What do you think of this?

[Jason Scheer]

Melky for Mike Gonzalez

[Morgan]

who?

[Jason Scheer]

Oops..Mike Gonzalez..Pirates..

[Class of 1990]

I thought it was gonna be a three way trade with Atl ?

Also Yanks sign Igawa ?

Also a note about the Angels leaving the Zito sweepstakes ?

Yanks May Deal Cabrera; Igawa Contract Is Close (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/17/sports/baseball/17base.html?_r=1&ref=sports&oref=slogin)

The Yankees are in discussions with the Atlanta Braves and the Pittsburgh Pirates about a three-way deal that would send outfielder Melky Cabrera to the Braves from the Yankees, reliever Mike Gonzalez to the Yankees from the Pirates, and first baseman Adam LaRoche to the Pirates from the Braves, according to a baseball official.

The Yankees can part with Melky Cabrera because their outfield for next season is set with Hideki Matsui in left, Johnny Damon in center and Bobby Abreu in right.

The official, who was granted anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss trade possibilities publicly, also said that the Yankees were close to completing a five-year, $20 million deal with the Japanese pitcher Kei Igawa. The deal is likely to be completed tomorrow and is pending a physical. The possible trade was reported yesterday by Newsday and The New York Post.

The Yankees won the bid to negotiate with Igawa, who has pitched in Japan for eight seasons, on Nov. 28, and have 30 days to negotiate a contract with him. If no deal is struck by then, Igawa will return to pitch in Japan and the Yankees will get back the $26 million they posted.

One hitch in the three-way trade is the Yankees’ concern about Gonzalez’s elbow. Last season, Gonzalez’s first as a closer, he converted all 24 of his save chances and had a 2.17 earned run average, but he missed the last month and a half of the season because of elbow tendinitis.

The Pirates were said to be interested in obtaining both Cabrera and Yankees reliever Scott Proctor, but the Yankees were unwilling to part with Proctor. The Braves and the Pirates were close to trading LaRoche for Gonzalez at the winter meetings this month, but the deal fell through. LaRoche, who is left-handed, hit .285 with 32 home runs and 90 runs batted in last season.

“We are interested in a left-handed-hitting first baseman or a left-handed-hitting outfielder,” Dave Littlefield, the Pirates’ general manager, said in a telephone interview yesterday.

If Cabrera is traded, it could open the door for the return of Bernie Williams for another season as a backup outfielder. Williams, a free agent, has played his 16-year career with the Yankees. He began last season as the team’s fifth outfielder. After Gary Sheffield and Hideki Matsui went on the disabled list, Williams played more than expected. In 131 games, he hit .281 with 12 home runs and 61 R.B.I.

The Yankees need a left-handed reliever and seem to feel that they can part with Cabrera, 22, because their outfield for next season is set with Matsui in left, Johnny Damon in center and Bobby Abreu in right. After Matsui broke his wrist in May, Cabrera was thrust into the Yankees’ lineup and provided timely hitting, finishing the season with a .280 average in 460 at-bats. He also tied for first in the American League with 12 outfield assists.

For the Pirates, Salomón Torres converted 12 of 13 save opportunities after Gonzalez was injured. The Pirates appeared willing to part with Gonzalez to obtain a respected hitter.

With Igawa’s signing, the Yankees would have six starting pitchers under contract for next season. Along with Chien-Ming Wang, Randy Johnson and the often-injured Carl Pavano, the Yankees re-signed Mike Mussina this off-season and signed Andy Pettitte, a former Yankee, who pitched the past three seasons for his hometown Houston Astros.

ONE FEWER SUITOR FOR ZITO? Discussions between the Mets and Barry Zito’s agent, Scott Boras, are likely to intensify over the next week, according to a baseball official with knowledge of the negotiations.

The Los Angeles Times reported yesterday that the Angels were not interested in signing Zito. This leaves the Mets and the Rangers as perhaps the only teams willing to pay the $100 million Zito is believed to be seeking.

[MinorThreat22]

Melky for Mike Gonzalez

I think the Pirates are idiots. Trading away basically their one commodity for a just below the middle of the road OF. With the names that have been floating around, (LaRoche, Vmart) to come up only with Mekly would be stupid.

