A new month has arrived, so it is time once again to look back through the MLBTR archives. We’re now in April 2011, meaning the offseason is over. The Yankees lost out on Cliff Lee that winter, which was a big deal. You may have heard about it. They also signed Rafael Soriano, re-signed Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera, and lost Andy Pettitte to retirement. They needed rotation help and didn’t get it, or so we thought.

April is not a great month for trade and free agent rumors because it’s so early in the season. Teams are still in the process of evaluating what they have and figuring out what they need. There’s a lot of speculation in April. As a reminder, the purpose of this series is to have some fun looking back at what we were talking about five years ago. We’re not looking to make fun of the MLBTR crew or any of the reporters. Rumors are no fun if you look at them once then forget they exist, after all. Let’s dive on in.

April 2nd, 2011: Lame Duck General Managers

Brian Cashman, Yankees – The third longest-tenured GM in the game would seem to be on rocky ground after being over-ruled by ownership on the Rafael Soriano signing, but we heard afterwards that he still has the “full backing” of the Steinbrenners.

The Yankees won the World Series in 2009 and went to the ALCS in 2010, yet there were questions about Cashman’s job security heading into the 2011 season. Kinda crazy, huh? The Yankees lost out on Lee and ownership went over Cashman’s head to sign Soriano, leading to those questions. In fact, there was talk Cashman was ready to move on and find a new challenge himself.

Eventually Cashman signed another three-year contract — and then another three-year contract after that one — and even though the Yankees have played one postseason game in the last three years, his job seems as secure as ever. He’s pulling off this rebuild on the fly thing so far. Cashman is under contract through next season and I have a hard time thinking the Steinbrenners would put him in charge of this retool and not let him see it through.

April 2nd, 2011: East Notes: Simon, Red Sox, Feliciano, Mets

Yankees GM Brian Cashman said that Pedro Feliciano was “abused” by the Mets‘ use of him in recent years, tweets Jim Baumbach of Newsday.

Gosh that was such a silly thing to say. Any schmuck with an internet connection could log onto Baseball Reference and see Feliciano appeared in 86 (!), 88 (!!), and 92 (!!!) games the three years prior to his free agency. That doesn’t count all the games Feliciano warmed up but did not pitch. Yes, he was only a lefty specialist, but that’s an awfully heavy workload.

And yet, the Yankees signed him anyway. Cashman knew the risk and it blew up in the team’s face. It happens. To turn around and say it was because the Mets abused him made him sound like a sore loser. The Yankees didn’t get what they wanted so Cashman was looking for someone to blame. Lame. Feliciano was abused by the Mets. That’s fair to say. It’s not their fault the Yankees signed him anyway.

April 4th, 2011: New York Notes: Feliciano, Reyes, Harris

Pedro Feliciano told Wallace Matthews of ESPNNewYork that he was upset to hear that Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen suggested he was overworked last year (Yankees GM Brian Cashman says he was “abused.”). Feliciano maintains that he likes to pitch a lot and predicts he’ll strike out Ike Davis when the Yankees face the Mets this year. Feliciano says he didn’t sign with the Mets because they weren’t willing to offer a multiyear deal.

What a sentence: “Feliciano maintains that he likes to pitch a lot and predicts he’ll strike out Ike Davis when the Yankees face the Mets this year.” That was back when Davis was the new hotness — .264/.351/.440 (115 OPS+) with 19 home runs as a rookie in 2010! — and Feliciano still had a functioning shoulder.

April 6th, 2011: New York Notes: Pavano, Posada, Mets

Yankees manager Joe Girardi confirmed to Spencer Fordin of MLB.com that the Yankees were considering Pavano last offseason, despite his injury-riddled stint with the club from 2005-08. “He’s resurrected his career,” Girardi said. “He’s pitched well for the Twins, and he’s given them innings. When we’ve faced him in the playoffs, he’s pitched well. The guy knows how to pitch. The big thing for Carl is he’s been healthy.”

The Yankees did briefly show interest in Carl Pavano during the 2010-11 offseason because a) they needed pitching, and b) he was coming off a season with a 3.75 ERA (4.02 FIP) in 221 innings. He was going to cost the team a draft pick though, which ultimately was the sticking point. That’s how desperate the team was for rotation help after losing out on Lee (and Pettitte) though. They were considering a reunion with Pavano. He went on to have a 4.30 ERA (4.10 FIP) in 222 innings for the Twins in 2011, by the way.

April 8th, 2011: Heyman On Marlins, White Sox, Jenks, Glaus

Before the Yankees signed Rafael Soriano, GM Brian Cashman told Bobby Jenks that he wasn’t offering any setup man $8MM. The Yankees signed Soriano for $35MM over three years, though Cashman advised against it.

I remember reading somewhere that Cashman said he told J.J. Putz’s agent he would not give multiple years or big money to a setup man that offseason, which is why he came out and said he was against the Soriano signing. He told all these agents he wouldn’t do exactly what ownership did, so he had to make sure it was clear it was his superiors, not him. Cashman had relationships to maintain.

April 9th, 2011: Yankees Sign Carlos Silva

The Yankees have signed Carlos Silva, according to Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated (via Twitter).  It is a minor league deal, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post.  The Yankees will be responsible only for the major league minimum if he is added to the big league roster, says Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter).

There were a lot of folks clamoring for Silva that offseason. He was only 31 and he had a 4.22 ERA (3.75 FIP) in 113 innings for the Cubs in 2010. Silva looked like he could help someone, especially a team with rotation questions like the Yankees. Instead, he sat out there in free agency drawing little interest. The Yankees signed him to this minor league deal, he threw 36 innings in the minors, then blew out his shoulder and never pitched again. (Not true: He threw two innings in winter ball in 2014. That’s it.) I have to think his medicals scared the crap out of teams that offseason.

April 9th, 2011: Quick Hits: Pedro, Martin, Archer, David, D’Backs

• A team official told Joel Sherman of The New York Post that the Yankees have no interest in Pedro Martinez even though he’s looking to return (Twitter links). The Yankees changed their mind about Carlos Silva after the right-hander agreed to get in shape and pitch in the minors.
• The Yankees did not send a scout to watch Doug Davis‘ workout yesterday, reports George A. King III of The New York Post.

Pedro! He was 39 at the time and he had not pitched at all since the 2009 World Series, yet he wanted to make a comeback in 2011. It didn’t happen though. No one signed him and a few years later he was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Pedro’s very last act on a baseball field was getting Brett Gardner to line out to second base to end the fourth inning of Game Six of the 2009 World Series.

As for Doug Davis … yikes. He made eight starts with the 2010 Brewers and managed to allow 36 runs and 79 base-runners in 38.1 innings. Davis was 35 and his PitchFX says his fastball averaged 84.4 mph in 2010. That was not going to fly in Yankee Stadium. The Cubs scooped him up and he allowed 38 runs and 87 base-runners in 45.2 innings in 2011. He never pitched again after that. The Yankees were desperate for pitching, but not that desperate.

April 13th, 2011: Heyman On Hamilton, Young, Felix, Royals

A rival GM says he’d trade Felix Hernandez to the Yankees for Ivan Nova, Dellin Betances, Manny Banuelos and Jesus Montero if he were running the Mariners.

You’re my kinda guy, rival GM. Remember, this was back in 2011, and heading into the 2011 season, Felix was 24 years old and he had just won the damn Cy Young thanks to 249.2 innings of 2.27 ERA (3.04 FIP) ball. Not only that, he had just signed a long-term extension in April 2010, so he was owed a total of $68M total from 2011-14. Felix was maybe the most valuable commodity in the game back then.

At the same time, that was a hefty prospect package. I am going to use this image once again:

Montero was a super-elite prospect. Everyone knew he was going to hit. But hey, guys like Felix don’t come cheap, right? Baseball America (no subs. req’d) also ranked Banuelos (No. 41) and Betances (No. 43) as top 100 prospects heading into that 2011 season, so yeah. Nova was not a standout youngster or anything, but he was cheap and had a promising MLB debut in 2010. That package was three great prospects and a cheap young starter.

Needless to say, that trade would have been incredible for the Yankees and a total disaster for the Mariners even with Betances becoming one of the two or three best relievers in the world. Don’t forget to trade your prospects, folks.

April 13th, 2011: Quick Hits: Feliciano, Twins, Rendon, Oswalt

The Yankees were frustrated that the Astros never made them fully aware that Roy Oswalt was available last summer, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Credit Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. for acquiring Oswalt quietly and later denying the Yankees their primary offseason target, Cliff Lee.

The Phillies traded Anthony Gose, Jonathan Villar, and J.A. Happ for Oswalt at the 2010 trade deadline, and Happ was the headliner. He was only 27 and up to that point he had a 3.11 ERA in 217 big league innings. Of course, he also had a 4.50 FIP, and following that trade he pitched much closer to the FIP than the ERA.

A comparable package at the time would have been something like Nova, Eduardo Nunez, and Slade Heathcott. A cheap and servicable big league starter plus tooled up shortstop and center field prospects. Heathcott was only a year removed away from being a first round pick at the time though. Oswalt was pretty great for the Phillies after the trade and very good in 2011 before fading. If the Astros didn’t make it clear to everyone Oswalt was available, it’s a bad move on their part. You’ve got to create a bidding war.

April 14th, 2011: Yankees Will Look For Relief; Move Unlikely

Pedro Feliciano has a capsular tear in his left shoulder and may require significant surgery, Yankees GM Brian Cashman confirmed to reporters. There’s a strong possibility that the Yankees’ $8MM free agent signing won’t throw a pitch for them in 2011. Cashman says he’ll look for another left-handed reliever, but according to Jack Curry of the YES Network, the GM’s expectations are low (all Twitter links).

Boone Logan emerged as the primary lefty in 2010 — he held lefties to a .190/.286/.215 (39 OPS+) batting line with 33.0% strikeout rate in 40 innings that year — and the Yankees wound up cycling through a ton of scrap heap options to find a second lefty during the 2011 season. Aaron Laffey, Raul Valdez, Steve Garrison, the works. None stood out. Now they have Andrew Miller and Chasen Shreve, with Aroldis Chapman on his way back. And James Pazos in Triple-A. Once upon a time the Yankees struggled to find quality lefty bullpen help. Now they have it in spades.

April 14th, 2011: Minor Deals: Mattingly, Mariners, Yankees

The Yankees have signed 24-year-old right-hander Reinier Casanova.  The Cuban-born hurler defected following the 2009 season.

Casanova allowed 12 runs and 31 base-runners in 19 minor league innings in 2011. He was released after the season and has not pitched anywhere since as far as I can tell. Lots of Cuban guys are coming over and getting really nice contracts. Lots more leave their families behind in Cuba and never get very far in baseball.

April 14th, 2011: Yankees Notes: Marte, Pinto, Torre

Speaking of the Yankees bullpen, Cashman says that the overuse of relievers under the watch of Joe Torre was not his fault, writes Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com.  In fact, the GM says that he told relievers to be truthful with Torre and his staff when they were asked about their availability to pitch.

That was doomed to fail. You want players to be truthful but they never are. They all want to play tired and hurt and whatever. That’s just the way these guys are wired. Leave it to the players to tell the manager they need a day to rest and most of them won’t say anything. It’s up to the manager to make those decisions. Joe Girardi has shown he is very good at that with his bullpen. Now they’re going to ramp up the rest for the position players.

April 17th, 2011: Yankees Notes: Millwood, Hughes, Martin

Earlier today, Yankees skipper Joe Girardi told the press that the club had planned to send Phil Hughes to Triple-A to work through his troubles, tweets Wallace Matthews of ESPNNewYork.com.  Hughes ultimately convinced the Yankees that that wouldn’t be the best course of action for his “dead arm”.

Hughes was awesome as a setup man in 2009 and solid as a starter in 2010. He had a 4.19 ERA (4.25 FIP) in 176.1 inning that season and was only 24, so he looked like a guy who was emerging as a rotation fixture. Phil’s velocity was way down early in that 2011 season …

… and there was talk of sending him to Triple-A, especially with Bartolo Colon looking so good in long relief and forcing his way into the rotation conversation. The Yankees put Hughes on the DL with what they called arm fatigue shortly after this report, and he was on the DL until mid-July, so it was not a short-term stay. His velocity never really did get back to normal the rest of the season either. (He was in the bullpen at the end of the season, hence the late-season bump in velocity in the graph.)

Looking back, this seems like a classic example of a pitcher feeling a bit of a hangover following a huge bump in workload the year before. Hughes threw 111.2 total innings in 2009 then 176.1 innings in 2010, so it was an increase of 64.2 innings. His career high was 146.2 innings way back in 2006. Hughes rebounded and had a nice 2012 season, but that 2011 campaign was a lost cause.

April 18th, 2011: Heyman On Young, Emaus, Rays, Wilson, Melky

Alex Rodriguez worked out with Melky Cabrera this offseason and “begged” the Yankees to sign the outfielder to no avail.

This was a pretty big deal for a while because Melky had a good start with the Royals — and ultimately a strong full season — after being released by the Braves the year before. The Javy Vazquez reunion didn’t work out and it hadn’t yet become clear Curtis Granderson was truly #cured and a legit power hitting monster, so people wanted Melky back. The cries for Melky were even louder during his time with the Giants in 2012, but then he got popped for performance-enhancing drugs, and everyone lost interest. It’s pretty clear now keeping Gardner and trading Cabrera was the right move.

April 20th, 2011: Minor League Signings: Lawrence, Place, Salome

Right fielder Jason Place, released by the Red Sox in Spring Training, was signed by the Yankees.  Place was drafted 27th overall in 2006, one spot ahead of Daniel Bard.  18 of the 44 first-rounders from that draft have yet to play in the Majors, Place among them.

Place was a pretty big deal back in the day — aren’t all Red Sox prospects big deals at some point? that’s the way it goes — but he wasn’t much of a prospect by time the Yankees signed him. They needed an outfielder for the lower levels and he was available. Place hit .178/.210/.317 in 27 minor league games in 2011 and has been out of baseball since.

April 23rd, 2011: Quick Hits: Figueroa, Mock, Martin, Mets

Yankees GM Brian Cashman told ESPN New York’s Andrew Marchand that the Yankees tried to acquire Russell Martin via trade in each of the last three seasons (Twitter link). Cashman got his man this winter, signing him as a free agent after the Dodgers non-tendered him.

At some point word got out the Yankees offered Frankie Cervelli for Martin during the 2010-11 offseason, but were declined. The Dodgers then non-tendered Martin and got nothing in return at all. Not ex-Dodgers GM Ned Colletti’s finest moment. Cervelli, if nothing else, was a cheap backup option at that point of his career. Los Angeles instead cut Martin loose for nothing. I do not understand.

April 25th, 2011: Quick Hits: Bautista, Jeter, Clevlen, Astros

Yankees GM Brian Cashman to Derek Jeter in a November 30th meeting: “You said all you wanted was what was fair. How much higher do we have to be than the highest offer for it to be fair?” That’s from Ian O’Connor’s source; the ESPNNewYork.com writer has a new book out next month on Jeter.

The Jeter-Cashman barbs were slowly starting to leak out around this time. Heck, they’re still leaking out. Last year we learned Cashman told Jeter he’d rather have Troy Tulowitzki. Cashman was the bad cop during contract talks, it seems. Hal Steinbrenner and Randy Levine were the good cops.

April 28th, 2011: Heyman On Lincecum, Cano, Votto, Weaver, Dodgers

Similarly, there’s no reason to think the Yankees would let Robinson Cano leave in the prime of his career.  The Bombers have options for 2012 and ’13 at $14MM and $15MM, respectively, and will obviously exercise them. Look for the Yanks to get a deal done with the second baseman, but only after the Scott Boras client files for free agency.

Yeah the Yankees would never let a homegrown superstar leave as a free agent. What a silly thing to think.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Grapefruit League play has begun and the weather is warming up. Baseball is upon us. Also upon us: another edition of our MLBTR Archives series. All we do is go back five years and look through all the Yankees rumors culled together by MLB Trade Rumors, because few things in baseball are as silly as rumors in hindsight.

We’re now into March 2011, so the offseason is over and Spring Training has begun. The Yankees lost out on Cliff Lee, re-signed both Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera, panic signed Rafael Soriano, watched Andy Pettitte retire, and brought in a bunch of scrap heap veterans to fill out their rotation. Fans weren’t feeling all that great about the club, especially since the Red Sox had a huge offseason (Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, etc.) and never make mistakes. To the archives.

March 1st, 2011: Twins Notes: Liriano, Yankees, Cuddyer

The Twins turned down a Yankee offer of Ivan Nova and Ramiro Pena for Francisco Liriano earlier this winter, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com.  The Twins, however, are interested in left-handed pitching prospect Manuel Banuelos and want him included in any package from New York.  Rosenthal thinks the two teams will revisit negotiations before Opening Day, but notes the two sides haven’t talked “in at least a month.”  Minnesota assistant GM Rob Antony said last week that the Liriano trade speculation was nothing but rumors.  

Nova and Rakin’ Ramiro for Liriano. What an offer. Keep in mind Liriano was 26 at the time and three years away from free agency. He was coming off a season with a 3.62 ERA (2.66 FIP) in 191.2 innings. Nova, 24 at the time, had all six years of team control left and pitched to a 4.50 ERA (4.36 FIP) during his 42-inning cameo in 2010. Pena was Pena.

This was not a serious offer. This was a “hey maybe the Twins really like Nova and/or hate Liriano” offer. Minnesota had every right to push for Banuelos. It was fair to consider Liriano a top 15 pitcher at the time. Of course, he then had a 5.09 ERA (4.54 FIP) in 134.1 innings in 2011, so yeah. Still though, Nova and Pena for Liriano? Hey, you’re never going to get Scott Kazmir for Victor Zambrano if you don’t ask.

March 1st, 2011: East Notes: Joba, Wieters, O’s, Damon, Durbin

Johnny Damon tells Ken Davidoff of Newsday that his free agent discussions with the Yankees this past winter involved a scenario that would have seen Damon make three starts per week for New York.  Damon turned the deal down since the lack of playing time would have hurt his quest for 3000 hits.  

The outfield at the time was Brett Gardner, Curtis Granderson, and Nick Swisher, with Andruw Jones as the fourth outfielder. Jorge Posada was set to take over as the full-time DH. Even without Andruw, where would Damon have fit? This was a rumor that didn’t make sense. It would have been a nostalgia based signing, not a “he fills a need and fits the roster” signing. The Yankees didn’t need a lefty bat.

March 2nd, 2011: Mark Teixeira Drops Scott Boras

Mark Teixeira dropped agent Scott Boras, according to MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. The first baseman, who is under contract through 2016, says he wants to focus on helping the Yankees win, not signing his next mega-deal.

I forgot about this. It was five years ago and at the time it felt like Teixeira’s contract was never going to end, so this seemed inconsequential. Well, Teixeira is now coming up on free agency, so his agent is kinda important. The internet tells me he is currently represented by Casey Close, so Teixeira’s in good hands. Hard to believe we’re already talking about his impending free agency. Time flies, man.

