year-old outfielder. He’d give the team a right-handed bench option.
Of course, this would be on a minor league deal, so as with Ensberg and Lane, there is no risk. If you look how the roster breaks down, the Yanks have a couple of options for bench spots:

1. Wang
2. Pettitte
3. Mussina
4. Hughes
5. Joba
6. Kennedy
7. Mo
8. Farns
9. LaTroy
10. TBA - bullpen
11. TBA - bullpen
12. TBA - bullpen
13. Posada
14. Cano
15. Jeter
16. A-Rod
17. Matsui
18. Damon
19. Melky
20. Abreu
21. Betemit
22. Giambi
23. Molina
24. Shelley
25. TBA - bench

And even Shelley’s spot isn’t guaranteed. So you have him, Ensberg, Lane, Nick Green, and Mench going up for two spots. Plus, it gives the team some decent insurance options should the injury bug bite during Spring Training.