[azcat34]

The Los Angeles Times reported yesterday that the Angels were not interested in signing Zito. This leaves the Mets and the Rangers as perhaps the only teams willing to pay the $100 million Zito is believed to be seeking.[/QUOTE][/I]

Don't forget the Giants are probably going to make a $100M offer.

S.O.

[Morgan]

I think the Pirates are idiots. Trading away basically their one commodity for a just below the middle of the road OF. With the names that have been floating around, (LaRoche, Vmart) to come up only with Mekly would be stupid.

Agreed. I like Mike Gonzalez and if the Yanks can get him that would help their Bully tremendously. Gonzalez did have arm trouble at the end of last season, maybe the Pirates know something?

[stewbacka]

I thought Atlanta wanted Gonzalez for themselves

Sox are offering Pena and Edgar Martinez

[GMoney]

I thought it was gonna be a three way trade with Atl ?

Also Yanks sign Igawa ?

Also a note about the Angels leaving the Zito sweepstakes ?

Yanks May Deal Cabrera; Igawa Contract Is Close (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/17/sports/baseball/17base.html?_r=1&ref=sports&oref=slogin)

The Yankees are in discussions with the Atlanta Braves and the Pittsburgh Pirates about a three-way deal that would send outfielder Melky Cabrera to the Braves from the Yankees, reliever Mike Gonzalez to the Yankees from the Pirates, and first baseman Adam LaRoche to the Pirates from the Braves, according to a baseball official.

The Yankees can part with Melky Cabrera because their outfield for next season is set with Hideki Matsui in left, Johnny Damon in center and Bobby Abreu in right.

The official, who was granted anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss trade possibilities publicly, also said that the Yankees were close to completing a five-year, $20 million deal with the Japanese pitcher Kei Igawa. The deal is likely to be completed tomorrow and is pending a physical. The possible trade was reported yesterday by Newsday and The New York Post.

The Yankees won the bid to negotiate with Igawa, who has pitched in Japan for eight seasons, on Nov. 28, and have 30 days to negotiate a contract with him. If no deal is struck by then, Igawa will return to pitch in Japan and the Yankees will get back the $26 million they posted.

One hitch in the three-way trade is the Yankees’ concern about Gonzalez’s elbow. Last season, Gonzalez’s first as a closer, he converted all 24 of his save chances and had a 2.17 earned run average, but he missed the last month and a half of the season because of elbow tendinitis.

The Pirates were said to be interested in obtaining both Cabrera and Yankees reliever Scott Proctor, but the Yankees were unwilling to part with Proctor. The Braves and the Pirates were close to trading LaRoche for Gonzalez at the winter meetings this month, but the deal fell through. LaRoche, who is left-handed, hit .285 with 32 home runs and 90 runs batted in last season.

“We are interested in a left-handed-hitting first baseman or a left-handed-hitting outfielder,” Dave Littlefield, the Pirates’ general manager, said in a telephone interview yesterday.

If Cabrera is traded, it could open the door for the return of Bernie Williams for another season as a backup outfielder. Williams, a free agent, has played his 16-year career with the Yankees. He began last season as the team’s fifth outfielder. After Gary Sheffield and Hideki Matsui went on the disabled list, Williams played more than expected. In 131 games, he hit .281 with 12 home runs and 61 R.B.I.

The Yankees need a left-handed reliever and seem to feel that they can part with Cabrera, 22, because their outfield for next season is set with Matsui in left, Johnny Damon in center and Bobby Abreu in right. After Matsui broke his wrist in May, Cabrera was thrust into the Yankees’ lineup and provided timely hitting, finishing the season with a .280 average in 460 at-bats. He also tied for first in the American League with 12 outfield assists.

For the Pirates, Salomón Torres converted 12 of 13 save opportunities after Gonzalez was injured. The Pirates appeared willing to part with Gonzalez to obtain a respected hitter.

With Igawa’s signing, the Yankees would have six starting pitchers under contract for next season. Along with Chien-Ming Wang, Randy Johnson and the often-injured Carl Pavano, the Yankees re-signed Mike Mussina this off-season and signed Andy Pettitte, a former Yankee, who pitched the past three seasons for his hometown Houston Astros.