March 2nd, 2011: Quick Hits: Hall, Young, Feliz, Burnett, Buck

Earlier today, Yankees GM Brian Cashman told versatile Astros veteran Bill Hall that the club was “this close” to signing him, tweets Jack Curry of the YES Network.

Ah yes, Bill Hall, one of those guys who was overrated because he was versatile. Hall was 31 at the time and he had just hit .246/.316/.456 (104 wRC+) in 382 plate appearances with the Red Sox. That was, by far, his best season since his out of nowhere 35 homer campaign with the 2006 Brewers. The Astros gave Hall a one-year deal worth $3.25M, people complained the Yankees missed out, then he hit .211/.261/.314 (57 wRC+) in 199 plate appearances in 2011. Hall played his final MLB game in June 2012.

March 3rd, 2011: Red Sox Notes: Ortiz, Gonzalez, Papelbon

Ortiz told Joe McDonald of ESPNBoston.com that that he would at least consider playing for the Yankees. “Well, if I don’t get signed here, I would play somewhere,” Ortiz said. “You know what I’m saying? I’m not saying I would play for the Yankees, but I if I don’t have a job, I gotta go somewhere else. As long as I play, right?”

Oh, how very nice of David Ortiz to say he would be willing to consider gracing the Yankees with his presence. Of course, Ortiz was entering his contract year in 2011, so he was angling for a new deal. It only made sense to use the Yankees as leverage, especially they were legit World Series contenders and the Red Sox missed the postseason in 2010.

March 4th, 2011: Quick Hits: Richard, Crawford, Feliz, Castro

Vernon Wells would have accepted a trade to the Yankees, not just to the Rangers or Angels, according to Heyman (on Twitter).

Phew, bullet dodged. Wait … dammit!

March 4th, 2011: New York Notes: Izzy, Crawford, Perez, Montero

Jesus Montero appears to have an excellent chance of winning the Yankees’ backup catcher job, since Francisco Cervelli will miss at least four weeks with a broken foot. Yankees GM Brian Cashman says he has no interest in delaying Montero’s arbitration clock by holding him back for the first few months of the season (Twitter link).

Montero in 2010: .289/.353/.517 (133 wRC+) with 21 homers in 504 plate appearances as a 20-year-old in Triple-A. Baseball America considered him a super-elite prospect …

… and Cervelli’s foot injury opened the door for Montero to make the roster. It was exciting! Then Montero hit .250/.286/.300 with no homers in 42 Grapefruit League plate appearances and looked rough behind the plate. The Yankees sent him to Triple-A Scranton and went with Gustavo Molina as their backup catcher. Gus went 1-for-6 in three games while Cervelli was out. Montero hit .288/.348/.467 (121 wRC+) with 18 homers in his second go-round at Triple-A, mashed during his September cameo, then was traded for Michael Pineda in the offseason.

Spring Training 2011 was peak Montero hype. His stock was at an all-time high and everyone was convinced he was ready to rake at the MLB level. Yes, his defense was not good, but no one seemed to care. Alas, it was not meant to be. Peak Montero sure was an exciting prospect though.

March 5th, 2011: New York Notes: Mets, Piazza, Yankees, Aceves

Yankees GM Brian Cashman told Peter Abraham of The Boston Globe that he doesn’t believe he’ll be able to acquire a starter before the Opening Day, and perhaps not until June. “Normally anything of quality doesn’t become available until after the June draft,” said Cashman. “That’s why you try and get as much as you can get accomplished in the winter. I know New York doesn’t handle patience very well. But I’m from Kentucky, so it’s a little easier for me to deal with.”

The 2011 season was a slow year for starter trades. The only starters traded that season were Rodrigo Lopez, Edwin Jackson, Tommy Hunter, and Erik Bedard. The entire 2010-11 offseason and 2011 season was a really down time for starting pitcher transactions. Lee was by far the best free agent starter and no one of consequence was traded during the season. It’s pretty amazing the Yankees were able to cobble together a division winning rotation in 2011. Things looked mighty shaky behind CC Sabathia.

March 9th, 2011: Cashman: Never Made Offer To Chapman

WEDNESDAY, 9:45am: The Yankees “never made an offer” to Chapman, GM Brian Cashman tells ESPN’s Buster Olney (Twitter link).

TUESDAY, 10:01pm: The Yankees really liked Aroldis Chapman. A Florida lawsuit against the left-hander’s representatives claims that the Yankees made an “offer to Chapman valued at more than $54MM,” according to Melissa Segura of SI.com (on Twitter, hat tip to River Ave. Blues).

Chapman signed with the Reds in January 2010 and the Yankees reportedly wined and dined him during the 2009-10 offseason. They supposedly brought him to Yankee Stadium for a 2009 World Series game to show him what it was all about. “Never made an offer” is all semantics though. It doesn’t mean they didn’t talk money or terms. It just means they didn’t put a piece of paper in front of him to sign. Five years later, the Yankees finally got their man.

March 9th, 2011: AL East Links: Yankees, Anderson, Slowey

Mariano Rivera told Andrew Marchand of ESPNNewYork that Manny Banuelos is the greatest pitching prospect he has ever seen. “I like everything about him,” Rivera said. Cashman says the left-hander, who turns 20 this weekend, will not start the year higher than Double-A.

I’m glad we’ve moved on from the “best pitching prospect I’ve ever seen” and “he’s the next Roger Clemens” stuff. Nowadays all we hear about pitching prospects is that they’re composed or have impressive command. Normal compliments. Not crazy stuff that sets unfair expectations. Banuelos was pretty awesome back then, but the best pitching prospect he’d ever seen? Sheesh.

March 10th, 2011: A’s, Yanks Agree To Terms With International FAs

The Yankees have agreed to terms with Dominican right-handed pitcher Juan Carlos Paniagua, 20, for $1.1MM, according to Badler. Paniagua, who had previously been suspended by Major League Baseball for one year for age and identity fraud, is 6-foot-1, 170 pounds, Badler writes. His fastball sits in the mid-90s and can touch 98 mph, while scouts are mixed on his secondary pitches. The signing of a previously suspended player for fraud is not unprecedented in MLB nor for the Yankees, for the matter, as Badler notes. Carlos Martinez of the Cardinals and Jose Rafael DePaula of the Bombers are two such examples.

Paniagua has an eventful backstory. He played in the Diamondbacks’ system from 2009-10 before his deal was voided because of identity fraud. The Yankees signed him in 2011, though his deal with New York never became official. MLB found he presented the Yankees with falsified documents, so the contract was voided. The Cubs gave Paniagua a $1.5M bonus in 2012 and he’s been pretty terrible since. He has a 4.41 ERA with 109 walks in 208 minor league relief innings. Lot of hassle for a middling prospect.

March 12th, 2011: Yankees, Nationals Scouting Carlos Silva

The Cubs have been watching Carlos Silva‘s spring starts closely as they decide whether he deserves a spot in their starting rotation, but Chicago hasn’t been the only team following Silva’s progress. According to Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago, the Yankees and Nationals are among the clubs scouting the right-hander.

Silva had a 4.22 ERA (3.75 FIP) in 113 innings for the Cubs in 2010 and never pitched in the big leagues again. Chicago released him at the end of camp and the Yankees quickly signed him to a minor league contract in April. He had a 3.00 ERA in seven minor league starts before coming down with shoulder problems. The team released Silva shortly thereafter and he never pitched again. He was only 32 that season too. Silva went from effective in 2010 to being done by the middle of 2011. Baseball is cruel.

March 13th, 2011: Royals Acquire Robert Fish

The Royals have claimed lefty Robert Fish from the Yankees on outright waivers, according to a team press release. In order to make room for Fish on their 40-man roster, Kansas City has moved right-hander Henry Barrera to the 60-day disabled list.

March 13th, 2011: Quick Hits: Looper, Turpen, Moyer, CBA, Nationals

One of the Yankees‘ Sunday roster moves involved returning Rule 5 pick Daniel Turpen to the Red Sox, as Chad Jennings of the Journal News notes.

March 14th, 2011: Padres Return George Kontos To Yankees

The Padres announced that they returned Rule 5 draft pick George Kontos to the Yankees. 

Might as well lump all the Rule 5 Draft guys together. The Yankees selected Fish and Turpen in the Rule 5 Draft that offseason and neither made it through Spring Training. They combined to allow nine runs in 8.1 innings in camp. Neither reached the big leagues and they’re both out of baseball now. Turpen at least spent a few years in Triple-A.

Kontos was coming off Tommy John surgery in 2010 so it was no surprise he didn’t stick with the Padres in camp. He had a 2.62 ERA (3.89 FIP) in 89.1 innings for Triple-A Scranton in 2011, made his MLB debut in September, then was traded for Chris Stewart at the end of Spring Training 2012. Moral of the story: most Rule 5 Draft picks are duds, especially pitchers.

March 15th, 2011: Release Candidate: Sergio Mitre

Some scouts are “convinced the Yankees are going to release Sergio Mitre,” reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post.  The club has two open rotation spots and one long relief job, which could go to Freddy Garcia, Bartolo Colon, and Ivan Nova in some combination.

Mitre in 2010: 3.33 ERA (4.69 FIP) in 54 innings across three starts and 24 relief appearances. That’s … not terrible by swingman standards? The Yankees were thin on starting pitching and releasing a possible starter, even if he was only No. 7 or 8 on the depth chart, seemed a little weird. Then again, it was Mitre. No one expected him to be good.

March 15th, 2011: AL East Notes: Martinez, Crawford, Sanchez

Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports hears that Yankees right-hander Romulo Sanchez has been impressing scouts (Twitter link). The out-of-options 26-year-old could fit on a team looking for relief help, according to Rosenthal.

Romulo! I totally forgot about him. The Yankees got him a minor trade in May 2009 — they sent current Korea Baseball Organization stud Eric Hacker to the Pirates — and Sanchez had a 4.31 ERA in 64.2 innings for Triple-A Scranton in 2009, then a 4.31 ERA in 104.1 innings for the RailRiders in 2010. Romulo came up in September and allowed one hit in 4.1 scoreless innings. The Yankees cut him loose at the very end of Spring Training in 2011 so he could sign with a team in Japan. Romulo was still active last season; he allowed two runs in nine innings with a team in Mexico.

March 16th, 2011: Felix Hernandez’s No-Trade Clause

Mariners ace Felix Hernandez can block trades to ten teams, and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports learned eight of them: the Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, Cubs, Angels, Dodgers, Rangers, and Phillies.  Morosi adds:

Felix had just signed a five-year extension prior to the 2010 season, so there was no logical reason for the Mariners to consider trading him. He was only 24 (!) at the time and the return would have had to have been massive. Unrealistically massive. Anyway, notice Hernandez had nothing but big market clubs on his no-trade list. That’s because those are the teams that would be most willing and able to compensate him for waiving his no trade clause. Felix could have demanded a big extension in exchange for approving a trade to New York. It’s all about leverage. He didn’t necessarily not want to go to those teams.

March 16th, 2011: Yankees Watched Millwood Pitch

7:53pm: The Yankees were the only team to watch Millwood today, according to Sherman (Twitter links). The Yankees clocked his fastball at 85 mph and say they’ll only offer a minor league deal. However, Millwood still wants a Major League contract.

PitchFX says Millwood’s average fastball was 88.9 mph in 2011. The Yankees did get him to take a minor league deal later in March, and Millwood eventually exercised an opt-out clause in May. Inconsequential move.

March 21st, 2011: Yankees Have Some Interest In Oliver Perez

Here’s one for the back pages and talk show hosts. The Yankees have discussed Oliver Perez as a potential cheap addition, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter). However, GM Brian Cashman doesn’t seem enthused about the 29-year-old left-hander.

Oh lordy. Perez was entering the final season of his three-year, $27M contract, but he was so bad (6.81 ERA and 6.64 FIP from 2009-10) the Mets released him in Spring Training. They released him that day, actually. March 21st. The Yankees could have signed him for the league minimum and carried him as a depth arm given the state of their rotation. They never did. Perez hooked on with the Nationals, spent 2011 in Double-A (4.04 ERA in 75.2 innings), then resurfaced with the Mariners as a reliever in 2012. He’s been quite effective since. But back then? Yeah, no one wanted him. The Yankees needed arms but they weren’t that desperate.

March 23rd, 2011: New York Notes: Posada, Cano, Mets

Jorge Posada told Kevin Kernan of the New York Post that he hopes to re-sign with the Yankees after the season, when he hits free agency. If the Yankees don’t want him back, he would consider playing elsewhere, even though he doesn’t want to sign with another team. “I would [leave], if it’s the right situation,” he said. “It’s got to be the right situation.”

The David Ortiz situation applies here: Posada’s contract was up after the season and he was angling for a new deal. Unlike Ortiz, Posada did not produce in 2011, so finding a new job was tough. He announced his retirement following the season. I miss Jorge. He’s on my very short list of all-time favorite Yankees. Switch-hitting catchers with power and patience are my jam.

March 23rd, 2011: Minor Deals: Raynor, Ortegano, McCulloch

The Braves lost a second player on waivers today, when the Yankees claimed left-hander Jose Ortegano. The Yankees optioned the 23-year-old to Triple-A, according to Marc Carig of the Star-Ledger (on Twitter). In 131 minor league innings spent mostly at Triple-A last year, Ortegano posted a 5.98 ERA with 6.8 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 as a starter.

Ortegano was kinda sorta a prospect even though he had a 5.98 ERA in 131 innings at Double-A and Triple-A with the Braves in 2010. The Yankees claimed him off waivers in March and he almost immediately got hurt. Ortegano never pitched again. That 2010 season was his last in any league around the world. Rough. He’s still only 28 too.

March 24th, 2011: Yankees Notes: Colon, Garcia, Molina, Pitching

Brian Cashman tells Chad Jennings of the LoHud blog that he’s received a few calls from other general managers in regards to the extra pitchers in New York’s camp.  “It’s been very quiet for the most part….Everybody’s just picking the phone up and checking in with each other, myself included,” Cashman said.

It was funny to hear the Yankees had “extra” pitchers in Spring Training that year because the exact opposite felt true. How were they going to get 162 starts out of those guys? Bartolo Colon was throwing well but Freddy Garcia got hammered in camp (4.91 ERA) and inspired zero confidence. The Yankees also had Mitre, Sanchez, and Steve Garrison in camp as extra arms, and they later added Silva and Millwood. Somehow it all worked.

March 25th, 2011: Brewers Acquire Sergio Mitre

The Brewers have acquired Sergio Mitre from the Yankees for Chris Dickerson. The move provides the Brewers with the pitching depth they coveted and opens up a spot in the Yankees bullpen, possibly for Freddy Garcia or Bartolo Colon.

I was a Dickerson fan and I wish the Yankees would have given him an opportunity over some of the fifth outfield dreck they cycled through from 2011-12. Guys like Greg Golson, Dewayne Wise, and Melky Mesa. Dickerson could hit righties a bit, he could run, and he could play defense. Alas, it never worked out. He landed with the Orioles in 2013 and has been bouncing around from team to team since.

March 26th, 2011: Quick Hits: Rangers, Astros, Reyes, Burrell, Belt

As Danny Knobler of CBS Sports reminds us, chances are that back-of-the-rotation won’t be the one the Yankees finish the season with.

The rotation to open the 2011 season was, in order, CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Phil Hughes, Ivan Nova, and Freddy Garcia. The Yankees used off-days to push Garcia’s first start back as much as possible. (He didn’t start until Game 13.) By the end of the season, the rotation was Sabathia, Burnett, Nova, Garcia, and Colon. Hughes had a back issues and wound up in the bullpen down the stretch. So technically, yeah, the back-of-the-rotation the Yankees started the season with was not the one they finished with, but it was close enough. Somehow Sabathia, Burnett, Nova, Garcia, Colon, and Hughes accounted for 157 of 162 starts. What a time to be alive. (Hector Noesi and Brian Gordon made two spot starts each and Dellin Betances started the meaningless Game 162.)

March 27th, 2011: Astros Return Lance Pendleton To Yankees

The Astros have returned Rule 5 pick Lance Pendleton to the Yankees, tweets Astros’ director of social media Alyson Footer. Pendleton cleared waivers and will be assigned to New York’s minor league camp (Twitter link).

Pants Lendleton! He actually ended up pitching for the Yankees a little bit in 2011 — he allowed 14 runs in 18.2 mop-up innings at midseason — before they dropped him from the 40-man roster in September. The Astros claimed him, he allowed nine runs in 4.2 innings, and he never pitched in the big leagues again. Pendleton had a 5.02 ERA in 129 Triple-A innings with the Rays in 2012, his final season as a player. These MLBTR posts bring back the ghosts of DotF past, eh?

Retro Week is now in the rear-view mirror, and since it’s a new month, it’s time to look back through the MLB Trade Rumors archive. This seems like a good way to transition from Retro Week back to the real world. As a reminder, these posts are for fun and are not intended to make fun of the reporters or the crew at MLBTR. What good are rumors if you read them once and forget about them?

We’re now in February 2011, and at this point of the offseason the Yankees had already lost out on Cliff Lee and were scrambling to fill out the rotation. Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon were signed to minor league deals, and Scott Boras convinced the team to panic sign Rafael Soriano. Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera also inked new contracts. Here’s a look back at everything Yankees-related that happened five years ago this month.

February 1st, 2011: New York Notes: Pettitte, Mets, Pitching

Yankees people continue to hear from friends of Andy Pettitte that they think the 38-year-old will pitch this year, tweets Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated.  Of course, there’s still no word from Pettitte himself on the matter.

Spring Training was inching closer and there was still no indication whether Pettitte would pitch again. He was 39 years old at the time and he was coming off a season with a 3.28 ERA (3.85 FIP) in 129 innings. A groin injury forced him to miss a bunch of time, and ultimately the rehab from that injury is what pushed Pettitte to retirement. His body didn’t recover as quickly as it once did and he didn’t want to go through the grind anymore. The Yankees desperately needed him though. The rotation at the time was CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Phil Hughes, an unproven Ivan Nova, and no one in particular.

February 2nd, 2011: Yankees Acquire Justin Maxwell

The Yankees announced that they have acquired Justin Maxwell from the Nationals for minor league right-hander Adam Olbrychowski. When Washington had to clear roster space last week, they designated Maxwell for assignment.

Maxwell had a real nice year in Triple-A in 2011 — he hit .260/.358/.588 (157 wRC+) with 16 homers and eleven steals in 48 games — but he tore up his shoulder crashing into the wall while trying to rob a home run and needed season-ending surgery. The Yankees cut him loose in Spring Training the following year, the Astros claimed him, then Maxwell mashed lefties in 2012 (143 wRC+). Everyone complained because Maxwell was great and Andruw Jones stunk that year. The Yankees somehow survived and won the division anyway.

