Yankees 2010-2011 Hotstove Thread

[BigPapiEnFuego]

lol'd at the username.

 

 

Whoever this dude is deserves his own board. He can only post in that one, and we get to bask in his mentally deficient posts

[jacksonianmarch]

Diony, Kerry Wood was phenomenal for us, but his BABIP was low and his walks were sky high. I dont think he'd repeat a sub 1 ERA for us. Rauch, I think can give us a 3 ERA and be durable, which should be the name of the game. I wouldnt hesitate to offer him 2 yrs

[jacksonianmarch]

Andy Pettitte not ready to rule anything out, but tells NY to move on without him. Not a good sign

[Palodios]

Is that from the NYPost article where they sent someone to his house? It sounds like more of the same. He doesn't know yet, and doesn't want Favre-esque publicity. Leave him alone and let him make his decision. He's proven himself enough to deserve his family time now, in the case he won't have it later.

[jacksonianmarch]

Actually, one theory is that Pettitte is reluctant to return since he is the key witness in the Clemens purgery case which kicks off in July

[a700hitter]

CLEMENS SPOOKING PETTITTE?

Bob Klapisch , Herald News (Passaic County, NJ)

Updated Jan 7, 2011 8:13 PM ET

 

Another day has passed on the Andy Pettitte vigil, with no sign or word from the pitcher who's gone into hiding. Little by little, the Yankees are coming to terms with the reality that Pettitte may have indeed slipped through their fingers, into the great afterlife called retirement.

 

At 38, it's certainly his right to call it a career - a hugely successful one at that. But team officials are troubled at the way Pettitte just disappeared, without a formal goodbye or even a courtesy phone call. The Yankees were hoping to hear something by Christmas, then by New Year's following Pettitte's vacation in Hawaii. But this week's continuing silence has nudged higher-ups closer to the outcome they once considered impossible -- that Pettitte is officially history.

 

So what gives? How does a generational star, beloved by the fans, respected by his teammates, on the verge of a huge raise and just 30 or so wins away from Hall of Fame consideration, just say no?

 

One theory circulating at Yankee Stadium is that Pettitte is spooked by none other than Roger Clemens. Knowing he's going to be the government's star witness this summer might be enough to force Pettitte into hiding - especially if Clemens decides he's going to take his former buddy down with him.

 

The trial, which is set to begin in July, figures to be a doozy. Unless The Rocket has a change of heart (or tactics), he's going to swear he never used HGH or steroids. Those who've testified otherwise, including Brian McNamee and Pettitte, will be cast as witnesses with bad memories or are just flat-out lying.

 

Pettitte, however, gave Congress a sworn deposition, during which he said Clemens talked to him about using HGH in 1999, at The Rocket's home in Houston.

 

Clemens says Pettitte "mis-remembered" that conversation. Therein lies his defense strategy: for Clemens to prevail, he'll have to destroy Pettitte's credibility. One person who's known the left-hander for many years said: "You think that's not weighing on Andy's mind? Who knows what Clemens is going to dig up?"

 

Indeed, the dual burden of facing Clemens in court and then taking the mound in the Bronx might be too much for Pettitte. After 16 years, he might be thinking there's no reason to fight two wars, not this late in his career, not at this point in his life.

 

Pettitte can't even hold out hope that Clemens will avoid a trial by copping a plea. His lawyers recently asked for a postponement of opening arguments scheduled for April, but that was merely to digest the 54,000 pages of government evidence.

 

Crazy or not, Clemens is pushing forward, even as he faces six federal counts: three of making false statements, two of perjury and one of obstruction of Congress. The Rocket is looking at 30 years in prison and a $1.5 million fine, although 15 to 21 months is the more likely sentence under federal guidelines.

 

And to think, it all could come down to that awful moment in court when Pettitte, under oath, will testify that Clemens is lying. Maybe that explains everything about the two-month blackout. Maybe Pettitte was thinking of The Rocket when he told general manager Brian Cashman in November to go ahead and assume he wouldn't be back in 2011.

 

Same old Andy, the Yankees thought. Sooner or later he'd catalyze that baseball engine, especially after an 11-3 season. Everything about Pettitte's competitive profile said he'd come around - it was just too soon for the couch.

 

That's why some Yankee officials haven't walked away from the vigil, convinced the phone will ring one of these mornings. Anything is possible, of course, but it's worth remembering spring training is only 38 days away. If Pettitte was thinking of pitching again, he would've already been throwing. The left-hander had yet to begin working out in earnest before Christmas, then left for Hawaii with his family for 10 days.

