Friday Afternoon Linkapalooza: 11/15/13

Did everybody get everything they wanted out of the GM meetings?  Good, great, grand, wonderful.  Now onto the links!

- On Monday, Greg Corcoran of Bronx Baseball Daily profiled Aaron Judge, the last of the 3 2013 1st round picks.  He's easily one of the most intriguing players in the entire system going into next season.

- On Tuesday, Chad Jennings of LoHud discussed all the problems the Robinson Cano contract situation is causing and could continue to cause the Yankees this offseason.  Lotta moving parts and they all revolve around Robbie.

- On Wednesday, Vizzini of NoMaas made a case for signing Corey Hart, a name hardly seen around the Yankosphere or MSM hot stove coverage this offseason.

- EJ Fagan of IIATMS/TYA mused on the idea of pulling back the reins a bit on the offseason aggression and taking a more rebuild-based approach.  That wouldn't make a lot of fans happy, but what it could set up for the future would be tremendously beneficial.

- El duque of It Is High... pointed out the early signs of the Robinson Cano media smear campaign as talks between he and the team draw closer.

- On Thursday, Mike Axisa of RAB commented on the Yankees' need to improve their rotation next year and why it would be a good idea to try to add more than just the 400 innings Cash mentioned on the free agent market.

- On Friday, Tanya Bondurant of Pinstripe Alley discussed the Yankees' facial hair policy and whether it's become outdated in response to Brian Wilson's beard being the reason he won't sign with New York this offseason.  My take, it absolutely is and it should be scrapped.

/has a beard

- Derek Albin of Pinstripe Pundits profiled Oakland A's shortstop Jed Lowrie as a new trade target.

- Daniel Burch of The Greedy Pinstripes completed another all-time team exercise, this time assembling the all-time homegrown Yankee team.

Going with a little Wu-Tang this Friday, "Triumph" off their second album.  Pretty sure this was the video with the computer animated swarm of killer bees flying around.



Enjoy your weekends, everybody.

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.

The Most Important News Of The Offseason So Far

(Originally posted at IIATMS/TYA.  The Photoshop is too good not to re-post)

Cashman expects to deal directly with Jay Z during Cano negotiations. He met with agents for Beltran, McCann, Choo and others while here.
— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughSL) November 13, 2013

I know sometimes I write things here that may come across as a bit ridiculous, and I'm the first to admit that there are instances where I intentionally add a dash or 2 of hyperbole to my posts to spark a reaction and discussion in the comment section.  But believe me when I tell you that I'm being 100% honest when I say this.  The idea of Brian Cashman and Jay-Z working together directly, 1-on-1, to negotiate Cano's new deal is the most fantastically entertaining possibility in the history of MLB hot stove season and if you don't agree then you have no sense of humor.

Just picture it.  Cash sitting there in his khakis and team polo shirt, Jay in a $10,000 suit and a pair of designer sunglasses with Memphis Bleek and Beanie Siegel flanking him, one of those giant bottles of Spades champagne on ice and a few Cuban cigars on standby to celebrate the new deal when it's reached.  Straight up Swag City.

The Real Reason Hal Gave Jeter More Money

Via a Jon Heyman report from Wednesday:

"The intrerest in Drew is interesting in that Derek Jeter, the Yankes' iconic shortstop, has already signed back for $12 million. Steinbrenner, who did that deal, has already talked to Jeter to warn him that they might seek a starting shortstop due to Jeter's status as a player returning from a severe ankle injury and missed most of last year. Jeter hasn't spoken publicly since signing, but he's said to understand the Yankees' shortstop interest after speaking with Steinbrenner."

So it looks like it wasn't just paying Jeter because he's Jeter, but rather paying him as a way to appease him while the team looks for better shortstop options.  Either way it was still overbidding against themselves when they didn't have to, but if that was Hal's plan then that makes the decision look a little better than it did 2 weeks ago.  The battle in the media would be even uglier if it revolved around Jeter's money and his playing time.  It looks like Hal wanted to get ahead of that by basically paying Jeter to keep his and his agent's mouth shut so the team could look for a better present and future option without issue.  Between this information and the news on a possible Brendan Ryan return, it looks like Jeter could be spending a lot of time at DH in 2014.

NPB Posting Changes Delayed, Tanaka's Status In Jeopardy

Didn't see this one coming.  After reports earlier today that the final changes to the new NPB player posting system had been agreed to by both sides and could be put into place as early as next Monday, Major League Baseball decided to put the brakes on things this afternoon and now plan to change their side of the proposal.  MLB Chief Operating Officer, and A-Rod's best friend, Rob Manfred had this to say:

“We warned them, told them, if this sat too long, there could be shifting winds out there. And suffice it to say, there have been shifting winds."