February 2nd, 2011: Yankees Remain In Contact With Kevin Millwood

The Yankees have added Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia in the last week, but the team is still in contact with Kevin Millwood, reports Sports Illustrated’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link).  It could be that the Yankees just want to give themselves as many veteran starting options as they can, or, as Heyman opines, “they’re growing more worried” that Andy Pettitte will retire. 

The Yankees eventually did sign Millwood to a minor league contract — he spent a month in Triple-A before exercising an opt-out clause — but I remember there being a lot of talk that Millwood was a must sign. A must sign. He had a 5.10 ERA (4.86 FIP) with the Orioles in 2010 but the back of the rotation was a mess, and Millwood was a familiar name. Those were desperate times indeed.

February 3rd, 2011: Andy Pettitte To Retire

It’s the end of a three-month wait for the Yankees and a 16-year career for Andy Pettitte. The left-hander is set to announce his retirement tomorrow, the team announced.

And there it is. Pettitte decided to retire and Brian Cashman admitted the Yankees basically begged him to come back after missing out on Lee. Andy wasn’t having any of it. He wanted to be home with his family and who could blame him? He’d won titles, built a strong Hall of Fame case, made an ungodly amount of money … why put yourself through it again if the physical grind was too much? I was very sad Pettitte retired. Little did we know he would be back a year later.

February 4th, 2011: Yankees Consider Left-Handed Pitchers

The Yankees, who heard this week that Andy Pettitte will retire, have considered exploring trades for other left-handers, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). Joe Saunders, Scott Kazmir, Wade LeBlanc, Clayton Richard and Gio Gonzalez are among the possible targets some Yankees people have “kicked around.”

Yeesh. What a list of pitchers. Gio was pretty good and would have been a nice pickup. Saunders was with the Diamondbacks at the time and had a 4.47 ERA (4.57 FIP) in 203.1 innings in 2010. Kazmir had a 5.94 ERA (5.83 FIP) in 150 innings with the Angels and Richard had a 3.75 ERA (3.81 FIP) in 201.2 innings with the Padres. LeBlanc, who threw one inning with the 2014 Yankees, was an up-and-down arm with San Diego. Aside from Gonzalez, this was retread/back-end fodder city. Goodness.

February 4th, 2011: Robinson Cano Hires Scott Boras

Robinson Cano has hired Scott Boras as his agent, according to Enrique Rojas of ESPNDeportes.com. The second baseman, who was previously a Bobby Barad client, met Boras in the Dominican Republic today.

I totally forgot about this. It was a huge deal at the time because it’s Boras and Boras always wants insane contracts. The Yankees controlled Cano through 2013 thanks to the extension he signed in 2008, so his free agency wasn’t imminent, but dealing with Boras is never fun. As it turned out, Boras never did negotiate a deal for Cano. Robbie dumped Boras for Jay-Z’s Roc Nation group in 2013. They negotiated his contract with the Mariners. I can’t imagine many elite players have hired Boras only to fire him before becoming a free agent.

February 4th, 2011: Yankees, Ronnie Belliard Agree To Minor League Deal

The Yankees and Ronnie Belliard have agreed to a minor league deal, according to Enrique Rojas of ESPNDeportes.com (via Twitter).  The 35-year-old Praver Shapiro Sports Management client will earn $825K plus incentives if he makes the varsity squad.

Ronnie Belliard! The Yankees were looking to round out their bench at this point of the offseason and they brought Belliard in to compete for a job in camp. They wound up releasing him before the end of Spring Training. Belliard hooked on with the Phillies after that, spent two months in Triple-A, then retired. Remember when Matt Diaz was a Yankee for like two weeks a few years ago? Same deal. They signed him then released him before the end of Spring Training. Who’s going to be that guy this year, the recognizable name on a minor league pact who doesn’t get through camp?

February 6th, 2011: Cafardo’s Latest: Pettitte, Millwood, Blanton

The Yanks will “see what they have” with pitchers like Freddy Garcia, Bartolo Colon, and Sergio Mitre before they consider trading for someone like Joe Blanton.

Oy vey. Blanton had a 4.82 ERA (4.84 FIP) in 175.2 innings for the Phillies in 2010. In the wake of losing out on Lee, the plan was to see what the Yankees had in the bad pitchers they signed before trading for a different bad pitcher. And hey, it worked! Colon and Garcia were pretty good in 2011.

February 8th, 2011: Michael Young Requests Trade

MONDAY, 10:34pm: MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan has the list of eight teams Young is willing to accept a trade to: Cardinals, Yankees, Twins, Astros, Rockies, Dodgers, Angels, and Padres. The team has said they are dealing with just those eight teams right now.

It was kinda weird Young had a reputation for being a team first guy because he moved to different positions even though he complained and requested a trade each time. The Rangers had just signed Adrian Beltre and were planning to make Young their full-time DH. The Yankees had a full infield (Mark Teixeira, Cano, Jeter, Alex Rodriguez) and Jorge Posada was moving to DH full-time, so there was no room for Young. He was going to have to be a bench player, and since he had three years and $48M left on his contract at the time, it just wasn’t going to happen. Young did end up staying with Texas, but plenty of folks wanted him for the mythical supersub role that doesn’t seem to actually exist.

February 8th, 2011: MLB Teams Sign Six Dominican League Prospects

The Yankees signed 20-year-old center fielder Freiter Marte for $100K. Marte had been selected to play in the DPL All-Star Game.

Marte hit .270/.342/.377 with three homers and 19 steals in 85 Dominican Summer League games from 2011-12 before being released. A hundred grand doesn’t buy what it used to.

February 8th, 2011: Yankees Notes: Delgado, Washburn, Pavano

• The Yankees have zero interest in Carlos Delgado. The longtime Blue Jays slugger wants to play in 2011, but hasn’t been getting much interest so far.
• The Yankees checked in on Jarrod Washburn earlier in the winter, but talks did not progress much. However, the Yankees would consider Washburn if he’s willing to accept a minor league deal like Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon did.

Delgado did not play in 2010 but he wasn’t retired. No one signed him. Sucks. The Yankees had a full infield and Posada at DH. There was no room for Delgado even if he did have something left in the tank. Remember when Delgado hit .344/.470/.664 (179 wRC+) with 41 homers in 2000? He was a damn monster back in the day.

Washburn was in the same boat as Delgado. He did not play in 2010 but wasn’t actually retired. No one wanted him. The Yankees did check in on him — Washburn had a 3.78 ERA (4.58 FIP) in 176 innings in 2009 — though they couldn’t work out a deal. Desperate times, man. The Yankees were trying to get dudes to come out of semi-retirement after losing out on Lee.

February 9th, 2011: Yankees To Sign Luis Ayala

The Yankees agreed to sign reliever Luis Ayala to a minor league deal, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (Twitter links). The right-hander a career ERA of 3.67 with 5.9 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 in parts of six major league seasons.

Ayala had the worst 2.09 ERA in history in 2011. It’s not just that he had a 4.19 FIP, it’s that he allowed 33% of inherited runners to score, including 43% in the second half. Ayala had a nice and shiny ERA but he was ruining everyone else’s. He was a nice find for the Yankees and a serviceable middle reliever, but man, I see that 2.09 ERA and it does not compute.

February 9th, 2011: Yankees Sign Eric Chavez To Minor League Deal

The Yankees have signed Eric Chavez to a minor league deal, according to WFAN’s Sweeny Murti. ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick reports that the deal is done and that Chavez will earn $1.5MM if he makes the big league team (Twitter links). The third baseman, who is represented by Lapa/Leventhal, can earn up to $4MM more in bonuses.

Chavez played 154 total games from 2007-10 (81 wRC+) due to a variety of injuries and the Yankees were mocked for signing him. “They’re a lock for the 2003 World Series!” was a common refrain after the Chavez, Colon, Garcia, and Andruw signings. Chavez wasn’t great in 2011 (80 wRC+) but he did have a few big hits, so the Yankees brought him back in 2012, and he raked that year (126 wRC+). People went from laughing at the Yankees when they signed Chavez to wondering why they let him walk as a free agent two years later. Reminder: the Yankees are smarter than you.

February 9th, 2011: Yankees Void Deal With Vizcaino

The Yankees have voided their contract with reliever Luis Vizcaino, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post.  The right-hander tore his Achilles tendon late in the Winter Ball season and is not likely to pitch this season.

It’s amazing the Yankees got a draft pick for Vizcaino after the 2007 season. (They used it to take Jeremy Bleich.) The old Type-A/B system led to a lot of weirdness. Anyway, the Yankees signed The Viz to a minor league deal earlier in the offseason before the Achilles injury. He was active in 2015, you know. Vizcaino, now 41, had a 7.65 ERA in 20 innings with two teams in Mexico last summer.

February 11th, 2011: AL East Links: Guthrie, Bard, Balfour, Rays

Joel Sherman of the New York Post has the latest on some creative discussions between Kevin Towers and the man he worked for last year, Brian Cashman.The Yankees, who considered completing a sign-and-trade with Arizona to acquire Carl Pavano without surrendering a draft pick, discussed a similar deal with the D’Backs about Grant Balfour. The Yankees were moving toward Balfour before they signed his former teammate, Rafael Soriano.

The sign-and-trade idea was a good one. The Diamondbacks had two top ten picks in the 2011 draft — their normal pick (third overall, Trevor Bauer) and a compensation pick for failing to sign 2010 first rounder Barrett Loux (seventh overall, Archie Bradley) — so the idea was Arizona signs Pavano or Balfour, gives up their second rounder, then trades Pavano/Balfour to the Yankees for a prospect.

Had it gone down, the Yankees would have gotten the free agent and kept their first round pick, and for their trouble the D’Backs would get a prospect presumably closer to MLB than whoever they’d take with that second round pick. Pavano or Balfour would have had to agree to this because free agents can’t be traded until June 1st without their consent. Nice idea. Never worked out. Cashman and then D’Backs GM Kevin Towers are very close, which is why this was discussed. I can’t imagine many GMs would hook up for a deal like this.

February 14th, 2011: Latest On Sabathia Opt-Out Decision

10:38pm: Barring something unforseen, Sabathia is expected to exercise the opt-out clause in his contract, a source with knowledge of the situation told Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News.

9:35am: Not many players would ever think about walking away from $92MM, but C.C. Sabathia is one of the few who could consider it. Sabathia can opt out of his contract with the Yankees after the season, but repeated today that he does not intend to do so. The left-hander told reporters, including Marc Carig of the Star-Ledger, that he will not opt out and that he doesn’t intend to address the issue again this season (Twitter link).

This was the start of Sabathia Opt-Out Watch. Sabathia said he wasn’t going to opt-out all summer and that was adorable. Of course he was going to use the opt-out in some way to make more money, which he did by leveraging it into an extension. Sabathia didn’t actually opt-out, but he used it to make the Yankees pay. They tacked another year and $30M onto his contract, plus the vesting option. Last season was the final season on the original seven-year contract Sabathia signed during the 2008-09 offseason. Time flies, doesn’t it?

February 16th, 2011: Minor Moves: Geary, Perkins, Cotts, Petit

The Yankees signed righty reliever Fernando Hernandez, tweets Eddy. The 26-year-old pitched in three games with the 2008 A’s as a Rule 5 Pick, though he spent last year with their Triple-A affiliate (4.77 ERA in 77 1/3 innings).

Hernandez reached the show with the Athletics in 2008, throwing three innings. He spent the 2011 season with Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton, didn’t pitch well (6.17 ERA), and wound up in an independent league at midseason. Hernandez has bounced around indy ball since. He had a 4.15 ERA in 65 innings for the Kansas City T-Bones last year.

February 20th, 2011: Millwood Rejected Yankees’ Minor League Offer

One of the few notable names left on the starting pitching market, Kevin Millwood still appears to be seeking a Major League contract. The veteran right-hander recently turned down a minor league offer from the Yankees, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. According to Sherman, the deal was structured similarly to the one Freddy Garcia signed with the club.

Millwood caved and signed a minor league deal with the Yankees on March 25th. As I said earlier, he spent a month with Triple-A Scranton before exercising an opt-out clause. Millwood landed with the Rockies the rest of the season and had a 3.98 ERA (4.29 FIP). Not too bad.

February 20th, 2011: Cafardo’s Latest: Molina, Aceves, Nathan, Cameron

Alfredo Aceves, who recently signed with the Red Sox, “wasn’t pleased” that the Yankees didn’t show a stronger interest in re-signing him. Brian Cashman said the Yanks only offered Aceves a minor league deal due to injury concerns.

The Yankees non-tendered Aceves earlier in the offseason and made no sense from the outside, especially since they were short on rotation depth with or without Lee. The team had concerns about his back and also his attitude, but it sure didn’t look good when Aceves had a 2.61 ERA (4.03 FIP) in 114 innings for the Red Sox in 2011. Aceves was never effective after that season and he seemed to get a little crazier each year. He spent last season in Mexico and had a 4.76 ERA in 87 innings. We’ll always have 2009, Ace.

February 21st, 2011: Steinbrenner On Jeter, Luxury Tax, Burnett, Soriano

Steinbrenner seems worried about the team’s drive to win, saying “I think maybe they celebrated a little bit too much last year,” the co-chairman said. “Some of the players are too busy building mansions and other things and not concentrating on winning.”  Shortstop Derek Jeter built a mansion in Florida during the offseason after negotiating a new three-year, $51MM deal.  When asked if the comment was directed at the team captain, Steinbrenner insisted that he wasn’t singling anybody out.

Oh man, I forgot about the “some guys are too busy building mansions” line. That was from Hank Steinbrenner, by the way. Not Hal. But still. The owner basically called out Jeter following their contentious contract talks. Derek was in the middle of building St. Jetersburg …

… at the time and everyone knew it. It was no secret. Hank said he wasn’t calling out Jeter specifically, but come on, we’re not stupid. I don’t think we’ve heard from Hank since. The Yankees seem to keep him under wraps these days. Either way, that comment added some excitement to the first few days of Spring Training. It blew over pretty quickly.

February 23rd, 2011: Minor Moves: Sisco, Mujica, Russell, Armstrong

The Yankees and Braves each inked a veteran international free agent, with New York signing Cuban shortstop Yadil Mujica and Atlanta signing Australian outfielder-turned-pitcher Andrew Russell, a righty, tweets Eddy.

Mujica hit .229/.291/.278 in 137 games as a utility player at three levels from 2011-12. The Yankees released him and he hasn’t played professional baseball since, as far as I can tell. Not every player who leaves Cuba makes it to the big time here.

February 24th, 2011: Pitching Notes: Hudson, Buehrle, Carpenter

In today’s blog post at ESPN (Insider req’d), Buster Olney reports that the Yankees did not inquire about Tim Hudson. Yesterday we heard that the Braves aren’t looking to move one of their starters anyway.

This rumor never quite made sense. The Braves were good in 2010 (91-71) and they projected to be good in 2011 (89-73), and Hudson was one of their best pitchers. He had a 2.83 ERA (4.09 FIP) in 215 innings in 2010 and finished fourth in the Cy Young voting, plus he had two cheap years left on his contract ($9M each) with a cheap club option ($9M) for another year. And he had ten-and-five rights and could have vetoed any trade. I don’t remember what we were all talking about back then, but I have to think most were on board with acquiring Hudson if he were available. The Braves were good though. Why would they move their best starter?

February 25th, 2011: AL East Notes: Yankees, Werth, Pavano, Jays, Rays

Joel Sherman of The New York Post reports that the Yankees “have told their scouts to bear down on several teams they think could have starters available” in a trade this summer. The teams they are targeting include the Braves, Angels, A’s, White Sox, and Cardinals according to Sherman.

The Cardinals ended up needing to trade for a starter at the deadline that season — they got Edwin Jackson from the ChiSox — so they didn’t have starters to spare. The Braves and Angels were in contention in 2011 and needed all their starters, and while the A’s did have some extra arms, Billy Beane is known for seeking huge returns. Point is, finding help at midseason is tough. It’s best to do all your shopping during the offseason.

February 26th, 2011: Yankees Keeping Eye On Liriano

The Yankees are keeping a close eye on Twins starter Francisco Liriano, tweets Bob Nightengale of USA Today.  Meanwhile, the Twins are keeping tabs on Yankees prospects.

Liriano was very good in 2010 (3.62 ERA and 2.66 FIP) and I remember wanting him real bad that offseason, with or without Lee. Then he had a 5.09 ERA (4.54 FIP) in 2011. Liriano was so unpredictable earlier in this career. Giving up actual prospects to get him and then having him pitch like that would have only compounded the problem after missing out on Lee. Sometimes the best trades are the ones you don’t make.

It’s a new month and new year, which means it’s time for another trip through the MLB Trade Rumors archives. We covered December 2010 last month, so we’re now in January 2011. As a reminder, the goal here is not to mock anyone for these rumors, but instead look back and remember all the weird stuff that went on five years ago. Five years is a long, long time in baseball.

In January 2011 the Yankees were still in the process of picking up pieces after Cliff Lee shocked the world and signed with the Phillies. The Yankees did work out new deals with Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera earlier in the offseason, but those two didn’t help the suspect rotation at all. Finding a way to beef up the starting staff was the priority, except now the biggest name was the off the board. On to the rumors.

January 1st, 2011: Several Teams Interested In Brian Fuentes

TUESDAY: SI’s Jon Heyman pegs the Red Sox, Blue Jays, Rays, Rockies, Mariners, Twins, Pirates, Phillies, Brewers, Yankees, and Mets as teams with some interest in free agent lefty reliever Brian Fuentes.

The Yankees thought they addressed their need for a lefty reliever by signing Pedro Feliciano a month earlier, but Fuentes was one of those guys who could get out both righties and lefties. The plan was to add Fuentes to a setup crew that included David Robertson — who had yet to break out — and Joba Chamberlain. And I guess Feliciano.

I was never a big Fuentes fan — his funky dinosaur arm delivery weirded me out — but he was a very good pitcher. He had a 2.81 ERA (3.85 FIP) in 48 innings for the Angels and Twins in 2010. Fuentes was also 34 at the time, and he was starting to show some signs of decline, mostly in his strikeout rate. The A’s gave Fuentes a two-year, $10.5M deal later in the offseason and he had a 3.70 ERA (4.16 FIP) in 2011 before falling off a cliff in 2012 (7.20 ERA and 5.70 FIP). Luckily the Yankees signed only one dud lefty reliever that offseason.

January 3rd, 2011: Yankees Expect To Hear From Pettitte Soon

A Yankees official told Wallace Matthews of ESPNNewYork.com that the front office expects to know within a few days whether Andy Pettitte will pitch in 2011. Pettitte appears to be leaning toward retirement, but the Yankees are waiting to address other needs until they know the veteran left-hander’s intentions.

Ah yes, the Pettitte saga. Pettitte was deciding between pitching another year and retirement, and as much as I love Andy, it was tiresome. We were getting daily non-updates, and the worst part is we were all hanging on every one because the Yankees needed Pettitte badly. At the time their tentative 2011 rotation was CC Sabathia, Phil Hughes, A.J. Burnett, and Sergio Mitre. Not even a fifth starter. (Ivan Nova got a cup of coffee in 2010 but wasn’t considered a lock for a rotation spot.)