 

Pettitte is nothing if not a fanatic about preparation; the fact that it's so late in the off-season and that he's so far behind getting his arm in shape is a telling sign. The Yankees are desperate for Pettitte's presence in the 2011 rotation. No one would blame them for acting preemptively -- in other words, begging. They could throw money at Pettitte the way they did with CC Sabathia two years ago, or Cliff Lee last month.

 

After earning $11.75 million last year, Pettitte deserves at least a 20-25 percent raise. But one official correctly pointed out, "this isn't about money." A promise of $14 million or more isn't going to change Pettitte's thinking. This isn't a salary holdout, it's about a man who's reached some sort of threshold.

 

Maybe Pettitte's arm and legs are shot. Maybe he's decided it's just too hard to whip his body into shape, this close to 40. Maybe he'd like to have a July barbecue in his back yard for the first time since the '80s.

 

Or maybe Pettitte is trying to outrun the long tentacles of a former friend on the warpath. If Clemens is preparing to be nuked, he just might be ready to take Pettitte with him.

Pettitte is a lowlife rat that sold out his friend to save his own skin.

[Palodios]

Lowlife rat? Quite frankly, he's been one of the most graceful steroid users. If anyone is a lowlife rat, that would be Roger.

[a700hitter]

Lowlife rat? Quite frankly' date=' he's been one of the most graceful steroid users. If anyone is a lowlife rat, that would be Roger.[/quote']Graceful? Besides the fact that he is a huge hypocrite, the fact is that he sold out his best friend behind his back and he didn't have the guts to stare him down in front of Congress to make his accusations. Clemens is a psychotic piece of garbage, but Pettitte is a lowlife hypocrite rat.

[jacksonianmarch]

Back to the hot stove. Sounds like the Yankees should be locking up Andruw Jones soon. I like the move. He's a better defender than Thames and crushes lefties just the same. .931OPS vs lefties last yr. Believe it or not, Jones actually had a good yr last yr overall with an OPS of .827, an IsoPatience over .100 and 9 steals in half a season. He'd be an upgrade over Thames and is capable of playing LF or RF

[a700hitter]

Yankees Still In On Soriano

By Zach Links [January 8 at 1:38pm CST]

 

Despite Yankees GM Brian Cashman's insistence that the club will not surrender a first-round pick to sign any of the currently available Type A free agents, they are still in on Rafael Soriano, according to Jon Heyman of SI (via Twitter). Scott Boras, who represents the 31-year-old, recently said that his client would be open to a set-up role with the Yanks.

 

Meanwhile, Heyman says that the Angels could make a play for the right-hander, though the club needs to prioritize hitting over pitching. The White Sox have also been linked to Soriano but they are unlikely to pursue him unless his price drops significantly. We can also cross the Cardinals off of the list of potential suitors for Soriano as the club is said to be confident in both Mitchell Boggs and Jason Motte.

[jacksonianmarch]

That is per Boras mouthpiece Jon Heyman. This is a negotiating ploy, IMO.

[26 to 6]

I still think it would be nice to find a way to add him without losing the draft pick, like the Rays did last offseason. IIRC they pretty much agreed on a dollar amount for a one year contract, then had Soriano re-sign with Atlanta, who then traded him to the Tampa. I could be mistaken about exactly how it went down, but I think it was something along those lines. For some reason I may have 'misremembered' some of the details, but either way I've always liked Soriano, going back to when he first came up with Seattle, and he would definitely be a perfect addition to our pen setting up Mo. God knows we have to figure something out, because it certainly hasn't been the most productive offseason thus far.

I guess I kind of like the likely/possible addition of Andruw Jones, but I'm not 100% sold on him. Can't hurt though, I suppose. Also, I thought I remembered reading somewhere earlier in the offseason (I want to say back in November sometime) that Marcus Thames was working on a deal with the SoftBank Hawks in Japan, and that there were several other teams over there interested in him. It doesn't appear anything has been finalized on that front, as his name is still mentioned sometimes. I wouldn't mind having him back if he decides to stay in the states. Just for so long though I didn't even consider it because I figured he was definitely going to be playing in Japan. Although streaky at times, he wasn't too bad for us this past season, and would be cheaper than Andruw. Plus, for some reason I've always liked him too lol. I still remember seeing him hit that first HR off of Randy Johnson on the first pitch he ever saw in the big leagues back in '02. At that point I was convinced he was going to be a huge star for years in our outfield , only to be disappointed when he was traded to Texas the next year for Ruben Sierra. I liked "Big Rube" though, so it's all good since things obviously never panned out for Thames as I predicted they would lol.

