Yankees talking with Bill Hall
The Yankees have engaged in discussions with free agent Bill Hall about a possible utility role, the New York Daily News reported.
Citing a person with knowledge of the situation, the newspaper reported that Hall is considering “a couple of teams.” The Yankees would likely only offer Hall a Minor League contract with a chance to make the club in Spring Training.
Hall, 32, batted a combined .211 last season with the Astros and Giants. The Yankees currently have Eduardo Nunez and Ramiro Pena in line as bench candidates who can play multiple infield positions and some outfield.
Cashman: We could trade for a DH
In a conference call with reporters discussing the Michael Pineda trade on Monday, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said that he’d be more inclined to trade from his pitching depth to acquire a designated hitter than to sign one on the open free agent market.
When the Yankees officially announce the signing of right-hander Hiroki Kuroda, they’ll have seven starters vying for five spots. CC Sabathia, Ivan Nova, Pineda, Phil Hughes, A.J. Burnett and Freddy Garcia are also in that mix.
“Maybe I use our excess pitching to find a bat,” Cashman said. “That’s a possibility. … We stretched the payroll to get [Kuroda] done, so I’m not sure what we have financially. I think we’ll look at the trade market first and foremost and see where that takes us.”
Among the DH options out there, the Yankees have reportedly heard from Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, Vladimir Guerrero and Raul Ibanez, but are not thought to consider any of them an urgent priority.
“I think [the free agent market] would be secondary,” Cashman said. “Not that any of those players aren’t quality, but I do think it’s probably in our interest to first and foremost see what’s available in the trade market, because we have excess starter. There should be a demand and an interest at the various levels in our starting pitching that might prove beneficial.”
If the season started today, the Yankees would likely go with Andruw Jones as their DH, though they are curious about Minor League slugger Jorge Vazquez.
Yankees have heard from Vlad, Ibanez
The Yankees have heard from the representatives for free agents Vladimir Guerrero and Raul Ibanez about their opening at designated hitter, Newsday’s Ken Davidoff reports.
Guerrero and Ibanez could join a crowd of candidates vying for the Yankees’ attention in the wake of last week’s Jesus Montero trade to the Mariners. New York is known to have reached out to the representatives for Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui and Carlos Pena, but it is believed that the Yankees have only between $1 and $2 million to spend on a DH.
Internally, the Yankees are touting a tandem of Andruw Jones and Minor League slugger Jorge Vazquez to tackle DH duties, while also using the spot to help rest players like Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira. Davidoff’s report also noted that Jack Cust’s representatives talked to the Yankees, but Cust agreed to a contract with the Astros on Tuesday.
Carlos Pena on Yankees’ interest
Free agent slugger Carlos Pena is on the list of possible Yankees DH candidates for the ’12 season with Jesus Montero now heading to Seattle, alongside choices like Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui, plus in-house options like Andruw Jones and Minor Leaguer Jorge Vazquez.
Pena was on SiriusXM’s MLB Network Radio with hosts Rich Herrera and Mel Antonen on Sunday evening, and briefly acknowledged being contacted by the Yankees. Here’s the transcript of that exchange, provided by SiriusXM:
Host/Mel Antonen: “Carlos, your name keeps coming up as a DH for the New York Yankees. Would you be interested in being a DH at this point in your career or is it safe to say you want to be a first baseman and you would cross the Yankees off the list?”
Carlos Pena: “I think we explore all the options. You have to be humble enough to look at all different opportunities and obviously I think it is the smart thing to do, is just to sit down and listen to it and see what it is all about. So, that’s the right way to go about it. That’s the professional way to go about it. Obviously I feel incredibly healthy and I would say that I have a very good glove so I love to play first base. But I’m also not going to close any doors, that’s for sure.”
Antonen: “Have you heard from the Yankees?”
Pena: “Yes, I have.”
Antonen: “About being a DH?”
Pena: “You know, I heard about, you read that stuff that’s in the newspaper. That’s something that hasn’t been discussed at all.”
Yankees unlikely to sign Cespedes
The Yankees have never seemed to be a likely landing spot for Cuban outfield prospect Yoenis Cespedes. There was further evidence of that on Friday, as Cespedes told the Associated Press that the Yankees are not among six teams in pursuit of his services.
According to the AP, Cespedes listed the Marlins, Cubs, White Sox, Orioles, Tigers and Indians as the potential suitors who have shown the most interest in him. Cespedes is in the Dominican Republic and has not officially become a free agent, though that could happen very soon.
The Yankees have shied away from adding long-term contracts this winter and do not have a ready-made fit for Cespedes to step into their lineup. New York figures to again open the season with an outfield of Brett Gardner in left field, Curtis Granderson in center field and Nick Swisher in right field.
