Yankees have company in Burnett pursuit

Bernie Baseball wants to play this year. http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/yankees/ny-spbernie195933362nov19,0,1716737.story?track=rss

Boring day in sports. CC is apparently waiting to see what the Dodgers are going to do. They're " reportedly " about to offer something around six years, 110- 120 MM. They should hurry up and do that... I'm gettin' a little drained. I think we'll have Burnett before we get this guy-- if we get him! Horrible. Coco Crisp traded to the Royals, if you wanted to know.

Dodgers will likely land him.

Manny will have 1 real suiter if thats the case. We might end up with Manny for 3 years.

Post reports Peavy deal may not include Hughes but Peavy won't waive NT without monetary compensation.

Just because the Yanks can offer Sabathia the largest contract doesn't automatically mean he will sign with the Yanks. I wouldn't be surprised if he signed with another team for a smaller contract with a team like the Dodgers, especially if it meant staying closer to home for him, it's not like a player who will be most likely making an 8-figure salary every year will be hurting or missing a few extra million per season. Dodgers getting him would make all the sense in the world since they need a staff ace in that rotation and the relationship between Penny and the Dodgers have been strained. They most likely would be able to go after Manny as well since Kent is expected to retire and they can replace him with cheaper options in Blake DeWitt, Casey Blake, and it's highly questionable they will want to keep Furcal. Heck I wouldn't all that surprised if the Giants got him this season.

GM Susaki is wrong the Dodgers won't sign Manny and CC unless Manny settles for 3 years. I do believe CC goes to the Dodgers if they offer him 120

Jeff Kent and Nomar are meaningless when your talking 25M a season.

bpunk,

you're absolutely wrong (as usual) about Manny. Don't be surprised to see him back for at least 3 years in Dodgers uniform since he is a major priority for Dodgers.

bpunk,

Kent is expected to retire, at the very least he won't be back with Dodgers.

If we get shut out with SP. What then? Pettitte? Moose? Hughes? Trade? Bryan any thoughts?

Kent is also a 40-year old who has bad legs and can't play the field much wouldn't make sense to keep him around.

Kent and Nomar don't affect the Dodgers payroll in the manor Manny and CC would.
Halliday is available.

Clear movement on the Peavy front. Agent: they would look at the Mets, Yankees and Angels but the initial 5 teams are preferred. Towers accepts Hughes as off limits.

If the Dodgers sign CC, they won't go beyond 3 yrs for Manny.

Roy Halliday is available

this is not a LAD post here!

Matt is a Oakland A's and SF Giants fan.

bpunk is a delusional dufus!!

Matt says Torre is not a good manager despite 13 straight playoff appearance and to him a 20 game winner is trash.

Here's a scary thought-The Yanks strike out in the FA market. Rotation looks like this: Wang, Pettite, Joba, Hughes, & Cashman's mom. No Tex. No back-up catcher after Posada goes to the DL. Payroll is set for 2010.

Not the worst rotation. I think Pettitte will bounce back, Wang has some ABs under his belt. Manny might compete with Cashman's mom.

http://emedia.thetimes-tribune.com/Blogs/SWBYankees/tabid/552/Default.aspx

The Giants are preparing a similar offer as Dodgers for Sabathia.

Lowe wants 4 years 16M per just to have a conversation. Thanks but I'd pay Pettitte one year at that before you got 1/2

http://www.fannation.com/si_blogs/hot_stove/posts/24884

Never said Torre wasn't a good manager bpunk. I basically said his time with the Yanks had come and gone, he wasn't an effective manager anymore and it was time for the Yanks to move in a different direction. At least I don't want every old fart who can hold a baseball like that roidhead Clemens, and everyone's favorite drunk Wells, Sheffield, Pedro Martinez and the no-talents like Cameron.

Really bpunk, you should really get over your mancrush of me, you're really scaring me!!!!! BWEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!

I seriously doubt, and would almost guarantee the Blue Jays will not trade halliday within the AL East to a team that year in year out finishes above them in the standings, so who gives a crap whether halliday is available, we're not getting him.