What those winds are nobody knows, but David Waldstein just tweeted that it could have something to do with smaller market MLB teams wanting posting fees to count against the luxury tax.  This would obviously be a huge blow to the Yankees, who were hoping to go hard after Masahiro Tanaka whenever he was posted while staying below the luxury tax threshold.  With things back up in the air and no clear direction on what comes next, the new posting agreement might not get put into place this offseason and Tanaka might not be made available for 2014.

Report: Yanks "Close" To Re-Signing Brendan Ryan

(Used courtesy of the fine folks at Pinstripe Alley)

I mentioned this earlier in the Freese post, but the other "big" infield story that popped up yesterday involved Brendan Ryan and the high level of interest both he and the Yankees are reported to have in each other.  Ryan became the everyday shortstop after he was acquired late in the season, and hit .220/.258/.305 (.252 wOBA) in 62 plate appearances while reminding everybody what a good defensive shortstop looks like.  That performance appears to have been enough to convince the Yankee brass he's worth another go because Joel Sherman reported last night that the 2 sides are "close" to a new deal.  It's not even in the same area code as a Tanaka or McCann signing would be, but bringing Ryan back would be a smart strategic decision on multiple fronts.

Well That Freese Trade Rumor Fell Apart Pretty Quickly, Huh?

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

It had been all Tanaka and McCann and Beltran and Choo talk early on in Yankeeland until Mark Feinsand came out with a report yesterday afternoon on the Yankees and Cardinals working on a trade for Cards third baseman David Freese.  Right around the same time, reports started trickling out that the team was working on re-signing Brendan Ryan and suddenly it looked like it was going to be a multi-pronged attack to address the aging aged and now incredibly unreliable left side of the infield.

Freese, while not the all-world player his 2011 postseason made him out to be, would have made sense for the Yankees as third base insurance for A-Rod.  He's a right-handed hitter with a .286/.356/.427 career slash line (.345 wOBA) and while he won't garner any Fielding Bible Award votes at the hot corner, he's not a complete disaster defensively.  At 31 and coming off a down and injury-filled year in 2013, Freese was a textbook "buy low" trade target and even with 2 years of team control remaining he probably could have been had for a modest prospect return.

The Yankees "Absolutely" Bringing Back Cervelli Has To Mean The End Of Chris Stewart ... Right?

(Courtesy of the AP)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

With things heating up at the GM meetings and the Yankees being reported as the early favorites to land Brian McCann, Cash shed a little light on where the team's thoughts might be relative to the backup catcher position next year.  Talking to reporters yesterday, Cash said the Yankees will "absolutely" tender a contract to Francisco Cervelli this offseason.  Cervelli is in his first year of arbitration eligibility and MLBTR pegged him at an even $1 million for his projected salary next year, hardly a drop in the Yankee payroll bucket.

Whatever new deal the Yankees offer Cervelli will be in that range and Cash's stated commitment to make the offer should end any speculation about his future with the team after an injury and PED suspension-plagued 2013.  It should also come as a sign that the Chris Stewart era behind the plate is over, and regardless of what happens with McCann or any of the other free agent catchers on the market, that's great news.

If D-Rob Isn't Capable Of Handling The Closer Role Now, When Will He Be?

(I mean, come on.  He didn't get the AB4AR "Fireman" Photoshop treatment for nothing)

The most surprising thing to come out of Cash's session with the media yesterday was his statement on David Robertson's status as the heir apparent to Mo for next year's closer role.  Cash reiterated that the Yankees haven't decided to officially name D-Rob the closer yet, which is fair considering it's still early in the offseason and the Yanks are in the market for relief help, but he raised my eyebrows with this line about D-Rob's ability to handle the job:

“I’m not sure if Robertson is capable yet. He’s never done that before."

If by "done that before" Cash means "never had a full-time closing gig" before then I fully agree.  D-Rob has never been an official closer tasked with regularly pitching the 9th inning and saving wins and that's because he's had Mariano Rivera pitching in front of him every year of his career.  The preceding statement about Robertson's capability leads me to believe Cash didn't mean that, however, and that questioning of D-Rob's capability of being a regular closer raises some questions as to just how the Yankees are making that determination.