Anyway, the Pettitte thing dragged on and on and on. The Yankees expected to hear from Andy soon, but of course they didn’t. This was just another one of those daily non-updates.

January 4th, 2011: Yankees Rumors: Burnett, Pettitte, Balfour

The Yankees don’t like the idea of giving up a first round pick to sign Grant Balfour or Rafael Soriano, two Type A relievers who turned down offers of arbitration and are now tied to draft pick compensation.

Always fun to be reminded of the good ol’ Type-A/Type-B draft pick compensation system. That was bad, and somehow the qualifying offer system is worse. At least the Type-A/Type-B system would treat second tier players a little more fairly. (Type-B players netted their former team a pick but didn’t force their new team to give up a pick.)

As for Balfour and Soriano, yeah I wasn’t on board with either at the time. I was a Robertson believer — to be fair, I never thought he would be this good — and thought minor leaguers like Ryan Pope and George Kontos would be able to hold down the fort in the middle innings. Wrong, I was. Maybe that’s a reminder to not count on the bullpen shuttle relievers in 2016.

January 4th, 2011: Yankees Interested In Jeremy Bonderman

The Yankees have been on the lookout for pitching since losing out on Cliff Lee, and that search has led them to Jeremy Bonderman. Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports reports that they have interest in the right-hander according to a Major League source.

The 2010-11 free agent pitching class was really bad. Lee was the top guy by far, and the next best options were Pettitte and Hiroki Kuroda. Pettitte was on the fence about retirement and Kuroda never even hit free agency — he re-signed with the Dodgers during the exclusive negotiating period.

The Yankees were connected to every washed up starter available after Lee went to Philadelphia. Bonderman was somehow still only 27 at the time, so he offered the illusion of upside, but he had a 5.53 ERA (4.90 FIP) in 171 innings for the Tigers in 2010. He had a 5.19 ERA (4.77 FIP) from 2007-10 and battled all sorts of injuries.

No team signed Bonderman that offseason and he sat out the 2011 season. He blew out his elbow during offseason workouts and missed the entire 2012 season due to Tommy John surgery as well. Bonderman attempted a comeback with the Mariners in 2013, was very bad (5.40 ERA and 5.12 FIP), and got released. He’s been out of baseball since. He’s still only 33 too. Crazy.

January 5th, 2011: Heyman On Yankees, Greinke, Young, Giants

The Yankees appear to have at least “a modicum” of interest in Freddy Garcia and Kevin Millwood. 

Like I said, the Yankees were connected to every washed up starter on the market. Garcia had a 4.64 ERA (4.77 FIP) with the White Sox in 2010 while Millwood had a 5.10 ERA (4.86 FIP) with the Orioles. The Yankees wound up signing both. What a world. (Millwood never did pitch for the Yankees. He spent a month in Triple-A in 2011, exercised an opt-out clause in his contract, then signed with the Rockies.)

January 5th, 2011: Minor Deals: Iribarren, Yankees, Zavada, Hernandez

The Yankees claimed righty Brian Schlitter from the Cubs, according to MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat (on Twitter). Schlitter, 25, appeared in seven games for the Cubs last year. He spent most of the season at Triple-A Iowa, where he posted a 3.15 ERA with 8.3 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9 in 45 2/3 innings.

Schlitter was a pretty eventful non-Yankee. The Yankees claimed him from the Cubs in January, designated him for assignment in February to clear a 40-man roster spot for Andruw Jones, and he was claimed off waivers by the Phillies. Philadelphia found something in his elbow during his Spring Training physical and the commissioner’s office rescinded the waiver claims. Back to the Cubs he went. Schlitter had a decent 2014 season which Chicago, pitching to a 4.15 ERA (3.61 FIP) in 56.1 innings.

January 6th, 2011: Soriano Open To Setting Up For Yankees

The best closer on the free agent market is open to being a setup man. Agent Scott Boras told Andrew Marchand of ESPNNewYork.com that Rafael Soriano would consider signing with the Yankees even though it would mean setting up for closer Mariano Rivera.

The whispers were getting louder and louder. Soriano was the best free agent on the market at the time — that was back when all the top non-Scott Boras clients signed before New Year’s, unlike this offseason — and the Yankees had the Cliff Lee money burning a hole in their pocket. I should have seen it coming.

January 7th, 2011: Yankees Not Showing Interest In Rafael Soriano

Rafael Soriano would join the Yankees as a setup man, but as of last night the Bronx Bombers weren’t interested in the Scott Boras client, according to ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (on Twitter). Soriano “would have to make himself absurdly cheap” on a one or two-year deal before the Yankees would even consider him, Olney writes.

The funny thing is the Yankees, at least the baseball operations folks, were not interested in Soriano. They didn’t want to give up the draft pick or meet Boras’ asking price. Boras doesn’t mess around though. He goes over the GM and straight to ownership for his biggest clients.

January 7th, 2011: Yankees Will Not Surrender First Round Pick

Yankees GM Brian Cashman says he intends to hold onto his 2011 first round draft choice, according to Chad Jennings of the Journal News. That means the team won’t sign any of the three remaining free agents tied to draft pick compensation: Rafael Soriano, Carl Pavano and Grant Balfour.

See?

January 9th, 2011: New York Notes: Castillo, Choate, Garza, Soria

Brian Cashman told Anthony McCarron of the New York Daily News that he felt the asking price for Matt Garza was too high to seriously pursue a trade with the Rays. “We never got off the dime, but strong impressions were that it would be something that would cost us more because we are in the division, kind of like Roy Halladay,” said the Yankees GM.

The Rays traded Garza to the Cubs a few days earlier for five players, most notably Chris Archer, who had yet to really blossom into a top notch pitching prospect. There was never any indication Tampa would seriously consider dealing Garza to another AL East team. They had a ton of suitors and preferred to send him elsewhere. The Yankees desperately needed pitching help though, and seeing a good young pitcher like Garza get traded without New York being involved created some headlines.

January 10th, 2011: Yankees Have Strong Interest In Andruw Jones

Andruw Jones appears to be the Yankees’ top choice as they continue to search for a fourth outfielder, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter). The sides are still apart on money, Heyman writes. Agent Scott Boras, who represents Jones, also represents Johnny Damon, who is one of the Yankees’ backup options. Former Yankee Marcus Thames is still a consideration for the Bronx Bombers.

Gosh, Thames was so awesome in 2010. He hit .288/.350/.491 (126 wRC+) overall and .300/.352/.454 (118 wRC+) against lefties (yes, he hit righties better than lefties that year), plus he was generally a cool dude and really easy to root for. Letting him walk was tough but it was the right baseball move. Thames was a really bad defender and there was no reason to think he’d put up a 137 wRC+ against righties again. The Dodgers gave him $1M and he cratered in 2011 (60 wRC+). Andruw? Andruw was the man in 2011. More on him later.

January 11th, 2011: Yankees Pursuing Justin Duchscherer

The Yankees are ‘stepping up’ their pursuit of Justin Duchscherer, according to ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick. It’s not clear whether the Yankees are interested in the right-hander as a starter or as a reliever.

Justin Duchscherer! He had some nice years with the A’s in the mid-2000s but had been battling injuries at the time of this rumor. In fact, Duchscherer threw only 28 innings total from 2009-10. He was one of those guys everyone wanted the Yankees to acquire every offseason and every trade deadline. Every year. Justin Duchscherer was the guy. Had to have him. He was the missing piece.

Duchscherer had success as both a starter and reliever in his career, so the Yankees could have signed him and slotted him in wherever he was needed. That was the idea. Instead, the Orioles signed him for a mere $700,000. There was much anger in Yankeeland over that. Can’t believe they let him go to the division rival for peanuts! Then Duchscherer suffered a hip injury on day one of Spring Training and never pitched again. Sheesh. Dark ending.

January 12th, 2011: Andy Pettitte Will Not Start 2011 Season

8:13 PM: Andy Pettitte has informed the Yankees that if he does return for the 2011 season, he won’t be ready by Opening Day, reports Stefan Bondy and Nathaniel Vinton of the New York Daily News.  Brian Cashman said Pettitte told him to “don’t count on me” but the GM noted that if Pettitte wanted to pitch later in the season, the door would be open for a return.

I remember there being a question about Pettitte’s offseason workouts that winter. Was he preparing for the season in case he did decide to return? We never did get an answer, but once Andy told the Yankees he wasn’t going to start the season on time, the writing was on the wall. There had been others who came back at midseason (Roger Clemens with the 2007 Yankees, Pedro Martinez with the 2009 Phillies), but, for the most part, the older veteran guys who planned for midseason comeback never did come back.

January 13th, 2011: Yankees Sign Rafael Soriano (official announcement made Jan. 18th)

The Yankees have signed Rafael Soriano to a three-year contract, the team announced today. The deal is believed to be worth $35MM over three years, and will allow the player to opt out after either of the first two years.The Scott Boras client will make $11.5MM if he opts out after year one and $21.5MM if he opts out after year two. The contract does not include a no-trade clause.

And there it is. Boras convinced the Steinbrenners the Yankees needed Soriano — Boras’ story went something like this: Rivera is getting old, you have all that Cliff Lee money you didn’t spend, and the Red Sox won the offseason by adding Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford; are you gonna let that happen? — and they gave him that hilarious contract.

The most unexpected thing about the Soriano signing was Cashman’s candidness. He made it clear he was against the signing and said so at Soriano’s introductory press conference.

“I didn’t want to sign him.”

“Yeah, that guy right there.”

“Him. Right there. The one standing right next to me.”

“Is he looking at me? He’s looking at me isn’t he.”

That whole press conference was something else. Ownership talked about how happy they were to have Soriano and how much he’d help the team win, then Cashman stepped in and told reporters he didn’t want him. I think that was the first time we saw no effs given Cashman. He’s been really candid about stuff in recent years and I think it’s great. It’s a lot more interesting than the usual boring GM quotes.

Anyway, Soriano was both mediocre (4.12 ERA and 3.97 FIP) and hurt (elbow) in 2011, so he didn’t opt-out of his contract after the season. He was great in 2012 (2.26 ERA and 3.32 FIP) while filling in at closer after Rivera got hurt, then he opted out of his contract following the season. The Yankees made him the qualifying offer and the draft pick turned into Ian Clarkin, so it wasn’t all bad. (Photo via Getty)

January 14th, 2011: Yankees Would Consider Joba-For-Starter Trade

The Yankees would consider swapping Joba Chamberlain, but “probably only” as part of a larger package for a “viable starter,” tweets Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated.  Chamberlain’s name was connected to trade rumors last summer, as teams like the Diamondbacks and Blue Jays were trying to “buy low” on Chamberlain, but there was never an indication that the Yankees were seriously considering moving the right-hander.

See? The whole “we’ll trade one of our good players for a starter” thing the Yankees are trying with Brett Gardner and Andrew Miller this offseason is nothing new. They’ve been spouting that line for years. The Yankees put Joba back in the bullpen in 2010 and he had one of those bad ERA (4.40)/good FIP (2.98) years, which started to frustrate everyone. The Yankees never did trade him, obviously, but I thought this was funny. Same story as this offseason, only with different names.

January 15th, 2011: Cashman Has “Full Backing” Of Steinbrenners

Not long after the Yankees agreed to sign Rafael Soriano, we heard that the deal was driven more by ownership and not by GM Brian Cashman and his baseball operations staff. SI.com’s Jon Heyman reports today that Cashman still has the “full backing” of the Steinbrenner family, a report echoed by ESPN’s Buster Olney (Twitter links). Heyman adds (via Twitter) that while Cashman preferred to keep the team’s first round draft choice, he made no attempt to “body block” the deal with Soriano and relented because he’s a “team man.” 

Cashman’s contract expired following the 2011 season and I remember there being a lot of speculation that he would leave because ownership had gone over his head to sign Soriano. (And as we learned later, they went over his head to finalize Jeter’s new contract too.) There was talk during the 2011-12 offseason that the Mariners and Phillies wanted him, but Cashman opted to re-sign with the Yankees. They are literally the only employer he’s had in his adult life. Love him or hate him, there’s no denying Cashman is fiercely loyal to the Yankees.

January 19th, 2011: Yankees, Carl Pavano Considered Deal

11:58am: Pavano seriously considered returning to the Yankees, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The Yankees explored a one-year, high-salary deal with Pavano before the Twins offered a second year.

I do remember the great Pavano freak out of the 2010-11 offseason. The Yankees brought Javy Vazquez back in 2010 and it didn’t go well, and the thought of following it up with a Pavano reunion was icky. Pavano was 35 at the time and he was coming off a strong 2010 season, throwing 221 innings with a 3.75 ERA (4.02 FIP) and lots of grounders (51.2%) for the Twins. The Yankees could have used an innings guy like that.

But still, it was Carl Pavano, man. Ewww. The bad taste of 2006-08 was still in everyone’s mouth. Thankfully, the Twins swooped in and gave Pavano a two-year contract at $16.5M, making it easy for the Yankees to walk away. Pavano was okay at best in 2011 (4.30 ERA and 4.10 FIP in 222 innings) before falling apart in 2012 (6.00 ERA and 4.38 FIP in 63 innings). Thankfully Cashman’s “let’s bring back some former Yankees everyone hates!” phase didn’t last long.

January 19th, 2011: Yankees Notes: Cashman, Pettitte, Damon

Johnny Damon is still drawing some interest from the Yankees, in part because the team thinks Damon could help getting A.J. Burnett back in form, tweets Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated.  Heyman notes that the Yankees can’t offer Damon the playing time that he could find with the Angels and Rays.

That seems … odd. Bring Damon back to help Burnett? I guess they were really close friends, but geez, that’s a stretch. Then again, the Yankees were looking for any way to get Burnett back on track after his disappointing 2010 season. Larry Rothschild went to see him at his home in Arkansas and there was thought bringing in Lee (a fellow Arkansas guy who shares an agent with Burnett) would help him, so I guess Damon made as much sense as anything. The Yankees had no need for Damon though. Their outfield was full (Gardner, Curtis Granderson, Nick Swisher) and they had already signed Russell Martin so Jorge Posada could transition to DH full-time.

January 20th, 2011: Yankees To Sign Andruw Jones

The Yankees agreed to sign Andruw Jones to a one-year deal, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter). The Scott Boras client signed for $2MM and can make up to $1.2MM more by reaching incentives.

And here was the fourth outfielder. Jones gave the Yankees a righty complement to Gardner and Granderson, so he was a much better fit for the roster than Damon. Andruw mashed during his first season in New York too. He put up a .247/.356/.495 (132 wRC+) line overall and a .286/.384/.540 (152 wRC+) line against southpaws. Thames was pretty great in 2010 but Jones was an upgrade. He was awesome in 2011.

January 25th, 2011: AL East Links: Red Sox, Bautista, Wells, Jeter

Yankees GM Brian Cashman suggested this morning that Derek Jeter will likely shift to the outfield before his current deal expires, but he tells MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch that it’s “not an issue we have to deal with right now” (Twitter link).

Haha. I totally forgot about the Jeter to the outfield stuff. That was never ever ever ever going to happen. Jeter would still be the starting shortstop for the Yankees in 2016 had he decided to continue playing. The Yankees were never going to move Jeter off shortstop.

January 25th, 2011: Minor Transactions: Madrigal, Lane, Vasquez

The Yankees signed right-hander Warner Madrigal, who last pitched in the majors with Texas in 2009.  Madrigal originally broke into pro ball as an outfielder, but converted to pitching in 2006.  He posted a 3.73 ERA in 35 games with the Rangers’ Double-A and Triple-A teams last year.

Madrigal was a busted prospect at the time. It looked like he had a chance to develop into a bullpen mainstay with the Rangers for a few years there, but it never worked out. Madrigal got hurt in Spring Training, appeared in two games for Double-A Trenton in late-May, then got hurt again and missed the rest of his season. His tenure in the organization lasted eight batters in Triple-A.

January 26th, 2011: Yankees Sign Bartolo Colon

Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports reports that the Yankees have signed Colon to a minor league deal (Twitter link). Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that Colon will earn $900K in the majors and has the right to be released if he isn’t on the team after Spring Training (Twitter links).

The Yankees were widely mocked for signing Colon, including by me in this very space. Shows what I know. Colon was excellent for the Yankees in the first half of 2011 before fading down the stretch and finishing the season with a 4.00 ERA (3.83 FIP) in 164.1 innings. That’s after not pitching at all in 2010 and throwing only 257 innings from 2006-09.

We all laughed because the Yankees looked desperate after losing out on Lee, but what we didn’t see was Colon firing mid-90s heaters in winter ball. Tony Pena was his winter ball manager and he recommended the Yankees give Colon a look. They liked what they saw enough to give him a low risk minor league deal that worked out beautifully. Colon is still pitching in 2016. He just signed a new one-year deal with the Mets after making 31 starts for the team that went to the damn World Series last year.

Thanks to Colon, I will never mock a minor league deal again. They’re super low risk and there’s so much we just don’t know.

January 26th, 2011: Yankees To Offer Pettitte $12MM

4:44pm: The Yankees’ offer to Andy Pettitte is or will be for $12MM, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (Twitter links). That won’t necessarily be enough to lure the free agent left-hander away from retirement, but some of Heyman’s sources expect him to play. “Why would he be working out if he’s not playing?” one asked.

A few days earlier Joe Girardi mentioned Pettitte was working out, which gave everyone hope he would decide to pitch in 2011. That $12M represented a slight raise — Andy made $11.75M in 2010. He was very good in 2010 (3.28 ERA and 3.85 FIP) but missed two months with a groin injury, and the rehab is what Pettitte would later say pushed him towards retirement. He was taking an uncomfortably long time — uncomfortable for fans, that is — to make his decision, though this report gave fans some hope.

January 31st, 2011: Yankees Reach Agreement With Freddy Garcia

The Yankees have agreed to sign Freddy Garcia to a minor league contract, reports ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick (Twitter link).  The deal will pay Garcia $1.5MM if he makes the Major League roster, and the total value of the contract could be worth $5.1MM if Garcia reaches all his start-based incentive plateaus, up to 30 starts.  Garcia is represented by Peter Greenberg.

The Yankees were also mocked for signing Garcia, though not as much as they were for signing Colon. Garcia at least pitched in 2010, so it didn’t seem like a total shot in the dark. Still, Sweaty Freddy was way past his prime, and arm injuries had made him a junkballer. There weren’t many reasons to think he’d success in Yankee Stadium and the AL East.

Garcia, of course, went on to give the Yankees 146.2 innings of 3.62 ERA (4.12 FIP) ball in 2011. He was really solid. Garcia was in the postseason rotation and he ended up starting Game 2 of the ALDS against the Tigers after the rainout issue in Game One. Remember that? Game One was suspended due to rain in the middle of the second inning, so Game Two starters Ivan Nova and Doug Fister “came out of the bullpen” the next day to replace CC Sabathia and Justin Verlander. Garcia was then bumped up to start Game Two instead of pitching Game Three as scheduled.

