Wednesday's Links

• Talks between Hideki Matsui and the Yankees are on hold until after the team holds their annual postseason meetings.

"Nothing has changed," Tellem told a group of reporters. "But I expect things to pick up in a couple of weeks. As far as the Yankees go, I know they have organizational meetings so it will at least be several weeks until we get together with them as well. So that's pretty much it."-

• According to Chad Jennings, the Yankees and Red Sox are in the lead to land Cuban pitcher Aroldis Chapman.

“Start with the Yankees and Red Sox and go from there,” the source said.

The source also told him that "Chapman has exactly the arm and raw stuff that he’s touted as having, but his control remains a bit erratic."

• Jennings let's us know that Cashman told him if the Yanks sign both Damon and Matsui that would pretty end their major free agents signings for the winter.

“If I did that I wouldn’t have room for anybody else unless I made trades,” Cashman said.

• Jason Varitek exercised his $3 million player option and will remain with Boston as Victor Martinez's backup.

• Check out this article from Ben over at River Ave. Blues. He discusses how Johnny Damon and agent Scott Boras are not thinking alike. Boras has been saying that he wants a long-term deal -- 3 or 4 years -- while Damon has consistently expressed his wishes to come back to the Yankees, even if that means getting a smaller contract. Man.. I hope Damon comes back. He seems like he really wants to stay.
  

Yankees One Of Eight Teams Interested In DeRosa

According to Jon Heyman, eight teams have already made calls to free agent Mark DeRosa inquiring about his services. Those teams include the Mariners, Nationals, Dodgers, Phillies, Rangers, Orioles, Giants, and Yankees.

With the Yanks, he probably might not get a starting spot unless the door closes on Damon.

I'd still try to land him though. Even if Johnny comes back. He's very versatile and a good hitter.

Yanks Set Tender Contract For Bruney

Joel Sherman, reports the Yankees "plan to tender arb-eligible Brian Bruney because his price (about $1.5M) will be reasonable".

Towards the end of the season Bruney showed improvement and with his kind of stuff, you just can't let him go. He could be a big part of the pen next year.

Mariners Resign Ken Griffey Jr.

According to Jon Heyman, the Mariners, who obviously aren't thinking have resigned Ken Griffey Jr. to a one-year deal worth a $2 million base plus incentives that could add another million dollars to the deal.

Last year he hit career worst .214/.324/.411 with 19 HR and 57 RBI in 117 games for the Mariners and he did not even run the bases well.

It looks like Zilla won't be going there. He'll likely be back in pinstripes unless another team offers 2 years or he opts for Japan.

With Tigers' Granderson Available, Yanks Could Be Interested

Joel Sherman, says the Tigers are looking to trade Curtis Granderson and that the Yankees would be one of the teams most interested.

Granderson would be attractive to many teams, with the Yankees near the top of the list. They have long searched for a premium solution in center since Bernie Williams left his prime, but now they also face the loss of the lefty power of free agents Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui. Granderson hit a career-high 30 homers last year.

Brian Cashman met with Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski at the now-concluded GM Meetings, but it is not believed the two did any more than discuss needs and available players. However, the two have a good relationship and have done significant trades before, going back to when Dombrowski was in Florida and obtained Mike Lowell from the Yanks to the more recent Gary Sheffield deal and the swap of Kyle Farnsworth for Ivan Rodriguez.

Granderson, 28, did not have a great season, hitting .249/.327/.453, but did hit 30 homers, drive in 71, and stole 20 bases. He's also a very solid defensive centerfielder. On the downside, he strikes out a lot (141 times in '09) and can't hit lefties (.183 times in '09).

If Damon doesn't remain in pinstripes, I could see him playing center. Swish and Melk can play the corner positions.

I rather have the Yanks keep Damon though.

Yanks Will Inquire About Halladay

Jon Heyman posted this on his twitter page:

sources: yankees plan to inquire about roy halladay. new jays gm alex anthopoulos said hes open to dealing in division.

With 1-year left, I say just wait til he becomes a FA. He'll cost one too many prospects.

