Molina Agrees to a New Deal

The Yankees and Jose Molina have agreed to a 2 year, $4 million contract. This is a great deal for the team. With all of the crazy money the front office has thrown around this offseason, it is nice to see a reasonable contract.

Molina is a perfect backup catcher. He is nowhere near the offensive player that Jorge Posada is, but he hits adequately for a backup backstop. Quality hitting catchers are very hard to find. Most of them get starting jobs. A lot of teams cannot even find starting catchers who hit well. Not being a big time hitter does not necessarily preclude a man behind the plate from a being productive player.

Molina has the best attributes for a reserve catcher. He handles pitching staffs well, calling good games. He is an enormous asset to a team with a lot of young pitching. He also has an arm that can shut down opposing running games and plays great defense all around. It has been a while since the Yankees had a guy this good behind Posada. The team can give Jorge more rest this year to keep him fresher and still have a quality player behind the plate.

A-Rod to Return

The Yankees and Alex Rodriguez have agreed to a 10 year, $275 million contract. A dramatic whirlwind of events will keep the game’s most talented player in the Bronx for another decade. This is obviously good news for the team. It is also bad news for fans as the handling of this situation displays troubling signs of inept leadership.

The Yankees had a hole to fill at third base. They found the best guy on the market to do so. A-Rod gives the lineup desperately needed balance as a righty power hitter. He also plays Gold Glove caliber defense at the hot corner. The team now does not have to worry about him going to Boston and playing with the Green Monster. The Yanks also now will not have to give up any promising youngsters to find a third baseman or figure out how to replace his immense production.  A-Rod will now have a chance to enter the pantheon of great Yankees. He likely will end up in Monument Park, and number 13 will be retired. Alex will also have a chance to return the career homerun record to the Bronx. The Yankees can boast the greatest left side of an infield ever with A-Rod and The Great Jeter. He does bring a ton of distractions with him, but there is no question that this is a better team. Alex has started to embrace New York and thrive under the pressure. One of these years he will have a big postseason. He is too talented to not. Everything his critics say about his performance in the clutch was once said about Peyton Manning. Alex only needs one big October to silence those critics and become a legendary Yankee.

While A-Rod’s return is good, the leadership of this team looks like a bunch of buffoons. It starts at the top. Hank Steinbrenner’s blustering about how the team would never take Alex back after he opted out makes him look like a bag of hot air. This team claimed it would not negotiate if A-Rod opted out. Alex and Scott Boras opted out, reasoning the Yankees would eventually reenter the bidding. Player and agent ended up being right. They got a record contract as a result. The Yankees can claim that they won by excluding Boras from negotiations, but making the superagent fall on his sword is meaningless. Anybody who thinks A-Rod was not in constant communication with his representative would probably buy the Brooklyn Bridge if offered by somebody on the street. A-Rod came crawling back to the Yanks after there were no big offers on the market. The Yankees had all the leverage. They ended up bidding against themselves to give him a better contract than A-Rod got from Texas back in 2001 when he was 25 years old. It was more prohibitive than the extension they were going to offer him early The Yankees might spin that the early years of this deal are below market value to make up for the subsidy lost from Texas, but all the money on the backside of the contract more than makes up for that. This is incompetency at its worst.

The lesson here is that it is good to have money. The Yankees got absolutely played and still came out all right because they locked up the most talented player in baseball. The scary thing is that the same people are still running the team. If can they mess up like this in a perceived victory, it will be frightening to see them fail.

Lowell at First?

The Boston Globe reports the Yankees are discussing signing Mike Lowell and moving him to first base.

Mike Lowell moving to first base for the Yankees?

That was the word on the Newark Star-Ledger website last night. Baseball writer Dan Graziano reported that the Yankees, who appear to be moving closer to bringing third baseman Alex Rodriguez back in the fold, would also like to bring Lowell on board as their full-time first baseman.

“A person familiar with the negotiations, who requested anonymity because discussions are still ongoing, said the Yankees have been in contact with Lowell’s representatives about the idea of him signing to be their first baseman,” Graziano wrote.

I cannot find this anywhere on the Star-Ledger’s website, but the Globe is not a tabloid that would just make something up. The Yankees should inquire and bid on Lowell but only to drive up the price the Red Sox would have to pay to keep him. Away from Fenway Park, he is not the same hitter. His swing is perfect for that stadium. A Shelley Duncan/Doug Mientkiewicz platoon would probably not be much of a downgrade from Lowell at Yankee Stadium. Much of Lowell’s value comes from his defense, but learning a new and less important position takes that away. The Yankees should not overspend here because Lowell is not a need. Signing him would give Boston a pair of early Draft picks, including New York’s 2008 first rounder. It also would open the door for the Sox to trade for Miguel Cabrera. The Yankees can find similar production without giving up all that, not to mention a monster contract to a 33 year old.

