Wanger Could Possibly Reunite With Torre

From Diamond Notes (hat-tip to MLB Trade Rumors):

Yankees pitcher Chien-Ming Wang, a non-tender candidate, told Taiwanese reporters Thursday that his first choice was to remain with New York. But if the Yankees cut him loose, Wang said he would not be opposed to going to the Dodgers.

“Not bad,” Wang said of the scenario presented by reporters that would have him going to Los Angeles. The two-time 19-game winner indicated that he would feel comfortable playing for a manager in Joe Torre who knows him well. Wang also went to middle school with Dodgers reliever Hong-Chih Kuo, and the two remain friends.

If I were the Yanks I'd offer a contract at least. I wouldn't be surprised if he heads West though.

AOL Fanhouse's Top 50 FA's

With the free agent market officially open AOL Fanhouse has listed their top 50 free agents. Toping the list is John Lackey.

You can find all the characteristics of an ace in Lackey. He has the big-game experience, has thrived in that environment, and the ability is obviously there. You can bet all the usual suspects will be in on the action for the 6-foot-6 right-hander. This isn't a guy you need to worry about falling flat after he signs either. Lackey is a pitcher who isn't afraid of adjustments. He knows how to change things on the fly and fight through his struggles.

The rest of the top 10: 2. Matt Holliday, 3. Jason Bay, 4. Andy Pettitte, 5. Chone Figgins, 6. Rich Harden, 7. Randy Wolf, 8. Johnny Damon, 9. Jose Valverde, 10. Aroldis Chapman. Rest of list can be viewed here.

• YES has a list of their top 20 free agents. Holliday tops their list.

Go Watch The Premiere Of The 2009 World Series Film

Here's some info on where you can see a special premiere screening of the film.

On Monday, November 23rd at 7:30 p.m. there will be several screenings throughout the area. If you're in Manhattan you can attend the event at the Ziegfeld Theatre located at 141 west 54th street. There will also be screenings in many other theaters in New York and New Jersey.

Check out the full list. Tickets to the event are $30.

Latest Headlines

• Jason Bay has declined Boston's first offer, a 4-year deal worth around $60 million. Here's more from Jon Heyman:

Boston's offer to Bay was believed to be for four years and "close to $60 million,'' according to sources. Bay thus will join star outfielder Matt Holliday and ace pitcher John Lackey as the biggest free agents on this year's market. The exclusive period for incumbent teams expires Friday at 12:01 a.m., when free agents can begin negotiating with other teams.

"Nothing will happen by day's end, but we'll keep talking," Bay's agent Joe Urbon said.

"It's not a surprise that a player that's gone this far wants to see what's out there,'' Red Sox GM Theo Epstein said by phone in Bay's regard, though Epstein declined comment on the team's talks with Bay.

• Derek Jeter having a blast. According to the NY Post, he's been spending some down time in a luxury beach house in St. Barts with girlfriend Minka Kelly. Atta boy!

• Jayson Stark had this bit of info regarding the Yankees and their outfield plans: "Sounds as if the Yankees haven't ruled out bringing back both Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui. But indications are that they're also going to take a hard line on both -- a one-year deal for Matsui, period, and no more than a two-year deal for Damon, with a preference for something shorter. At the moment, there are no signs the Yankees are in on either Matt Holliday or Jason Bay."

• Stark also wrote this article about the problems of revenue sharing.

• Andy Pettitte filed for free agency today. He was one of the last players to do so.

• Baseball America has the full list of Minor League free agents. The Yankees FA's are listed below:

New York Yankees (17)
RHP: Paul Bush (AA), Michael Gardner++ (AA), Justin Pope++ (AA), Humberto Sanchez (AAA), Jay Stephens (AA), Jose Valdez (AAA)
C: Brian Peterson (AAA), Chris Stewart (AAA)
3B: Eric Duncan (AAA), Carlos Mendoza+ (AA), Cody Ransom (AAA), Marcos Vechionacci (AA)
SS: Doug Bernier (AAA)
OF: Edwar Gonzalez (AA), Freddy Guzman (AAA), Richie Robnett (AA), John Rodriguez (AAA)

• Teams can begin negotiating with free agents after tonight at midnight.