Bombers Let Towers and Guzman Go

According to Chad Jennings, the Yankees made their first real move of the offseason, cutting Freddy Guzman and Josh Towers off the 40-man roster. Cashman told Jennings that both players have filed for free agency.

Cashman: Joba + Hughes = Starters

From Chad Jennings:

“I look at them as starters that can relieve,” he said. “But I look at them as starters.”

Again, Cashman stressed that nothing is set in stone until he meets with his pro scouts, but it seems a good bet that the two young right handers will at least enter spring training as rotation candidates. Any innings limits, Cashman said, would not be significant.

“I would anticipate going into spring training with as much starting depth as possible,” Cashman said. “Plan on having a whole list of guys.”

IMO, whatever role being a starter or being in the bullpen, they'll do fine. Joba is the bestter option as far as starting goes because he's thrown more innings than Hughes. But, I think Hughes is the better pitcher when it comes to going deeper into the game. Chamberlain has more of the 1 or 2 inning guy mentality. I guess we'll have to see what happens with Wang or if Yanks make any pitching signings this off-season to determine anything.

Gaudin, Mitre Keepers In Yanks Eye

From Joel Sherman:

The Yankees have until a week from Thursday to pick up Sergio Mitre’s $1.25 million option for 2010. But even if they do not pick up the option, Mitre is arbitration eligible and the Yankees intend to keep him, sources tell The Post.

What the organization is weighing now is whether Mitre’s arbitration price would fall below $1.25 million.

Sherman is also reporting that the Yankees "intend to bring back" Chad Gaudin as well.

Injury Status: Wang To Throw On Dec 1

This is from Ken Davidoff's Twitter page:

Yankees (for now) RHP Chien-Ming Wang's agent Alan Nero says Dr. Andrews cleared Wang to begin throwing on Dec. 1.

Joel Sherman had this to say about Wang:

As for Wang, the Yanks almost certainly will not tender him a contract, which would cost $5 million at the least.

But there is belief in the industry that Wang makes a lot of money back in Taiwan due to his association with the Yankees. Therefore, Wang would probably be more amenable to signing a contract with the Yanks for a low base, say about $1 million, with incentives than any other team. The Yanks still have to give Wang an offseason physical to determine his status, but the initial read is that he would not be back in the majors after shoulder surgery before next May.

Hopefully he stays with this organization. He can do a lot when he's healthy. Plus he'll come cheap with all that talent he's got. Why not keep him?

Yankees Planning On Holding Onto Mitre

From Joel Sherman:

The Yankees have until a week from Thursday to pick up Sergio Mitre’s $1.25 million option for 2010. But even if they do not pick up the option, Mitre is arbitration eligible and the Yankees intend to keep him, sources tell The Post.

What the organization is weighing now is whether Mitre’s arbitration price would fall below $1.25 million.

You can't ever have enough pitching. If Yanks add another arm this off-season they can just send him to the minors. If someone gets hurt, he'll be recalled.

Jete, Tex Win Yet Another Gold Glove

Today the AL Gold Glove Award Winners were announced, among them Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira.

Check out the full AL List:

C- Joe Mauer, Twins
1B- Mark Teixeira, Yankees
2B- Placido Polanco, Tigers
SS- Derek Jeter, Yankees
3B- Evan Longoria, Rays
OF- Torii Hunter, Angels
OF- Ichiro, Mariners
OF- Adam Jones, Orioles
P- Mark Buehrle, White Sox

It's Jeter's 4th Gold Glove, Tex's 3rd.

For the full awards page, updated as they announce them, click here.

Here's a few quotes from Tex and Jeet via Mark Feinsand:

"I've said it time and time again, playing championship-caliber baseball starts with pitching and defense, and I think those two components were certainly the foundation for our success in 2009," Jeter said in a statement released by the Yankees. "I've always taken a great deal of pride in my defense, and being honored with a Gold Glove is an accomplishment I will never overlook."

"Solid defense is the most underrated component of winning baseball, but it is something I have always taken pride in," Teixeira said. "Winning a third Gold Glove means a lot to me, especially when good defense helped our entire team reach the ultimate goal of a World Championship."