That suspended game really screwed the Yankees. They ended up getting only one real start out of Sabathia in the five-game series instead of two. The Yankees were mocked for being so desperate that they had to sign Colon and Garcia, but they combined to give the team 311 innings of 3.82 ERA ball. Those two saved the Yankees’ bacon and helped get them to October.

A new month begins today, which means it’s time for another trip through the MLBTR archives. We looked at November 2010 last month, so now we’ll dive into December 2010. The 2010-11 offseason was headlined by Cliff Lee’s free agency, plus contract talks with Derek Jeter and to a lesser extent Mariano Rivera. Those were the biggest stories.

December is a crazy hot stove month thanks mostly to the Winter Meetings. The 2010 Winter Meetings were in Orlando from December 6th through 9th. The 2015 Winter Meetings are next week in Nashville. I’ve been to both places for the Winter Meetings. Orlando is a gazillion times better than Nashville. As a reminder, we’re looking back at this stuff for fun, not to mock the MLBTR crew or anything. They’re great. Let’s get started.

December 1st, 2010: Yankees Re-sign Sergio Mitre

The Yankees have re-signed Sergio Mitre to a one-year, $900K deal, reports Jerry Crasnick of ESPN (via Twitter).  The right-hander could earn up to $200K more through incentives.  Mitre was entering his third year of arbitration eligibility.

Alright, starting with a bang. Mitre earned a World Series ring with the 2009 Yankees as a late-season swingman, then hung around as a tolerable long man (3.33 ERA and 4.69 FIP in 54 innings) in 2010. The Yankees re-signed him following that season, then traded him to the Brewers at the end of Spring Training. Then, after Milwaukee got tired of him, the Yankees brought Mitre back in a cash deal at midseason and he allowed nine runs in 4.1 innings. He hasn’t pitched in MLB since that season or anywhere since 2012. The Sergio Mitre Experience was something else.

December 2nd, 2010: Derek Jeter Rumors: Thursday

2:28pm: The Yankees informed Close today they’re willing to improve upon their three-year, $45MM offer to Jeter, reports ESPN’s Jayson Stark.  Jeter’s side lowered their request, adds SI’s Jon Heyman on Twitter.

8:03am: Derek Jeter and his agent Casey Close reached out to the Yankees to set up Tuesday’s meeting in Tampa, report Mark Feinsand and Bill Madden of the New York Daily News.  Hal Steinbrenner, Randy Levine, and Brian Cashman attended for the Yankees.

Talks with Jeter’s camp finally got serious in early-December. Things got a little messy in November, with Cashman telling Jeter to look around and see what else the market had to offer. That was also when he told him he’d rather than Troy Tulowitzki. Anyway, the three-year, $45M offer ended up being close to the final number. The two sides weren’t far apart at this point.

December 2nd, 2010: Minor Deals: Gotay, Rays, Duckworth, Carlyle

The Yankees signed right-hander Buddy Carlyle to a minor league deal, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Carlyle, 32, spent the 2010 season in Japan after posting a 5.61 ERA with 6.9 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in parts of six big league seasons.

Buddy Carlyle! I totally forgot he was a Yankee. He spent most of the 2011 season with Triple-A Scranton but did make a cameo in the Bronx, allowing four runs in 7.2 mop-up innings. Carlyle spent 2012-13 season bouncing around Triple-A before pitching quite well with the 2014 Mets (1.45 ERA and 2.65 FIP in 31 innings). He was hurt most of this season but did get the save for the Mets on Opening Day.

The Mets went to the World Series this season, you know. Bullpens are so weird.

December 2nd, 2010: American League Non-Tenders

Yankees: Alfredo Aceves, Dustin Moseley

The Moseley non-tender made sense but man, the Aceves non-tender was really surprising at the time. He was pretty awesome for the 2009 Yankees (3.54 ERA and 3.75 FIP in 84 innings) but was limited to only 12 innings in 2010 due to back problems. His season ended in early-May. Aceves then broke his collarbone in a bike riding accident in November.

The Yankees were pretty desperate for rotation help during the 2010-11 offseason and, if nothing else, Aceves had the repertoire to start. Between that and his effectiveness in 2009, cutting him loose and getting nothing in return seemed insane. That the Red Sox picked him up and he had a fine 2011 season (2.61 ERA and 4.03 FIP in 114 innings) only made matters worse. That looked like a major blunder at the time.

Of course, Aceves’ back then continued to be an ongoing problem and he is borderline crazy, so he was never effective after that 2011 season in Boston. He had a 5.39 ERA (5.13 FIP) in 140.1 innings from 2012-14 — that includes a brief return to the Yankees in 2014 — and spent the 2015 pitching ineffectively in Mexico (6.10 ERA in 87 innings)

Letting Aceves go during the 2010-11 ended up to be not that big a deal — the Yankees found rotation help and won the division — but man, that was a very surprising move at the time. Then again, we didn’t know the extent of his back and attitude issues, so yeah.

December 3rd, 2010: Olney On Crawford, Berkman, Konerko

The Yankees are very much engaged in conversations with Crawford, though it’s unclear whether they have the flexibility to spend on him and Cliff Lee (Twitter links). The Yankees plan to set up a meeting with Crawford, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (Twitter link).

This is right about the time Cliff Lee panic was starting to become a thing. Up until this point the Yankees had signed pretty much whoever they wanted, so we were all confident they’d land Lee, but the Rangers were making a strong push and Lee didn’t jump at New York’s offer, so there was some doubt about whether they’d actually land him.

As for Carl Crawford, the 2010 outfield was the productive Nick Swisher, Curtis Granderson before his back-to-back 40+ homer seasons, and Brett Gardner coming off his strong first full season (112 wRC+). Jorge Posada was penciled at DH too, so there was no obvious spot the Crawford. The idea being tossed around was — and stop me if you’ve heard this before — sign Crawford then trade Gardner for a pitcher. That didn’t happen, thankfully. Gardner has massively outproduced Crawford since.

December 3rd, 2010: Rosenthal On Greinke, Lee, Rangers, Yankees

The Rangers’ main competition for Lee, the Yankees, could afford to have both pitchers in their rotation, but Rosenthal says “the Yankees don’t view a Greinke trade as realistic” since they “still have reservations” about Greinke’s ability to pitch in New York.

This was back when Zack Greinke was still with the Royals. They traded him to the Brewers that offseason and he later signed with the Dodgers. Does anyone still doubt Greinke’s ability to pitch in a big market? He had a 2.30 ERA (2.97 FIP) in three years with the Dodgers and had a 2.38 ERA in six postseason starts. Can we put this all to bed now? Okay, good.

December 5th, 2010: Cliff Lee Rumors: Sunday

The Yankees have yet to make a formal proposal to Lee and his agent Darek Braunecker is hoping to get a deal done in Orlando, says Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter links).

I remember the outrage when we found out the Yankees had yet to make a formal offer to Lee, though in reality it was no big deal. The two sides had talked and talked. The Yankees just didn’t put a piece of paper in front of him to sign, which is the very last step in the process. It’s not like the two sides send formal offers back and forth. They talk it out, then draw it up. The hot stove can be a real bitch.

December 6th, 2010: Blue Jays, Yankees, Mariners Interested In Diaz

3:15pm: The Yankees and Mariners are interested in Matt Diaz as a possible platoon player. New York would mix Diaz in with Brett Gardner and Curtis Granderson, according to Ed Price of AOL FanHouse.

Five years later and we still talk about finding a right-handed platoon partner for Gardner and the other outfielders. The more things change, eh?

December 6th, 2010: Russell Martin Suitors

FRIDAY, 9:16am: The Yankees, who tried to trade for Russell Martin this week, are one of six teams interested in the 27-year-old free agent, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Michael S. Schmidt of the New York Times reports that the Yankees nearly sent Francisco Cervelli to the Dodgers for Martin (Twitter links). In fact, the Yankees and Dodgers even exchanged medical records on Wednesday. 

Martin’s 2010 season ended in August due to hip surgery and there was a lot of concern about his health at the time. The Dodgers were unable to work out a trade then ended up non-tendering him earlier in December. The Yankees tried to make a trade for him (obviously) but the Dodgers didn’t want Cervelli. They chose nothing instead. Weird.

So, what happens if Cervelli-for-Martin deal goes down? Do the Yankees re-sign Martin following the 2012 season because they don’t have Cervelli waiting in the wings? Gosh, that would change everything. No Brian McCann, no Justin Wilson … I wonder where the extra money (and draft pick!) goes. I’m not sure you can definitively argue the Yankees would have been better or worse.

December 6th, 2010: Yankees Notes: Feliciano, Wood, Pettitte

The Yankees are interested in re-signing Kerry Wood, according to MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch (Twitter link). GM Brian Cashman says he isn’t interested in paying Wood “closer money.”

Wood was really awesome for the Yankees after coming over from the Indians at the 2010 trade deadline. He had a 0.69 ERA (3.39 FIP) in 26 innings and emerged as Joe Girardi’s top setup reliever. Wood then allowed two runs in eight postseason innings. He ended up taking a steep discount to return to the Cubs (one year, $1.5M), which is admirable, and yet I still can’t help but feel like #CashmanFailed.

December 7th, 2010: Odds & Ends: Yankees, Giants, Astros, Marlins

Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News has some quotes from Yankees GM Brian Cashman, including praise for Boston’s Adrian Gonzalez acquisition and an explanation that Dustin Moseley was non-tendered because he was looking for something greater than what New York had offered, and New York didn’t want to go to arbitration.

Moseley was another one of those guys the Yankees seemed to like more than anyone realized. He wasn’t very good in 2010 (4.96 ERA and 5.99 FIP in 65.1 innings) and ended up hooking on with the Padres after the season. Moseley was pretty good for them in 2011 (3.30 ERA and 3.99 FIP in 120 innings) before tearing up his shoulder swinging a bat. He’s thrown 39 innings between MLB and the minors since. Stupid NL rules.

December 7th, 2010: At Least Seven Teams Checked In On Rich Harden

The Yankees, Twins, Rays, Diamondbacks, Brewers, Mariners, and Rockies have checked in on free agent righty Rich Harden, writes Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.  Morosi says some teams like Harden as a starter, others as a reliever.

Fun fact: Yesterday was Harden’s 34th birthday, meaning he was only 29 during the 2010-11 offseason. He had a 5.58 ERA (6.31 FIP) in 92 innings for the Rangers in 2010, but man, teams couldn’t resist the lightning in his arm. At his peak, Harden had some of the nastiest stuff you’ll ever see. Injuries, most notably a torn shoulder capsule, ruined his career.

I’m certain I wanted the Yankees to sign Harden during the 2010-11 offseason, even just to see what he looked like out of the bullpen, but it didn’t happen. He took a one-year contract worth $1.5M to return to the Athletics and was terrible in 2011 (5.12 ERA and 4.69 FIP in 82.2 innings). Harden hasn’t pitched at any level since. Injuries suck. This guy was as exciting as any pitcher in the game early in his career.

December 7th, 2010: Yankees Re-Sign Derek Jeter

The Yankees officially re-signed shortstop Derek Jeter to a deal worth a guaranteed $56MM, if he exercises a fourth-year player option.  A press conference is scheduled for this afternoon.

There it is. The two sides went back and forth in November but got serious and hammered out a deal in early-December. The deal was actually worth $51M over the first three years with a fourth year player option that included escalators for awards finishes. The Yankees and Jeter eventually tore up the option and replaced it with a new one-year contract.

Jeter rebounded to hit .297/.355/.388 (104 wRC+) in 2011, the first year of the deal, after putting up a .270/.340/.370 (93 wRC+) line and showing serious signs of decline in 2010. The Cap’n was even better in year two of the contract: .316/.362/.429 (117 wRC+) with an MLB leading 216 hits. Year three was marred by lower leg injuries (only 17 games).

The on-field production doesn’t necessarily match the salary but I have little doubt the Yankees got their money’s worth out of this contract. Jeter’s marquee value is unmatched. He helped sell a ton of tickets, a ton of merchandise, and who knows how many advertising dollars he generated.

December 7th, 2010: Yankees, Rangers Finalists For Mark Prior

Cliff Lee isn’t the only pitcher the Yankees and Rangers are bidding against each other on. Those two clubs are the finalists for Mark Prior, according to Tom Krasovic of AOLFanHouse (on Twitter). The 30-year-old right-hander has a connection to both clubs; he pitched in the Rangers’ minor league system last year and the Yankees selected him 43rd overall in the 1998 draft, but were unable to sign him.

Similar to Harden, Prior was interesting because of who he used to be, not who he was at the time. Prior had just turned 30 and had thrown literally one inning from 2007-10 due to ongoing arm problems, including multiple shoulder capsule tears. There was no logical reason whatsoever to think he could contribute to an MLB team at that point. And yet good, smart teams like the Yankees and Rangers wanted him.

December 7th, 2010: Cliff Lee Rumors: Tuesday

The Yankees are on the verge of making Lee a lucrative offer and are awaiting the go-ahead from Braunecker, according to Andrew Marchand of ESPNNewYork.com. GM Brian Cashman says he’s ready to get serious.

There were a lot of rumors at this point saying Lee was sitting on multiple six and seven-year offers, none of which were apparently true. The Yankees and Rangers had emerged as the major suitors at this point with some other clubs (Angels and Nationals, mostly) on the periphery. The Phillies were lying in the weeds. This was day two of the Winter Meetings in Orlando and the Lee market was really starting to heat up.

December 8th, 2010: CC Sabathia Unaffected By Cliff Lee

Yankees ace C.C. Sabathia has the ability to opt out of the remaining four years and $92MM remaining on his contract after the 2011 season.  It’s been suggested that a Cliff Lee megadeal could prompt Sabathia to bail in search of more money or years, but he told George King of the New York Post, “It has no effect on me at all.”

As long as he stayed healthy, Sabathia was always going to opt-out of his contract following the 2011 season. And the Lee deal did affect him in a way. It set the market for an ace-caliber starter near this 30th birthday. Lee signed for five years and $120M guaranteed. The new value of Sabathia’s contract after his extension? Five years and $122M. Lee’s contract may not have convinced Sabathia to opt-out, but it did help establish the price.

December 8th, 2010: Seven Teams Interested In Octavio Dotel

Seven clubs are interested in Octavio Dotel, according to Enrique Rojas of ESPNDeportes (on Twitter, in Spanish). The Diamondbacks, Blue Jays, Orioles, Twins, Pirates and Yankees have inquired on the right-hander, Rojas writes.

Dotel was one of those guys we talked about the Yankees potentially signing every offseason, it seemed. He was 37 during the 2010-11 offseason and managed to hang around three more years. Dotel eventually signed a one-year, $3M deal with the Blue Jays that offseason and was traded to the World Series winning Cardinals at the trade deadline. He had a 3.50 ERA (3.23 FIP) in 54 innings that year. Not bad. Not bad at all.

December 8th, 2010: Cliff Lee Rumors: Wednesday

The Yankees offered Lee a six-year deal worth $140MM, according to Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News (on Twitter). George A. King III of the New York Post hears that the team is comfortable offering between $137.5MM and $150MM.

This was the first time we heard details of a contract offer. The Yankees reportedly ended up making two offers: seven years and $150M or six years and $138M with a $16M player option, so King’s report was pretty much spot on. As a reminder, the Yankees did indeed make Lee the largest contract offer. The two largest offers, in fact.

December 9th, 2010: Andy Pettitte Rumors: Thursday

• Brian Cashman spoke to Pettitte again on Wednesday, with the southpaw still on the fence about his decision, tweets Marc Carig of the Star-Ledger.
• According to SI.com’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter), Pettitte told the Yanks that pitching itself isn’t a problem, but following his groin injury, he’s not sure he can still do all the work necessary to pitch.

I love Andy Pettitte. Every Yankees fan does. But man, the “will he or won’t he retire” thing was so exhausting. It seemed like he was leaning in a different direction every other day. There were also rumblings Pettitte was waiting to see what happened to Lee, because if Lee didn’t sign with the Yankees, Andy was going to increase his demands. That never happened. Pettitte announced his retirement in February. His first retirement, anyway.

December 9th, 2010: Twins Would Consider Trading Slowey

The Twins would consider trading Kevin Slowey – especially if they re-sign Carl Pavano – reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post.  Sherman says the Twins have actually received inquiries on ace Francisco Liriano from the Yankees and others, but a team official can’t imagine moving the lefty.

At the time, Liriano was similar to Carlos Carrasco now. He was a year younger but also had an okay 3.62 ERA (112 ERA+) with dynamite peripherals in 2010: 24.9% strikeout rate, 7.2% walk rate, 53.6% grounder rate, and a 2.66 FIP. Liriano only had two years of control remaining, however. Not three plus two options like Carrasco does now.

I remember being a big fan of pursuing Liriano that offseason — I wanted him even if the Yankees signed Lee because they needed multiple starters — but didn’t expect it to happen. He remained in Minnesota, then wasn’t very good (5.09 ERA and 4.54 FIP in 134.1 innings) and got hurt in 2011. The same thing happened in 2012 (5.34 ERA and 4.34 FIP in 156.2 innings). It wasn’t until Liriano latched on with the Pirates in 2013 that he turned things around.

December 9th, 2010: Russell Martin Rumors: Thursday

Martin is weighing offers from the Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays and a mystery team, according to Marc Carig of the Star Ledger (on Twitter). The mystery team has proposed a multiyear deal.

Ah yes, the mystery team. They’re always very aggressive in the offseason but rarely seem to actually land a player. That must be annoying for mystery team fans.

December 9th, 2010: Cliff Lee Rumors: Thursday

The Yankees have just gone to a seventh year for Lee, tweets SI’s Jon Heyman.  With Carl Crawford and Jayson Werth getting deals of that length, it’d be hard to sign Lee without matching.  The Yanks’ previous offer was reported to be six years and $140MM, so this one could nudge Lee past C.C. Sabathia for the largest contract ever given to a pitcher.

And there’s the seventh year. The Yankees did lower the average annual value slightly, which seems to be their thing. Last offseason they agreed to the fourth guaranteed year for Chase Headley and Andrew Miller in exchange for a lower annual salary, which helps the luxury tax. I dunno, seems like the Yankees should use their financial might to do the opposite. Pay higher annual salaries to keep contracts short.

December 9th, 2010: Odds & Ends: Giambi, Upton, Crawford, Yankees

Yankees GM Brian Cashman told Jack Curry of the YES Network that the team dined with Crawford’s representatives even though they weren’t interested in signing the outfielder. Curry suggests the dinner could have been a bluff.

Crawford had signed with the Red Sox at this point. It came out later the Yankees never really had interest in him. They were just involved to drive up the price for Boston and put some pressure on Lee’s camp, showing their many millions of dollars could end up elsewhere. The former may or may not have worked. The latter didn’t.

