New York Yankees and New York Mets news and rumors

The Super Bowl is over and pitchers and catchers report in about two weeks.  It is time to look at what has been going on with the New York Yankees and the New York Mets.  There really hasn't been much going on especially with the Mets.  They made their big move early in the offseason and that was it.  They still haven't gotten a shortstop which would lead you to believe they think Wilmer Flores is the answer at short for now.  I don't agree with them but if that is what they believe then so be it.  The Yankees are pretty much set in stone, they have made a bunch of minor moves this off-season and they could make a move for the cuban guys now.  Yoan Moncada is the most notable to keep an eye on.  He is a 19 year old switch hitter who is supposed to be five tool and basically a can't miss guy.  If the Yankees sign him he could be their second baseman or 3B of the future.  He would fit perfectly with their team.  Another young talent that they could have on the team in the next couple of years to go with the Aaron Judge, Greg Bird, Luis Severino crew. 

The New York Yankees did sign Scott Baker to a minor league contract.  He is a veteran who has battled injuries the last couple of years but pitched pretty decent for the Texas Rangers last year out of the bullpen.  He was a long man/spot starter type of pitcher. 

The Yankees have stayed away from the big fish this off-season but James Shields is still out there.  You have to wonder if he would sign a lesser deal now that it seems he isn't going to get the big money he may have gotten earlier in the off-season.  The Yankees haven't been linked to him but you wonder if they would jump in if they could get him for say 75 million instead of over 100 million. 

The Mets rumors were early in the off-season when you heard the Troy Tulowitski rumors mainly.  He isn't going anywhere right now and definitely not to the Mets.  The Mets appear to be going with Ruben Tejada or Flores at SS.  I think they should get a SS but it doesn't look like they will.  Ian Desmond has been another guy they have been linked to but you haven't heard that in at least a couple of weeks so that may be dead now. 

Johan Santana has been working out for teams and you hear the Yankees name in the mix but if anything that would be another minor league contract.  He was throwing though and then shut it down for a little bit due to shoulder soreness so I would think they would pass on him but we will see what happens. 

Alex Rodriguez is the big name for the Yankees and you have heard a lot about him lately.  The main thing is the Yankees trying to avoid his milestone bonuses.  This could get ugly but it doesn't appear Joe Girardi has a part in this or wants to have one.  He spoke over the weekend about him and said they have been talking and considers their relationship good and he just wants to put him and all of his players in the best position to succeed. 

The Mets really haven't had much going on overall and I really don't expect much to happen with them.  Dillon Gee is still on their team and could be traded in the next couple of weeks but not even sure that will happen.  The best news is that pitchers and catchers will be reporting in about two weeks or so and then we can start discussing this more in depth and no more rumors, it will be talking about the players on the field and what is going on with the teams. 

The MLB Hot stove is burning on a Monday

The Hot Stove really started burning on Monday.  The Miami Marlins extension with Giancarlo Stanton was announced.  The St. Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Braves made a trade involving Jayson Heyward and Shelby Miller and the Toronto Blue Jays signed Russell Martin.  What could be in store for Tuesday?

I will start with the Marlins and Stanton.  He signed a 13 year deal for 325 million dollars.  This is with a team that has been known to blow things up quickly and not spend money.  It will be interesting to see now if they surround him with some more talent.  They were up and coming last year and had a pretty good year, let's see what happens.  Stanton did get a no trade clause and an opt out after five or six years. 

The trade between the Cardinals and the Braves was Jayson Heyward and Jordan Walden to the Cardinals for Shelby Miller and a minor leaguer.  Heyward is a solid player especially defensively but has never put up the power numbers that the Braves had thought he would.  He batted 271 last season with 11 homeruns and 58 RBI.  He had 20 stolen bases and won his second gold glove.  Miller was 10-9 with a 3.74 for the Cardinals last season.  He was 15-9 with a 3.06 ERA in his rookie season of 2013. 

