- The A.J. Burnett rumors continued over the weekend and into today. Jon Heyman feels that the deal will end up with the Pirates eating $13-$15 million of Burnett’s contract, with two prospects going to the Yankees. Joel Sherman heard that the Pirates are only offering $10 million at this point, with two “blah” prospects.
- At It’s About The Money, Brien Jackson looks at some of the stances against trading Burnett floating around the blogosphere and concludes that the Yankees’ pitching depth is far too deep to keep him on the roster.
- Yesterday, Beyond the Box Score took an advanced view at how Burnett might fare in Pittsburgh, concluding that he’ll most likely succeed, but to take the gamble the price must be right.
- In prospect news, Kevin Goldstein released his top 101 prospects on Baseball Prospectus. The Yankees had four prospects make the list, Manny Banuelos at 29, Gary Sanchez at 40, Betances at 63, and Mason Williams at 99. Though, you could bump all those numbers up one since…
- Yoennis Cespedes agreed to a contract with the Oakland Athletics today. On a four year $36 million deal, Cespedes would be ranked #20 on Goldstein’s prospect list above. He’ll most likely have to spend time in the minors, but it’ll be interesting to watch how well he does in the Major Leagues after the Yankees’ interest wained through the offseason.
- Buster Olney reports that Vladimir Guerror wants to be a Yankee. As a right handed hitter he really has no place on the team, but if he’s willing, a spring training invite wouldn’t hurt.
- Finally, Andrew Marchand of ESPN New York wrote a nice piece about Joba Chamberlain‘s future with the Yankees and in the Major Leagues. With such a low trade value, and no place in the rotation or back end of the bullpen, it’s a mystery what the team plans to do with him.
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4 Responses to Nightly Links: Burnett, Guerrero, Joba
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TIQ IQ
Sorry Vlad. One of the coolest players to never wear a Yankee uniform but he has no spot with this club.
Joba might be taking a very prominent role in the Yankees bullpen after this season. We could see Mo retire, and Soriano have a stellar year and opt out in an effort to get another multiyear deal. Then Joba would be counted on to be the set up man for Robertson presumably.
Doubt the Yankees would let Soriano, Feliciano, and Mo go, along with $30 million, and fail to sign a top notch reliever. Not to mention the extra $4m from Freddy Garcia, who looks like the 6th man/long reliever.
Considering how the Yankees at seasons end have no catcher, right fielder, and may be looking for starting pitching help, I wouldn’t mind at all to see Soriano, Feliciano, and Freddy leave. If Mo retires or not thats obviously his decision, but hypothetically if he does, the bullpen would still be strong. Thats 30 million dollars to resign Martin or M. Montero, a starting pitcher, or right fielder.
Since we are working off hypothetical scenarios, I am going to assume the Hughes will not work out as a starter and be moved back into a bullpen role where he was dominant in 09.
Closer – Robertson
8th inning – Hughes
7th – Joba
Round that out with Cory Wade, Boon Logan, and either DJ Mitchell, Adam Warren, or David Phelps can fill in for long relief. Bullpen would still be pretty strong without any outside additions.
With the type of success the team has in developing relief pitchers, this is probably the best way to spend money. But it seems that they have a rather large appetite to spend on the free agency market for big name relievers too. Soriano, Feliciano, and Marte were completely unnecessary when they signed. From the recent history of the front office, I believe they’d target a reliever, but I agree that the best use of money would be on a position player or starter.