Report: Yankees discussing Edwin Jackson
The Yankees are balking at a high asking price for the Cubs’ Matt Garza and have instead turned their attention to free agent right-hander Edwin Jackson, CBSSports.com’s Jon Heyman reported Tuesday.
Noting that the Yankees and Jackson “aren’t in any way close to a deal,” Heyman suggests that New York and agent Scott Boras could eventually find middle ground. Boras has been reported to be looking for a four or five year pact for Jackson worth approximately $15 million per season.
That could prove too high for the Yankees, who have been preaching fiscal responsibility this winter and would not get involved with free agents C.J. Wilson or Mark Buehrle, despite their stated need for a starting pitcher to slot behind CC Sabathia in the rotation.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post noted on Tuesday that the Yankees like Jackson, but not enough to give him a big multi-year contract. They’d be more inclined to offer Hiroki Kuroda a one-year contract, but even that is too costly for their budget at the time.
Red Sox could make play for Andruw
The Yankees may have some company in trying to secure Andruw Jones for their bench. The New York Daily News reported Wednesday that the Red Sox are believed to have joined New York in pursuit of the 34-year-old outfielder, and that there are multiple teams with interest.
Jones provided right-handed power for the Yankees last year, slugging 13 homers in limited playing time, with most of his 48 starts coming against left-handed hurlers. The Daily News noted that while J.D. Drew’s contract has expired in Boston, neither Ryan Kalish nor Josh Reddick have a great track record against left-handed pitching.
A sign-and-trade with Nakajima?
There have been rumblings that the Yankees could pull off a sign-and-trade with Japanese infielder Hiroyuki Nakajima, who otherwise figures as a backup to Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano if they sign the player.
MLB.com looks a little deeper into the situation and speculates the Yankees were actually surprised to land Nakajima with their $2.5 million posting bid, suggesting that the San Francisco Giants might be interested (video link):
Yankees have not made offer to Kuroda
NEW YORK – The Yankees have not made an offer to free agent right-hander Hiroki Kuroda, according to a person with knowledge of the club’s thinking.
A report by the Japanese news outlet Sponichi suggested that the Yankees had already presented a one-year, $12 million offer to the hurler, who turns 37 in February.
The Yankees continue to look for ways to add starting pitching that could slide behind ace CC Sabathia, and they did show a level of trade interest in Kuroda last summer when he was with the Dodgers. But the person said that the report of an offer is not true.
Kuroda finished 2011 with a 13-16 record and 3.07 ERA in 32 starts for Los Angeles, striking out 161 and walking 49 in 202 innings.
In four Major League seasons, Kuroda is 41-46 with a 3.45 ERA in 115 games (114 starts). His catcher for the first three seasons with the Dodgers was Russell Martin, who is entering his second season in New York.
Cashman: No drunken napkin swapping these days
You’ve almost certainly noticed how much quieter the Yankees figure to be during these Winter Meetings. Brian Cashman says it isn’t for a lack of trying; he just seems to be having conversations with other general managers that are hitting dead ends. But why?
“I don’t know,” he said. “I think everybody values prospects a lot more now, while at the same time trying to retain maximum value on players toward the back end of their contracts. It’s just hard to find matches. Money is a real issue for everybody; everybody has various different budgets, some higher than lower. It’s just hard to find a match – and it feels like it’s harder now than ever. You don’t see those old-school 7- to 11-player deals.
“You don’t see stuff like that anymore. I think people are smarter, also; it’s not a complaint, but a lot of people are a lot smarter and therefore more careful. This isn’t the old seat-of-the-pants, get drunk in the lobby and write names on the napkin. People don’t conduct business that way any more. They just don’t.”
It’s not like the Yankees don’t have chips that teams are asking about. In fact, Cashman said he’s getting requests about some names you might not even have thought of.
“I’ve got a lot of teams expressing interest in [Ivan] Nova, [Brett] Gardner, [Phil] Hughes, [Jesus] Montero, [Hector] Noesi, [Manny] Banuelos, [Dellin] Betances; I’ve had teams ask me about [David] Robertson,” Cashman said. “The ones that people don’t ask me about are [Robinson] Cano and [Curtis] Granderson. Outside of that, I’ve had basically hits on everybody else.”
And, obviously, there has been no rush to deal those players away.
“All those guys are either future high performers or currently high performers, they’re under control and they’re cheap,” Cashman said. “It’s, ‘Hey, take my older, expensive, over-the-hill guy for your young, better-performing guy.’ I’m like, ‘Let me think about that and get back to you.’”
Bryan Hoch
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