December 12th, 2010: Cliff Lee Rumors: Saturday

• Sherman’s colleague, George A. King III writes that the Yankees will not increase their offer to Lee again. The Yankees have extended three offers, the longest of which is believed to be in the seven-year, $160MM range.
• We heard on Saturday that some Yankees officials were expressing “a bit of skepticism” about the team’s chances of landing Lee. ESPN.com’s Buster Olney says the same thing today in his Insider-only blog. According to Olney, one Yankee exec told another team’s GM that he figures the odds of New York signing Lee are about 50-50.

This was the first time we heard a) the Yankees had three different offers on the table (though I’m guessing that’s not uncommon), and b) the Yankees express some doubt about landing Lee. Again, we were all in “the Yankees will sign whoever they want” mode at the time. For the first time, many Yankees fans were about to feel the burn of losing out on a top target.

December 13th and 15th, 2010: Phillies Sign Cliff Lee

The wait is over. In a surprising development that leaves two top American League teams empty-handed, Cliff Lee has signed a five-year, $120MM deal with the Phillies, the team announced today. The contract includes a $27.5MM vesting option for 2016 with a $12.5MM buyout, plus partial no-trade clause. 

The contract was officially announced on December 15th but word got out Lee agreed to sign with the Phillies late on the 13th. Here’s our post on Lee signing with the Phillies. The old comments were nuked when we switched over to Disqus a while back — we have the comments database file but restoring them would be a pain — but I assure you, it was pure rage, especially since the Red Sox had just made the Crawford and Gonzalez deals.

Anyway, this was a major shock to the system. The Yankees didn’t get the guy they so badly wanted — the last time that happened was 1991 with Greg Maddux — and the Phillies pretty much came out of nowhere at the 11th hour. New York’s rotation was underwhelming at best — it was Sabathia, Phil Hughes, A.J. Burnett, Mitre, and the unproven Ivan Nova at that very moment — and while Lee alone wouldn’t have fixed everything, he would have been a major help.

Remember, the Yankees went to the ALCS in 2010 and were two wins away from returning to the World Series when they lost to Lee and the Rangers. The thinking at the time wasn’t “how do the Yankees get back to the postseason” like it is now. It was “they’re going back to the postseason because they always go to the postseason, and Sabathia and Lee would be an unstoppable one-two punch.”

The Yankees didn’t get the pitcher they wanted and suddenly they had a lot of money burning a hole in their pocket. Their austerity plan had not yet fully kicked in and the team was very willing to trade top prospects. They were in full blown win-now mode and the greatest win-now piece had just taken less money (and fewer years) to go elsewhere. Ouch.

December 13th, 2010: Yankees Have Some Interest In Jerry Hairston Jr.

The Yankees appear to have inquired on Jerry Hairston Jr., according to Marc Carig of the Star Ledger (on Twitter). The 34-year-old played second, third, short and all three outfield positions with the 2009 World Series Champion Yankees. 

Fun fact: Hairston was in left field when the 27th out of the 2009 World Series was recorded. Johnny Damon scored from second on Hideki Matsui’s single in the third inning and pulled his calf. He was lifted after the inning and Hairston took over. Melky Cabrera got hurt earlier in the series, so if the Yankees didn’t win Game 6, chances are the Game 7 outfield would have been Hairston, Swisher, and the then-unproven Gardner.

Anyway, Hairston spent that half season in New York, signed with the Padres in 2010, played way too much (82 wRC+ in 476 plate appearances), then wound up signing with the Nationals. I liked the idea of signing Hairston as the bench guy — he played everywhere and had a .325 OBP from 2008-10, what more could you expect? — but understood he was probably going to go somewhere that offered more playing time. He had 376 plate appearances with the Nats in 2011, about twice as many as I hoped he’d get in New York.

December 13th, 2010: Zack Greinke Rumors: Monday

12:09pm: Royals GM Dayton Moore is “actively gauging” the trade market for Zack Greinke, reports ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick.  Moore “has focused on adding up-the-middle position players who are close to major league ready,” and the Yankees, Rangers, and Brewers are not considered among the best matches.

…

Brett Gardner‘s name has come up in talks between the Royals and Yankees, according to Crasnick. 

Gardner was the only player the Yankees had who fit the “MLB ready up-the-middle guy” mold. They had traded Austin Jackson in the previous offseason to get Granderson and Eduardo Nunez was hardly a top prospect. I don’t think the Yankees were ever serious about Greinke because they were concerned about him in New York, but, even if they did want him, they didn’t have the pieces to get him.

December 14th and 15th, 2010: Yankees Sign Russell Martin

The Yankees’ $4MM deal with Russell Martin is official now that he has passed his physical, according to ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (Twitter links).  With Jorge Posada moving into a designated hitter role next year, Martin should be the Yankees’ starting catcher.  Since Martin has less than five years of service time, he’s under team control for 2012 as an arbitration eligible player.

The Yankees and Martin agreed to the contract on the 14th and it became official a day later. Nowadays the Yankees keep things so quiet we go from rumor to reports of an agreement to a press release in a matter of hours. In November we heard the Yankees were planning to move Posada to DH and Martin was signed to be the starting catcher.

What we didn’t know at the time was the value of pitch-framing and stuff like that. Ben Lindbergh, a former Yankees intern, explained the team discovered the value of framing during the 2009 season, and it surely was a driving force behind the Martin signing. He was a top notch defensive catcher, the framing metrics loved him (as we later found out), and he had some pop.

Not many were thrilled with the Martin signing — he went from a 122 wRC+ in 2007 to 112 in 2008 to 87 in 2009 to 90 in 2010, after all — but, in hindsight, getting him for $4M (!) plus another year of control through arbitration was a damn steal. The Yankees were way ahead of the curve on the whole catcher defense/framing thing.

December 14th, 2010: Cliff Lee Signing: The Fallout

• From Joel Sherman of the New York Post: “One Yankees executive likened what they now face as losing out on Microsoft stock and instead having to diversify the portfolio to keep it strong.”  The Yanks have added Russell Martin and will probably look into innings-eaters or reclamation project starters.  They’re also expected to add two relievers and a righty-hitting fourth outfielder.  So, they’ll spread the wealth.
• GM Brian Cashman preached that “Plan B is patience.”  He feels that prices will go up with teams, and I assume agents, sensing blood in the water.  He’s also willing to wait until the season to make an acquisition.

I vividly remember fans taking the “Plan B is patience” line not well. After Lee signed with the Phillies, there were calls to fire everyone, to trade every prospect, to tear it down and rebuild, basically every nonsensical thing you could imagine. It was something else.

There was no obvious second free agent pitcher to target that offseason. The best free agent hurlers behind Lee were Pettitte and Hiroki Kuroda, and Kuroda re-signed with the Dodgers during the exclusive negotiating period and never actually became a free agent. So spreading the wealth around and having patience was the best thing to do. It was the only thing to do, really.

December 14th, 2010: Yankees Re-Sign Mariano Rivera

The Yankees re-signed Mariano Rivera to a two-year deal, the team announced today. The contract will pay Rivera $30MM, according to Christian Red of the New York Daily News. 

Nice and easy. A painless negotiation. In November we’d heard the Yankees wanted to limit Rivera’s deal to one-year but eventually they gave in. Contracts talks with Rivera were pretty much the opposite of talks with Jeter, possibly because Rivera had shown few if any signs of decline. Jeter’s production took a big step back in 2010.

December 15th, 2010: Yankees Sign Mark Prior

It’s not Cliff Lee, but the Yankees have added a big-name pitcher. They signed Mark Prior to a minor league deal, the team announced today. ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick first reported the deal (on Twitter). Prior will earn $750K in the major leagues and could earn $750K more in incentives, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter).

A bunch of very original “World Series here we come!” remarks followed the Prior signing. The snark was laid on extra thick after the Lee signing. Prior threw 12 innings for the Yankees in their farm system in 2011 before getting hurt again. The Red Sox and Reds gave him chances in 2012 and 2013, respectively, but injuries continued to be a problem. Prior officially announced his retirement in December 2013. Sucks.

December 15th, 2010: Minor Deals: Yankees, Chulk, Van Every, Coats

The Yankees signed Doug Bernier, Buddy Carlyle, Neal Cotts and Gustavo Molina to minor league deals, the team announced.

We discussed Carlyle earlier. Bernier spent 2011 in Triple-A and never got called up. Cotts failed his physical in Spring Training and was released. Molina was on the 2011 Opening Day roster though. I kid you not. Cervelli fouled a ball off his foot in Spring Training and suffered a fracture, forcing him to start the season on the DL. Thanks to all the April off-days, Martin started 22 of the team’s first 24 games that year. Molina started the other two. He went 1-for-6 with a double before being sent to the minors when Cervelli returned in early-May. Forgotten Yankee Gus Molina.

December 15th, 2010: Yankees Rumors: Pettitte, Lefty Relievers, Lee, Martin

Bill Madden of the New York Daily News says Carlos Zambrano is a “likely target” for GM Brian Cashman. Like new addition Mark Prior, Zambrano knows Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild from their time in Chicago.

This didn’t pass the sniff test. The Yankees needed pitching after losing out on Lee, but Zambrano had started to decline and he had shown throughout his career that he’s a loose cannon. The Yankees had already started emphasizing makeup to a high degree by this point and there’s just no way Zambrano was going to fit. He had a 4.82 ERA (4.59 FIP) in 2011 and has been out of baseball since 2013. Nope. Nope nope nope.

December 16th, 2010: “Heavy Action” On Bobby Jenks

WEDNESDAY, 9:07pm: It’s a good time to be a free agent reliever, and one of the biggest on the market (both literally and figuratively) is former White Sox closer Bobby Jenks. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that there is “heavy action” on the right-hander, with both the Rays and Yankees showing interest. Jenks is not close to a decision, however.

Jenks was still a pretty big name at the time and he had better peripherals (2.59 FIP in 2010) than run prevention (4.44 ERA) numbers, plus he was a Proven Closer™, so teams wanted him. The Yankees didn’t sign him and got killed for it, especially after losing out on Lee. Boston eventually gave Jenks a two-year, $12M contract and he had 6.32 ERA (4.19 FIP) in only 19 innings during the contract because of serious back problems and off-the-field issues.

December 16th, 2010: Odds & Ends: Nady, Rangers, Felix, Gregg

The Yankees called the Mariners about Felix Hernandez and heard that he is absolutely not available, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (Twitter link).

Felix was only 24 at the time. Hey, you’re never going to get Scott Kazmir for Victor Zambrano if you don’t ask.

December 16th, 2010: Yankees Rumors: Soriano, Hall, Garcia, Joba

The Yankees are not in on Rafael Soriano, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter link). They aren’t anxious to pay closer money for a pitcher who will set up for Mariano Rivera. ESPN.com’s Buster Olney agrees that the Yankees are not in on Soriano (Twitter link).

The Yankees were not in on Soriano … yet. A few weeks later Scott Boras more or less spooked ownership — losing Lee and the Red Sox’s big offseason gave him plenty of fuel — into panic signing Soriano.

December 17th, 2010: Yankees To Sign Pedro Feliciano

The Yankees have agreed to sign Pedro Feliciano, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (Twitter link). MDR Sports represents the left-hander. The two-year deal will be for $8MM and include an option for 2013.

Feliciano blew out his shoulder in Spring Training and never did appear in a game for the Yankees. $8M for zero pitches is good work if you can get it. Feliciano did briefly resurface with the Mets in 2013, and he spent some time in Triple-A with the Cardinals in 2014, but that’s it. He didn’t pitch at all in 2015. The Feliciano signing was a disaster, but, on the bright side, it convinced the Yankees to stop paying top dollar for lefty specialists. At least until they gave Matt Thornton two years and $7M three years later.

December 17th, 2010: Odds & Ends: Angels, Greinke, Tigers, Gregg

The Yankees have spoken to the Astros about acquiring Jeff Keppinger for their bench, Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi report. The infielder is available, but a trade does not appear close.

People still go nuts over Jeff Keppinger types. Those okay but not really good and super versatile types. Keppinger had a good year with Houston in 2010 (104 wRC+ in 527 plate appearances), didn’t get traded, then stunk in 2011 (88 wRC+ in 400 plate appearances). The Yankees, meanwhile, went into the season with Nunez and Ramiro Pena as their backup infielder options after fudging around with Hairston and Keppinger.

December 17th, 2010: Minor Deals: Antonelli, Parraz

The Yankees have claimed outfielder Jordan Parraz off of waivers from the Red Sox, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.  The 26-year-old’s time in the Boston organization was rather brief as the club claimed him off of waivers from the Royals just three weeks ago.

Parraz was a middling prospect at the time and the Yankees grabbed him because they had very little outfield depth at Triple-A, unlike today. The Triple-A outfield at the time was Greg Golson, Chris Dickerson, and a potted plant. Parraz hit .289/.362/.440 (123 wRC+) with nine homers in 495 plate appearances for the Scranton Yankees then became a minor league free agent after the season. He’s bounced around the minors since but did not play at all in 2015.

December 17th, 2010: Odds & Ends: Hall, Wood, Jenks, Angels

The one-year, $1.5MM guarantee that Kerry Wood received from the Cubs isn’t close to the bids he received from the Yankees and Red Sox, tweets Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated.  In fact, the Yankees would have bid $10MM over two seasons if the right-hander was interested.

Like I said, Wood took a sweetheart deal to go back to the Cubs. I wonder if re-signing Wood would have meant no Soriano signing. Probably not. That doesn’t seem like the kind of deal that would prevent anything else, plus there’s always room for another arm in the bullpen.

December 19th, 2010: Yankees Sign Luis Vizcaino

The Yankees have signed right-hander Luis Vizcaino to a minor league contract according to Marc Carig of The Star Ledger (via Twitter). If he makes the team, he’ll earn $750K.

The Viz! Vizcaino had an okay year with the Yankees in 2007, then left as a free agent — the Yankees got a draft pick for him (!) under the old system and used it on Jeremy Bleich — and both stunk and got hurt with the Rockies. The team liked what they saw out of him in winter ball and rolled the dice. Vizcaino then got hurt in Spring Training and was released. The Viz didn’t pitch at all in 2011, though, at age 41, he was still active in 2015. He had a 7.20 ERA in 20 innings for two teams in Mexico.

December 20th, 2010: Yankees, Mets, Others Considering Freddy Garcia

The Yankees, Mets, and others have asked for medicals on free agent starter Freddy Garcia, tweets SI’s Jon Heyman.  Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News was first to report the Yankees’ request.  The White Sox have also checked in, tweets Feinsand’s colleague Andy Martino.  Heyman opines that Garcia is the best free agent starter left after Carl Pavano.

Man, I hated the idea of Garcia as a rotation option. All those arm injuries turned him into a junkballer and he had a 4.64 ERA (4.77 FIP) in 157 innings for the White Sox in 2010. I though he would be a total disaster in Yankee Stadium and the AL East. You can’t overstate how anti-Garcia I was at the time. This is your regular reminder that I have no idea what the hell I’m talking about.

December 20th, 2010: Odds & Ends: Pavano, Greinke, Soria, Pettitte

Greinke fired his agents at SFX after the Winter Meetings because he felt they were responsible for his not being traded, tweets Yahoo’s Jeff Passan.  Passan adds that SFX facilitated a deal with the Nationals, but the pitcher rejected it.  SI’s Jon Heyman tweets that the Royals sought Jesus Montero and Eduardo Nunez from the Yankees, but they weren’t convinced New York was right for Greinke.  The Royals also wanted Manuel Banuelos or Dellin Betances, tweets Joel Sherman.

The idea of Montero plus Banuelos (plus Nunez) for Greinke was preposterous at the time and is a total no-brainer in hindsight. Heading into the 2011 season Baseball America ranked Montero as the No. 3 prospect in baseball …

… and Banuelos as the No. 41 prospect (Betances was No. 43), and giving up that much for two years of a pitcher seemed crazy, even a pitcher as good as Greinke. Fans (and teams) seem much more willing to trade prospects for established big leaguers these days, thankfully. Do the Royals win the 2015 World Series if they trade Greinke for Montero plus Banuelos (or Betances) plus Nunez? Almost certainly not.

December 21st, 2010: Odds & Ends: Garcia, Yankees, Red Sox, Konerko

The Bronx Bombers also make their share of major deals and, as Ronald Blum of the AP notes (via the Miami Herald) the Yankees were hit with an $18MM luxury tax for their 2010 spending. The Red Sox were the only other team hit with a tax; they owe $1.5MM.

The Yankees have been paying approximately $20M in luxury tax for a few years now, give or take a few million bucks. It’s wasted money, I get that, but man I still hate that the Yankees haven’t increased payroll at all since the new Yankee Stadium opened. The luxury tax is working. The playing field is being leveled and the owners are getting richer.

December 22nd, 2010: Jeff Francis Suitors

The Mets, Nationals, Pirates, Rangers, and Yankees have varying degrees of interest in free agent lefty Jeff Francis, tweets ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick.  Crasnick named five interested clubs a month ago: the Pirates, Mariners, Brewers, Astros, and Rockies.  It appears that a few teams dropped out and others jumped in; this is the first we’ve seen of the Yankees’ interest.

In the week after Lee signed with the Phillies, the Yankees appeared to go into full blown dumpster diving mode with Garcia and Francis. They didn’t sign Francis — the Royals did and he was bad in 2011 (4.82 ERA and 4.10 FIP in 183 innings) — but the fact they were interested in guys like this, pitchers coming off injuries and bad years (Francis had a 5.00 ERA and 3.88 FIP in 104.1 innings for the 2010 Rockies), really drove home how desperate the Yankees were for pitching and how little the market had to offer.

December 22nd, 2010: Yankees Interested in Johnny Damon

The Yankees are interested in bringing Johnny Damon back to New York and are discussing a potential reunion with him, according to Newsday’s Ken Davidoff. Davidoff reports that the Yankees are open to bringing the 37-year-old back as a part-time left fielder and DH. Though the sides have had multiple conversations about possible deals, Damon would ideally like more guaranteed playing time.

The Yankees let go of Damon at just the right time. He had a great year in 2009 (122 wRC+) but his performance slipped with the Tigers in 2010 (107 wRC+). Between that and his bad defense, Damon was a below-average player overall at that point. As far as we know talks between the Yankees and Damon never did get serious during the 2010-11 offseason, so he landed with the Rays, where he had a 108 wRC+ as their primary DH in 2011.

December 23rd, 2010: Odds & Ends: Yankees, Blanton, Garza, LaRoche

The Yankees have “had internal chats” about signing Manny Ramirez, tweets Jack Curry of the YES Network.  Curry rates the odds of Ramirez in pinstripes as even slimmer than those of the Yanks signing Johnny Damon, which Curry says “is also unlikely.”

I remember being pro-Manny at the time. The Yankees didn’t have an obvious place to put him — the outfield was full and Posada was set to play DH — but he had just hit .298/.409/.460 (140 wRC+) with nine homers in 90 games for the Dodgers and White Sox in 2010. It was never going to happen though. Manny joined Damon with the Rays and was suspended for performance-enhancing drugs for the second time just a few days into the season. He hasn’t played in MLB since.