Matsui Has Surgery

The New York Daily News reports that Hideki Matsui had surgery yesterday on his ailing right knee. He should be fully healed by the time Spring Training starts. The Yankees would be wise to get Johnny Damon before his decline becomes magnified and he loses all value. Even if they do so, this team should look into adding a new outfielder to play left. Given the wear and tear the aging Matsui has taken from the field and the recent pronounced decline in his defensive range, his best position is designated hitter.

Sterling: Chance of A-Rod’s Return a 101 of 100

John Sterling told Mike and the Maddog earlier today that the possibility of Alex Rodriguez returning to the Yankees in 2008 is a 101 on a scale of 100. He said the sides have been in long negotiations and a deal is all but finished.

If anybody knows the sources to find for reliable Yankees information, it is Sterling. It would be a shocker at this point if it did not turn out to be true. This has been a bizarre story. If trusted sources were not reporting this, it would be easy to doubt the validity. I will save my opinion on this strange tale for an official report.

A-Rod Talking with the Yankees?

ESPN.com reports the Yankees and Alex Rodriguez are in negotiations without Scott Boras.

The New York Yankees have been discussing a deal with their former All-Star third baseman Alex Rodriguez — but the team says a deal can only move forward if his agent, Scott Boras, is not part of the talks, the New York Daily News reported Wednesday.

According to the report, a high-ranking Yankees source said the team is willing to bring back A-Rod on a below-market contract that would make up for the $21 million subsidy from the Texas Rangers that the Yankees lost when A-Rod opted out of the final three years of his contract — despite team comments indicating he had burned his bridges by opting out.But any such deal can’t take place with Boras at the table, a Yankee source said, according to the report.

“We will not negotiate with Scott Boras,” the source told the Daily News. “He cannot be in the room.”

Boston is making Mike Lowell contract offers that they know fall just short of what he wants. If they really wanted Lowell, he would be signed by now. This is a clear indication they think they can upgrade, which would likely mean signing A-Rod. If this is true, the Yankees might be the only hope of keeping the most talented player in the game out of Beantown, which would be a nightmare scenario.

Even though the Yanks might end up with A-Rod, there is something fishy about this whole thing. A-Rod would not even talk with the team before opting out. He only comes back now when no team has made the monumental offer he expected because the Yankees have the deepest pockets in baseball. This guy has shown that he is all about money, not winning. Anybody who thinks Scott Boras is to blame for the way the opting out was handled is gullible. Boras works for Alex, not the other way around. After all this franchise has done for A-Rod, the least he could have done was to inform the Yankees of his decision in person.

If A-Rod is sincere about feeling bad and wanting to return to New York, the Yankees should make him put his money where his mouth is. In any contract he signs, the Yanks should make his salary $15.884 million in 2008, $16.8985 million in 2009, and $17.913 million in 2010. That is what the team would have paid him under his old deal without the subsidies from Texas. It is Alex fault he would not receive the extra $21 million over those three years. The Yankees tried to give him that in addition to the best offer he will receive this offseason. A-Rod got greedy and thought he could do better. If Alex tries any funny business about raising his salary, the Yankees should walk away from the negotiating table. They would be liars if they did not after all of Hank Steinbrenner’s blustering. Even so, it might be best to let this weasel walk away and get him away from the team at any cost. He has proven he thinks himself to be more important to any team.

Yankees Make a Mo a Monumental Offer

The New York Times reports the Yankees have made a 3 year contract offer to Mariano Rivera worth $45 million.

The Yankees’ latest offer to Mariano Rivera — three years for $45 million — would make him by far the highest-paid closer ever, and team officials are somewhat surprised he has not yet accepted. The initial offer was for $5 million less, and the Yankees have no plans to change it again.

“I think we’re all pretty much in agreement that this is it,” Hank Steinbrenner, the Yankees’ senior vice president, said in a telephone interview last night. “Make no mistake, I want him back, and that’s why this offer is what it is.”

Mariano clearly felt slighted when the team did not offer him an extension before last season. He has talked about a lack of respect. It would be tough for the Yankees to show a 38 year old closer more respect than this offer. It is enormous for a closer, especially one of Mo’s age. He is not going to find a better offer out on the market. If Mariano wants to leave, he will do so for less money, a move that would be tough to criticize. He would be taking money out of his own pocket out of principle. The ball is now in Rivera’s court. The Yankees have clearly negotiated with him in good faith.

Yankees Resign Posada

The Yankees and Jorge Posada have come to terms on a 4 year, $52 million contract to keep the catcher in the Bronx through 2011. This was the first piece of good news in an offseason marred by a bungled managerial change and Alex Rodriguez opting out of his contract. The Yanks still have a ton of work to do. This was a critical first step.