Cabrera, Veras, Igawa, Kennadia, and Cervelli plus Igawa's salary for Peavy and a reliever prospect is the working deal.

Wholohan, they might deal Halliday to one of CC's suiters.

Giants offering Sabathia a huge deal is no surprise as Sabean hasbeen saying for a while he intended to go after some big names. Even though it is considerable less than the Yanks' offer, that puts them right up there with the Yanks.

Matt's team could be stuck with Zito and now 6 years for Sabathia. Next they sign Bonds HAHAHHAH

Better than being stuck with your roidhead boyfriend Clemens. BWEHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!

MUSSINA JUST RETIRED

MUSSINA'S BROTHER WAS WRONG.

Boras must be smokin' on some heavy *** shid. What the heck!? 16 Mil for Lowe? Did he even perform to earn that kind of money? This may officially drive Burnett's price up to 20 MM a season, and he performs a lot better WHEN he's on the mound.

No doubt, the Yankees have cash to spend, but what does this do to other potential suitors who have a tighter wallet?

Even more so, what the heck is Teixeira's asking price going to be? 30 MM per? Boras stop smokin' son.

Dodgers won't be offering anything soon. Giants show interest, same with Angels. Sounds like the same old stuff week in, week out. When I see a contract offer, then I'll believe, but who is to say that these rumors won't be shot down in th next 24 hours? CC, sign already.

I knew it, Mussina would retires!!!!!! At least he went out on a high note. golf ewither better get his crystal ball fixed or just get a new one altogether as he guaranteed he would be coming back, like he could do that in the first place. golf don't give up your day job!!!!

These aren't just rumors about Sabathia, I'm not surprised the Giants stepped in either. Why would he sign with the Yanks when he has all these other team close to his home offering a contract?

I hold out hope as the season draws close Iron Mike Mussinas will reconsider or we will ask him and like Paul O'Neill he would say yes if asked.

I am convinced we will ask Moose if we don't get either Sabathia or Burnett.

No, no, no. You guys are wrong Now that CC seems to be shying to the west coast and Moose has retired, this has opened a new door for Pettitte, which it seems like wasn't even there a couple of days ago. With Wang, Joba and Pettitte in our rotation ( no Hughes for 2009, according to Mike Francesa, although he could earn it in SP. ), that would leave Burnett, Lowe, Sheets, Oliver Perez and Garland as potentials for our rotation. This just got a lot more interesting.

Though Burnett won't sign until CC ha signed elsewhere; Same with Lowe. They know the Yanks will be coming harder than ever at that time; Burnett is only considering five year deals. He must be on that Boras dope.

Not messing with Sheets, Lowe or Perez and I warey of Burnett. Garland is overrated.

Bpark, are we fudged? The worst thing that happens is that we don't land anyone, sign Teixeira and ave to go with a rotation of Wang, Joba, Pettitte, Hughes and some guy like Garland or maybe Aceves or Kennedy. In that case, we would have to go out and sign both Manny and Teixeira. That would leave Matsui on the bench. Or we would have to give u our farm for Peavy, try an acquisition of Dejesus to play CF, or whatever. In others words... will we be fudged?

i think fudged would be putting it generously. and hey, why not take a chance on sheets? he's basically the same as burnett (in terms of injury proneness) and when sheets is on, he can flat out dominate

would put it in worse terms, but big ol' Jesus won't let me.

maybe the yankees can sign big ol' jesus to a contract. he'd be a good #2 or #3

Just as I thought, according to the Milwaukee Journal the Giants will be offering a contract to Sabathia. Why not, since he favors the idea of playing close to home, he can't get any closer than SF, like I said this puts the Giants right up there with the Yanks who in my opinion have about a 50-50 chance of landing him. I just hope the Yanks are smart enough to stay away from pitchers like Garland who can wrack up the hits stats and runs and Oliver Perez who is one of the most overrated FA pitchers on the market. He has only had two full seasons where he finished with an ERA under 5.00 other than this past season. Both Burnett and Sheets are extremely risky to go after, but I of the two I would go after Burnett since he has been the healthier of the two in recent times. With that being said there is no chance the Yanks will even ask Mussina to come back at all if this team fails to land any of those pitchers. They seem to be comfortable enough to go with what they have.