Joe Takes 4th In The AL Manager Of The Year Voting

He was never going to win the award, not after John Farrell took his club from worst to first in the division and then to a 3rd World Series title in 10 years and not after Terry Francona led his club to the playoffs and greatly overachieved what most thought they would do this season.  But Joe still had a solid showing for himself yesterday when the BBWAA announced the winners of the 2013 Manager of the Year awards.  He finished 4th overall, behind surprise winner Francona, Farrell, and Bob Melvin, and even managed to sneak into the top 3 on more than a few ballots.

It's good to see Joe get some of the recognition he deserved for a job well done this year.  Managing the Yankees always comes with a heaping helping of high expectations and precious few "atta boys" when the team does well, and Joe had a helluva lot to deal with this season.  It would have been interesting to see how much better he could have done on the ballots had the team managed to make it to the postseason, but all in all a 4th place finish and a couple of 2nd place votes for managing a club that finished 85-77 with a negative run differential is pretty damn good.  Plus it gave me another excuse to post the best Yankee-related gif of the year.

This Doesn't Make Any Sense

Mark Newman and Damon Oppenheimer will remain in respective roles, Steinbrenner said. Changes to player development called "procedural."
— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughSL) November 13, 2013

So let me get this straight.  The 2 guys in charge of the groups that have horrible recent track records in terms of drafting and developing amateur talent, who were also presumably heavily involved in developing and following the procedures that were already in place, are being rewarded for their departmental failures by getting to keep their jobs for another season?  Does that make any sense to you, Dean Ambrose?

I'm going to have to agree with you there, Dean Ambrose.  Procedural changes are all well and good, but the Yankees are still going to have the same people at the top enforcing those new procedures and those people have been proven to be ineffective in those roles.  The Yanks needed to take a big swing at revamping their MiL program and instead they squared around to bunt with 2 strikes.  Inexplicable.

P.S.- Guess that's what I get for deviating from my norm and praising Hal yesterday.

Something To Consider When Considering McCann Or Choo

In my Carlos Beltran free agent profile post last week, I pointed out that one of his greatest strengths was being a switch hitter who hit both right and left-handed pitching well.  What I neglected to mention in the later posts about Brian McCann and Shin-Soo Choo was that they, as strictly left-handed hitters, don't offer that same flexibility.

McCann 2013 vs. LHP- .231/.279/.337, .296 wOBA in 111 PA
McCann career vs. LHP- .259/.319/.424, .326 wOBA in 1,300 PA

Choo 2013 vs. LHP- .215/.347/.265, .292 wOBA in 221 PA
Choo career vs. LHP- .243/.340/.341, .310 wOBA in 1,128 PA

McCann was better against lefties in years past, although there's always been a pronounced split when compared to righties.  But he was below-average in 2013 and has been trending downwards recently.  The dramatic split in BB rate against lefties (3.6%) and righties (12.0%) is particularly concerning.  Choo has been pretty crappy against southpaws since he came into the league.  If it weren't for his ability to maintain a high BB rate against them he would offer almost no value against left-handed pitching whatsoever.  He could still serve a purpose as a table setter at the top of a lineup against lefties, but that's about it.

Not saying either of these guys should be off the table because of their crummy platoon splits.  Just saying these are the type of things that deserve a closer look when you're talking about signing players in their 30s.

The One Where I Say Something Positive About Hal Steinbrenner

(Courtesy of the AP)

Anybody who reads my stuff with any kind of regularity know I'm not a Hal Steinbrenner fan.  I don't think he's a smart baseball guy, I don't think he's as smart of a businessman as he fancies himself, and I don't appreciate his lame attempts to try to convince the Yankee fanbase that his #1 goal is still to field a championship-caliber team when none of the decisions being made are in line with that declaration.  I find most of what he says to be incredibly insulting towards me as a relatively intelligent Yankee fan, and to me he's more like that meddling boss at your office who thinks he's an authority on everything just because he's in the position he's in.

All that said, I have to put my hatred aside and give credit where credit is due.  I have to give some props to Hal for what he and the front office team have already done this offseason.  It hasn't been much, but it's been enough to show that maybe, just maybe, there's more than the bottom line and luxury tax avoidance being considered here.

Tuesday Mid-Morning Food For Thought

Via Chad Jennings earlier this morning:

"Cashman mentioned that the Yankees need 'probably 400 innings' for the rotation."

