Sunday, November 24, 2013

Report: Yanks Not Waiting Around For Cano

We've heard once or twice already this week that the Yankees weren't letting the lack of activity on the Robinson Cano contract front slow them up on the rest of their offseason plans.  We saw that play out in textbook form yesterday with the signing of Brian McCann and now with this latest report from Buster Olney we're seeing that they're sticking to their guns.  While the Cano talks continue to go nowhere, the Yanks are staying active on other fronts and that's exactly what they should be doing.

No word on what other players have received offers from the Yankees.  Jhonny Peralta signed with the St. Louis Cardinals earlier today so I assume he wasn't a part of that group, but I'd bet Carlos Beltran, Shin-Soo Choo, and maybe Stephen Drew all got offers.  The message seems to be pretty clear to Cano and his team; "we're moving forward with or without you."  Let's see how all this other activity and next week's reported sitdown between Cano and the Yankees serves to speed things up.

Brian McCann Signing Thoughts & Afterthoughts

(Courtesy of Jason Getz/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

I was about to sit down to dinner with my family last night when I went to the computer for one last news refresh.  Needless to say, I wasn't expecting to see a barrage of updates on negotiations with Brian McCann, those negotiations being "close", and then the first few tweets reporting that he and the Yankees had agreed to a 5-year deal.  There had been no indication that anything was imminent earlier in the week.  McCann's meeting with the team hardly made the news, as it was among the first team meetings he had and most expectations were that he'd have more visits and work towards building his contract value up leading into the Winter Meetings.

Yet there it was, confirmed by one of the most reliable sources in baseball.  McCann is going to be a Yankee, the first big move of the offseason has been made, and the stage could be set for a big offseason in New York.  A lot more thoughts on the signing and what it means after the jump.