RSB - I was wrong about Moose. Mea Culpa. I would have sworn he would come back but I applaud him for sticking to his own guns and doing what he wants instead of hanging around for the cash. Simply proves my point that he is one of the best competitors around and this team is worse off for not having him on it. And I don't give a TIHS what some of you say as you all were the ones pounding the last nails in his coffin this time last year while I was NOT. Now, the same bunch is shoveling dirt on top of Andy's box as well.
It's only November. Every baseball player will tell you that November baseball and January baseball are often different.....

Moose, thanks for the years, the effort, the style, the wins, the competitiveness, the leadership. Thanks for that game on May 8th against Cleveland when I took my Dad and my son to our first Yankees game (well, my Dad's first in probably 50 years.) Congratulations on a spectacular season and a spectacular, Hall of Fame-worthy career.

So, I guess given my track record so far, I will have to guarantee that CC signs with a west coast team for less money.

I also think that Andy will not be extended a contract anytime soon......

if the yanks can't get any of the top pitchers...then they should be very agressive in going after Texeira and Manny...
if they can't have dominate pitching they should at least have a high powered offense...

i'm sorry but the yankees should start talking real ill about Arod...to make him feel unwanted so he'll accept a trade and use him to get the next Edison Volques and some good postion prospects...for short and third
because if the yanks don't get top flight pitching...they are almost guaranteed to not make the playoffs...if boston adds to their rotation...and would be a great time to RELOAD...so they can build a dominate team for the future...

the worse possible senario could create the next great dynasty...
No CC No Burnett No Lowe...No playoffs
No problem...dump everybody
then come out with even more cash and contract flexibility...

He was a solid pitcher, but Mike Mussina is not a hall of famer.

However, if he eventually gets in, does he go in with an Oriole cap or a Yankee cap?

I've already made the case for Moose in the hall. His numbers on both sides of the ball (pitching and defense, what pitchers are supposed to do) get him there. He compares favorably with pitchers already in, with pitchers of his era and much much over the "league average" over the course of his career. If 300 wins is the only gauge, expect no more pitchers to ever be elected.

19 year career (18 full seasons), on the DL for a minute percentage of it.
Never won FEWER than 11 games in a (full) season).
Won 20 games, once, 19 games twice, 18 games 3x, 17 games 2x.
ONE losing (full) season - 2000 when his team went 74-88 and even then he won 11.
200+ ip in 11 of 18 full seasons.
Career ERA almost a full point below league average over the same period playing in the toughest division in baseball.
Played in the toughest division in baseball for a 4th place team for well over half of it, during the height of the "PED" era.
Finished in the top 6 in CY voting 9 of 18 full seasons.
5-time All-Star.
7-time Gold Glove winner
Top 10 9x in hits/9IP
Top 8 14x in walks/9ip including finishing 1st in 1995.
19th all time in K's
Top 8 10x in Ks per season
8th amoung active players in W/L pct and 3rd among long-time pitchers (Unit and Pedro although Pedro's stats have been awful for the last 3 seasons).

Those are just "good" or "average" stats.....

are = aren't

Peter Gammons makes a good arguement for Moose getting in he has over a .600 win %n while the average pitcher over the same time as his career has barely a .500%. thats a huge difference and every pitcher 100 games over .500 and is Hall eligible are in the Hall. He also did the in the powerful AL East for all 18 years of his career and for 10 of them in the tiny Camden Yards in Baltimore. I think he's a Hall of fame Player but now-a-days the best of the best of the elite arent the only players there so that also will help Moose.

golf,

With your track record you shouldn't include"guarantee" in any of your future posts, at least not until you get a new crystal ball or until you get in so good with the Big Guy upstairs he grants you the gift of seeing into the future.

