YANKS NOT GETTING BURNED BY BOSOX HOT-STOVE PLAY
nypost.com
November 14, 2006 -- NAPLES, Florida - So far, the Yankees have gotten the offseason right, which for them means they have gotten pitching right.
They turned two players they had no intention of keeping for 2007 - Gary Sheffield and Jaret Wright - into four young, inexpensive arms that, at the least, provide organizational depth and roster flexibility and, at the most, in the case of Humberto Sanchez and Kevin Whelan, might offer major league impact.
They are close to re-enlisting Mike Mussina for two years at a time when they are fairly certain the righty still has 180-200 quality innings in him annually.
But the tough part comes now. It begins in earnest tonight with the official announcement that the Red Sox have the winning bid to negotiate exclusively with Daisuke Matsuzaka. In addition, the Yanks strongly believe Boston is pushing hard to sign J.D. Drew to bat behind David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez.
Thus, the Yanks could be witnessing their most bitter rival exerting its financial might with a quick 1-2, $100 million-plus statement. The Yanks' bid on Matsuzaka was considerably lower and, privately, they feel Boston's total outlay for the righty will be too high and could keep it from addressing other shortcomings. And - like many in the industry - the Yanks wonder if Drew, whose passion is often questioned, has the makeup for The Rivalry. Yankee GM Brian Cashman would only say, "My job is to try to attack our areas of need, period, and not worry about what is going on around us."
We will see if that discipline holds now that the Yanks' No. 1 offseason target, Matsuzaka, very well could be heading to Red Sox Nation. In the recent past, the Yanks would follow George Steinbrenner's lead by overreacting. Restraint is the right call. Because diving into this pool wallet-first will almost certainly assure more mistakes of Wright/Carl Pavano proportion.
The free-agent contingent is loaded with pitchers whom clubs will overpay due to hopes and prayers rather than sound logic and scouting. Think Ted Lilly, Gil Meche and Vicente Padilla, all of whom will make bundles from teams as likely to want to trade them come June as be glad they signed pacts for three or more years.
That is why the Yanks are right in refocusing on developing pitching. Given greater powers, Cashman has refused to deal Philip Hughes or Scott Proctor. He oversaw a draft last June in which the Yanks stressed pitching. And he has been roundly hailed at the ongoing GM Meetings for his Sheffield/Wright deals. One NL GM said: "He took two guys he didn't want and turned them into, arguably, four of their top 12 prospects."
That also speaks poorly of the Yankee farm system. Still, Hughes might be the majors' best pitching prospect and Sanchez is in the top 20. The Yanks want to add one starter who will provide cover to allow Hughes and Sanchez to come along slowly.
The feeling at the GM Meetings was that Scott Boras, who represents Matsuzaka, would now try to bypass Cashman and get directly to Steinbrenner to see if he will, indeed, overreact and pay big for Barry Zito. The lefty should get at least five years at $75 million, and Yankees baseball officials do not think he is worth it and would only nibble, if like Johnny Damon last year, his price plummeted. They like Jason Schmidt, but worry about his NL pedigree, dubious shoulder and the likelihood of him getting four years.
The Yanks would rather go short-term and pay heavy for a pitcher they like, notably Andy Pettitte if he decides to keep playing, or perhaps Roger Clemens. Failing that, they saw a World Series in which Jeff Suppan and Jeff Weaver were heroes. They feel they have upgraded their scouting and are as likely to pluck a pitcher who will need just a one- or two-year contract - think Miguel Batista or Adam Eaton - who will pitch as well as, say, Padilla at a fraction of the cost. That is the right notion. |