- Hiroki Kuroda 2013 IP: 201.1
- Andy Pettitte 2013 IP: 185.1
- Phil Hughes 2013 IP: 145.1

- Total 2013 IP Lost: 532.0

Cash is saying he needs 400 innings next year and the Yankees lost over 500.  That number would have been closer to 600 if Hughes didn't devolve into a 4-5 inning pitcher in the 2nd half, but Cash's math gives some insight into what the Yankees are looking to do to revamp their rotation for next season.  We know CC and Nova will be there and we can assume from Cash's estimate that he's looking to add 2 starting pitchers to those 2 returnees.  That leaves 1 spot open at the back of the rotation for the Pinedas, Phelpses, Warrens, Nunos, and ManBans of the world to compete for.

Hard to argue with the logic of that strategy, as nobody in the crop of internal starting options is a good bet to replicate what Andy and Hirok did last season.  Now it's a matter of sorting out the best candidates for those 2 spots and staying aggressive in the attempts to sign them.

Here's An Idea, Ask Him

Cashman says he still doesnt know whether kuroda wants to pitch in US next season.
— Daniel Barbarisi (@DanBarbarisi) November 11, 2013

 Far be it for me to criticize or question the way Brian Cashman is doing his job, but I'm not sure I like him saying he still doesn't know what Hiroki Kuroda plans to do next year 6 weeks after the season ended.  How is that even possible?  I know Kuroda is a quiet guy, but is it really that hard to pick up the phone and put a call in to him or his agent to ask?  The Yankees have been gearing up to be aggressive on almost every other front this offseason and yet they don't know anything about their best starting pitcher's intentions?  That seems like a hole in the plan to me.

Last time I checked, the Yanks needed to replace 60% of their starting rotation next year.  If the season started today they'd be filling it with Michael Pineda, David Phelps, and Adam Warren, and I don't think anybody needs to be reminded how small an amount of the mustard that trio is going to cut.  Kuroda could be a safe, reliable 1-year stopgap for one of those open spots or he could be passed on for a younger FA option.  The only way the Yankees find out which option makes more sense for them is by first seeing what Hirok wants to do.  I'm all for giving a player time and letting him do his thing, but now that he's rejected the QO, it's time for Cash to get on the horn and start getting an idea of what Kuroda wants to do.

Cano, C-Grand, and Kuroda Decline Their Qualifying Offers

To the surprise of no one, the trio of Robinson Cano, Curtis Granderson, and Hiroki Kuroda declined the qualifying offers extended to them by the Yankees before this afternoon's deadline.  They weren't alone.  In fact, every single one of the 13 players who received qualifying offers declined them.  This now sets the Yankees up to recoup supplemental 1st round draft picks if any of these guys signs with another MLB team this offseason, although it bears reminding that the Yankees will not receive a pick if Kuroda decides to go back to Japan to pitch.

Now that this next step on the offseason path has been reached, the Yankees can continue to move forward with their busy offseason plans.  It's uncertain how, if at all, C-Grand fits into those plans, but I have to imagine they will at least have discussions with Kuroda about coming back and we can all safely assume that they're going to make a big push to bring back Cano.  With his market continuing to be slow, and with new reports stating that no other team outside of the Yankees has made Cano an offer yet, the Yanks continue to be in the driver's seat there.

AB4AR Free Agent Profiles

We kicked AB4AR's offseason focus into high gear this week.  If you missed any of the early free agent profile posts, you can find the whole 5-pack right here.

- Masahiro Tanaka

- Brian McCann

- Carlos Beltran

- Stephen Drew

- Shin-Soo Choo

If you've been following the offseason news at all, you know that these aren't the only 5 guys the Yankees are targeting and I can assure you they won't be the only 5 profiled this offseason.  They're just the high profile tip of the FA iceberg.  Be on the lookout for more FA profiles to come as the stove heats up.

How Will The Kuroda-To-Japan Rumors Impact The Yankees' Offseason Approach?

(Courtesy of the AP)

In just 1 day we'll find out the decisions of the 3 players the Yankees made qualifying offers to this week.  The early signs on Cano and C-Grand point strongly towards them declining the offers, but there hasn't been much talk about Hiroki Kuroda.  He's a very quiet guy in the media by nature and there isn't anybody in the mainstream Yankosphere who's gotten a word out of him on what his thoughts might be.

The few reports that are out there right now make it sound like Hirok is leaning towards returning to Japan to pitch next year.  That's always been part of his retirement plan and it stands to reason that he would want to be able to go back there and pitch while he could still be effective.  Kuroda has fallen off in the 2nd half of the last 2 seasons, maybe he's taking that as a sign that it's time to get out of MLB while he still has something left in the tank.