I agree on this one. They both played solid defense to win but others missed out on awards just because they aren't big names. It's too bad.

Rays Exercise Crawford's Option

Carl Crawford will at least spend one more year (barring mid-season trade) with the Rays after they exercised his $10 million team option for the 2010 season.

Executive vice president Andrew Friedman said both Crawford and the Rays are "very interested" in discussing a long-term deal that would "keep Carl in a Rays uniform for as long as possible," but he acknowledged an extension is "going to take some creativity."

"Carl is a big part of what we've accomplished and what we will accomplish in the future," Friedman said.

Seems like he'll remain with the Rays for a long time.

Cash Won't Base Decisions On Oct

From David Waldstein:

“Over the last few years we’ve tried to improve the way we’ve gone about our decision making, and a part of that is sample size,” said Cashman, in Chicago for the general managers meetings. “I think you look at the broader perspective of what somebody’s abilities are. Jerry Hairston, for instance, is a free agent. If he had hit .700 in the World Series doesn’t necessarily mean that he would get an A-Rod contract. We’re thankful for the guys who did what they did, and if you had a great postseason, terrific.

“What they are when they went into October, that’s what they still are, regardless of how good or how poor they played in the postseason.”

He did not rule out the possibility of re-signing Matsui, Damon, or both. We learned earlier in the post about Joel Sherman's article, the Yankees appear to be interesting in bring both back, along with Andy Pettitte. At least Yanks are running things the way it should be.

Yanks Trying To Net All Three

From Joel Sherman:

The Yankees are strategizing ways to retain all three of their major free agents -- Johnny Damon, Andy Pettitte and Hideki Matsui -- sources told The Post.

Damon and Pettitte are the priorities. But when asked if that meant Matsui had played his last game in pinstripes, one team executive said, "No, I hope we can figure out a way to have them all back."

Right now, the Yankees are much more focused on their own trio than they are on the three big outside free agents: Jason Bay, Matt Holliday and John Lackey.

Mark Feinsand is reporting the same thing about Matsui and Damon:

A baseball source believes the Yankees would be willing to bring back both players on one-year deals - Damon could also receive a vesting option for 2011 - as the free-agent options to replace them are less than desirable once you get past Matt Holliday and Jason Bay, both of whom will command enormous deals this winter.

Having Matsui and Pettitte back on one year deals should be easy. Damon with the 1-year deal is the tough task.

Injury Status: Wang Doing "Remarkably Well"

From Peter Abraham:

Chien-Ming Wang saw Dr. Andrews today, who told him his shoulder was doing "remarkably well." He could be a good rehab sign.

Although we do not know yet when he'll exactly be throwing a ball, this is still good news. We should find out more in the upcoming days.

Monday's Links

• This comes from Jon Heyman's Twitter page:

mets people seem concerned enough about lackey's past arm issues to keep them away. yankees are definitely interested.

I say go for it. Pitching depth is a must and we've seen how good he's always pitched in the playoffs against those tough teams. It wouldn't hurt to sign him.

• Brian Cashman has arrived at the GM meetings in Chicago. But, the Yankees don't appear close to any moves and have not even met with any free agents yet. GMs are just starting to get a feel of the market and start establishing a plan, and those plans usually starting falling into place sometime around the Winter Meetings in December.

• Mike Silva, of New York Baseball Digest has a good thought. He thinks the Yankees should sign Erik Bedard to an incentive laden deal like they did with Pettitte this year. He feels that this could be a perfect fit for the Yanks and Bedard. It's something worth looking to do but if his feelings about New York are the same as they have been, then who knows how he'd handle the bright lights.