Yanks Interested In RHP Soriano, LHP Gonzalez?

According to Ken Rosenthal via MLB Trade Rumors, he's been getting mixed signals from people around baseball.

The team, according to one rival executive, plans to pursue free-agent relievers Rafael Soriano, a right-hander, and Mike Gonzalez, a lefty. The Yankees have liked both pitchers in the past.

However, another source with knowledge of the Yankees' thinking says the team prefers to address any bullpen holes from within, using the same strategy that they employed successfully last season.

In 77 games, Soriano, 29, went 1-6 with a 2.97 ERA and 1.057 WHIP. He also picked up 27 saves and in 75.2 innings allowed 25 earned runs on 53 hits, walked 27, and struck out 102.

Gonzalez, 31, went 5-4, with a 2.42 ERA, 1.197 WHIP, and 10 saves. In 74.1 innings he allowed 20 earned runs on 56 hits, walked 33, and struck out 90.

NL pitchers are very different coming into the AL but it'll be worth something to think about if the price is right.

There were reports from earlier in the week that said the Red Sox were interested in both pitchers and have asked to see their medical records.

Swish Available... or Not

(UPDATE 4:02 p.m.) George A. King III is reporting that the Yankees are denying that Nick Swisher is on the market.

Bob Nightengale is reporting via Twitter, that "The Yankees, ever so quietly, are letting teams know that RF Nick Swisher is available."

Considering the question marks that surround the Yankees outfield for 2010 this seems a bit strange. Maybe they'll make a run at Matt Holliday?

Lincecum Wins 2nd Straight NL Cy Young

It was a close one but San Francisco's Tim Lincecum beat out St. Louis right-handers Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright to take home the 2009 NL Cy Young award. In 32 games for the Giants this season, Lincecum went 15-7, with a 2.48 ERA, a 1.05 WHIP, and in 225.1 innings pitched he allowed 62 earned runs on 168 hits, walked 68, and struck out an NL best 261.

How the voting went down:

	1st	2nd	3rd	Points
Tim Lincecum	11	12	9	100
Chris Carpenter	9	14	7	94
Adam Wainwright	12	5	15	90
Javier Vazquez		1		3
Dan Haren			1	1

2009 World Series Film Trailer

The DVD comes out on December 1st.

Selig Says He Will Condense Playoff Schedule

Selig has responded to the comments made by Mike Scioscia earlier today and says he will work on condensing the postseason schedule.

Here's more from Peter Abraham:

“We’re going to change it,” Selig told reporters in Chicago today. “I don’t disagree with Mike Scioscia. I think he was right, so we’re going to try and tighten that up. When you plan the playoff schedule, you don’t know how many games the first round would go. So it’s difficult. There were clubs that sat around. Some were necessary, but some were not.”

It probably should be changed but because of this it allowed the Yanks to go with a 3-man rotation and they won it all.

Jeter To Host SNL, Latest News

(Jeter in a past appearance on SNL)

According to this tweet from Entertainment2U, Derek Jeter will be hosting Saturday Nigth Live on December 12th. The musical guests will be Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, and Mr. Hudson. (hat-tip to Baseball Think Factory)
Tyler Kepner takes an interesting look at the Manager of the Year results.
Mike Scioscia used his day in the sun to complain about the postseason schedule again. He told AOL Fanhouse that he's "very hopeful and confident that they're going to tighten up that schedule a little bit. I think there's things that the commissioner is going to take to heart and look at."
He also said that he thinks "it goes against what the 162 games [of the regular season] stands for," Scioscia said.

Scioscia's biggest complaint was with the off days before the opening of the Division Series. Three of the four Division Series start on the Wednesday after the final Sunday of the regular season, with the fourth opening on Thursday.