Report: Yanks Are "Going To Be Bold" In Tanaka Bidding

There's still no update on when the new posting rules between MLB and NPB will be agreed upon and put into place, but that hasn't slowed down the Masahiro Tanaka rumor mill.

In an article for Yahoo! Sports yesterday, Jeff Passan reported that the Yankees are "going to be bold" when the time comes to submit the posting bids for Tanaka.  Passan cited an unnamed source with knowledge of the Yankees' strategy, and while the information from those type of sources always has to be taken with a grain of salt, this specific bit of information does fall in line with the aggressive approach the Yankees have already taken in scouting Tanaka.

With some predicting the winning bid being at or above $75 million, the Yankees are in prime position to flex their financial muscle and blow everybody else away with the highest bid.  That would certainly be a bold move and one that might signal more serious intentions on their part to be a bigger player this offseason.  Tanaka has been drawing a lot of comparisons to Hiroki Kuroda lately, and paying big posting bucks for a 25-year-old version of Hirok would be a smart move for the future of the Yankee rotation.

Jeter And Sabathia Are Healthy Again

One thing Derek Jeter never did during the regular season was get healthy.  That was evident to anybody who watched him play and made even more evident by the quickness with which he landed back on the DL every time he did try to come back.

Now that the season is over and he's had time to rest his injured ankle, it sounds like Jeter is finally healthy again, or at least damn close.  Joe confirmed to the media earlier this week that Jeter has started his offseason workouts, which he wasn't even close to starting at this time last year.  It's just preliminary conditioning stuff, and Joe did say Jeter won't begin baseball activities until January, but that's still a great sign.  A few months of regular conditioning work are what Jeter needs to try to regain his lower body strength.

If that wasn't enough good news, Bryan Hoch reported last night that CC Sabathia has also gotten over the hamstring strain that ended his 2013 season and has started throwing again.  You'll remember that CC's regular offseason throwing routine was disturbed by his elbow surgery and those delays could have had something to do with his year-long struggles.

Sabathia and Jeter are 2 players the Yankees need bounce back years from if they're going to contend in 2014.  Knowing that they're both healthy enough in early November to start their offseason workout programs is a positive step towards those bounce back goals.

Friday Afternoon Linkapalooza: 11/8/13

Going to my first Packer game this weekend.  The girlfriend wisely scooped up some tickets early in the year and it's been a roller coaster of emotions for me just in the months leading up this Sunday.  At first I was stoked that I was going to get to see the Chip Kelly offense in person and hopefully a 45-41 shootout.  Then the Eagles started to suck and I was a little disappointed that it might just turn into a Packer blowout.  Now with Aaron Rodgers out, Nick Foles tossing touchdowns all over the place, and the Packers having zero pass rush, I'm afraid I could be going to watch them get blown out of their own stadium.  Oh well, at least there will be beer and it's early enough in the year that the weather isn't in true "Frozen Tundra" territory.  Now onto the links!

- On Monday, SJK of NoMaas explained what Ichiro's role should be in 2014.  It's exactly what I would do with Ichiro and what I fear the Yankees won't do.

- El duque of It Is High... made his case for why the Yankees should sign Jarrod Saltalamacchia to be their new catcher.

- On Tuesday, Chris Mitchell of Pinstripe Pundits weighed the pros and cons of bringing back Mark Reynolds and Brendan Ryan next season.

- On Wednesday, Greg Corcoran of Bronx Baseball Daily profiled High-A shortstop Cito Culver and pegged him as a breakout candidate in 2014.

- Chad Jennings of LoHud broke down the current state of the organization in the starting rotation.  Still a lot of upside in the Minors, but way too many questions and not a lot of depth up top.

- Jason Cohen of Pinstripe Alley offered up his opinions on each non-Yankee QO recipient and whether they would be good options for the Yankees to give up the draft pick and sign.

- William Juliano of The Captain's Blog looked at how David Robertson's inefficient pitch count tendencies may be influencing their search for a "proven" closer-type reliever.

- Michael Eder of IIATMS/TYA calculated out the money the Yankees would have in their budget to spend if A-Rod's contract comes off the books for next year.  That's a pretty good-sized chunk of change to work with.

- On Thursday, Joe Pawlikowski of RAB took a look back at Brian Cashman's prospect-for-veteran trade track record since gaining full control as GM.

- Jason Evans of Yanks Go Yard mused on the strategy in attempting to re-sign Hiroki Kuroda if the rumors about him leaning towards going back to Japan are true.