Elias Ranks The FA

Check out the rankings below via AOL Fanhouse:

Players with parentheses and italic have 2010 options in current contract

Type A free agents (former team):
Jason Bay, OF, Boston
(Rafael Betancourt, RP, Colorado)
Orlando Cabrera, IF, Minnesota
Johnny Damon, OF, Yankees
Octavio Dotel, RP, White Sox
(Jermaine Dye, OF, White Sox)
Chone Figgins, IF, Angels
Mike Gonzalez, RP, Atlanta
John Grabow, RP, Cubs
Kevin Gregg, RP, Cubs
LaTroy Hawkins, RP, Houston
Matt Holliday, OF, St. Louis
Orlando Hudson, IF, Dodgers
John Lackey, SP, Angels
(Cliff Lee, SP, Philadelphia)
(Victor Martinez, C/1B, Boston)
Bengie Molina, C, San Francisco
Melvin Mora, IF, Baltimore
Darren Oliver, RP, Angels
Placido Polanco, IF, Detroit
(Manny Ramirez, OF, Dodgers)
Marco Scutaro, IF, Toronto
Rafael Soriano, RP, Atlanta
Miguel Tejada, IF, Houston
Jose Valverde, RP, Houston
Billy Wagner, RP, Boston
Randy Wolf, SP, Dodgers

Type B free agents (former team):
Garret Anderson, OF, Atlanta
Rod Barajas, C, Toronto
Erik Bedard, SP, Seattle
Joe Beimel, RP, Colorado
Ronnie Belliard, IF, Dodgers
Adrian Beltre, IF, Seattle
(Doug Brocail, RP, Houston)
Marlon Byrd, OF, Texas
Kiko Calero, RP, Florida
Mike Cameron, OF, Milwaukee
(Carl Crawford, OF, Tampa Bay)
Doug Davis, SP, Arizona
Carlos Delgado, 1B, Mets
Mark DeRosa, IF, St. Louis
Justin Duchscherer, SP, Oakland
Scott Eyre, RP, Philadelphia
Jon Garland, SP, Dodgers
Brian Giles, OF, San Diego
Troy Glaus, IF, St. Louis
Vladimir Guerrero, OF, Angels
Rich Harden, SP, Cubs
(Ramon Hernandez, C, Cincinnati)
Bob Howry, RP, San Francisco
Nick Johnson, 1B, Florida
Randy Johnson, SP, San Francisco
Jason Kendall, C, Milwaukee
Adam LaRoche, 1B, Atlanta
(Braden Looper, SP, Milwaukee)
Felipe Lopez, IF, Milwaukee
Brandon Lyon, RP, Detroit
Jason Marquis, SP, Colorado
Guillermo Mota, RP, Dodgers
Xavier Nady, OF, Yankees
(Will Ohman, RP, Dodgers)
(Miguel Olivo, C, Kansas City)
Vicente Padilla, SP, Dodgers
Chan Ho Park, RP, Philadelphia
Carl Pavano, SP, Minnesota
Andy Pettitte, SP, Yankees
Joel Pineiro, SP, St. Louis
Fernando Rodney, RP, Detroit
Ivan Rodriguez, C, Texas
(Brian Shouse, RP, Tampa Bay)
Russ Springer, RP, Tampa Bay
Fernando Tatis, IF, Mets
(Yorvit Torrealba, C, Colorado)
(Jason Varitek, C, Boston)
Tim Wakefield, SP, Boston
(David Weathers, RP, Milwaukee)
Randy Winn, OF San Francisco
(Gregg Zaun, C, Tampa Bay)

Signing a type A free agent will cost the team that signs him its first-round pick which then goes to the player's former team unless it's a top 15 pick. If that's what going to happen then the player's former team will receive the other team's second-round pick. The former team will also get an extra pick between the first and second rounds. As for type B free agents the player's former team will get a sandwich pick.

Red Sox Make Minor Moves

• According to Rob Bradford, the Red Sox have declined Jason Varitek's $5 million option for the 2010 season. He now has five days to decide whether to exercise his $3 million player option (with up to $2 million in incentives) for the 2010 season.

• Bradford also reports that the Red Sox have come to terms with Tim Wakefield on a two-year deal worth $5 million. He will receive $3.5 million in 2010 and $1.5 million in 2011, and could earn up to $7 million with incentives.

Pettitte May Be Back For 1 More

Jon Heyman recently posted this on his Twitter account:

nothing definite yet, but andy pettitte apparently told #yankees teammates he'd like to come back for 1 more year.

Pettitte can certainly stabilize the #3 spot.