 

Anyway, it's gonna be interesting to see what changes or additions we make both leading up to and during the season to stay competitive with the Sox. It's gonna be an interesting and exciting year in the AL East for sure.

[jacksonianmarch]

The reason that happened, though, was Soriano accepted arbitration. This yr, he did not. I doubt he comes here. Doesnt make a whole lot of sense. We dont need a bullpen ace right now. We need a complimentary piece. Soriano would make the pen better, but by how much when you already had a top 10 pen to begin with? I like Jon Rauch. I hope we can reel him in then convince Pettitte to come on board. If we can go into ST with those two in the fold, we'd be in good shape. If we use Pettitte's money on Soriano we are better in the pen but worse in the rotation. And the pen can only save leads that the rotation hands over to it

[jacksonianmarch]

Apparently the Yankees are moving on Justin Duchsherer for either a SP or RP role. Not a bad contingency signing. When healthy, he's very good (1.14WHIP). The problem is, for about 2.5 yrs now, he hasnt been healthy

[example1]

Apparently the Yankees are moving on Justin Duchsherer for either a SP or RP role. Not a bad contingency signing. When healthy' date=' he's very good (1.14WHIP). The problem is, for about 2.5 yrs now, he hasnt been healthy[/quote']

 

I've always liked Duchsherer and would have been okay with the Sox trying to get him this year for a long relief/spot-starter role. I'm doubtful that he's the answer the Yankees are looking for, but in terms of adding arms a team could do worse. His injuries are obviously the main concern, but otherwise he's at least a useful pitcher.

[jacksonianmarch]

I agree there. He's not the long term answer, but not the worst stopgap measure

[jacksonianmarch]

Pettitte has chosen to stay home for now and will not be starting 2011 with the Yankees. There remains the possibility of a midseason reunion, but as of right now, he will not be a Yankee in 2011. This is worst case scenario for the Yanks

[jacksonianmarch]

So, now that Pettitte is out of the picture, I would assume Duchsherer is brought in as a starter and we sign maybe Francis as well to round out the top 5, knowing that one of the above will be injured at some point in 2011

[BSN07]

Pettitte has chosen to stay home for now and will not be starting 2011 with the Yankees. There remains the possibility of a midseason reunion' date=' but as of right now, he will not be a Yankee in 2011. [b']This is worst case scenario for the Yanks[/b]

 

Only until CC opts out. Then it's rock bottom time.

[SoxFanForsyth]

Only until CC opts out. Then it's rock bottom time.

 

He's clearly going to opt out. How could he not opt out?!?

 

First off, look at the Yankees rotation outside of CC. You have Burnett, Hughes, Nova, Mitre, and a blank card. The Yankees are more desperate for CC than they were for Lee.

 

Then look at next years FA class. It's lead by Chris Carpenter and Roy Oswalt. Both are NL pitchers, and changing leagues is never an easy task. Add in the fact that they're both RHP, which would make the entire Yankees staff RH, and all that talk about the Sox being so lefty heavy turns into a huge advantage.

 

CC is going to get 25-28mm per year from the Yanks. Maybe he'll wise up and come over to the Sox. Wouldn't that be sweet, CC - Lester - Buch - Beckett - Lackey.

[jacksonianmarch]

CC has said multiple times that he will not opt out. We'll see if he keeps his word

[Palodios]

I wouldn't be surprised if he simply renegotiates with the yankees prior to opting up. If he wants more money, we all know who is going to give it to him.

[jacksonianmarch]

