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What do you think of the Yankees offseason so far? Love the Swisher trade? Hate the CC signing? Will AJ start 50 games in 5 years? Yankees need to sign Texiera too?

Yesterday was the last day to tender contracts to players. Britton and Christian were not tendered to open up a couple spots for the impending signings of CC and AJ. Britton ran the AAA to majors shuttle a million times the last 2 years. He is 25 and a servicable reliever so a low budget team will pick him up. Christian is 28 and was an independent leaguer that made his way to the bigs last year. With Gardner and others at AAA there was no room for him anymore. Hopefully he will get a chance with another team. He could be a good 4th outfielder one day.

The rotation appears to be CC, Wang, AJ and Joba right now. Pettitte may be signed to be the number 5 guy. I still think Joba works better in the pen.

The bullpen looks to be Rivera, Marte, Ramirez, Bruney and Veras. I think for the first time in a while the Yankees have a lot of options for their bullpen. Guys like Coke, Giese, Aceves, Robertson, Abaladejo and guys at AAA could really help out in 2009.

The lineup as of today appears to be Swisher at first, Cano at second, Jeter at SS, A-rod at third, Damon/Matsui in left, Gardner/Melky in center and Nady in right. Posada and Molina are the catchers. Assuming the Yankees go with a 11 man pitching staff that leaves 4 guys on the bench. This is one place the Yankees need some work before February.

Peter Abraham over at yankees.lhblogs.com mentions that if the Yankees sign Pettitte to a 10 million deal and acquire Cameron their payroll will be about 197 million. Unless they want to go over 200 million again Tex and others are not on their way to the Bronx.

So far it has been a good offseason. The rotation looks a lot better, their is more roster flexibility and the team has a lower payroll in 2009. After this year I believe Damon and Matsui are free agents so that is 26 million coming off the books. The team also has a deep farm system so it will be interesting to see how successful the Yanks are infusing young talent into the team like they did in the 90’s.

Reports are out that Burnett has signed with the Yankees. 5 years, 82.5 million. That is 243 million for 2 pitchers. Who said times are tough these days. Earlier I had predicted the Yankees may spend 500 million this offseason. If they sign Pettite to 10 million that will be 253 million for this offseason. They may be waiting in the weeds to pounce on Texiera. The Yankees are not done yet.

There is also a lot of talk about the Yankees trading Melky for Cameron. I do not like this trade one bit. Cameron will strike out 150 times if he gets 500 at bats. The lineup would have a lot of strikeouts in it. Jeter strikes out about 90-100 times a year. A-rod is good for about 125. Posada will K about 80-90. Swisher strikes out about 125 times a year. The teams of 96-03 made contact and took pitches. If the Yankees pickup Cameron they may break the team record for strikeouts. Not a good sign at all. I rather have Gardner and/or Melky in center next year.

When the Mets said they were going to blow up the pen they were not kidding. Schoeneweis was traded today. Smith, Heilman, Schoeneweis, Wagner (out with TJ surgery) are out for 2009. In are Putz, Green and K-rod.

Lots of other moves the last couple of days. Check out mlbtraderumors.com for all the news.

7 years, 161 million, and CC will be in pinstripes next year. Not really sure yet if this is a great or terrible move. Word is the Yankees are going hard after Lowe too and probably Sheets. I think Pettitte may be on the outs unless he accepts a 1 year, 10 million deal.

I wonder if they will sign 4 guys and have Joba in the pen. I personally think that is the best move. Or sign 3 guys and have Hughes/Kennedy.Aceves, etc. be the #5 guy.

I forgot to mention the Hernandez to Reds deal yesterday.

Kerry Wood is close to signing a 2 year deal with the Indians.

Besides that, a lot of talk today. Hopefully tonight will bring some interesting moves.

Still not much going on at the winter meeting in Vegas. Maybe everyone is busy gambling and enjoying a topless show?

A few signing today with Blake and Loretta going to the Dodgers. This rules out pretty much any chance of a Cano trade. Although Blake did play LF for the Indians and maybe if Manny leaves and they move Blake to Left, they will keep Dewitt at third and need a second baseman.

