Report: Yanks Not Making Any More Moves Until Tanaka Signs

Things have slowed to almost a snail's pace as the offseason moves into its final stanza and Spring Training starts to vaguely appear in the distance.  A report from Steven Marcus of Newsday confirms that the Yankees will keep it at that pace until the Masahiro Tanaka sweepstakes conclude.

"The Yankees' pursuit of Japanese righthander Masahiro Tanaka has essentially frozen any other additions to the big league roster.

"We are doing nothing until Tanaka resolves," a club official said Wednesday."

"Duh," the rest of the Yankee fanbase also said Wednesday.  In all seriousness, this makes sense from the Yankees' standpoint and is the right approach to take.  There's not much left out there on the free agent infield and bullpen markets and the team isn't in a rush to go after what is still there.  Tanaka represents their biggest opportunity for improvement in their biggest area of need and they should be focusing all their energy over these next 9 days towards signing him.  As I've been saying all offseason, they've put too much time and effort into Tanaka to risk losing him now.  The Dodgers look like they're focused on getting Kershaw locked up before the arbitration figure deadline on Friday.  Now's the time to strike and land Tanaka.

What Do The Yankees Still Need To Do This Offseason?

(Will we get another big introductory presser?  Hope so.  Courtesy of Getty Images)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

A week ago today we reached the official halfway point of the 2013-2014 offseason.  53 days had passed since the last out of the World Series was recorded and 53 days remained until pitchers and catchers were scheduled to report to spring camp.  The Yankees headed into the holiday break last week with a lot already accomplished.  They had retooled their outfield, improved their infield depth and bench for next season, replaced their primary lefty out of the bullpen, and brought back one half of the 400 innings Cash said he wanted to add.

Despite losing Robinson Cano to Seattle it's been a pretty productive offseason thus far.  If I were handing out offseason midterm grades, I'd have the Yankees in the B- to B range.  With the calendar close to turning to 2014 and with the start of next season now closer than the end of last season, there's still work to be done to improve that grade up to an A level.  The Yankees have a little under 7 weeks until pitchers and catchers report, and here's what they need to do before then to finish this offseason successfully.

Rotation Upgrades: Sign 'Em, Trade For 'Em, Or Wait For 'Em

("Gosh. This free agent pitching market is sooooo boring." Courtesy of John O'Boyle/The Star-Ledger)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

It's been a somewhat quiet first 2 days at the Winter Meetings for the Yankees, at least compared to last week.  Many of Cash's comments to the media yesterday were indicative of a team still trying to figure out its strategy for this week, trying to identify the best opportunity to upgrade the roster.  The bulk of the early buzz has been around next year's outfield: who's playing where, who's not playing where, who's on the trade block, and who's not.  There's also been a little talk about the open infield spots and the players currently on the radar as free agent targets, most notably Omar Infante and Mark Reynolds.

What there hasn't been is much activity on the rotation front.  The Yankees locked up what they hope will be half of the 400 innings they're looking for when they re-signed Hiroki Kuroda last Friday, and one of the major goals of this week was thought to be securing that other half.  Cash said yesterday that signing another pitcher would be easier than trading for one and he's right.  The Yanks have much more to offer by way of dollars than they do prospects.  But they don't seem to be all that interested in any of the top free agent starters, and even if they did have pieces to trade there are red flags attached to almost every conceivable trade target.  So where do the Yankees go for the rotation help they need?  Because right now they're sort of stuck in no man's land.

The Winter Meetings Are Here, What Will The Yankees Do Next?

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

What the Yankees have done over the last 2 weeks would be an otherworldly haul to pull from the Winter Meetings.  By spending a shade over $300 million, they've added an elite starting catcher, an elite center fielder, a well above-average right fielder, a solid #2 starting pitcher, and an above-average utility player with pop.  They also lost their previous starting second baseman and former best player, but that was something they were apparently willing to live with and it most likely had a lot of influence on the rest of this early spending spree.