It is generally a bad idea to give a 36 year old catcher a 4 year deal. There was little else the Yankees could do in this case. Posada had all of the leverage. As much offensive firepower as this team has, losing a second Silver Slugger would have been very tough to overcome. That does not even take into account Posada’s leadership role on this team. He is essentially Derek Jeter’s cocaptain. Nobody can expect him to ever repeat his 2007 numbers, but he is by far the best thing available on the market. Anybody else would have been a substantial dropoff. Due to revenue sharing and the luxury tax, teams now have the money to lock up their talent at critical positions such as catcher. It is unlikely anything close to Posada’s caliber will hit the market in the next few seasons. The Yankees overpaid, but they had little choice. They could not afford to lose Jorge. Everybody overpays for free agents these days because of how ridiculous the market is. This is a just punishment for the Yankees being so lax in developing catching talent on the farm. Now the race is on to find a successor before the wear and tear of the profession make Jorge a DH.
The next orders of business are obviously Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera. This team should also do what it takes to get Jose Molina back into the fold. He will be pretty cheap and will be a good influence around the young pitching talent the team has. He is also good enough to give Jorge more rest in the next year so that the starting catcher can stay fresh. At some point, the beating that catching has put on his body will take a toll. Molina can at least help to delay that process.

Santana Could Cost Cano

Newsday reports the Yankees might have to give up Robinson Cano in order to land Johan Santana.

The gap between an available Santana and a traded Santana figures to be steep, and that means high asking prices for all suitors – including the Yankees, who have targeted the two-time Cy Young Award winner.

In return for Santana, the Twins likely will ask for a package centered on second baseman Robinson Cano, a person familiar with Minnesota’s operations said yesterday.

Cano, 25, hit 19 homers with a .353 on-base percentage and .488 slugging percentage for the 2007 Yankees. He is eligible for salary arbitration in 2008, but the Twins – who are nearly certain to lose pricey free agent Torii Hunter and who would be dealing the expensive Santana for Cano – wouldn’t be scared away by the seven-figure salary.

This would make plenty of sense. The Twins should have Francisco Liriano back in their rotation at some point in 2008 backed by one of the deepest collection of young arms in baseball. What they need is offense, especially considering the likelihood they will lose Torii Hunter to free agency.

This return would be somewhat more palatable for the Yankees than giving up young arms like Hughes, Chamberlain, and Kennedy. Second basemen are much easier to find than young stud pitchers. The same issues still exist. At a young age, Cano has become the American League’s best second baseman. Would it really be worth giving him up to get Santana with the lefty ace a year from free agency? Maybe Santana would welcome a contract extension with the team the Twins trade him to, but would anybody bank on that? It would seem foolish to not hit the open market considering all the suitors there will be to drive up his price.

Tejada Rumors Heat Up

Multiple sources report there is a realistic possibility that the Yankees could explore a deal to bring Miguel Tejada to the Bronx to play third base. The New York Daily News offers up one scenario.

One of the Orioles’ top needs is in the outfield, the one area other than pitching that the Yankees actually have some legitimate prospects. Brett Gardner, who stole 39 bases in 99 games between Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton this year after swiping 58 in the minors in 2006, is the closest to being ready for the big leagues, though lower-level prospects such as Jose Tabata and Austin Jackson are considered to be better long-term players.

The Orioles could take one of the outfielders along with a mid-level pitching prospect for Tejada, who hit .296 with 18 home runs and 81 RBI in 133 games this year. Tejada missed 29 games after breaking a bone in his wrist when he was hit by a pitch, but he had played in all 162 games in each of the previous six seasons.

If the deal was for Gardner, it would be fine. Outfielders are easy to find, and he has a limited ceiling. Jackson and Tabata should be off limits for a guy with Tejada’s salary and baggage. Even if they do not figure into the team’s future plans, they are valuable trade chips capable of landing something more valuable.

The New York Times gives another possibility.

MacPhail said the Orioles want to rebuild their talent base in all areas, suggesting they would want multiple players in any deal. They need pitching and have an obvious hole in center field, where Melky Cabrera would fit.

The Orioles also need a closer because of injuries to Chris Ray and Danys Báez and are interested in Kyle Farnsworth, who was developed by the Chicago Cubs when MacPhail and Manager Dave Trembley worked there.

Giving up Melky would be utterly illogical. It would fill a hole at third while opening another in centerfield. We have seen enough of Johnny Damon’s rag arm out there. Melky is 23 and will only get better. Tejada is 31 and showing signs of slowing down. Given his talent, Miggy would be worth a shot if the price was nothing terribly useful (Farnsworth). Giving up something of value for him would be absurd, considering the question marks about a position change, his attitude, his steroid use, and his recent production.