The Blue Jays gave Martin five  years and 82 million.  They definitely overpaid for a guy who had a career year last season.  He did bat 290 last season with 11 homeruns and 67 RBI.  He also had a 402 OBP and had a caught stealing percentage of 38.5 which was fourth best in the majors.  He has a 259 career average and is known to be a leader.  He has been to four straight postseasons with three different teams. 

I don't know what is going to happen the rest of this week but it has gotten off to a hot start in the hot stove league. 

New York Yankees Hot Stove notes

New York Yankees Hot Stove notes


The New York Yankees officially announced a two-year deal with Brendan Ryan. There is a third year option. He is a defensive whiz who played a lot of SS for them at the end of last year. He is insurance for Derek Jeter. They are giving him two million a year and the third year option is for one million.

The Yankees apparently extended an offer to Hiroki Kuroda. It is for one year and 15-16 million. He takes his time and the Yankees know that but they are really trying to entice him. He has been very good for the Yankees the last two years. He has burned out at the end of the year but the Yankees have enough pitching that they could protect him more now. This would be a big signing for the Yankees considering they only have CC Sabathia and Ivan Nova as sure bets. They want Tanaka from Japan but don’t know when and if he will be posted. If they have CC, Nova and Kuroda they can fill out the other two spots with Phelps, Pineda, Warren, Nuno and feel comfortable.

The Yankees traded what ended up as their starting catcher last year. Chris Stewart is headed to the Pittsburgh Pirates for a player to be named later. He was a guy that most likely would have been non-tendered so instead they traded him getting something for him. It will most likely be a single A player.

The Yankees non-tendered David Adams who was a huge disappointment last year when he got his chance. Matt Daley and Jayson Nix were the other two players who were non-tendered. There were no surprises with this.

How about Robinson Cano, the Yankees and him remain about 80 million apart. He wants somewhere in the neighborhood of nine years and 250-260 million. The Yankees have offered him seven years and 160-170 million. I expect the Yankees and him to eventually come to an agreement but I don’t think the Yankees are going to budge much. They may go to 8 years and 200 million. He could find a team but right now there doesn’t appear to be any other team.

Where do the Yankees go from here

Yesterday was a crazy day in baseball with a flurry of moves happening. The Yankees lost their World Series MVP to the Anaheim Angels. Where do the Yankees go from here, well they are the World Series Champs so they presumably have the least amount of work to do. They do have Johnny Damon as a free agent and would like for him to come back on a 2 yr 19 million dollar deal but his agent it seems is pushing for 3 yrs and 39 million so they are roughly 20 million apart. I honestly think at this point that he does come back to the Yankees for their price because I don't think anyone is going to give him 3 yrs and not for that much money, maybe they settle on 2 yrs and 24 million. I think if Damon comes back the Yankees don't need to go out and get a DH as he and Posada can share the duties along with A-rod/Jeter/Tex a little bit of the time. The Yankees would like to get another pitcher and I think they will, maybe Ben Sheets or Joel Pineiro or someone like that. I think ultimatley they would like to do that and have Phil Hughes be the 5th starter with Joba going back to being the main setup guy. If the Yankees bullpen is Mo, Joba, Marte and Robertson that is very solid with Aceves, Mitre or Gaudin as long man possibilities. The Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman threw a bullpen today for all the teams that wanted to see him. There were representatives from just about every team. I am not sure if he will be ready this year, I doubt it but he may be worth signing and giving some minor league experience before bringing him to the majors and maybe he will be a impact pitcher. He throws very very hard and anyone coming out of Cuba has dealt with pressure. I think the Yankees may be in on him but it depends on the price. The Red Sox and Mets are also considering him.