December 28th, 2010: Soria Wouldn’t Block Trade To Yankees

The Royals have looked firm this offseason in their unwillingness to ship off Joakim Soria. The All-Star closer, on the other hand, appears comfortable with migrating to another market and, more specifically, to New York. In an interview with the Mexican paper Vanguard (link in Spanish), Soria told Roberto Espinoza that he doesn’t give much weight to the no-trade clause in his contract, which reportedly allows him to block trades to the Yankees, Red Sox, Tigers, Phillies, Cardinals, and Cubs.

“I didn’t put it there, my agent did, as a strategy,” Soria said. “But if the Royals decide to trade me to New York I would gladly go to play with the Yankees or any other team… I repeat, I would not block a trade to the Yankees. I like to play baseball and I would play with any team.”

Whenever we find out a player includes the Yankees in his no-trade clause, people also say he doesn’t want to come to the New York. That’s not always the case though. Players routinely include big market clubs in their no-trade clauses to create leverage. Those are the teams that can pay to get the player to accept a trade. They can guarantee an option or work out an extension, something like that. It’s just leverage, it has nothing to do with not wanting to play somewhere.

Anyway, Soria was ridiculously good at the time (2.01 ERA and 2.76 FIP from 2007-10) but the Royals kept him that offseason, he had a down 2011 season (4.03 ERA and 3.59 FIP in 60.1 innings), then blew out his elbow and missed the entire 2012 season following his second Tommy John surgery. Soria left as a free agent after that season and Kansas City ended up getting nothing in return for one of their top trade chips at a time when they were knee deep in a rebuild.

December 30th, 2010: Rangers, Yankees, Indians Interested in Bartolo Colon

Bartolo Colon‘s work in the Dominican winter league has continued to draw the attention of major league teams, and the 37-year-old starter sounds eager to sign. According to an AP story out of Santo Domingo, Colon told reporters in the Dominican Republic yesterday, “Texas, Cleveland, and the Yankees are interested in me” (link in Spanish).

Ah yes, more so-called dumpster diving. Colon, who did not pitch at all in 2010 and threw only 257 ineffective innings from 2006-09 (5.18 ERA and 5.02 FIP) due to arm trouble, joined Garcia and Francis in the ewww they really might sign him? pile in the post-Lee world. But he was throwing well in winter ball — Tony Pena was his manager — and the Yankees liked what they saw, so they picked him up. Garcia and Colon combined to give the Yankees a 3.82 ERA in 311 innings in 2011. Friggin’ wild, man.

Last offseason I started — or attempted to start, really — a series looking back through the MLB Trade Rumors archives at some past Yankees rumors to see how things played out. I didn’t intend to mock anyone at MLBTR or anything like that. Rumors are fun and remembering how we felt at the time is an entertaining exercise, if nothing else. Did you know MLBTR turned ten last week? The site changed the way rumors and transactions are covered.

Anyway, I stopped the series at some point during the regular season because I simply forgot about it. That’s really all there is to it. The regular season can be sort of hectic and a monthly series like that — as opposed to a weekly series like the Fan Confidence Poll — can be easy to overlook. My bad. I’m going to revive the MLBTR archive series this offseason and hopefully keep it going. If the end of the month rolls around and you don’t see it, feel free to email me a reminder.

We’re going to go back five years, so this edition of the MLBTR archive series covers November 2010. The Yankees had just lost to the Rangers in the ALCS and the two huge stories that offseason were the Cliff Lee sweepstakes and Derek Jeter’s new contract. Everyone assumed Jeter would re-sign at some point, and those were still the “the Yankees will sign whoever they want” days, so many of us figured it was only a matter of time until they landed Lee. Those were the days, eh? Let’s dig into the archive.

November 1st, 2010: Odds & Ends: Long, Romanick, Falkenborg, Carlin

The Yankees and hitting coach Kevin Long agreed to a three-year deal, reports George A. King III of the New York Post.  He’ll be getting a raise on his previous $400K salary.

Long took over in 2007, so he had just completed his fourth full season as hitting coach back in November 2010. During those four seasons the Yankees led baseball in AVG (.278), OBP (.355), SLG (.451), wRC+ (113 wRC+), home runs (826), and runs (3,531). They were third in walk rate (9.7%), sixth in steals (455), and sixth in strikeout rate (16.2%) as well. The Yankees were a powerhouse offense. There was no reason to want them to replace Long. A few years later, after the quality of the roster declined, so did Long’s skills as a hitting coach. Funny how that works, huh?

November 2nd, 2010: Steinbrenner: Jeter Deal Must Work For Both Sides
November 3rd, 2010: Heyman On Werth, Jeter, Mets
November 3rd, 2010: Odds & Ends: Indians, Jeter, Ellis, Giants, Chen

“There’s always the possibility that things could get messy,” Steinbrenner said.

The Yankees don’t expect talks to get ugly and they have been in contact with Jeter’s representatives because they want to reach a deal.

…

Some baseball people say they would not be surprised to see Derek Jeter seek a six-year deal this offseason. Heyman hears hints that the Yankees are thinking about offering a three-year contract.

…

Hal Steinbrenner’s recent comments about the Derek Jeter talks strike ESPN’s Buster Olney “as if he’s preparing the NYY fans for an ugly Jeter negotiation” (Twitter link).

We need to add some context here. Jeter was a monster during the 2009 season, hitting .334/.406/.465 (130 wRC+) with maybe the best defensive season of his career. He then dropped down to .270/.340/.370 (93 wRC+) in 2010, his age 36 season. His defense also took a step back. Jeter was a year removed from an MVP caliber performance but was also at the age where his subpar 2010 season may have been more of a blip on the radar.

As for the rumors … a six-year contract! That sounds absurd now and was ridiculous back then too. That said, there’s no harm in Jeter’s camp floating the idea of a six-year contract. You won’t get it if you don’t ask for it, after all. It’s only a starting point. In hindsight, Hal’s comments do seem like they were intending to send something of a message, with the message being “we’re not going to let Jeter walk all over us” during negotiations.

November 5th, 2010: Bidding For Iwakuma Closes, Mariners The Favorite?

The above reports indicate that Iwakuma prefers the West Coast, but neither the Angels nor Dodgers planned to submit a bid. Both the Yankees and Diamondbacks scouted him during the season, though whether or not they chose to pursue him remains to be seen. The Rakuten Golden Eagles were hoping to land $16MM-17MM in the posting process, though it appears they might fall a little short of that.

Hisashi Iwakuma was posted during the 2010-11 offseason. The Athletics won his rights with a $17M bid but failed to sign him during the 30-day negotiating period, so he returned to Japan for the 2011 season. Apparently there was some concern about his shoulder. To Oakland’s credit, Iwakuma did get hurt in 2011, missing six weeks with a sore shoulder. He became an international free agent during the 2011-12 offseason and signed with the Mariners.

I remember the chatter about the Yankees scouting Iwakuma but it didn’t sound like they were ever seriously interested. He did have a history of shoulder problems — it wasn’t just the 2011 injury, he’s battled them on and off all throughout his career — and he wasn’t considered a potential ace like Daisuke Matsuzaka, who at the time was the last big Japanese pitcher to be posted. The Yankees never did submit a bid for Iwakuma. Their interest seemed marginal at best.

November 6th, 2010: Odds & Ends: D’Backs, Red Sox, Simmons, Bush

Henry Schulman of The San Francisco Chronicle speculates that the Giants will keep an eye on Derek Jeter‘s negotiations with the Yankees. GM Brian Sabean ran New York’s farm system when Jeter was drafted, so there’s a connection there in the unlikely event that he can’t work out a deal with the Yanks.

Gosh, this was so obviously a leak by Jeter’s camp designed to create some leverage. It was such a foregone conclusion that Jeter would re-sign with the Yankees that I’m not even sure any other teams bothered to contact his representatives. Don’t get me wrong, plenty of teams needed a shortstop, but how many were seriously going to make a run at Jeter? The loose connection with Sabean was about the best Jeter’s camp could do.

November 7th, 2010: New York Notes: Lee, Backman, Garland, Balfour

When Sherman polled eight executives about Lee’s destination, six predicted the left-hander would end up in a Yankees uniform – the Rangers got the other two votes. One AL exec’s thoughts: “Lee is all about the money. His agent is all about the money. And the Yanks have the most money.”

Oops. The Yankees offered Lee the most guaranteed money that offseason, a seven-year deal worth $150M according to Sherman. (They also proposed a six-year, $138M deal with a $16M player option.) The Rangers offered six years and $138M with no player option. The Phillies? They landed Lee with a five-year deal worth $120M guaranteed. That’s $107.5M in salary and a $12.5M buyout of his 2016 option, which was declined earlier this week. So much for that “Lee is all about the money” stuff.

November 8th, 2010: Yankees Likely To Offer Jeter $45-60MM

The Yankees are likely to offer Derek Jeter a three-year deal worth $45-60MM, according to Wallace Matthews of ESPNNewYork.com. One of Matthews’ sources, someone intimately familiar with knowledge of the team’s negotiations with agent Casey Close, says the Yankees are prepared to “overpay” the shortstop.

The Yankees eventually re-signed Jeter to a three-year contract worth $51M, so hey, I guess that $45M to $60M range was correct. It wasn’t that easy though.

November 10th, 2010: Cashman Meeting With Cliff Lee In Arkansas

Cashman informed Jorge Posada he’ll serve as the team’s designated hitter next year, report Sherman and his colleague George A. King III.  Posada was told to prepare to catch, but the team hopes to find backstops out of Jesus Montero, Francisco Cervelli, and Austin Romine.  Posada, who is having knee surgery to repair a meniscus tear in his knee today, is said to be fine with the plan. 

Buried in a post about Brian Cashman meeting with Lee and his agent was this blurb about Posada transitioning to DH. The decision to move him out from behind the plate was as much about improving the team defense as it was protecting Posada. He had all sorts of concussion issues in 2010 and his baseline test results were “not good.”

Of course, Posada was not fine with the plan. “Being demoted from day one, I never got the chance to fight for my job. That’s probably the toughest thing as a human being. You want to be able to do your job,” said Posada during his retirement press conference in January 2012. Cashman admitted they “obviously had a rough patch with Jorge in transitioning from catching, but we fought through it.” So yeah. He was not fine with it.

November 11th, 2010: New York Rumors: Beltran, Lee, Jeter, Santos

The Yankees say they’re extremely unlikely to pursue a free agent catcher, since they want to give their young catching a real chance to emerge in 2011 as Jorge Posada transitions to DH.

The Yankees signed Russell Martin exactly one month later. To be fair, Martin had not yet been non-tendered by the Dodgers at the time of this rumor. Moral of the story: plans change.

November 12th, 2010: Yankees Interested In Jorge De La Rosa

The Bronx Bombers have expressed interest in Jorge de la Rosa, according to Mark Feinsand and Peter Botte of the New York Daily News. GM Brian Cashman did not confirm the club’s interest in De La Rosa, but he did acknowledge that he has made “a lot of phone calls” to free agents.

The Yankees have had on and off interest in De La Rosa over the years. I guess that makes sense. He’s left-handed and has a history of missing bats and getting ground balls, and at the time of this rumor he already had three seasons with the Rockies, so De La Rosa had experience pitching in a tough environment. De La Rosa eventually re-signed with Colorado, but this makes me wonder if he could be a salary dump trade target this offseason. He had a 4.17 ERA (4.19 FIP) in 149 innings around an Achilles injury this year and is owed $12.5M in 2016.

November 12th, 2010: Olney On Huff, Uribe, Upton, Buck, Downs

The Yankees are interested in John Buck, but the catcher could likely command a two-year deal (possibly from the Red Sox) and it seems unlikely that the Yankees would offer more than a one-year contract.

Two blurbs ago we heard the Yankees were unlikely to pursue a catcher. That report came out literally the day before this one. Buck signed a three-year, $18M contract with the Marlins during the 2010-11 offseason, by the way. What a country.

November 12th, 2010: Yankees Notes: Pettitte, Rivera, Jeter, Crawford

Andy Pettitte told Matt Musil of KHOU.com that at the moment, he’s leaning towards retirement.  “Right now, I can tell you my heart’s right here in Deer Park,” Pettitte said.  “If something happens and I play one more year that would be it. It would be one more year and that would be it.”  The southpaw also confirmed that if he does return in 2011, he would only pitch for the Yankees.

And so began the Pettitte retirement saga. He flip-flopped quite a bit this offseason. There were reports he was leaning one way one day, and then the other way the next. Pettitte eventually announced his retirement in February 2011 … until he unretired the next offseason.

November 15th, 2010: Bartolo Colon Back On The Radar

Colon announced he was attempting a comeback to Yoel Adames of ESPN Deportes in late October while pitching for the champion Dominican team in the Pan-American Games qualifier. He said at the time that he “maintains conversations” with the Yankees, Rockies, Cardinals, and Tigers, though other teams approached him following his complete game victory over Nicaragua on October 10.

Remember when the Yankees signed Bartolo Colon to a minor league contract that offseason and the very thought of it was completely absurd? It’s five years later and the guy is still pitching. He was in the damn World Series this year. Colon did not pitch at all in 2010 and arm injuries limited him to 257 innings from 2006-09. He impressed in winter ball that offseason — Tony Pena was his manager — and the Yankees gave him a chance. We all mocked them. The Yankees are smarter than us.

November 16th, 2010: Yankees Interested In Pedro Feliciano

The Yankees expressed interest in lefty reliever Pedro Feliciano, tweets Ken Davidoff of Newsday.  The rubber-armed 34-year-old figures to be popular this winter, with the Phillies, Angels, Mets, and others also seeking left-handed relief. 

The Yankees signed Feliciano to a two-year contract worth $8M about a month later. He never threw a meaningful pitch for them. Feliciano blew out his shoulder in Spring Training, had surgery, and took nearly two full years to recover. Cashman hilariously blamed the Mets for his extreme workload — Feliciano appeared in 266 of 486 possible games (55%) from 2008-10 — saying his “use pattern was abusive.” Not Cashman’s finest moment.

November 16th, 2010: Diamondbacks Listening On Justin Upton

3:33pm: The Yankees talked to the Diamondbacks about Upton, tweets Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.

Upton, then 22, hit .273/.356/.442 (109 wRC+) with 17 home runs during the 2010 season. That was actually a big step back from his .300/.366/.532 (130 wRC+) effort in 2009. Upton was not traded this offseason and he rebounded to hit .289/.369/.529 (141 wRC+) with 31 home runs in 2011. Arizona traded him for nothing in particular following the 2012 season. I wanted Upton so bad back in the day. I wanted him more than Lee during the 2010-11 offseason.

November 16th, 2010: Yankees Interested In Bill Hall

Now another AL East club is looking to bring him aboard, as FoxSports.com’s Ken Rosenthal says the Yankees have interest in Hall according to major league sources.

“We have a good utility guy in [Ramiro] Pena,” said GM Brian Cashman. “We think Eduardo Nunez will be an everyday shortstop in the big leagues, but he very well could be a utility guy for us. [Brandon] Laird plays first base, third base and outfield.”

Ah yes, Bill Hall, one of the supersub guys who was never quite as good as people seemed to believe. The Astros gave him a one-year deal worth $3.25M that offseason, people said the Yankees were cheap and not committed to winning, then he hit .224/.272/.340 (66 wRC+) and was released at midseason. The Yankees are smarter than us. Also, remember Brandon Laird?

November 16th, 2010: Odds & Ends: Westbrook, De La Rosa, Papelbon

• Chad Jennings of The Journal News has a quote from Yanks GM Brian Cashman: “I’ve got a small player move that I’m working on that might get done at some point this week … But it’s small.”
• Meanwhile, ESPN’s Buster Olney tweets that the Yanks are still waiting to hear whether Mariano Rivera wants a one or two-year deal.

Oh yeah, Rivera was a free agent this offseason. Those negotiations were much less painful than the Jeter negotiations. As for that “small player move,” the Yankees traded Juan Miranda to the Diamondbacks for minor league righty Scottie Allen two days later. Remember Juan Miranda? He did this once upon a time:

November 17th, 2010: Yankees Rumors: Upton, Lee, Soriano, Jeter

The Yanks are also working hard to find a setup man, calling on about a dozen free agents including Pedro Feliciano.  They’ve checked in on Rafael Soriano “as a fallback position in the incredibly small likelihood that Mariano Rivera does not re-sign.”  Sherman says to forget the idea of Soriano signing as Rivera’s setup man and closer-in-waiting.  Neither side is interested in that scenario.

Yeah, the idea of signing Soriano that offseason to setup Rivera and serve as his eventual replacement as closer was so silly and ridiculOH COME ON!

November 18th, 2010: Yankees Likely To Sign DePaula

The Yankees are expected to sign Dominican right-hander Rafael DePaula for about $700K later today, according to Melissa Segura of SI.com (on Twitter). He reappeared on the market a week ago after facing age and identity fraud questions for a year. MLB suspended him in 2009 and he later confessed to using a false identity. 

The Yankees signed DePaula that offseason but he didn’t get into actual games until June 2012 because of visa issues stemming from his false identity mess. All that missed development time was too much to overcome. DePaula had a 3.56 ERA (2.96 FIP) in 268.1 innings from 2012-14 but never improved his command or secondary pitches. He was the other guy the Yankee sent to the Padres for Chase Headley last July. DePaula, now 24, went unselected in last year’s Rule 5 Draft and had a 5.01 ERA (4.47 FIP) in 120.1 innings this past season. Prospects will break your heart.

November 19th, 2010: Yankees Interested In J.C. Romero

The Yankees are interested in left-hander J.C. Romero, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports … The Yankees are also interested in Pedro Feliciano and, potentially, Scott Downs. Teams will not have to surrender 2011 draft choices to sign Feliciano or Romero, but Downs may cost a pick.

This was back before the qualifying offer system and Downs was indeed a Type-A free agent that offseason, so it was going to cost a first round pick to sign him. He got three years and $15M from the Angels and was pretty damn good, pitching to a 2.27 ERA (3.35 FIP) in 142.2 innings over the life of the contract. Three-year contracts for relievers can’t work much better.

Feliciano didn’t pitch at all during his two-year deal and Romero took a one-year, $1.35M contract to return to the Phillies. He had a 4.01 ERA (3.96 FIP) in 24.2 innings in 2011 and was released at midseason. Somehow the Yankees managed to do even worse than Romero. Relievers, man.

November 19th, 2010: New York Notes: Jeter, Minaya, Rivera

The Yankees announced the hiring of Larry Rothschild as their new pitching coach today.  Rothschild has been the pitching coach for the Cubs and Marlins, and was also Tampa Bay’s first-ever manager.

The Yankees needed a new pitching coach that offseason, by the way. Dave Eiland was let go for still unknown reasons. Rothschild came out of nowhere too. There were no rumors or anything. No one had even reported he was in the mix for the job.