That gives all teams a chance to set up their rotation, not just the ones that clinched early.

"I think that's absolutely the first step, yes," Scioscia said.

Can't blame Scioscia for the bad postseason schedule.
Boston let 26-year-old backup catcher George Kottaras go today, he was quickly picked up by the Milwaukee Brewers.

Olney: Yanks Have No Interest In Holliday

This is a tweet from earlier today via Buster Olney (hat-tip to LenNY's Yankees):

NYY are not interested in signing Holliday. They'll talk to Boras to keep other bidders honest, but corner outfield not a priority for them.

Too big of a contract anyways.

Yanks Recently Called Jays For Halladay

From Jon Heyman:

The Yankees recently called the Blue Jays to express interest in superstar pitcher Roy Halladay. And while the Yankees made the very same call last summer with no hope of acquiring Halladay, this time they have a real reason to believe they may actually have a legitimate chance to make a blockbuster trade.

Back in July, Toronto was also asking for both Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes in a bigger package, and the Yankees never were going to do that. But with a year gone by now, the World Series winners might have a reasonable expectation that either Chamberlain or Hughes in a package might at least get the ball rolling. The Yankees also have several catching prospects to entice the Blue Jays, including Jesus Montero, who is still only 19 but is said by one scout to be "off the charts" as a hitting prospect and "better than he's given credit for as a catcher."

Heyman also says the Yanks are the favorite to land Halladay, with the Red Sox right there with them at the top.

Matthew Cerrone over at Mets Blog said that from what he's "gathered, the Yankees have told the Jays they will include Phil Hughes in a deal for halladay, as well as one of Austin Jackson or Jesus Montero."

Tracy, Scioscia Named Managers of the Year

Anaheim's Mike Scioscia and Colorado's Jim Tracy were named AL and NL Managers of the Year today.

Both did a great job this year. One dealt with death and injuries on a solid roster, the other turned a bad team into a good one over night. Yankees manager Joe Girardi finished third in the AL voting.

How the voting went down:

AMERICAN LEAGUE VOTING:

	1st	2nd	3rd	Total
Mike Scioscia	15	10	1	106
Ron Gardenhire	6	12	6	72
Joe Girardi	4	3	5	34
Don Wakamatsu	2	2	3	19
Ron Washington	1	1	11	19
Jim Leyland			2	2

NATIONAL LEAGUE VOTING:

	1st	2nd	3rd	Total
Jim Tracy	29	2		151
Tony La Russa	2	13	6	55
Joe Torre	1	7	7	33
Bobby Cox		3	6	21
Bruce Bochy		5	3	18
Charlie Manuel		2	4	10
Fredi Gonzalez			4	4
Bud Black			2	2

CC Happy With Ring

From George A. King III:

CC Sabathia required two words to describe being a World Series winner rather than copping a second Cy Young award.

"Much happier," the Yankees' ace lefty wrote in a text message yesterday after Kansas City's Zach Greinke was named this year's AL Cy Young winner.

He wasn't too surprised by the outcome of the voting:

"I wasn't surprised at all," Sabathia said of Greinke winning. "He definitely deserved it. He had a 2.16 ERA in the American League. I don't care how many wins you have, that's pretty good."

Self explanatory. Now that he's a Yankee, he knows what's important.

Latest Headlines

• Project Prospect came out with their list of the top 15 centerfield prospects, and recent Yankees draft pick Slade Heathcott was ranked 14th.

• There's this article from MLB.com's Danny Wild about Ian Kennedy and his offseason in Arizona.
  

• Jesse Spector points out 27 things about the Yankees 27 championships.

• According to Joel Sherman, Yomiuri Giants pitcher Hisanori Takahashi has become free agency, and is hoping to play in majors next year. In Japan this season the 34-year-old went 10-6, with a 2.94 ERA.

• Check out this link from Chris Jaffe, a writer from The Hardball Times. It's an excerpt from a book he wrote titled "Evaluating Baseball's Managers". The excerpt looks at former Yankees player and manager, Billy Martin. The book comes out next month.