Hot Stove Burns up

Today started out as a routine Monday and then this afternoon the Hot Stove really started burning up. Monday's are usually a big football day with all of the analysis of the Sunday games and looking ahead to the Monday night game but baseball took center stage on this Monday. The Boston Red Sox were especially busy signing pitcher John Lackey to a 5 yr 85 million dollar deal and now pending a physical signing Mike Cameron for 2 yrs and 15.5 million. Hideki Matsui became the first World Series MVP to leave since John Wetteland in 1996. Matsui signed a 1 yr 6 million dollar deal with the Anaheim Angels. The biggest news of the day was that Roy Halladay was traded from the Blue Jays to the Phillies and the Phillies traded Cliff Lee to the Seattle Mariners and the Blue Jays are getting back prospects which we don't know yet because Halladay is still working out the extension and the deal won't be official to maybe tomorrow. I think the Seattle Mariners have had a good offseason and may have surpassed the Angels by getting Chone Figgons and now Cliff Lee. The New York Mets and their fans have had a very bad day. The Mets biggest need was pitching and now they don't have anywhere to turn as their are no other big pitchers left. They may land Jason Bay now that everyone else is out on that but that isn't going to solve the problem of having Johan Santana and then a bunch of questions. Roy Halladay going to the hated Phillies is just a stab in the heart but the truth is they aren't that much better since they did trade Cliff Lee away. The Yankees side of things isn't really all that bad, they don't have to face Halladay anymore who owned them and John Lackey doesn't have very good numbers against the Yankees and he has really bad career numbers in Fenway. John Lackey is also a injury risk as he has been injury prone over the last couple of years. I don't think it was terrible for the Red Sox because you can never have enough pitching and he is a gritty guy who usually pitches well in big games. I do find their offense curious though with Bay gone and being replaced by Cameron and maybe Hermidia in a platoon. It doesn't look like the Lowell trade will go through now since he has a thumb injury and may need surgery. I wonder if the Red Sox may try and trade for Adrian Gonzalez and move Youkilis to third base?? If they did this I think they would be pretty even with the Yankees but right now as a Yankee fan I don't think you have to be that worried because I don't think their offense is so great. I wonder what tomorrow will bring with the Hot Stove after this busy day.

Hot Stove News

The Winter meetings have ended but the Hot Stove is still burning brightly. The Chicago White Sox signed former Seattle Mariner closer and most recently Met J.J. Putz. The deal is for one year and 3 million. He will be a setup man but give the White Sox another option to close other then Bobby Jenks. The Boston Red Sox are really coming hard after Adrian Beltre even though the Mike Lowell trade to Texas is not yet finalized. There is a report on ESPN.com today that the Blue Jays are seeking either Joba Chamberlain or Phil Hughes and Jesus Montero as well as others from the Yankees for Roy Halladay. That price is too steep for the Yankees at this time and I can't blame them. If the Red Sox don't get him which looks like they won't and they don't end up with him they can still sign another pitcher as the 4th starter and be in good shape. The Cardinals have made a formal offer to Matt Holliday today but terms of the deal are not known. The Cardinals GM said he expects a response from agent Scott Boras within the next 48 hours. If he resigns with St. Louis the market for Jason Bay will really heat up as he will be the only significant position player left on the market.

Hot Stove action

It looks like the Seattle Mariners will be getting speedy leadoff man Chone Figgons. The preliminary figure is for 4 years and 36 million. This is a good move for them getting a player like this and also taking him away from their divisional rival. The New York Mets have stockpiled catchers signing Chris Coste and Henry Blanco and still looking to sign Bengie Molina, why they are doing all of this doesn't really make much sense but it is the Mets. I don't want to jump to conclusions because maybe they will still get a John Lackey or Matt Holliday or someone like that. The Boston Red Sox today did aquire Marco Scuttaro who said he signed with them because they have the team with the best chance of winning a title for him. The big news today was coming from Jon Heyman of SI.com who tweeted that the Yankees are going to make an offer for Roy Halladay, he does believe the Red Sox have the best chance of getting him though. The Jays want some combination of Jesus Montero, Austin Jackson, Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain from the Yankees. It does look like it will be a battle between the two ancient rivals for Doc Halladay and the Jays do seems intent on unloading him now when they can get something rather then waiting and have his value decrease or lose him to free agency and get nothing.