Here's the thing.  This all happened before the Winter Meetings even started.  What the Yankees started by signing Brian McCann 2 Saturdays ago has picked up in a big way across the rest of MLB and we enter the meetings right smack in the middle of a flurry of trade and signing activity usually reserved for this week.  Once the unofficial "real" starting point of the offseason, this year's Winter Meetings are nothing more than the continuation of a hectic 2 weeks of hot stove action with the Yankees once again leading the charge.  With a bunch of balls still up in the air and a roster still very much in flux, here's what to expect from the Yanks this week.

The Ellsbury-Cano-Boras Connection

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

A little over 7 months ago, Robinson Cano decided that Scott Boras wasn't the right fit for him heading into free agency.  He ditched Boras and signed on with the then newly created Roc Nation Sports firm headed up by Jay-Z.  Last night, Boras got a 7-year/$153 million contract for one of his other clients, Jacoby Ellsbury, and he got it from the Yankees.  It's the 3rd highest contract ever given to a free agent outfielder and it comes with an option for an 8th year that could bring the total value to $169 million.

To be honest, I still don't know how I feel about the Ellsbury signing.  At first glance I'm not a fan of the years or the dollars but I'm smart enough to recognize how great he's been when he's been healthy.  I need a few more hours awake today to really put all my thoughts together on how this fits from a baseball perspective.  The one thing that does keep rattling around in my head right now is what the Ellsbury signing means for Cano.  It certainly doesn't him off the table for the Yanks.  They still have plenty of money to spend right now, as shown by Mike E. last night, and I still firmly believe Cano will re-sign with them.  If you'll allow me to put on my Jim Garrison hat for a few minutes, here's my quick little theory on how this move to sign Ellsbury could actually be a part of the Yankees' strategy with Cano.

Yanks Put Cano On The Clock

(Tick-tock, fellas.  Courtesy of Getty Images)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

It's not quite Brian Cashman telling Derek Jeter to go out and find a better offer like he did in 2010, but the Yankees' approach with Robinson Cano this offseason continues to be one of tough love and smart business. They've said all along that they want him back, they've made what they consider a fair offer, they've clearly stated what amount of time and money they aren't willing to go to, and they've spent time engaging backup plans should Cano and his team decide they aren't willing to work with the Yankees' numbers.

It certainly appears as if the Yankees are determined not to repeat their past mistakes of bidding against themselves and overpaying for their own free agents, and if that's the case then it's a lesson I think we're all glad they've finally learned.  The latest chapter in the story, courtesy of Andrew Marchand, had the Yankee brass meeting with Cano's agents yesterday to essentially put a time limit on the offer they've already extended.  According to Marchand's source, "the Yankees feel they only have so much wiggle room" above their initial contract offer and they are willing to pull it off the table to prevent the stalled talks with Cano from delaying the rest of their offseason plans.

What We Learned From The GM Meetings

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

As expected, the GM meetings wrapped up yesterday without any major deals being made or news being broken.  The biggest stories were about things that didn't happen or aren't happening, like Masahiro Tanaka still not being posted, no market coming together for Robinson Cano yet, and a potential David Freese trade not materializing.  Still, the Yankees were the most active club of the bunch this week, showing up in full force and scheduling meetings with all their top free agent targets.  They didn't come away with any commitments but they did position themselves as the favorites for more than a few of the available big names.  Along with establishing that favorable position, here's a few other things this week's meetings taught us.

A-Rod's Offseason Battles Starting To Hinder The Yankees' Offseason Plans

(Courtesy of Anthony Delmundo/NY Daily News)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

There are a lot of words you could use to describe the back-and-forth mud slinging in the media between Alex Rodriguez's legal camp and Major League Baseball right now.  Hilarious, ridiculous, and pathetic are a few that come mind.  But how about problematic?  While the verbal haymakers being thrown don't appear to have much impact on the Yankees as a team, the dragging out of the process is going to become a big problem now that the offseason and free agency have started.

Who knows what's going to happen with Alex's "witch hunt" lawsuit against MLB.  I'm sure he and his lawyers thought filing it would help strengthen their suspension appeal case, but with the way things are going between both sides in the media you have to think the arbitrator won't be swayed too much by it.  The real concern from the Yankees' perspective is the appeal hearing and the still lengthy amount of time until it starts again.