I didn’t know this at the time, but Rothschild exercised an option in his contract with the Cubs for the 2011 season just five weeks earlier, per Paul Sullivan. Once the Yankees cut ties with Eiland, Rothschild asked then Cubs GM Jim Hendry permission to pursue the job in New York, which he obviously landed.

November 21st, 2010: New York Notes: Jeter, Rivera, Mets Manager

Jeter’s agent, Casey Close is baffled by the Yankees’ negotiating tactics, writes Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News. “There’s a reason the Yankees themselves have stated Derek Jeter is their modern-day Babe Ruth,” Close said. “Derek’s significance to the team is much more than just stats.”

Close was 100% correct. Jeter was one of the few players in baseball with legitimate marquee value that transcended his on-field production. He helped generate ticket and merchandise revenue. It’s only fair Jeter be compensated for that marquee value, but the argument can be made the team’s offers — at this point a three-year, $45M offer was making the rounds — factored in that marquee value.

November 22nd, 2010: Yankees Prefer To Offer Rivera One Year

The Yankees want to re-sign Mariano Rivera to a one-year deal, but the closer wants a two-year contract worth about $18MM per season, according to Yahoo’s Jeff Passan (on Twitter). Jon Heyman of SI.com reported on Friday that Rivera was looking for a two-year deal and it now appears that the 40-year-old wants a raise from his 2010 salary of $15MM.

Nothing too earth-shattering here. The Yankees wanted to limit their commitment to the 40-year-old Rivera to one year while Rivera wanted more security. All things considered, the negotiations with Mo went about as smoothly as possible. There wasn’t nearly as much friction as there was with Jeter.

November 22nd, 2010: Minor Deals: Mariners, Sutton, Braves, Burroughs

The Yankees signed Neal Cotts, the Marlins signed Josh Kroeger and the A’s signed Adam Heether and Anthony Lerew, according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America (all links go to Twitter). Cotts, a 30-year-old left-hander, has pitched parts of seven seasons in the majors, but he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2009 and didn’t pitch in 2010 because of hip surgery.

The Yankees agreed to sign Cotts but he didn’t pass his physical in Spring Training and was released. He had Tommy John surgery in 2009 and surgery to repair the labrum in his right hip in 2010. The hip got infected and he ended up needing three additional surgeries. Cotts did not pitch at all from 2010-12.

“If I put him on the 40-man roster, it could be a situation where I’m paying him workman’s compensation for the rest of his life,” said Cashman to Joe Bick, Cotts’ agent, according to Ken Rosenthal. Harsh business, huh? To his credit, Cotts kept trying, and he resurfaced with the Rangers in 2013, pitching to a 1.11 ERA (2.17 FIP) in 57 innings. He’s still kicking around, spending last year with the Brewers and Twins.

November 23rd, 2010: Cashman Encourages Jeter To Test The Market

The game of chicken between the Yankees and Derek Jeter continued today, with GM Brian Cashman making the latest move.  Cashman told ESPN’s Wallace Matthews:

“We understand his contributions to the franchise and our offer has taken them into account.  We’ve encouraged him to test the market and see if there’s something he would prefer other than this. If he can, fine. That’s the way it works.”

Now we’re talking. This is when things between Jeter and the Yankees started to get ugly. Years later — as in this past August — we learned Cashman also told Jeter he’d rather have Troy Tulowitzki at shortstop. Based on the way things played out, it appears Cashman was designated as the bad guy in negotiations. He’d do the dirty work and Hal would then swoop in to smooth things over. Something tells me Cashman enjoyed it.

November 23rd, 2010: American League Free Agent Arbitration Offers

The Yankees will offer arbitration to Javier Vazquez (B), but not to any of their other free agents, according to Ken Davidoff of Newsday on Twitter. Andy Pettitte (A), Derek Jeter (A), Mariano Rivera (A), Lance Berkman (B) and Kerry Wood (B) were the team’s other ranked free agents. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported that the Yankees would offer Vazquez arbitration and noted that the right-hander has agreed to reject the offer, a common gentleman’s agreement that can take place with Type B free agents.

The old free agent compensation system was so silly. Offer arbitration to a Type-A free agent and you received the other team’s first rounder plus a supplemental first rounder. Offer arbitration to a Type-B free agent and you only received the supplemental first rounder. Type-Bs did not require the signing team to give up a pick.

Interestingly, Cashman said the Yankees were leaning towards offering Wood arbitration — “I’m thinking yes on Wood. We’ll do them a favor. If we put them into an arbitration setting, then we can take them out and make a fair market value offer to them,” he said that same day — but it didn’t happen. Offering Berkman arbitration didn’t make sense because he had a $14.5M base salary in 2010 and probably would have accepted. (He earned $8M with the Cardinals in 2011.)

The Yankees didn’t offer arbitration to Pettitte, Jeter, or Rivera because it there was no point. Realistically, it was Yankees or retirement for them. They may have accepted the arbitration offer and received outsized contracts for 2011, so why risk it? So despite having three Type-A and three Type-B free agents that offseason, the Yankees received just the one extra draft pick for Vazquez. They used it to take Florida HS 3 Dante Bichette Jr. with the 51st overall pick in the 2011 draft. Womp womp.

November 26th, 2010: Jeter & Yankees Are Far Apart

8:06am: Derek Jeter’s representatives are asking for at least $80MM more than the Yankees are willing to offer in negotiations for the free agent shortstop, according to Bill Madden of the New York Daily News. The starting point for Jeter and agent Casey Close was six years and $150MM, according to Madden, who reports that the Jeter camp is not budging from demands for a $25MM annual salary. Alex Rodriguez’s contract “is at the crux of Jeter’s and Close’s stance,” according to Madden.

Jeter wanted more money because A-Rod got more money while the Yankees didn’t want to give Jeter more money because they spent a regrettable amount of money on A-Rod. Even still, a six-year contract worth $150M was laughable at the time. Jeter could have repeated his 2009 performance in 2010 and I’m still not sure a contract that big would have been realistic. Jeter’s camp seemed to think the Yankees should and would pay him whatever he wanted simply because he is Derek Jeter, but the Yankees made it abundantly clear that wasn’t happening.

November 27th, 2010: Odds & Ends: Garland, Tigers, Manny, Astros

The Yankees have signed right-hander Brian Anderson and left-hander Andy Sisco to minor league contracts with invites to Spring Training, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter links). Anderson was recently cut by the Royals and is new to pitching after playing the outfield his entire career. Sisco threw 66.2 innings for the Giants Double-A affiliate this year after having Tommy John surgery in 2008.

I irrationally loved the Sisco signing. He was a big (listed at 6-foot-10 and 270 lbs.!) hard-throwing lefty who was once a top prospect. I thought he had a chance to help the bullpen at some point. Sisco appeared in 14 games with Triple-A Scranton in 2011 and had a 1.88 ERA, but he walked 12 and struck out 15 in 14.1 innings. The Yankees released him in May and he spent the rest of the year in the Mexican League. He’s pitched in Mexico, Korea, and independent leagues these last few years.

Anderson appeared in seven games for Double-A Trenton in 2011. He was released the same day as Sisco and spent 2012 in an independent league. Anderson has been out of baseball since that indy ball stint in 2012. Sisco was at least active in 2015, posting a 7.85 ERA in 39 innings for the KT Wiz in Korea. Every year I seem to get overly excited about one player the Yankees sign to a minor league deal. That year it was Sisco.

November 28th, 2010: Yankees Notes: Burnett, Jeter, Albaladejo

• Brian Cashman flew to Maryland this week to meet with A.J. Burnett, writes ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (Insider required). While it’s not the first time Cashman has met with one of his veteran players during the offseason, the visit was more noteworthy because of Burnett’s disappointing 2010 campaign. The Yanks’ GM “made it clear” to the 33-year-old that the team still believes in him going forward.
• Within the same piece, King says the Yomiuri Giants sent the Yankees $1.2MM for Jonathan Albaladejo, who finalized a one-year deal with the Japanese club yesterday.

Ah yes, the annual “figure out what’s wrong with Burnett” summit. The Yankees tried everything to get Burnett on track, but he was dreadful from 2010-11 and eventually it became clear the best thing for both sides was to part ways. Burnett had a 4.04 ERA (4.33 FIP) in 2009, a 5.26 ERA (4.83 FIP) in 2010, and then a 5.15 ERA (4.77 FIP) in 2011.

As for Albaladejo, gosh that was a bad trade. He had a 4.70 ERA (5.21 FIP) in 59.1 innings spread across three seasons in New York while Tyler Clippard dominated for the Nationals. Can’t win ’em all, I guess. Albaladejo, by the way, had a 5.85 ERA in 47.2 innings pitching in Mexico this summer.

November 29th, 2010: Yankees Rumors: Jeter, Rivera

• Talks between the Yankees and Derek Jeter are “at a standstill until Jeter and his agent, Casey Close, ‘drink the reality potion,'” a source close to the negotiations tells ESPN’s Wallace Matthews.  The Yankees are stuck on three years and $45MM, while Jeter wants more years and $23-25MM annually.  Matthews says the Yankees are not budging from their offer, though SI’s Jon Heyman expects them to up the money but not the years this week.
• The Yankees and Mariano Rivera, on the other hand, are progressing smoothly in their negotiations according to ESPN’s Andrew Marchand.  Rivera could be bumped to $16-17MM per year, but it’s unknown whether the Yankees will guarantee two years.

I wonder who in the organization came up with the “reality potion” line. That’s a good one. As for Rivera, things were going nice and easy. No issues there.

November 29th, 2010: Giants Contact Jeter’s Agent

The Giants have contacted Casey Close, the agent for Derek Jeter, according to Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal. However, the Giants are not seriously pursuing Jeter and there’s no evidence that a team other than the Yankees is bidding on the shortstop.

Well that attempt to create leverage backfired horribly, didn’t it?

November 30th, 2010: Yankees Rumors: Jeter, Chamberlain

Eduardo Nunez is the team’s Plan B if they are unable to re-sign Derek Jeter, reports ESPN’s Buster Olney.  Rather than try to sign a veteran replacement, the Yankees would install Nunez and allocate the money elsewhere.  Of course, Olney feels that the Yankees would remain flexible for potential upgrades if Nunez became their starting shortstop.

The Jeter situation got real pretty quick once Nunez was declared Plan B. Nunez made his MLB debut in 2010 and barely played, and while his bat rebounded in the minors from 2009-10, there was still not much evidence he’d be able to hit or defend well enough at the MLB level to play a position everyday. Plan B was scary.

The Jeter and Rivera negotiations continued into December, as did talks with Cliff Lee. The Lee market was very quiet for a few weeks in November. The Yankees and a few other teams were in the mix, but things didn’t really heat up until December. November 2010 was about the Jeter negotiations. Every day there was some sort of update.

I’m getting better at this! The MLBTR archive posts slipped my mind until the very end of the month the last two or three months, but this month I managed to write it during the first full week of April. Progress! What more do you want? Development takes time.

Anyway, by now you’ve caught the gist of these posts. We’re just looking back at some old trade and free agent rumors with the benefit of hindsight. After all, rumors are no good if you only look at them once then forget about ’em. Also, this series is not intended to mock Tim and everyone else at MLBTR. They’re great.

This month we will be going back to April 2008, seven years ago. April isn’t the best month for hard rumors, so most of the stuff aggregated by MLBTR was speculation. Off we go.

APRIL 11th:

The Yankees: Minors to Majors looks at the pending free agents for the Yankees and concludes that there is plenty of compensation picks to be had giving the Yankees plenty of flexibility to sign a high-end free agent like C.C. Sabathia…Of course, that is assuming the Yankees would let something like draft pick compensation stand in the way of signing a free agent. Not likely.

Ah yes, those were the good old days with Elias rankings and Type-A and Type-B free agents. It was so much easier to get extra picks back then. During the 2007-08 offseason, guys like Luis Vizcaino, Trever Miller, Pedro Feliz, Livan Hernandez, Doug Brocail, and Ron Mahay were attached to draft pick compensation. Imagine getting a draft pick for letting your 30-something lefty specialist walk. What a world.

Nowadays teams hold onto their draft picks for dear life, partly because extra picks are harder to come by and partly because prospects seem to be overrated in general. (Overrated, but you still need them.) And when teams do give draft picks up, they tend to give them up in bulk, like the Red Sox this offseason (Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval) or the Yankees last offseason (Jacoby Ellsbury, Carlos Beltran, Brian McCann). Once you give up that first rounder, might as will give up your second and third rounder too.

Guys like CC Sabathia are much different though. Sabathia was only 28 years old when he hit free agency. He was a bonafide elite starter right smack in the prime of his career. I don’t think there’s a team on the planet that would have balked at giving up their first rounder to acquire Sabathia circa 2008. The Yankees didn’t gain any extra picks via free agent compensation during the 2008-09 offseason and they went after CC anyway. Forfeiting a pick for a player of that caliber is a non-issue.

APRIL 14th:

Buster Olney wonders whether Jorge Posada will have to spend most of the season DHing, and at the same time his backup Jose Molina may be DL-bound.  Sure, the Yankees could just make do with internal options until Molina returns in a few weeks.  But it’s also possible that Brian Cashman will look for outside help.

Trade possibilities include Bengie Molina, Ramon Hernandez, Humberto Quintero, Brayan Pena, and Gerald Laird.  Laird may be off the table, as the Rangers wait to see if his offensive resurgence lasts and give Jarrod Saltalamacchia more time.  Molina and Hernandez carry commitments through ’09, while Pena and Quintero are backups and could be easily acquired.

Durability was one of Posada’s greatest and most underappreciated traits. He averaged 142.5 games per year from 2000-07, including 127.4 starts behind the plate. That’s a tremendous workload by catcher standards. Posada suffered his first major injury in 2008, as shoulder surgery limited him to only 51 games. He missed all of May and was done for the year in early-July.

Jose Molina was thrust into full-time duty, and while we would later learn his pitch-framing was a valuable skill, he was hardly starting catcher material. Chad Moeller was his backup during Posada’s injury until the trade deadline, when the Yankees flipped Kyle Farnsworth to the Tigers for Ivan Rodriguez. Pudge was pretty close to washed up by then — he had a 92 OPS+ from 2005-07 and put up a 51 OPS+ in pinstripes — and Detroit was riding out the end of his contract.

That said, Rodriguez was probably the best possible outcome that year. Bengie Molina and Ramon Hernandez were equally unproductive and both were signed through 2009. Humberto Quintero, Brayan Pena, and Gerald Laird were blah. So the Yankees got Pudge without giving up anything they’d miss, and they were able to walk away after the season. It was an okay idea that didn’t work out. Considering the state of the team that year, it was a totally inconsequential move.

APRIL 15th:

Some mild drama over whether Curt Schilling would consider pitching for the Yankees next year.  He reiterated that he won’t.  It takes two to tango, anyway.

I had to look up Schillings exact quote in the linked article. Check it out:

“Me wearing pinstripes, regardless of what point of the season or my career it would have been, is not an option … I can’t … think back to having that conversation specifically … it’s not an option. Never has been an option.”

That’s so perfectly Schilling. He was unwilling to grace the Yankees with his employ. Nevermind that he was 41 years old at the time and had a shoulder injury that eventually required season-ending surgery. Schilling threw literally zero pitches in 2008 and there wasn’t a whole lot of interest in him after the season. But dang it, the Yankees couldn’t have signed him even if they wanted. Curt really pulled the rug out from under the Yankees with those comments.

APRIL 21st:

Apparently the Yanks pushed hard to get Micah Owings in the Randy Johnson deal a few years ago.  Ross Ohlendorf still looks interesting, at least.

Micah Owings falls into the realm of players who get overrated because of something that has nothing to do with primary job on the field. I’ve always felt Melky Cabrera got overrated early in his career because he had a cool name, for example. Owings got overrated because he was a pitcher who could hit (career .283/.310/.502, 106 OPS+!). I have little doubt about that.

Unfortunately, when the best thing you can say about a pitcher is “he can hit,” it’s not good. Owings was 24 years old at the time of the Johnson trade (January 2007) and he was coming off a season in which he had a 3.33 ERA (~3.33 FIP) in 162 innings split between Double-A and Triple-A. Baseball America ranked him as the D’Backs’ sixth best prospect prior to the 2007 season.

Ohlendorf was the team’s tenth best prospect that year and he had a 3.29 ERA (3.12 FIP) in 177.2 innings at Double-A in 2006. They were both quick moving college guys with good numbers, though neither went on to do anything all that notable in the big leagues. So this is sort of a lose-lose proposition. But, if Owings had come to New York, he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to hit regularly, and I think that would have changed how a lot of casual fans thought about him.

APRIL 23rd:

Jon Heyman notes that Pat Burrell only wanted to go to the Yankees or Red Sox when the Phillies tried to trade him a few years ago.  They’re not great fits, but perhaps Burrell will have those two clubs at the top of his list when he hits free agency.

I don’t remember when the Phillies were trying to trade Burrell and I’m not sure what the Yankees would have done with him anyway. He was basically a DH who faked left field in the NL. With Bobby Abreu and Hideki Matsui in the corner outfield spots and Jason Giambi needing as much DH time as possible, there was no room for Burrell in the Bronx and I guess that’s why the Yankees passed.

That said, Burrell was a pretty good hitter back in the day. Better than he gets credit for. This rumor was in April 2008, and from 2005-07 he hit .266/.392/.503 (126 OPS+) with 91 homers. Burrell went to the Rays in 2009 to serve as their regular DH and he was atrocious, hitting .218/.311/.361 (80 OPS+) in 146 games before being designated for assignment. Then he went to the Giants in 2010 and hit .266/.364/.509 (126 OPS+) with 18 homers in 96 games. Some guys just really don’t like to DH.

APRIL 24th:

Meanwhile Hank Steinbrenner says the Yankees have “never even talked about” signing Thomas.  He’s not a good fit for their team.  The Yanks still owe Jason Giambi more than $23MM this year. 

The Thomas in this case is Frank Thomas, who had just been released by the Blue Jays. He hit .274/.379/.511 (132 OPS+) with 65 homers from 2006-07, though he was 40 years old in 2008 and looking pretty cooked. I loved Thomas, he was one of my favorite players to watch, but again, the Yankees had no room for another DH. Good thing Hank cleared that up for that though.

APRIL 30th:

Good point from Ken Davidoff – the Phil Hughes/Johan Santana question can’t be answered yet.

On the date of that post, Hughes had a 9.00 ERA (5.04 FIP) in 22 innings and was about to be demoted to Triple-A. Johan had a 3.12 ERA (4.12 FIP) in 40.1 innings. The Yankees made a huge mistake! At least that’s what everyone was saying at the time. I remember it vividly. It was easy to second guess the non-trade at the time.

Now we can answer the question though! The non-trade worked out pretty well for the Yankees. It hurt the team in 2008 but it allowed them sign Sabathia, who stayed healthy and a top of the rotation guy several years beyond when Santana started to break down. Hughes was a disappointment overall but useful, especially in 2009 as a reliever and 2010 as a starter. One month into the first season after the trade, it looked like a bad decision. Seven years later, we know it was the smart move.