wholohan, that closing sentence is really a sad statement about the HOF. Unfortunately, Mussina's numbers show that he was a very solid, and consistent pitcher during his career, not a great pitcher. Yes, posting a .600+ winning percentage in for his career while playing in the AL East is impressive he was also backed by very solid, if not very good Yankee offenses, and to compare his winning percentage to the "average" just makes no sense whatsoever. Should we compare the stats of HOF hitters to those of "average" hitters? Should we compare the stats of great QB's in the NFL to those of "Average "QB's? There's just no comparison. No, 300 wins shouldn't be the standard that we look at pitchers, it's overall achievement over their entire careers ( i.e Cy Young's, MVP's, career wins, etc. ) and what they bought to the game. IF Mussina goes into the HOF then pitchers who have stats that match up favorably to Mussina's stats should be in the HOF as well. Pitchers like Tommy John who has 288 career wins over a 26 year period, finished in the Top 10 in winning % 10 times in his career, 4 time All-Star, 3 time 20+ game winner, and finished among Top 10 ERA leaders 6 times, and a career 3.34 ERA. Chances are a guy like Schilling will get in ahead of Mussina whose career numbers match up very favorable to Mussina's as well despite starting his career as a reliever for five years and was somewhat injury prone. He was also a 6 time All-Star, finished in the Top 10 in ERA 9 times, finished in the Top 5 for Cy Young five times, a 3-time 20-game winner, leading the league in wins twice, among the Top 10 in strikeouts 10 times, and winning % 6 times. How about Jack Morris? He has 254 career wins, 5 time All-Star 3 time 20-game winner, 6-1 postseason record, 2-time AL MVP, and a Cy Young winner in '84.

In short Mussina is more about consistency, and less about achievement. Compared to other HOFers his numbers pale in comparison. Yes I know they played in different eras, but most of Mussina's numbers are not that spectacular and can and will be matched by other pitchers down the road. Should they be considered for the HOF as well? What makes Mussina's achievements stand out from previous HOFers and how will he compare to future HOFers.

I don't care what all you guys who have a mancrush on Mussina say, he is no HOFer. IT would be an absolute crime if he got in and Bert Blyleven didn't. But if he does go in, he will definitely go in with a Yankee cap

Matt I agree that the last sentence was about the HOF and not Moose, and I was simply paraphrasing Peter Gammons' arguments for Moose as a HOFer. I agree with you that if moose goes in the standard for pitchers is lowered and it opens the door for more mediocre HOFers. The Hall is supposed to be people who blew away the rest of the league, somebody that you think their name and then automatically HOF, kinda like Babe Ruth or for a person still playing Gregg Maddox. I just think there are too many people with similar or better numbers that when you think of them you say they're not a HOFer. I think Moose was a very good pitcher and a model for consistency but he just simply falls short in my eyes as a HOFer. But I'm not sure if he goes in if it'll be automatic Yankee cap on his head, he was two different pitchers in his career, a hard thrower for Baltimore and then had to redefine himself while with New York to the living on the black pitcher we know today, it would be interesting if he got in, but I still don't think he'll earn enough votes.

I think Mussina had to redefine himself in his later years with the Yanks. Mussina could still throw 92-93 mph when he first came to the Yanks if I'm not mistaken. I also don't think we have seen the end of the 300-win pitcher. Many people thought that after Earl Winn ended his career as a 300-game winer, but with all the changes in today's pitching trends I think it's going to be quite a while until we see another one.

Forget about signing CC. Where's a little Yankee pride? Why would you offer CC a record breaking contract and have him picking his nose waiting to see if he can land a NL west coast team where he can hit evey 4th day? and be near his homestead. HE DOESN"T WANT TO PLAY FOR THE YANKS! Move on and get Teixeira, trade for Peavy, try to sign Burnett?? and go from there. This team is aging and fast! Posada is a BIG? Godzilla is ?? Damon? Jeter, maybe 2/3 good years left in the tank. Cano? It's time to rebuild, be competative and trade for younger legs. The Mr. CashMan messed up last year not trading Cabera, Hughs and Kennedy for U know who? I would have in a heart friggin beat and i'm a nobody!! Hell, bring Bernie back! Maybe Paul O too!in right! CashMan needs to wake up and smell the turf, because it's gonna be a long hot summer in 09. I hope i'm dead wrong.