- On Friday, Daniel Burch of The Greedy Pinstripes revealed his complete All-Time Yankee roster.  It'd be fun to see how many games that team could win in a 162-game season with everybody in their prime.

- SG of RLYW released the first version of his 2014 CAIRO projections.  Gotta love projection season!

This Friday's jam is "Slaves And Bulldozers" by Soundgarden.  I didn't go back and check, but I don't think I've ever featured Soundgarden here and that is simply unacceptable.  Soundgarden is the shit, plain and simple.



Enjoy your weekends, everybody.  It'll probably be a little slow over the weekend with me being out of town.

Free Agent Target: Shin-Soo Choo

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

In their efforts to improve their outfield production this offseason, Carlos Beltran is clearly the Yankees' top free agent target.  There were reports of mutual interest between he and the team before the postseason even ended and Beltran is a near perfect fit as the type of big name player the Yankees love to bring in.  But as I touched on earlier this week, Beltran comes with a fair amount of age-related risk at this stage in his career.  He's right at the point where a player can fall off the productivity cliff at a moment's notice, and his disconcerting downward trend in BB rate suggests he could be closer to that cliff than his solid overall statistical profile would lead you to believe.

He's also not the only viable option for a right field upgrade.  Former Cleveland Indian and Cincinnati Red Shin-Soo Choo is also a free agent this offseason.  He's younger than Beltran (31), a perennial high BB rate guy with a much higher OBP than Beltran (.423 in 2013), and less of an injury/regression risk than Beltran.  Choo is also reportedly drawing interest from the Yankees and if Beltran is OF target #1, it's a fair bet that Choo is right behind him on the list.

Should The Yanks Take The Plunge On Ubaldo Jimenez?

(Courtesy of the AP)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

The Yankees tacked another top free agent name to their ever-expanding target list this week when George King name dropped righty pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez in an article for The Post.  You might remember Jimenez as a potential trade target for the Yankees a few years ago when he was in Colorado, a trade the Yankees ended up not pulling the trigger on.  Jimenez landed in Cleveland, where things really unraveled for him in 2012 in his first full season in the AL (5.40/5.06/4.98 in 176.2 IP).  He rebounded in 2013, posting a 3.30/3.43/3.63 slash line in 32 starts and a 1.82/2.17/2.99 line after the All Star break.  On the strength of that 2nd half, Jimenez is looking to land his first big contract after declining his option for 2014.  The Yankees need starting pitching, but Jimenez is such a jumble of inconsistencies that he might scare them off.

Report: No Progress On The Cano Contract Talks

The Yankees made a qualifying offer to Robinson Cano on Monday.  He has until next Monday to make a decision on it, which will 100% assuredly be a decision to decline.  Other than that it's been all quiet on the Cano contract front with not a lick of new information, from the Yankee side, the Cano side, or from the rest of MLB.  Maybe it's just me, but that seems a tad strange for the premiere position player in this year's free agent crop.

According to Dan Martin, there has been "no recent movement involving Cano and the Yankees."  This comes over a month after both sides made waves in the media with their reported asking prices and offers and over 2 weeks after the Dodgers apparently took themselves out of the running by signing Cuban infielder Alexander Guerrero.  It's still very early but the market for Cano hasn't come together at all, something that may work in the Yankees' favor.  The longer it goes without any other teams getting in the mix, the more leverage the Yankees should gain in trying to re-sign Cano to something closer to their desired 7-year/$161 million deal.

Free Agent Target: Stephen Drew

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

A few short years ago, the left side of the Yankee infield was one of the best in baseball.  Well, at least from an offensive standpoint.  Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez were still among the best hitters at their positions, even as they advanced into their mid-to-late 30s, and were permanent fixtures in key spots in the batting order.  Fast forward to 2013 and oh how the mighty have fallen.  The Captain and America's Most Hated Athlete combined to play just 61 games this season, the byproduct of a brutal combination of injury setbacks, MLB steroid probes, and natural age-related regression.

To their credit, the Yankees did attempt to bring in an MLB-caliber backup option for the left side when they went after free agent shortstop Stephen Drew last offseason.  His value was down after a few declining years in Arizona and a mid-season trade to Oakland, but Drew turned down a higher dollar offer from the Yankees to sign a 1-year deal with Baaaahhhhhston and guarantee himself more playing time.  After a much better 2013 season that ended with a championship parade, Drew is back out on the market this offseason and once again on the Yankees' radar.