The Tigers seem to be going small bat, big defense a year after big bat no defense was a complete disaster. Not sure how much Everett and Laird will hit. Every year I root for the Rangers in the NL West and every year they disappoint, maybe this is their year. They always seem to be in .500 ball mode and can never get over that hump. Maybe they need GW back? “-).

K-rod looks to be signing with the Mets for 3 years. It will be interesting in 2010 when Wagner and K-rod will be in the pen. Who closes. I guess you play for all the marbles in 2009 and not worry about 2010 until November 2009. Not sure how much K-rod has left with his odd delivery and arm strain. The Mets said they were going to revamp the pen and this looks to be the first move.

Check out mlbtraderumors.com for a lot of up to date baseball rumors. Lots of talk and not much going on. Hopefully the last day will bring some Yankees news.

I am dreading the rule 5 draft Thursday because the Yankee have some decent talent exposed this year. Hopefully only 1 player will be picked and eventually returned in spring training.

The winter meetings start tomorrow. Hopefully the hot sotve league will warm up this week. I am going through baseball withdrawals. No playoffs, hot stove league cold, Browns 4-9. I need some baseball news this week to get me thinking about spring training again.

The deadline for players to accept or reject arbitration is tonight. Since the Yankees did not offer anyone arbitration it really means nothing for the Yankees. The players that do accept arbitration will be off the market so there will be some new come Monday. No big names are expected to accept arbitration so there will not be any major news stories. If CC accepts arbitration, then that will be a big story.

I have read on other blogs where the Yankees should maybe let up on pursuing CC. I agree. If he doesn’t want the 6 years and 140 million, move onto Tex. I know the Yankees need pitching but it should not be at all costs. Signing Tex and Lowe would not be an awful offseason.

Greg Maddux will announce his retirement on Monday and for all purposes Clemens has retired even though he has not officially announced it.

So who had the better career.

I think Maddux had the better career. I know he pitched in the NL which helped his overall numbers but pitching is more than throwing and that is all tat Clemens could do. He had a nasty fastball and overpowered guys. Maddux was a PITCHER, and had a better career. Even if you look at the numbers, Maddux and Clemens are very similar. Maddux could have won more games if he played for teams that had more offense.

Also, Clemens had a little help from artificial stuff while Maddux was a 100% pitcher.

Although Clemens was a Yankee I never liked him and always thought he had it coming. Hopefully he will join OJ in the lockup.

After yesterdays activity not much happening.

Cashman is going to meet with CC. If they are smart they start playing tough. They do not HAVE TO have CC this year offseason. 6 years at 140 million is a great offer. CC better decide next week. If they Yankees come away with resigning Pettitte and signing Lowe and Burnett to decent deals it will still be a good offseason. A rotation of Wang, Pettitte, Lowe, Burnett and Hughes is not all bad. The Yankees still have some good arms at AA and AAA. Not need to panic.

At least for shortstops.

Greene was traded to the Cards, Jack Wilson traded to Tigers (although this may just be a hot rumor) and Renteria signed with the Giants.

The winter meetings begin December 8th and end December 11th. It should be a very active 3-4 days.

I am battling a cold so my posts will be short and infrequent.

It is still very quiet on the hot stove league. Hampton is rumored to have signed a 1 year, 2 million deal with the Stros. He has been hurt for a long time but made some starts for the Braves last year. I think this is a real good sign for the Stros. If he can stay healthy, he can be a very good #4 starter and maybe win 10-13 games.

If you follow the Yankees minor league system as much as I do you will see that the A’s signed Matt Carson. He is 26 and played AAA ball for Scranton last year. He has a gun of an arm in the outfield, has a little pop but hits for a low average and strikesout too much. He still is a good pickup for a low-budget team like the A’. He could bat .275, hit 15 Hr’s and be a late inning defensive outfielder. He can play all 3 outfield spots. He had no shot with the Yankees minor league depth so it is good to see him go somewhere he has a chance to play in the bigs.

Winter meetings start next week and hopefully the hot stove league will heat up.