• Look at these cool GigaPan photos from this year's World Series.

• Determining Joba Chamberlain's role for the 2010 season is one of the many things on the Yankees to-do list this offseason, but as of now that role is still undefined. In the article from Bryan Hoch there's this quote from Joba about Andy Pettitte.

• George A. King III wrote some interesting stuff in his article this morning. King said that Cashman still doesn't have a concrete idea about the free agent market. The team has still not had their meetings but "will chair the pro scout meetings that start tomorrow, so the Yankees may know better what the markets -- trade and free agency -- look like."

Yankees Decline Mitre's Option

The NY Post is reporting that the Yankees have declined Sergio Mitre's $1.25 million option for the 2010 season. Mitre is arbitration eligible so he's still under Yankees control.

There was talk about the bombers wanting to keep him around so they should work out a deal.

Perry: Yanks should worry about Johnny, not Zilla

Dayn Perry of FOX Sports put out his list of ten offseason moves that need to be made. Number five covers the Yankees, specifically their outfield.

5. The Yankees should worry about Johnny Damon and not Hideki Matsui.

The reigning champs have some decisions to make. They need to coax Andy Pettitte into pitching one more year, and they need to re-sign Johnny Damon. Damon — when not throwing the ball — gives the Yanks plus defense in left, and he has maintained his offensive skills quite nicely. Damon needs a platoon partner, but he's still a valuable regular against right-handers. So long as he's willing to settle for a two-year deal or two plus a team option, the Yankees should make the necessary overtures. Matsui, meanwhile, is replaceable. Plenty of DH types on the market — Jim Thome, Jermaine Dye, Russ Branyan, Vladimir Guerrero — can come close to Matsui's numbers at perhaps a lesser cost.

Pettitte should return. Damon has given the Yankees bad defense so a 2-year deal is something to think about. He can hit though. If Matsui is not back he can be replaced. However, he wants to remain here and will take less money than the others.

The Yankees seem like they're interested in resigning both as long as they can both be had on short-term deals, and that's how it should be done.

Greinke Wins Cy Young Award

It was just announced that Zack Greinke is this year's American League Cy Young award winner. This was almost a no-brainer. In 33 games this year for the Royals, Greinke went 16-8 with a ridiculous 2.16 ERA and 1.07 WHIP. In 229.1 innings pitches he allowed just 55 earned runs on 195 hits, walked 51 and struck out 242. He also held opposing batters to a .230 batting average.

How the voting went down:

	1st	2nd	3rd	Points
Z. Greinke	25	3		134
F. Hernandez	2	23	1	80
J. Verlander	1		9	14
CC Sabathia		2	7	13
R. Halladay			11	11

CC notched something better, a World Series ring and ALCS MVP.

CC Nominated For Sportsman Of The Year

Yankees ace, CC Sabathia, is up for the AL Cy Young award but he is also one of 30 people nominated for this year's Sport Illustrated Sportsman of the Year. The award will be announced on Decemeber 1st.

Last year's winner was Michael Phelps, and the year before it was Brett Favre. Here's a link to every SI Sportsman of the Year cover, hopefully CC will be getting his own next month.

No Yankee player has ever won the award.

Cashman On Staff: "We are nowhere"

From George A. King III:

No Yankees coach except hitting instructor Kevin Long is signed for next year. And while the general feeling is that the rest of Joe Girardi's staff is wanted back, none has been offered a contract for 2010.

"We are nowhere," GM Brian Cashman said when asked where he was at concerning the 2010 staff. "We would love to have all of them back under the proper circumstances."

Long signed a three-year deal for about $1.125 million before the 2008 season that expires after next year. The contracts of pitching coach Dave Eiland, third base coach Rob Thomson, bench coach Tony Pena, first base coach Mick Kelleher and bullpen coach Mike Harkey have expired.

After a World Series win I don't see why there should be any changes made.