BudLight

No doubt Sanchez has had some real bright spots with the bat but his defense is a detriment and I don't believe his offensive drop off is physical, it's mental. Tough to fix mental. If he can be dealt with another piece to the Marlins for Realmuto I hope the deal gets done. Not a lot of drop off from Realmuto's proven offense and Sanchez' predicted output and Realmuto's defensive superiority more than makes up for any lower level offensive production than Sanchez.

Darvish is overpriced and limits the Yankees ability to make any mid-season moves if necessary. They should continue to pursue a trade for Corbin leaving them some financial flexibility for the season. Darvish went 10-12 last year with an ERA approaching 4.00 and it is rumored he wants $20-25 million. HRs allowed increased and pitching in Yankee Stadium that number is sure to go up. At $10 million CC resigning is a steal!

Do you know his twitter handle

Ellsbury is a complete waste of a roster spot, I don't believe anyone would argue that fact especially with Hicks and even C Frazier on the 40 man now and Florial in the wings. The problem with Ellsbury is his skills have diminished to the point that he is now number 5 (at best) on the Yankees outfield chart. He's owed a shitload of money and the only way to get rid of him is to pay a major portion of his salary, throw in a decent prospect and most importantly get him to waive his no-trade clause. He may be comfortable with 100 plate appearances per year for the remainder of his contract.

While Greinke has played in a major market (LA) there is a significant difference in how the LA media interacts with the Dodgers and how the NY media interacts with the Yankees.

Hal needs to keep the Yanks in contention for a WS run while keeping payroll under the luxury tax threshold for 2018. If he is successful the luxury tax penalty drops from 50% to 20% beginning in 2019.. In addition the luxury tax cap increases in 2019, 2020 and 2021. The Yankees are deep in talent in both the infield and outfield with several additions to the major league roster from that depth expected to make their MLB debuts in the not to distant future. Headley was simply a salary dump to help them get the additional pieces they need for 2018 without going over the luxury tax cap. Only wish they could find a taker for Ellsbury even though they will have to eat a good portion of his remaining salary to do so and have Ellsbury waive his no-trade clause.

While Grienke would be a great addition to the pitching staff it has been questioned in the past if he could stand up mentally to pressures of pitching in New York.

Angelos won't trade with the Yankees directly anyway. Would take a multi-team trade for the Yankees to end up with Machado. My guess is Machado goes to the Cardinals.

A week ago there wasn't much confidence in the Yanks being able to get rid of Headley's salary or signing Stanton.

Quite possible it would take a top prospect or two. Andujar might be one of those prospects and C Frazier might be another. Just speculating.

New rumor out of the winter meetings, Machado wants a return to shortstop. While it appears the Yanks are stuck with the Ellsbury contract, they may still get some value out of it over the next season. Here's a scenario that may not be to far fetched: Machado to the Yankees for Brett Gardner and a lower level prospect. Gardner immediately improves the Orioles left field situation and his and Machado's contracts are very close in AAV. No significant additional increase for the Yanks and Baltimore at least gets something for Machado before he walks at the end of the season. Hicks and Ellsbury platoon in CF while Didi moves to 2nd, Torres and/or Andujar at 3B and Machado at SS.

Headley, while he worked hard to get out of San Diego, put up good numbers with the Friars and is still an asset at 3B defensively. Not sure for $13M though.

Next move is to solidify 3B. Plenty of rumors regarding Yankees interest in Profar and Miguel Andujar will get a long look in spring training. While T Frazier would welcome a return to the Yankees, not sure the interest is mutual.

People tend to forget that baseball organizations train and groom staff personnel as much as they do players. I'm certain they already have someone in mind within the organization now or previously in the organization they want to bring back. Girardi did a nice job over his 10 years at the helm. Time to pass the torch. The Yankees need a manager who can work with and understand their crop of young players that are now with the team and those in the minors who will be joining the 40 man roster over the next several years. Best of luck Joe and thanks for your 10 years of service.

Proven!

I think Cashman's best deal for Miller was probably with Houston who have now moved on with Giles. It was rumored that the Astros were listening on Springer, not sure if Cashman asked for him to be included in a deal for Miller or not. He would have been a nice addition with control but it would also have meant moving Gardner if Judge was coming up this next season. An outfield of Judge, Springer and a platoon of Hicks and Ellsbury would have been nice. Ellsbury's contract is going to be a problem as the Yanks move forward in finding playing time for Hicks and Judge.