This wouldnt be AS bad if this were next yr. By next yr, we will need to have a spot open as we'll have a minor league system brimming with talent at the AAA level who have AAA experience. As it stands, I love our pitching farm, but our best prospects either will start the yr in AAA or AA (Brackman, Betances, Banuelos). Our middle of the rotation prospects like Phelps, Noesi, and Mitchell have some AAA experience from last yr, but arent ready to start the yr in the Bronx. Nova is ready, but if you are breaking a rookie into a rotation, you dont want to have him paired with another rookie in the rotation. Mitre has shown he isnt a rotation option, but is darn good out of the pen as a swing guy. As it stands right now, we do have an ace in CC. We have one kid who should improve on an impressive 2010 in Hughes. And we have AJ, who had a lost season marred by his pitching coach going AWOL and his wife leaving him. I do think that Hughes improves and AJ gets back to being a 4ERA pitcher with runs of dominance and maddening inconsistency. But that isnt enough. In the AL East, you need to go at least 4 deep in pitchers with the ability to give innings. We have 3 guys who can give inning, and one with a major question mark after a lost season in Burnett. My guess is that we sign 2 reclamation projects with the hopes that one of them can fill a spot while also having Nova start out in the #5 role. And then we troll the waters for a pitcher on the block. I would look long and hard at Carpenter if the Cards fall out of it again. He's in his final season, he's older and shouldnt cost the farm and would be a nice shot in the arm to pair with CC

[bsox0407]

This wouldnt be AS bad if this were next yr. By next yr' date=' we will need to have a spot open as we'll have a minor league system brimming with talent at the AAA level who have AAA experience. As it stands, I love our pitching farm, but our best prospects either will start the yr in AAA or AA (Brackman, Betances, Banuelos). Our middle of the rotation prospects like Phelps, Noesi, and Mitchell have some AAA experience from last yr, but arent ready to start the yr in the Bronx. Nova is ready, but if you are breaking a rookie into a rotation, you dont want to have him paired with another rookie in the rotation. Mitre has shown he isnt a rotation option, but is darn good out of the pen as a swing guy. As it stands right now, we do have an ace in CC. We have one kid who should improve on an impressive 2010 in Hughes. And we have AJ, who had a lost season marred by his pitching coach going AWOL and his wife leaving him. I do think that Hughes improves and AJ gets back to being a 4ERA pitcher with runs of dominance and maddening inconsistency. But that isnt enough. In the AL East, you need to go at least 4 deep in pitchers with the ability to give innings. We have 3 guys who can give inning, and one with a major question mark after a lost season in Burnett. My guess is that we sign 2 reclamation projects with the hopes that one of them can fill a spot while also having Nova start out in the #5 role. And then we troll the waters for a pitcher on the block. I would look long and hard at Carpenter if the Cards fall out of it again. He's in his final season, he's older and shouldnt cost the farm and would be a nice shot in the arm to pair with CC[/quote']

 

Not to nit pick or anything but the Cardinals were in the playoff race until late August. I dont see them moving Carpenter at the Trade Deadline unless they are well out which I don't see that happening.

[jacksonianmarch]

They were in it through August, but they also have an impetus to move him at the first sign of a downturn. First of all, he turns 36 in April. Second, he's in the final yr of his contract, which means they might be willing to sell on him. And third, I doubt he is brought back to StL with the Cards needing to scrounge and save every penny for a massive Pujols contract. If the Cards stay in it, then I agree, they wont deal him off. But if the Reds are 5 games up come July 1, then I think they might decide it is time to get something back for the guy

[Palodios]

They have an option for 2012, don't they?

[jacksonianmarch]

Ah, you are correct. If they are saving for Pujols, though, my guess is they wouldnt want to exercise it

[BSN07]

CC is gonna opt out IMO. But I think it will only be to get more $ from the Yankees. Similar to what Arod did. I would be surprised if some other team can pluck him away from NY. But I think they will have an opportunity to try at least. Maybe SF and/or LA will be more attractive this time around :dunno:

[jacksonianmarch]

If I were CC, I'd opt out too to get more cash. But CC has said he will honor the contract. We'll see if he lives up to his word

[BSN07]

If I were CC' date=' I'd opt out too to get more cash. But CC has said he will honor the contract. We'll see if he lives up to his word[/quote']

 

It's what your supposed to say while under contract. He would look awful right now if he announced before the season even begins he will be opting out at the end of the season. He's not the kind of player to draw that kind of attention IMO.

 

I'm sure he will be touting the company line right up until he announces he's opted out. Then it will be, well I just wanted to see what options where out there for me and my family. Then when NY throws a blank check at him like they did with Arod, he will say he never really wanted to leave and wanted to be a Yankee for the remainder of his career. If he does leave it will be the, I won a WS in NY and now I want to have a different challenge or trying to win a WS with the team he grew up watching or something.

 

You also have to consider that CC is looking around and noticing NYY are getting old fast. And signing another long term deal with an aging roster might be less appealing then it was 3 years ago.

 

Not saying this is set in stone, just some food for thought.