Yankees baseball blog

Phil Hughes focusing on 2009

What a difference a year makes.

Last winter, Phil Hughes was one of the hottest commodities in baseball, the centerpiece of a proposed trade between the Yankees and Twins that would have landed Johan Santana in pinstripes.

Now, as the Yankees pursue free agent pitchers CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Derek Lowe, the 22-year-old Hughes is uncertain whether he'll even be in the majors when the 2009 season starts.

"It's just one of those wait-and-see things," Hughes said from his family's Southern California home. "We'll sign whoever we sign this winter, and I'll go to spring training with the same attitude that I always do. I don't worry about the things I can't control." Continue

Prospecting

 The final line on  Phil Hughes in the Arizona Fall League, which concluded last Saturday: 3.00 ERA, 38 punchouts in 30 innings, .198 opponents' BA, and a fastball that topped out at 95 mph. Continue

Yankees might have to outbid Angels for Sabathia

If the Angels do deliver a competitive offer to CC Sabathia, the Yankees must decide whether to raise their own bid for him. They are debating that issue internally, but the majority of their decision-makers support the idea of going higher for the coveted lefthander, a person familiar with the situation said yesterday.

The Yankees extended a six-year offer to Sabathia for about $140 million on Nov. 14, knowing full well that Sabathia, a California native and resident, prefers the West Coast and the National league.

  Yankees general manager Brian Cashman publicly has derided the notion that the team, with roughly $85 million coming off its books, could spend limitlessly this offseason. Yet Cashman has said he signed another contract with the Yankees to ensure a positive legacy, and it's clear that he views Sabathia as the top solution for his team. Continue

Dodgers see opportunity for Pettitte

Dodgers GM Ned Colletti admitted yesterday to having an interest in free agent Andy Pettitte.

"Some," Colletti wrote in an e-mail about the level of the Dodgers' interest in Pettitte, who said often at the end of the season that he didn't want to work for any team other than the Yankees in 2009. Pettitte apparently has changed his mind after not getting a deal done quickly with the Yankees.

With Monday's deadline for offering salary arbitration to their free agents looming, the Yankees are faced with a dilemma now that Pettitte has expanded his choices beyond retirement or the Yankees. Continue

Angels prep Sabathia offer

The Angels, unwilling to meet Mark Teixeira's desire for a 10-year contract, are in discussions with CC Sabathia and could offer him a contract that approaches the $140-million bid extended to him by the  Yankees.

The Angels appear reluctant to guarantee more than seven years in a contract for Teixeira, said a source familiar with the club's thinking. They appear more likely to pursue Sabathia, with an offer in the range of Johan Santana's six-year, $137.5-million contract with the Mets.

Teixeira remains the Angels' top priority - the club would sign him but does not want to miss out on Sabathia while waiting to see whether Teixeira's asking price falls. The Angels are not believed to have made a formal offer to either player. GM Tony Reagins said the club has not ruled out retaining Teixeira. Continue

What if Yanks whiff on all three?

With no playoffs in 2008 and a new stadium opening in 2009, the Yankees are trying their hardest to make the three top free-agent starting pitchers extremely rich. But it takes two parties to finish a deal.

Imagine the horror in the Big Apple if the Yankees somehow struck out on CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Derek Lowe.

That would be the ultimate low blow to the Yankees' self-esteem and would leave manager Joe Girardi wondering how he's going to fill the 200 innings he got from Mike Mussina, who is retiring. It might force general manager Brian Cashman to stop trying to get Andy Pettitte to take a pay cut. And it could happen. Continue

Five too high for A.J. Burnett

The Yankees are on an all-out pitching blitz, but A.J. Burnett's desire for a five-year contract has bogged down the Bombers' pursuit of the righthander, according to a baseball executive familiar with the team's thinking.

The Yankees, who made a six-year, $140 million offer to CC Sabathia last week and planned to make an offer to Burnett shortly thereafter, have not made a formal proposal to the pitcher and likely won't as long as he insists on a five-year pact. Continue

Yanks could still chase big bats

If the Yankees don't bag two of the top three free agent pitchers, they aren't going to deposit the money back into the Steinbrenner family vault or throw a financial lifeline to America's mismanaged auto industry.They will attempt to add muscle to a lineup that is expected to lose  Bobby Abreu and Jason Giambi  and hope to slug their way back into the postseason.

According to a person familiar with the club's thinking, if only one of the pitchers from the free agent pool of CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Derek Lowe sign with the Yanks, they are set to be aggressive with switch-hitting free agent first baseman Mark Teixeira. Continue

Hal Steinbrenner issues deadline to CC Sabathia in first act as top Yankee

Hal Steinbrenner officially became "The New Boss" Thursday and his first act sounded an awful lot like the original Boss, his father: He set an unspecified deadline for free-agent pitcher CC Sabathia to take the Yankees' $140 million offer."We've made him an offer. It's not going to be there forever," Hal Steinbrenner told The Associated Press following a meeting at Major League Baseball headquarters in which he was approved as the "control person" for all the Yankees' operations.

 The Yankees extended the offer to Sabathia last Friday and they and the Brewers are the only teams to have reportedly offered the lefty a contract, though other teams are believed to be interested as well. Several Yankee officials and others in the industry have said recently they don't expect Sabathia to sign with any team until baseball's winter meetings, which are Dec.8-11 in Las Vegas. Continue

George era ends as Hal officially takes the reins

When George Steinbrenner told MLB he wanted to shift control of the Yankees to his sons, Hal and Hank, after 35 years running the most famous sports franchise, MLB instructed The Boss the rules stipulated only one general partner.So the Steinbrenner family put the issue to a vote, and Hank voted for his younger brother to officially follow their father, who stepped away from the table in the fall of 2007 due to faltering health. 

That decision became official yesterday, with Hal taking over the reins from his now-frail father."Hank supported this move because Hal works with the finances," a Yankee source said when asked if the shift meant Hank was being brushed aside or requested a lesser role. "He is fine with it." Continue