Theo and crew were signed to five year deals by the Cubs ownership, but that in itself does not indicate ownerships patience with their progress. Having said that, the Cubs do have 5 prospects in the top 60 in the minors right now, they also play in a division that was the only one to have three 90 win teams last year. They have their work cut out for them, the competition within their division alone is extremely tough.

Girardi confirmed, ina an article in the Saturday Post, that Cano didn't like hitting second and preferred to bat third, Girardi stated that Cano didn't tell him he was unhappy but that Girardi wa hearing things so he sat down and talked with Cano. Girardi states Cano told him OK, whatever you need. Girardi told Cano that he would get him back to the three spot in the order when he could, but at that time hitting second gave the Yankees the best chance to win. It's funny how after Cano agreed to terms with Seattle the stories came out about his being unhappy in NY playing for Girardi, but when Girardi sat him down to talk Cano didn't relay his unhappiness to the manager. If I were Girardi and/or front office of the Yanks, I would be hesitant to entertain a $300M contract demand from someone who obviously had no interest in being the "face" of the team. If a player expects to be the highest paid on a team then the team should expect that he can be counted on to do what needs to be done for the good of the team. In this case I believe, with all of the Yankees roster issues last year and the fact that they were in the playoff chase up to the end, Girardi made the right calls.

Mujica is a good signing for the Sox. Being here in StL got to see a lot of him last year. Matheny has a tendency to give up on his pitchers some times and gets into patterns where he overworks his bullpen. I think that is what happened last year. Mujica was solid but overworked in the closers role. Much better as a set-up guy.

Guess you can spin it that way if you believe the most valuable offensive addition to the Yankees thus far this off season is Ellsbury. I would argue that the addition of Ellsbury and McCann and the subtraction of Cano and Stewart is a net gain.

What is not discussed here is how much the Yankees made in 2012 in addition to the $90 M that UD states. The Yankees sold 9% of their stake in the YES network as part of the 49% buy of YES by News Corp. That was worth $270M and are expected to receive an additional $400-$500 M. YES pays the Yankees $85M per year for broadcast rights. The broacast rights are based on an escalated scale that, when reached at the end of the Yankees agreement with YES in 2042, will be worth $350M in 2042. Not having the scale for the escalation I cannot know how much the rate increases per year, but the $85M increases each year.

If the offer from the M's is accurate that is 23 to 24M AAV. The Yankees offer of 160/7 is 22.85M and if the reports that the Yanks would go as high as 175/7 are true that's 25M AAV. Not much difference here. Does Cano want to play in NY or Seattle seems to be the question now. At least the Yanks aren't outbidding themselves like they did with Ellsbury

The Mariners must have offered Cano a 15 to 20 year contract based on the comment below: [h=1]Mariners May Have Topped Yankees' Offer To Cano[/h]By Steve Adams [December 4 at 3:07pm CST] 3:07pm: The Mariners may have topped the Yankees' offer to Cano, a source tells Anthony McCarron of the New York Daily News. That same source indicated to McCarron that the Mariners are pursuing Cano "guns-a-blazing," and making the pitch to Cano that he can either be a Yankee legend or be a baseball legend by helping the Mariners win their first World Series. Cano is a very good player but he alone cannot get Seattle to the World Series. How did that Pujols and Hamilton to the Angels work out Robbie in helping the Angels win a world series??

What is your criteria for determining rankings? You are comparing a second baseman and a center fielder. Are you saying Ellsbury is not in the top 25 center fielders in MLB? What are your talent categories; speed, power, defense? Are you using Bill James criteria?

Yankees grossly overpaid and over extended in terms of years on this contract for the long term. In the short term Ellsbury provides the Yankees with an immediate injection of speed, a defensive upgrade in centerfield and a gritty attitude that is missing from their lineup. Where this deal hurts the Yankees the most IMO is that it can hamper them in addressing their other glaring needs such as pitching, shortstop and third base. Ellsbury is a nice addition but not at the possible costs in these other areas. A new talent with the same results as 2013 unless they are able to address their other short comings.