ONE FEWER SUITOR FOR ZITO? Discussions between the Mets and Barry Zito’s agent, Scott Boras, are likely to intensify over the next week, according to a baseball official with knowledge of the negotiations.

The Los Angeles Times reported yesterday that the Angels were not interested in signing Zito. This leaves the Mets and the Rangers as perhaps the only teams willing to pay the $100 million Zito is believed to be seeking.

NO Brian don't do it!!! As much as I love Bernie, we need to get younger. After we're done with Abreu's Contract like an Albatross Around Our Necks we need to get younger and cheaper. That way we can end up affording all those players that got ridiculous deals this offseason and they ain't worth the money nor the aggrevation (i.e. Gil Meche KC 5 yrs $55mil). Dayton Moore was high on crack when he gave a mediocre pitcher that much. Moore would have better off signed Alicia Hollowell to pitch for KC and given her that kind of cash. She's at least worth that, but not Gil Meche.

The time will come when people will say that the Yankees saved baseball by relieving middle market and small market teams of $hit contracts. The players end up in NYC and shine brightly on Broadway.

We need Melky on this team. Time for Bernie to hang them up and become a coach on the Yanks' Staff and maybe replace Donnie Baseball aka the Black Cat (ever since he arrived on Torre's staff the Yanks have sucked in the playoffs). We NEED to get YOUNGER. Cashman knows this.

[Itamicbomb]

The Yankees (and assorted others) ruined baseball by making Gil Meche worth $55 million just so a team can prove that they want to compete.

[GMoney]

The Yankees (and assorted others) ruined baseball by making Gil Meche worth $55 million just so a team can prove that they want to compete.

NOBODY in the Yankees Front Office would have been STUPID ENOUGH to give Gil Meche 5 yrs $55mil. So don't go blaming the Yankees and the Red Sox and whoever else you want to blame cause your team doesn't try to get better and spend money and they just plain suck. Seems like Dayton Moore, KC GM who coincidently was the groomed successor for John Scheurholz in Atlanta, isn't the boy genius that people made him out to be.

[Itamicbomb]

Hah, my team spent almost $100 million trying to improve this offseason. If you don't think contract inflation is a direct result of the Yankees and other big market teams - such as my Dodgers - bidding up the price of every free agent over the past 10 years, you probably got a D on that thesis of yours.

[GMoney]

Hah, my team spent almost $100 million trying to improve this offseason. If you don't think contract inflation is a direct result of the Yankees and other big market teams - such as my Dodgers - bidding up the price of every free agent over the past 10 years, you probably got a D on that thesis of yours.


Well I guess when players go free agent, they have choices of where they want to go. Don't get me wrong, if I'm a FA looking at maybe anywhere between 20 & 35 million I'd want one of the NY teams to offer me that. If it ain't NY then it's So. California. Only problem I have with Cali is the earthquakes, forest fires, mudslides and whatever other natural disasters there are.

NYC is the Media Capital. There's Times Square, Broadway, Wall Street, etc. Players want to be in the limelight until they're under a microscope as a Yankee or a Met and performing poorly and wanting out of here.

AHole Agents start setting the bar for their clients (i.e. Scott Boras for Matzusaka and Zito) and teams want to put asses in the seats, make concession money, make parking money, make higher local media revenue b/c the nat'l TV contract is divided equally by 30 as is the licensing deal on apparel. MLB is more powerful in this country than NY's Five Families of Organized Crime.

Just so you know I submitted my Thesis back in February 1998 and the highest payroll that year belonged to the Baltimore Orioles and they were pathetic.

[stewbacka]

The Red Sox paid less for Matzusaka then the Royals did for Meche

that 51 mill is a seed money in Japan after the contract is over they will have made at least that much in advertising and televising rights to Japan.

I believe before the Yanks acquired ARod they had not had the highest paid player since Dave Winfield. The mistake teams like the Royals make is spending 55 mill on a guy like Meche. Resign there own, give out bonus to draft picks spend money on the overseas market.